Chile Forum

hola a tod@s

I'm new to this forum, (in fact, I only discovered it a day or two before the earthquake), so i've been waiting to start posting. First of all, i want to say that i'm glad everyone from here seems to be safe and sound, and i'm very impressed by everything that you have been doing, with the planes, doctors, gathering money, and using every resource available to help those who weren't so lucky.

and now, let me explain a little bit about myself. i'm a 24 year old college graduate, and have spent the past year and a half teaching english in southern Spain. I love spain, and have truly enjoyed my time here. last year was the best of my life, and while this year has been great as well, i'm realizing that i'm ready to move on to something else. I've been fortunate enough to travel to many european (and some moroccan) cities and have incredible experiences to recount. however, i'm afraid that i'm starting to get a little jaded. you can only visit so many castles, cathedrals, palaces, ect, before they all start to run together. so, while i think i'm ready to take a break from europe, i am not ready to return to the U.S. full time and enter the "real world." I've still got too much that i want to do and see before i resign myself to sitting in a cubicle 50 hours a week. plus, i'm terrified of ending up like some of my friends who did enter the work force, but have frantically emailed me this year with stories of their misery and questions of how to get into my program over here.

so, since i'm nearly fluent in spanish (well, spain spanish that is....before i came, i couldn't use the vosotros to save my life, now i can't talk in terms of Uds), I want to start a new adventure in South America next year. I've been spending some time researching options of places to go and how to support myself financially in the process. as of 2 weeks ago, i had pretty much decided that i was going to go to santiago for anywhere from 3 months to a year, and find myself a job at a hostel/hotel/tour guide company....somewhere where i could find temporary work, and where being a native english speaker would be an advantage. i'm not looking to make big money, just enough to pay for rent and keep traveling. however, i DO NOT want to teach english. that would be the worst case scenario. i'm not a teacher, i don't plan on ever being a teacher, and continuing to teach is not going to do anything for my resume. a hostel's not glamorous, but if i end up going into the tourism field, its at least a little more on par.

so, that was the plan. however, with the recent events, i'm not so sure. I've been following the news, and trying to follow this forum, but at times, i don't know what to believe. the media makes it sound like Santiago was completely devastated, but i've read here that the reports have been exaggerated. how long will the city take to recover?

if i do decide to go in september/october/november (i would probably need to spend a few months back at home working first, (yay waitressing) to save up some funds, so there is no explicit date), where will the city be? will i be able to find work? will all the infrastructure be back up and running?

or, on the contrary...

do you think that the city will still be in need of help, rebuilding, ect? while i'm sure that concepcion will continue to need rebuilding and major help for a long time, i can't really discern exactly what the state of Santiago is/will be. if, for example, i were to change the basis of my trip, and go primarily to volunteer, and maybe try to earn a little money on the side just to get by, will there be a need? i'm thinking that if i were to volunteer, i could probably convince my parents and other family members to help me out financially, although i certainly prefer to support myself.

so, basically, if anyone has any insight and predictions of where the city of santiago will be in about 6 months, i would appreciate it. also, if you know of any organizations where you think demand may be greatest for volunteers.

and once again, i wish all the best to those of you there now, and i'm glad to see so many of you coming together to do everything possible to help those who weren't as lucky.

erm..don't worry Santiago is totally fine at the moment and if your waiting that long to come over Concpetion will be probably be a fully functional city again.

If you have to think so hard..maybe not the place

On seconds thought.....After reading for post again...

On reading your post again...I think your taking the piss...If your knowledge is sooooooooooo bad i would be questioning the education system in your Country

Is your name Britney S pears

Now, now kirbilly...be nice!

Somethingnew, I think your concerns are legitimate. In spite of the tragedy in Chile, yes life[i]does[i] go on and specially in Santiago where damage was not so great. I have been through 3 of the major earthquakes in Chile - always in Santiago - and that is the first city to be up and running as normal, mainly because it's all centralized there.

Having said that, in 6 months you will probably still find a lot of the poorer communities - specially in the south - still struggling to get things back to normal, so volunteering would probably make good sense. You could build up a network of friends - and get a lot of good will - and then take it from there. I haven't lived in Chile for 22 years now - I will be there in September with my partner - but most of my family is there so I know how things normally run. BUT, perhaps the best for you to do is for now is to wait until the 'dust has settled' and then decide.

I think you will find that most of the members of this forum have a strong bias towards Chile, and they will suggest that you forget the US ( I lived there as well), and just settle in Chile. That is exactly why my partner and I are going down to the south of the country for, to buy a place to live.

Good luck

klrbilly wrote:Is your name Britney S pears

Please pay no mind to the above comments. kirbilly has been posting asinine and cryptic responses this week (with way too many smilies). This forum should remain a place for good information and not veiled asides that only waste thread space.



