Forenote: Hello everybody. It has been over 6 months since my last blog post, I was writing for my old Spanish school in Australia with the purpose of sharing my storing of learning Spanish, studying the TESOL and travelling to Chile to teach English. The school and I came to the agreement that my story had been successfully told and we decided to put and end to my blog posts, I would like to thank The Spanish Cat for the seed of the Spanish language they planted in me and the opportunity to share my story with their current students. I have decided to continue writing on my own, mainly for my own enjoyment but also to share a bit with family and friends of what I am doing and to give me something to look back upon.
Where am I now?
I am now teaching English in a small school in the north of Brazil, a city called Salvador da Bahia, famous for it´s Carnaval, history, beaches, music, art, and culture and somewhat infamous for it´s poverty and crime.
Recap of Chile
Leaving Chile was even harder than leaving home, not because I love it more than my own country but because leaving home I always had the expectation of going back. Leaving Chile felt like saying goodbye to a whole life forever, not easy to do. I can´t even begin to imagine what it might be like for past and present generations of immigrants jumping onto a boat and knowing they will never hear from those close to them again. Time is a strange thing, you can spend years doing the same thing over and over, you will wake up five years, ten years, a lifetime later and nothing has changed. Or if you are lucky, you will find yourself experiencing something quite opposite, where each day seems like a year, and a short period of your life can seem like a lifetime. I feel as though such happened to me in Chile, and a big piece of my heart will always belong to that. Being in Latin America has always given me a deep happiness that I feel nowhere else in the world, I felt it from the first day I stepped foot in this continent over 4 years ago, some connection deeper than I can describe. It pulled me back, and it gives me happiness and energy each day I am here, if it weren´t for something just as strong pulling me home, I would stay here forever.
Why did I leave?
I try to live my life following the signs which are presented to me, such a sign was presented to me and I feel I was pulled to Brazil, and I didn´t resist. I would have happily stayed another year in Chile, another lifetime, but I feel like I achieved what I went there to do and I had to continue my path of personal growth. I didn´t want to stay just because I felt comfortable and happy, I believe that is a trap a lot people fall into in their lives; in relationships, in jobs, in trying to break out of monotony. The fear of the unknown or the uncomfortable stops you from doing what you really want, and I didn´t want to fall into that trap, which is one of the reasons I left Australia in the first place. For me, Chile was one world, and Brazil is a whole other world altogether. Plus in Portuguese, I have the fun of learning a whole new language.
My current mission
As mentioned above, I am working in a small school in Salvador da Bahia. Salvador is a city with a lot of need, there is a lot of crime and drugs. Here in the historical centre of Pelourinho it´s very common to see crack users walking the streets hassling tourists, and they are often kids. This is only the visible front of a much larger problem, there are police forces patrolling the streets, only with the objective of protecting tourists, but nothing is done to address the core of the issue. Pelourinho is the tourist centre of the city, you have a contrast of beautifully maintained historical buildings and churches, expensive hotels and people sleeping on the street. For those with money and a blind eye to the problems around, it can be heaven, for others it can be hell. My co-worker in this school Renato established the school with the aim of providing English classes at a price that the people here can afford, the problem with English schools here is that they are all at crazy prices that only well educated and wealthy people can access, which reflects another problem of the society here. Renato´s vision is to teach people English to open a door of opportunity in their lives. Salvador is a very touristy location, with events like the World Cup of 2014, the Olympics of 2016 and of course the yearly world famous Carnaval, knowing English open countless opportunities for people in this community. The problem is, with prices for classes so low, and an unreliable target audience often with little or no education, it is hard to establish the school and keep it financially viable. I am trying to help here, I am not only lending my services as an English teacher but my real aim is to work with Renato to lift this school to a place where it can be self-sustainable, a social project with teachers coming in from around the world and Renato able to manage it and teach. And I would love all your help, in my coming blog entries I will add some little things you can all do which will make a big difference for us. In the meantime you can visit our site www.talk-express.com and like our facebook page facebook.com/talkexpress!
Tempations of Rio
Around two weeks ago I went to visit Rio with a good friend of mine from Australia Din, we visited another friend of mine Antonio who took us in and showed us the very best of his city. I won´t lie that after battling with money here in Salvador and living in a hammock, I was provided a solid temptation to stay in Rio by the Samba, the beautiful women and the big city of opportunities everywhere for English teachers. However, I decided this time the road less travelled is the one I am going to take, and I hope the more rewarding. I have a mission here and I want to see it through. I hope I made the right choice. And Rio will always be there for me later!
