So the Antofagasta Region has lost its first volunteer. She found teaching too stressful. I'm sorry that she was leaving because she was very social and upbeat. Interestingly enough she is moving to Santiago to continue to study Spanish. Two other volunteers here are also considering leaving sometime in the near future as well. One misses home and has student loans that need repaying and the other one doesn't feel safe in Antofagasta. I was surprised by the person who said that they didn't feel safe, because in my opinion Antofagasta is safer than my neighborhood back in DC (this may say more about my neighborhood in DC than it does Antofagasta). My host mom is always telling me that this or that area is unsafe and I've started rolling my eyes and sarcastically saying I'm sure its real dangerous (despite rolling my eyes I do tend not to walk in those areas). In return, I show my host mom articles of crime in Columbia Heights and ask her if she is sure that Antofagasta is dangerous. Now the person who feels unsafe did have his wallet stolen which could contribute to his feeling uneasy.
As for me, I'm doing alright here in Antofagasta. I'm definitely still counting the weeks and I am happy that I've past the half way mark of my stay here in Chile. However, I'm definitely not ready to return home yet. And though I do miss things about home, I'm not having a bad time here in Antofagasta. I enjoy learning how to play rugby and salsa and getting to see and travel throughout South America. I don't enjoy learning spanish (languages has never been a fun subject for me) but I'm glad that I am learning it.
In other news, the four month volunteers have arrived in Antofagasta so I'm excited to meet and share stories with a new group of people. There are 10 of them which doubles the number of volunteers in Antofagasta!
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oh wow...so you can just quit? i thought volunteers had to committ. why is teaching so stressful? the reason i find is when i see kids not learning, but at this point i can see myself being like whatever. haha
ReplyDeletei wish i was european so i would be speaking like 4 languages already. its interesting to watch a doubles tennis match where one guy is from chile the other is czech, and i can't tell what language they speak to communicate
Of course you can just quit ... same as any other work position. They want a commitment but if it isn't right for you, you aren't stuck there.
ReplyDeleteTeaching as a job is stressful, because as teacher you have a lot of responsibility and the kids are always trying to test you. Take that and add in not speaking the same language as your kids and the random chaos that is ever present in the schools around here and you have a decent amount of stress.
You are ahead of me language-wise, I'm still working on my second.
Of course you can just quit ... same as any other work position. They want a commitment but if it isn't right for you, you aren't stuck there.
ReplyDeleteTeaching as a job is stressful, because as teacher you have a lot of responsibility and the kids are always trying to test you. Take that and add in not speaking the same language as your kids and the random chaos that is ever present in the schools around here and you have a decent amount of stress.
You are ahead of me language-wise, I'm still working on my second.
Of course you can just quit ... same as any other work position. They want a commitment but if it isn't right for you, you aren't stuck there.
ReplyDeleteTeaching as a job is stressful, because as teacher you have a lot of responsibility and the kids are always trying to test you. Take that and add in not speaking the same language as your kids and the random chaos that is ever present in the schools around here and you have a decent amount of stress.
You are ahead of me language-wise, I'm still working on my second.