If you feel drawn to Chile, don't let the recent earthquake dissuade you. This country has been through it before and will go through it again. I'm not the one to hazard guesses at what things will look like in six months, but I think its safe to say that an adventurous traveller will be able to find a niche.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I live in Santiago, so can personally confirm that the reports about damage in Santiago was exaggerated in the media. Schools, banks, restaurants etc. are all fully operational and the only major damage I've seen so far around the suburbs where I live, is that one shopping mall (Portal La Dehesa) is shut for major reparations.

I know for a fact that at least one of the expat bars are currently hiring and you sound like a good candidate with your waitressing experience and bilingual skills. Don't expect to get rich though, the pay is crap.

although i shouldnt pay you any mind, i want to respond to kirbilly...

my concerns on the present and future conditions of the area were based on my experience with New Orleans after Katrina. i spent some time volunteering down there a full 9 months after the Hurricane. was the majority city back up and running? absolutely. were we able to go out on bourbon street, listen to jazz in the french quarter, and enjoy the view of the river while we wandered along the promenade and ate beignets at cafe du mond? right again. however, while the center of the city showed little signs of the disaster (minus the superdome still missing half of its roof tiles) the damage was evident outside of the center. entire strip malls were boarded up and deserted, many restaurants and shops either hadnt re-opened yet, or had decided that they were not financially able to, and had closed for good. and i'm not talking about the 9th ward---they didnt even have us attempt to rebuild there. we drove through to have a look and cars were still sitting smack in the middle of houses---i'm talking about the average, lower-middle to middle class areas.

so yes, i do expect rebuilding to be a slow process in the epicenter of the quake, and along the coast where tsunami waves wrecked havac. I also entertained the possibility that various businesses in santiago (small hostels, bars, restaurants, etc-- places i would consider looking for work) would not have the financial means to fix structural problems that may have been caused by the earthquake. i'll be the first to admit that i'm not too well-versed on how well or not chile has been handling the world-wide financial crisis. but i can tell you that they aren't faring too well over here in spain, and businesses are closing daily without any help from a natural disaster. so yeah, i do think i had a valid concern


as for the rest of you that offered helpful advice, thank you very much, i appreciate it. I realize that newspapers want to show the most spectacular images, so of course the photos of Santiago that I have seen are of overpasses that have come crashing down, entire apartment complexes which are leaning at a 60º angle, and the like. No one wants to show the buildings that have withstood an 8.8 point magnitude earthquake, which is why i was asking those of you there what it was really like.

I've been talking to a friend of mine, and we are now considering looking for organizations that will need volunteers in harder-hit areas, but volunteering is not cheap, and requires saving up some funds. so, simply going to santiago and finding work is not off the table either. and as for tombi...don't worry, i'm not looking to get rich.. just enough to pay for a room in a shared apartment, eat, and do some budget traveling.

I understand what you're saying about the Katrina issues. I used to live in New Orleans and spent alot of time there pre and post Katrina, but they are different beasts in terms of disasters. Even if the Chilean government had done only half of what it has done, it still would have been a better response than the US government gave New Orleans. That particular stain of shame for the US is deep and should stay there a very long time. Let's face it, New Orleans is STILL not back to what it used to be and it's a crying shame because as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the greatest cities in the world.

From what I have seen, Chile is far more determined to get back on it's feet as soon as possible. And Santiago was just not hit as bad as the news has portrayed it. There are a couple neighborhoods that took the brunt of the damage and sadly they are the poorer ones, but I really can't see things being left in the condition New Orleans was left in. New Orleans was always neglected, a result of corrupt officials and contractors. I mean let's face it, they've been working on the 1-10 that cuts through the city for over 7 years. And they're still not done. 'nuff said.

One thing you might consider though, is that you'll most likely need a work permit of some sort. I know of one fellow in Santiago from the US who was waiting tables part time and lost his job after a couple weeks because he didn't have a work permit. The easiest ones to get seem to be as ESL teachers, but if you're proactive and show up with some savings, you may be able to find yourself a place that will hire you and do the paperwork given a little time and effort. Sorry I don't know more about it, but I'm sure you can do a search here on the board and find out more details.

Somethingnew,
Good questions to ask. [b]Listen to Dagney's post. Pay no attention to Kirbilly and his asanine and childish remarks. [/b]Since he's ( I assuming it is a HE, no respectful woman would reply in this way) had only eight posts in the last eighteen months as a member of this forum. Don't even know if he lives in Chile.
As for me, I am also planning on a move to Chile from the USA this late spring and have gathered many helpful posts from this Forum.

A British friend of mine has also been teaching English in Madrid for the past five years and he is planning on joining me this summer to set up another ministry for orphans similar to what we had in Colombia.

Feel free to continue to ask and use the Forum Search function for additional information.

Blessings,
Stang