Welcome!
Warning, this post is probably going to be boring. Lots of facts, but I'll try to spice them up a bit. Otherwise, I'm hoping my posts in the future will be informative as well as entertaining!
My name is Ally. I've decided to keep this blog as a way to update my friends and family at home in Chicago and around the U.S. (and possibly some friends from around the world too!) And, if it helps, to serve people who might want to do the same thing I am doing one day!
What are you doing?
I will be spending around 10 months in Santiago, Chile.
When are you leaving?
I'm leaving February 27, 2014 from Chicago, connecting in Panama City, Panama, and should arrive in Santiago just a little after midnight on what is technically the 28th.
What will you be doing?
I'm working as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher at a university called DuocUC. There are different campuses (sedes) of this university all over Santiago, and I'm not sure which one I will be working at yet. I find out the week I arrive!
Where will you be staying?
The first week I am there, I will be living in a hostal with the other ESL teachers. The hostal is located in Providencia, in a Plaza/area that is apparently really central to all the cool stuff in Santiago.
This housing arrangement in the hostal is paid for for the first month I am there. After that, I have to have found my own place to live. I can chose to live with a host family, on my own, with other Chileans, or with other teachers. Right now my first option is to live with a host family. I'll figure it all out when I get there!
When do you start working?
The first week we will go through training, and then the teachers going on to other Chilean cities will depart (I am staying in Santiago), as we begin our first day of teaching Monday, March 10th.
What age group/level of English will you be teaching?
I have no idea what age group I will be teaching. All I know is that they are college kids, so I'm assuming 18-22 (which is kind of crazy, considering I'm still 22, just out of college, and most of them are going to be around my age). I don't know what level of English I will be teaching either. It could be English 101, or a group of students who have been studying English for years. They did hire me because I speak Spanish (it was my major in college), so it's possible for me to teach in any of that range of levels.
Do you have to write your own lesson plans/did you have to get certified?
I do not have to write my own lesson plans. The university hires foreign teachers for one year at a time, so they keep a general structure to the class figured out and handed over to the teachers when they arrive. It's our job to bring creativity, etc. to the lessons.
I did have to get certified to teach ESL. I do not have any kind of teaching degree, but even if I did I think I'd still have to take a TEFL/TESOL certification class. I took a 60 hour course (20 hours in classroom) for a very decent price through this website: http://www.i-to-i.com
Do you get paid?
I do get paid. I get paid monthly for my work, at a somewhat decent salary. It's nothing like what they will pay to have a native English speaker teach in some parts of Asia, but it is enough to get by during my time there.
How did you find this job/did you go through a program?
I found the job through this website: http://www.eslcafe.com (it's like google for jobs abroad)
I GOT the job through this company/program: http://teachingchile.com (they have been extremely helpful in the whole process and always available)
When do you work?
I'm not sure when I work during the week (again, will find this out the first week I'm in Santiago), but I do know I have some random days off (Easter holidays, national holidays, etc) and I have a one month winter break (seasons are opposite on the southern hemisphere) between mid-July and mid-August. I'm super excited for that time!
Are you going to travel?
Yes, I am planning to! This is something I'm really excited about. My sister is going to be studying abroad in Buenos Aires from mid May to late June. I plan to go visit her and possibly go on some adventures together. My top places to see while I'm in South America: Brazil, Argentina, Patagonia, Peru, and possibly Colombia. Those are my 4 1/2 ish goals and I'm hoping to accomplish them all!
... What are you going to eat?
That is a good question. For those who don't know, I am a vegan (no animal products, i.e. meat, dairy, eggs, seafood, etc). I'm also allergic to gluten (wheat, bread, pasta, etc). For most people, this would be a cause for worry. I'm not too worried however, as I have traveled abroad before, and have always found something to eat. I live on a diet of fruit, vegetables, rice, beans, nuts, seeds, etc. In America, it's all usually processed. I'm excited for the opportunity to have a "clean" diet, where I could eat all of these same foods, but in their natural form, with no added chemicals or ingredients. I ate this way when I studied abroad in Spain, and I never felt happier, healthier, more energetic and nourished.
Do you know anyone in Chile/anyone else going?
I don't know anyone else going on my program, and I only have a few contacts in Chile right now; a Chilean family I met while traveling in Spain (story explained below), and a few people in my church in Santiago. (My church, ICOC, has churches all over the world and one of them is right in the city!)
When will you be coming back?
