My semester in Santiago

Highlight of the day:
Getting my ass kicked at foosball (Here it's called "Taka-Taka!", yes, and the exclamation mark and boldness is necessary when saying "Taka-Taka!") by my boss and his secretary.

What made it all worthwhile: Seeing my boss's reaction as he realized that he had forgotten about an important meeting while he was busy kicking our butt at "Taka-Taka!".

Posted by Apoorva at 15:48 | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday evening I met with a man named Luis who is a micro-entrepreneur in Santiago. For the last 10 years his business has been to repair automatic transmissions in any type of vehicle, but especially buses. Lately, big businesses have come in and taken over the market, so Luis has lost a ton of work and has come across hard times.

Realizing that he needed to adapt, he took a soldering class and decided he should start his own soldering business because the market for small jobs is huge. He explained to me his whole strategy and plan, and I thought it was simply awesome. I think it's so cool how he never once complained about the fact he lost so much business. He just stated it as a fact and looked towards new opportunities. Not only does he attend Accion Emprendedora's classes 3 times a week, he also goes to soldering classes as much as possible. All the while responding to any calls for work on transmissions 7 days a week.

What an amazing ability to adapt. I guess that's what it means to be an entrepreneur.

I met him through Accion Emprendedora's tutoring program, and for the next few weeks we'll be starting to write his business plan that he can turn in to the municipality and banks to get microcredit loans. He needs to buy all the tools for soldering and cover some of the costs of starting a new addition to his business.

Through all these years, Luis never had to buy anything on credit. That's pretty awesome, but I'm sure a little microcredit help this time won't hurt. I'm looking forward to seeing how the business plan and his business progresses. It's very exciting.

Stay tuned!

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 09:35 | Permalink | Comments

I should take more pictures of Santiago since I live there. That will come soon.

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 11:36 | Permalink | Comments

So last Friday I went home from work and in 15 minutes packed up all my stuff and left my homestay that I was at. I had let many things pass during the time I was there, but I was absolutely fed up because I got sick a 2nd time because of the kids - that was the last straw. I thought living with kids would be a little challenge, and it was, but it was a bigger challenge living with the mother of those kids. My list of problems with that place can go on and on.

But I'm out of there now, healthy, and back in south Santiago with some friends until I can find a new place. It's like starting all over again. But being able to eat healthy food and not mashed potatoes with a side of iceberg lettuce makes it worth the hassle.

Culture shock here has been much different than in Oaxaca. There, it was about a total of a few hours. Since I was always around people and everything was pretty set up, I never had the time to feel homesick or anything. I was also prepared and briefed on exactly what to expect all summer long through my AMIGOS friends from home. =)

I miss home and friends very much, very frequently, and being back at home seems so far away. It's hard to keep in contact because so far the only place I've had internet is at work (very ironic that I was more connected in a rural town in Oaxaca). But it's also the little things you miss like how easy everything is with a car, good and cheap food, and other simple comforts of Houston.

But Santiago itself is an awesome city, and walking around and exploring the bustle makes you feel better. And the panaderias here are amazing. Buying myself a chocolate covered caramel filled shortbread cookie sure hits the spot.

Hopefully things will get a little more settled down and I will eventually have internet access in my room. But time here in the big scheme of things is very short - I certainly do remind myself of that very often. In the end, these will all be funny and ridiculous stories from my big, crazy adventure. Perspective affects so much.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch,

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 09:57 | Permalink | Comments

As time as passed, I have learned more about what my job at Accion Emprendedora entails. I had mentioned that the first thing I did was write a report on the state of entrepreneurship education for preschoolers. Well the reason my boss asked me for that is because the government of Chile has contracted DUOC Universidad Catolica who contracted Accion Emprendedora to figure out what needs to be done to get that type of education started in the country. AE and DUOC UC work closely together and my boss, the director of AE is also the director of the Entrepreneurship Center at DUOC UC. (All of this has happened recently) The Chilean government hopes to teach entrepreneurship to as many young students as possible. I really see an interest in this country is business and development through entrepreneurship. (Chile is the easiest place to start a new business in Latin America according to the World Bank - easier here than in Spain or France)

My next task has been to develop a leadership curriculum. The reason for that is that DUOC UC wants AE to create a leadership and entrepreneurship program for all new students that enter its university starting next year. That's about 15,000 new students every year. They are also interested in creating a Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, which has also been put into the hands of AE.

Since AE is such a small organization, people like me and another recent grad from Duke doing his Fullbright here can get some pretty cool tasks. The director is chronically busy and office space and resources are limited, but DUOC UC wants to get this stuff started and trusts our boss. So that means for the next few months, I'm not only working for Accion Emprendedora, but also indirectly for DUOC UC.

Then there's the AE part of my job. I have also mentioned that AE has 3 steps to their work: business classes for small business owners and entrepreneurs, tutoring for the creation of the business plan, and finally assisting entrepreneurs with microcredit loans. So far, AE has done the first two by itself and works with banks and municipalities for the microcredit part. The vision of the director is to become a self-sufficient organization in which it has its own funds to give out credit. Not only would AE be a training and support organization, but also a bank for microcredit.

My job for the next few months will also be to do as much research and analysis as possible on implementing this 3rd part. I will research microcredit, microleasing, and microfactoring and work with the business plan my boss has already created. I still haven't found out exactly all the details of this part of the job, but it sounds interesting, and I think I will leave with a super understanding of microfinances.

