Antofagasta

Through a connection at Start-Up Chile, the VOZ team was invited to give a guest lecture at a University in Antofagasta, which is a 2-hour flight north of Santiago. In order to make the most out of the free trip up, we also decided to take time off and finally explore the northern part of the country over the last week.

Although most Chileans have told me that Antofagasta is nothing special, I was pleasantly surprised by the city. It borders the Pacific Coast and has a bit of a beach town vibe. The variety of brightly colored houses and older, more European-style buildings also creates an eclectic feel.

Antofagasta is one of the largest mining regions of Chile- popular resources of the region include copper, nitrate, and iodine. Since mining is so integral to the Chilean economy, the companies in the region are doing quite well. In fact, mining companies are sponsoring the Entrepreneurship lecture series and classes that brought VOZ into town.

Over the 3 days I spent there, I enjoyed the walking along coast, browsing through local copper and rock artesanía at the outdoor feria, sampling fresh fruit juices, and getting a chance to meet local university students.

La Costanera, The Coastline

Walking around town...

Cactus for Sale

El Mercado y La Feria

Copper Jewelry

characteristic of Antofagasta- while walking the central plaza around I came across several artisans creating similar pieces at their booths

La Huelga, The Strike

This topic certainly deserves a more detailed description in a future blog entry- but it is worth mentioning that students across Chile have been on strike over the past few months, demanding more rights and benefits from the government. As a result, most classes have been cancelled. Recently, I have come across graffiti and images of students protesting throughout the country, ranging from Temuco to Santiago, as well as in Antofagasta, as pictured below.

As a result of the strike, far fewer students showed up to the VOZ talk than in past months- in addition, we had to present in a separate community center building since the University itself was locked up. It turned out going well anyway- I greatly enjoyed meeting the students who showed up. For this particular class, each one is developing an idea to create a new company, and it was fun discussing plans with them.

VOZ Presentation at the University of Antofagasta