My contract ends December 20, 2014. My visa lasts until February 20, 2015. Once my visa expires I have to leave the country, or stay hidden basically. I'm not sure if I'll be home for Christmas, or when exactly I'll be home at all. I find it more exciting this way :)
Do you think you'll stay in/go back to Chile?
I wish there was a way to know. Sitting here, in the comfort of the childhood home, I can't imagine wanting to stay somewhere so far and foreign. But 10 months could change a lot of things, and I hope I love Santiago enough to call it a home. At this moment, my heart is pulling towards California and all the happiness I've experienced there. I hope to make the most out of my time in South America and Chile, but leave there with the excitement of starting my life in California.
Why Chile?
That is a good question! I don't fully know the answer to it yet. During the second half of my junior year of college, I knew and had decided that I wanted to teach English abroad for a year or more after I graduated. I started looking at that time and what I found was South Korea. It was amazing (and still is, hopefully I make it there someday) and I had my heart set on it for that year and a half. When I graduated college in May 2013, my sister and I decided to go back to Spain (we had been there when I studied abroad there in 2011) and do some traveling we didn't get to do before. During our few weeks there, I rediscovered how much I loved and missed speaking Spanish. And everyone I met along the way asked what I did. I told them about my plans for Korea and they were baffled. They said that it was unbelievable, given how good I am at Spanish. They didn't see why I would go somewhere that didn't speak a language that I knew. These complete strangers were seeing my life in a way that I couldn't at the time. On this very same trip, my sister and I met a family of Chileans. They were the only Chileans I had ever met, and they were so kind, friendly, welcoming, and so proud of where they came from. It made me want to discover it too. So with the combination of the decision to go to a Spanish speaking country, and the influence of the Chileans, I chose Chile.
Can I come visit you?
A thousand times, yes. I'm not even kidding. You have no idea how much of a comfort it would be to have someone familiar and reminding me of home. Plus, we could go on so many adventures, and I could show you Santiago :)
Is this blog going to be like your Spain blog?
Hahahaha, I hope not. Well, I hope so in the way that it will be good writing. I got a lot of compliments about my writing style and voice in my Spain blog. But, I'm thinking it won't be huge entries every day, as I will be in Chile much longer. And I'm also hoping to be less of an emotional teenager (which I have high hopes for, since I'm still emotional, but thankfully, no longer a teenager).
How can I contact you?!
If you have my phone number, and a smart phone, you can download Viber (free phone calls!!! and texts) and/or Whatsapp (also free texts, but only text).
Email- allymasterson1@gmail.com (anyone is welcome to email me, even if you're a stranger that's just found my blog. Please, email me your thoughts and/or questions!)
To follow for snippets, updates, and pictures
Instagram- ally822
Twitter- @allymasterson
Misc.
The seasons in Chile are opposite what they are here on the northern hemisphere. The climate (and apparently the social atmosphere) of Santiago are similar to Los Angeles. There are mountains, and it gets cold in the winter (June-August), but the lowest it drops is really into the high 30s (amazing winter weather, compared to my homes in the Midwest) and never snows. Since I arrive at the beginning of March, I'll be arriving at the very end of summer (what would be our August weather) and going into fall (beginning of September weather. Football season anyone?) The constellations are also completely different (something I'm totally excited about). Apparently the fashion there is pretty conservative, in terms of being outlandish. No one is really high fashion, even in a city like Santiago. I'm curious to see what this actually means, and if I will like it. I'm a huge fan of fashion (another reason I love Europe and California), but on the other hand, it would be kind of cool to live more simply in terms of clothes.
What I will miss:
-my parents
-my sisters
-my dog
-my family
-my friends
-Noah
-summer/sunlight hours (I will have 3 winters in a row: this Chicago winter, Santiago's winter, and will come back to winter in the U.S. again)
-peanut butter
-football season
-baseball season
-4G internet coverage
-probably speaking English
-FOOD (America has such good food, not the typical "American" food, but the really good stuff, if you know where to find it)
-and probably a million other things I haven't realized yet
What I am looking forward to:
-getting really good at Spanish
-making friends with Chileans
-meeting new people
-traveling
-discovering new places and cultures
-learning about the history of Chile
-finding new places to run/work out
-discovering new constellations
-the mountains!
-the weather
-figuring out if teaching is something I want to do
-trying Pisco
-discovering nightlife
-volunteering (hopefully with Techo)
-seeing Viña del Mar/Valparaiso, Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Lima, Brazil, Iguazu Falls
-having an adventure!
-and probably a million other things I haven't realized yet
Besos,
Ally
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