Finally, AE has also asked me to be a tutor for one of the small business entrepreneurs. As a tutor, I help the business owner create a business plan that he can turn in to the municipality he lives in as well as banks to get loans. My assignment is to work with a man who has a soldering/welding business. I have my first meeting with him next Tuesday and then I will learn more about him and his business. I'm very excited about this and I think it will be a valuable and fun experience.

So now I will get back to my research on entrepreneurship and innovation centers. The work is tough and draining, but very rewarding. I certainly do miss home though.

Love,

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 12:37 | Permalink | Comments

This weekend is known as el Dieciocho is Chile. It´s the nation´s independence day tomorrow, and that means everyone is having a crazy time grilling meat, dancing Cueca (the national dance), and taking it easy. It´s so much more intense than 4th of July.

I decided to take off to Valparaíso/Viña del Mar for the weekend. I spent the first two days in Valparaíso. The city is quirky and beautiful. It´s at the edge of the Pacific but covered with hills. So the whole city is up and down, and little houses line every hill. Art is everywhere in the city, and every house is painted a different color. (Pictures will come soon) It was fun to see more of Chile and has been relaxing, even though I have walked like no other.

Then today I left the hostel to come over to Viña del Mar. Much less personality but more access to the ocean, so there´s a lot of great, tranquil views. The city is really small and dotted with luxury high rises.

I´ll be back in Santiago soon and back to work. A post will soon come about my work - I have found out more exciting things about my job description.

Take care and feliz dieciocho,

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 19:54 | Permalink | Comments

I can't believe I've only been here for less than two weeks. I am starting to get used to the working life, which for me pretty much means sitting in front of my notebook in the library for hours during the day. (Office space is limited at the university where Accion Emprendedora is based)

However, my work is fascinating. Last week, I helped the director judge business plans for a university competition with something like a $20,000 prize. I read through about 7 or 8 and wrote comments based on innovation, viability, presentation, etc.

Then, Anibal, the director, asked me to write him a report on the state of preschool entrepreneurship education in the world. Apparently, he has the job of implementing such a program for public school students in Chile. My lessons from policy analysis class helped a lot and so did Google. It was fun to be able to make reccomendations about how to implement such a program and what it should include.

This week, I am working on creating a leadership education program for university students at DUOC in Chile. That's about 50,000 students in Chile. Anibal said he has been appointed to create and start such a program as well. All of this on top of the actual Accion Emprendedora work - he's a busy guy. But leadership education is certainly something I love working on, and all my time with Leadership Rice will continue to help me out. Don't be surprized if the DUOC leadership cirriculum looks a lot like Leadership Rice in Spanish. =)

On the non-work aspect of life in Stgo., this weekend, I saw a art exhibit by Nicanor Parra, who is a Chilean "anti-poet." He writes random poetry on pieces of wood and takes trinkets like tires, old computers, and buckets to communicate his message. It was absolutely hilarious, and I plan to go again so I can take pictures of his work. Daring is an understatement.

I also got to play some Ulimate Frisbee yesterday with mostly gringos and a few Argentines and Chileans here and there. That rocked because I really missed playing. I'm looking forward to continuing that during my time here. Most of them are very good, so it's challenging, but very fun.

It's back to the work week, and I must say there is no such thing as quiet in libraries in Chile.

Warm regards,

Apoorva

P.S. - I still have no internet at my room, so emails, photos, and more frequent posts will start coming as soon as that is done.

Posted by Apoorva at 11:17 | Permalink | Comments

I have a place to live and a place to work. This week has been very productive, as first I found a room in a condominium in a nice part of Santiago - Providencia, and I am staying with a family. The room is impeccable and it is very cheap to live there. The only thing is that there are two little kids, 2 and 5 years old, and I am hoping they don't drive me nuts. Otherwise, it's a great set up.

2nd, I am officially working for Accion Emprendedora starting tomorrow at 9 AM. It is a 15 minute walk from my residence, so less money shall be spent on transport. The internship sounds very exciting. First I will be collaborating on creating a entrepreneurship cirriculum for AE clients. Then I will work on leadership education cirriculum. And then there will also be the research on micro-lending sources.

AE is an interesting and exciting organization. It is based inside a university and its director is a Duke-educated lawyer. The organization works to train small business owners in poor communities on how to create a business plan, and then it works to procure funding for the business person through banks. And finally, for about 6 months, trained graduates in fields corresponding to the business help the entrepreneur sustain his/her business.

My boss is the director and he is also a entrepreneurship/leadership professor at the university. I'm excited because he wants to learn more about teaching leadership, and I have been in leadership programs or classes since 10th grade in high school. I want to learn more about entrepreneurship, so this will be a great exchange I think.

I hope all goes well and I enjoy my work. I am very excited to be pretty much past the phase of finding a place to live and work and am ready to start settling in to normality.

Will surely keep this thing updated with the latest!

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 18:03 | Permalink | Comments

It´s Monday in Santiago and I am still on the search for a place to live. Hence very infrequent internet access. I think that I will be working at Acción Emprendedora, which is an organization that trains, finances, and supports entrepreneurs as a way to overcome poverty. It sounds really cool and the director is also a professor of entrepreneurship and leadership.

I think I would be working on researching different microcredit sources and also on other projects of theirs. I´ll find out for sure on Wednesday.

Until then, I hope to find a place to live! The search is pretty difficult and I think I have walked about 5 or 6 miles everyday since I´ve been here. But it´s all fun and I have been able to see a ton of the city. This place bustles like no other, and the city center is always alive with shops, restaurants and random acts of art. Once I get internet for my laptop I will be able to post pictures.

I must say, this city is huge. Hope all is well on the other side of the world,

Love,

Apoorva

Posted by Apoorva at 12:46 | Permalink | Comments