Chile

Although it sounds like a cliché, I want to assure you its totally true; going away to Chile changed my life. In the spring of 2005 I went off with 20 volunteers, under the Oyster support network, to spend 5 months in Chilean Patagonia. There I cultivated a love for the country, the people and the language - all of which have remained a part of my life to this day.

As always, the challenges were numerous; moving in with a family, learning Spanish, and using it to teach English, integrating into our town …the list goes on. However, it soon got easier and almost exponentially, the rewards increased. Even the cold Patagonian winter is looked back on in a positive light!

I found learning Spanish was extremely worthwhile; love them or hate them, languages are pretty important and it has already opened job-doors for me. I was fairly rubbish and un-inspired at languages in school, yet being in a country, seeing the rewards and difference language integration can make, both to you and your community, provides the encouragement needed. Before long we were chattering along with the locals, whether we understood each other or not! Read the rest of this entry »

From hiking five hours on a glacier to dancing reggaeton in front of an auditorium full of camera-carrying Chilean teenagers, my Oyster experience has been unforgettable, to say the least. The people in Coyhaique are so friendly that you can’t help but run into someone and stop for a chat on the way to school.

Teaching English is like nothing I’ve ever done before, and the students are happy to help out my
Spanish at the same time. To top it off, the snow season has started, and the town looks like a winter wonderland!!

I have also had the opportunity to teach in the village of Tortel which is a fantastic place a few hours drive form Coyhaique. The school has 94 students (around 20 sleep there during the week) and about 10 teachers. The level of English is very low since this was the first year that there was a permanent,
formal English class, but the students are all excited to learn. Each grade has class once a week. Maria Paz told me that there is also a possibility for making a ‘learn-English’ radio program next year if volunteers come. Read the rest of this entry »

What can I say?….Chile was certainly the experience of a life time… 6 weeks later and over six pounds lighter, I am still looking back and rejoicing in telling, re-telling and re-retelling friends and family about my Chilean adventures!

So…what to expect from Coyhaique? It is small, and very beautiful. The people are some of the friendliest I have ever met; you can’t help but bump into someone on your travels and end up
chatting for hours on the freezing street corners…. Better still you may be invited in for a “mate” or two (pronounced mat-ay a form or herbal tea) and be made to feel part of the family!

The teaching for me was somewhat of a surreal experience, rocking up at the high school on my first day was certainly terrifying as I racked my brains to recall the Spanish I thought I had learnt! However I quickly realised that they were fantastic kids and I reveled in watching how quickly they would pick things up. I was soon immersed in a whole new world….and it seemed I was not the only one doing the
teaching, as I learnt word after word of Spanish slang and street talk! Read the rest of this entry »

Ceri Broussine who is still in Chile sent us this email; So far my time in Chile has been brilliant. The family is so welcoming and look after me really well. The mum, Jery, is forever fussing that I’m warm enough and have enough food inside me and Dario, my dad, just sings ´la Ceri la Ceri!´ whenever he sees me! I’m also loving the little sausage dog, Nino, that lives with us, Jery has recently knitted him a jumper to wear as the cold weather is coming, we’ve just had about 45cms of snow and the other night temps reached -11. Read the rest of this entry »