EDOP April - July 2013

I would definitely start any review of my time in Chile by saying that I had a FANTASTIC time!! I was placed in Los Andes, which about an hour North of Santiago. I found the experience to be the most incredible, life-changing thing I have ever done, no matter how corny that sounds, and although it was certainly a challenge, I will be forever glad that I embarked on it. I feel I have made friends and connections on the other side of the world that I will treasure forever.

One important thing I will say is this: every volunteer experience on this programme is different. There are so many factors that can affect your time in Chile (the school, co-teacher, family, location etc). I think that most people might have a mix of positive and negative elements, for example a good time in school and not such a great family time, or vice-versa. No one I knew had a really terrible time. I had an overall very positive experience, so I guess I was lucky.

The main thing I would therefore say about the programme is that you have to be flexible and go in with an open mind!! It really isn't for closed minded or fussy people!! I met some people on orientation week who were nervous because they were worried about living with a host family - they shouldn't have been doing the programme if those were their fears. A lot of the reviews point out that you often don't find out your placement city until a few days before you leave to go there - true, but if you are chilled and happy to go with the flow, there really isn't any genuine problem with this!! I didn't know ANYTHING about my family or my town on the day I left Santiago. I was dead nervous, but ready to head off into what I saw as the biggest adventure of my life.

My town was very quiet. There was not a huge amount to do, and as I am from London, I initially found this very hard. But by the end of it I really had fallen in love, and had learned to see the beauty of where I was (right in the foothills of the Andes). I had a few weekends where I could travel and see other more touristy parts of the country. I also threw myself into town life and took up Arab Dance classes in the local community centre. I made friends with some of the teachers from school and we did quite a lot together on the weekends. I hadn't come to Chile to party and go out all the time - obviously that helped to make me feel at home, but I didn't need it in order to make my time there better.

My family life was also very quiet, as it was just one couple and the husband worked and studied in Santiago so he wasn't around much during the week. I come from a big, loud family so initially also found this hard, but by the end we had definitely made our own special bond, and we are still in email contact (if fairly irregularly!)

I would say that it is important to have a decent level of Spanish before you come out - it's not very suitable for beginners to be living with a family, as you have to have the basics before you can start speaking conversationally. I had a pretty good level and found that it enabled me to have much deeper and more meaningful relationships with the people I met - I also learnt a huge amount and improved massively as immersion really is the best way to learn another language!

My school was good so I was lucky, and my kids were amazing. Leaving was very hard and I am still in touch with many of them. I was supported and looked after by my co-teacher, who was incredible, and will be a good friend of mine for life.

I met so many other volunteers as well, many of whom I still see and keep in contact with. The beauty of the programme, which makes it fairly unique, is that you are part of a huge network of contacts and volunteers throughout the length and breadth of the country. We had a facebook group and every weekend people would post their travel plans and ask if there was anyone placed in their destination city, or if anyone wanted to travel with them. I went to San Pedro de Atacama with a group of about 8 other volunteers, all of who I had met in orientation, and I had another volunteer who I had met in the winter camp stay with me and my family for the weekend. You do feel like there are plenty of others to contact for advice, tips, or even just travel recommendations.

Chile is a beautiful country with beautiful people. I would recommend the English Opens Doors Programme, although only to someone I knew with an easy going and open minded nature, as I am aware that I had a slightly atypically positive experience. For me it was a very powerful thing to move to another country and immerse myself in another country, and sometimes by being pushed and thrown out of your comfort zone, that is how you learn most about yourself.