Where am I now?
I am now teaching English in a small school in the north of Brazil, a city called Salvador da Bahia, famous for it´s Carnaval, history, beaches, music, art, and culture and somewhat infamous for it´s poverty and crime.
 |
| Salvador has more than 350 historical churches, at least one for every day of the year. |
Recap of Chile
Leaving Chile was even harder than leaving home, not because I love it more than my own country but because leaving home I always had the expectation of going back. Leaving Chile felt like saying goodbye to a whole life forever, not easy to do. I can´t even begin to imagine what it might be like for past and present generations of immigrants jumping onto a boat and knowing they will never hear from those close to them again. Time is a strange thing, you can spend years doing the same thing over and over, you will wake up five years, ten years, a lifetime later and nothing has changed. Or if you are lucky, you will find yourself experiencing something quite opposite, where each day seems like a year, and a short period of your life can seem like a lifetime. I feel as though such happened to me in Chile, and a big piece of my heart will always belong to that. Being in Latin America has always given me a deep happiness that I feel nowhere else in the world, I felt it from the first day I stepped foot in this continent over 4 years ago, some connection deeper than I can describe. It pulled me back, and it gives me happiness and energy each day I am here, if it weren´t for something just as strong pulling me home, I would stay here forever.
 |
| My family (left) visited me in Chile, and my love for them will always pull me home. |
Why did I leave?
I try to live my life following the signs which are presented to me, such a sign was presented to me and I feel I was pulled to Brazil, and I didn´t resist. I would have happily stayed another year in Chile, another lifetime, but I feel like I achieved what I went there to do and I had to continue my path of personal growth. I didn´t want to stay just because I felt comfortable and happy, I believe that is a trap a lot people fall into in their lives; in relationships, in jobs, in trying to break out of monotony. The fear of the unknown or the uncomfortable stops you from doing what you really want, and I didn´t want to fall into that trap, which is one of the reasons I left Australia in the first place. For me, Chile was one world, and Brazil is a whole other world altogether. Plus in Portuguese, I have the fun of learning a whole new language.
My current mission
As mentioned above, I am working in a small school in Salvador da Bahia. Salvador is a city with a lot of need, there is a lot of crime and drugs. Here in the historical centre of Pelourinho it´s very common to see crack users walking the streets hassling tourists, and they are often kids. This is only the visible front of a much larger problem, there are police forces patrolling the streets, only with the objective of protecting tourists, but nothing is done to address the core of the issue. Pelourinho is the tourist centre of the city, you have a contrast of beautifully maintained historical buildings and churches, expensive hotels and people sleeping on the street. For those with money and a blind eye to the problems around, it can be heaven, for others it can be hell. My co-worker in this school Renato established the school with the aim of providing English classes at a price that the people here can afford, the problem with English schools here is that they are all at crazy prices that only well educated and wealthy people can access, which reflects another problem of the society here. Renato´s vision is to teach people English to open a door of opportunity in their lives. Salvador is a very touristy location, with events like the World Cup of 2014, the Olympics of 2016 and of course the yearly world famous Carnaval, knowing English open countless opportunities for people in this community. The problem is, with prices for classes so low, and an unreliable target audience often with little or no education, it is hard to establish the school and keep it financially viable. I am trying to help here, I am not only lending my services as an English teacher but my real aim is to work with Renato to lift this school to a place where it can be self-sustainable, a social project with teachers coming in from around the world and Renato able to manage it and teach. And I would love all your help, in my coming blog entries I will add some little things you can all do which will make a big difference for us. In the meantime you can visit our site www.talk-express.com and like our facebook page facebook.com/talkexpress!
 |
| Talk Express school, so many chairs waiting to be filled... |
Tempations of Rio
Around two weeks ago I went to visit Rio with a good friend of mine from Australia Din, we visited another friend of mine Antonio who took us in and showed us the very best of his city. I won´t lie that after battling with money here in Salvador and living in a hammock, I was provided a solid temptation to stay in Rio by the Samba, the beautiful women and the big city of opportunities everywhere for English teachers. However, I decided this time the road less travelled is the one I am going to take, and I hope the more rewarding. I have a mission here and I want to see it through. I hope I made the right choice. And Rio will always be there for me later!
 |
| An iconic view of Rio - Cristo o Redentor |
So nice to hear your updates Alex and looking forward to helping out however I can :-)
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