Job Discussion Forums

[thefabulousfour]

My husband and I are very keen to live and work in a Latin American country for 12 months, preferrably in South America. We won't be heading off until mid to late 2009, which I realise is a long way off, but we have to plan well in advance because we have 2 young children (currently 23 months and 3 months respectively - so they'll be 2-ish and 3 and a half when we go).

Destination: We were initially attracted to Ecuador, specifically Cuenca, but reading posts we're now not so sure and we've been looking more at Peru, Arequipa or Trujillo. We basically want a place which is relatively safe, not too noisy, polluted and frenetic and where the kids won't get sick all the time. We're all very gringo-looking and my husband is 6ft 3 and has lots of colourful tattoos, (which can be covered up for work purposes), so we'll definitely stand out, which is relevant for safety/security purposes.

Our circumstances: I'm not working at the moment, due to the baby, but I normally work part-time as a community lawyer (the `community' bit means I get paid like a social worker ) and my husband is a social worker, so we're not flushed with funds. This means that we'll need to work pretty much straight away.
It would be ideal if I could work part-time, as our son will still be pretty young. Neither of us currently has tesl/tefl qualifications but we're planning on getting qualified. I'm keen to do the CELTA course, but it's so expensive! My partner will most likely do an on-line course, around his work committments. He's recently completed his Masters of Social Work and has also got a Business Degree. He's never taught and has no Spanish (other than `una cervaza por favor ) but he gives a fair few training sessions with his work and loves public speaking (he's a freak!). I studied Spanish at Uni and taught English (illegally) in Spain for a few months when I was 19 (20 years ago ) and I've also given lots of talks/training sessions as part of my work (I need to prepare a lot to feel confident). But neither of us will be able to put on our CV that we have teaching experience. By the way, for what it's worth, we're Australian, which probably isn't a particularly sought after accent!

Any information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[john_n_carolina]

...hard to say. normally (years ago), i wouldn't have said this but i can advise you NOT to go to Quito, Ecuador.

with Sulfur PPM 100X NY City your kids are at an extreme risk of getting asthma or some other kind of respiratory disease.

a lot of crime has moved to Quito....years ago, Guayaquil was many times worse than Quito, but i met a lot of ladrones on my last trip that weren't serranos....

it's too expensive


i can also tell you to rule out these cities:
Santiago
Buenos Aires
Montevideo
Sao Paolo
Rio DeJaneiro
Asuncion
Bogota
all of VZ

[naturegirl321]

Try contacting Justin Trullinger, he's in Ecuador

Don't me to be pessimistic, but it might be difficults to survive with no teaching experience and kids, especially when yoy u take airfare into account and the fact that you will probably make betweenr, 500 and 1000 a month.

However, with that being said, try to find a company in OZ that will send you to LA, that way you still get your OZ salary.

As for Peru, unless you're in an international school or international company, you won't make much. For example, I was working three jobs, about 60 hours a week, 3 hours a day in the bus and making 1500, not much when you consider I left home at 630 and got back around 5-7.
s
THere are two places to consider Trujillo (Fleming) pay is around 700 -900, it's a school, so has better hours. Arequipa (Prescott) don't know about it.

keepwalking and Luna Chica work there and Luna Chica has a child, PM them for info, if you want more help email me at [email protected]

[naturegirl321]

[john_n_carolina]

you might try the coast of Peru also...get in touch with NatureGirl

however, it's impossible to protect kids from getting sick when you move them to a 3rd world country after a 28 hour flight.

given that, i would want to be in / near a city of at least 100,000 or so...Trujillo, Peru...Loja, Ecuador for example...Antofagasta, Chile where they have some European / US / Canadian trained doctors...

especially, for your 3 month old that will be 2 years old when he moves..

[naturegirl321]

I KNOW.
UDEp in Piura, see THe ULtimate Guide to Teaching in Peru on the peruforum for ontact info
Sharon

[john_n_carolina]

p.s. if you want some lifetime memories....

since you have two young kids (4 and 2), i would seriously consider the Galapagos, particularly Isla SanCristobal.

it's safe, lots of fun for the kids (beach, animals, etc)

your husband could work at Fundacion NuevaEra, and you could teach privates when he comes home. here is the link for NuevaEra:
http://www.neweragalapagos.org/

the only drawback is you are 1000 miles out to sea, and away from 1st world hospitals. however, the main island Santa Cruz does have a top-notch hospital.

contact [email protected] or [email protected]

[naturegirl321]

and life is twice as expensive as on the mainland

[john_n_carolina]

like NG said, don't expect to save much. unless, you are certified and get hired through an intl school to teach Math, etc.

VZ is Venezuela

judging from how you write, i would suspect you are going for "the experience"...

given that, i would work OT in Australia, save up and call it a "year-vacation" in Latin America.

[thefabulousfour]

Thanks for all the feedback and reality check - I'll look into all of your suggestions. Although I'm beginning to think it could all be a bit overly ambitious.... . Unfortunately I don't think that it's an option to be sent over from Oz- I did a year's service with AVI ( our equivalent of Peacecorp) 5 years ago and was very keen to go to LA but it wasn't an option, as Australia doesn't have trade links and so no programs available. Instead I went to the Pacific. Maybe we'll have to give up the LA dream and look at volunteering elsewhere through AVI. I'll check out the suggestions though. Thanks again

[MELEE]

[john_n_carolina]

...i think MELEE's right on....if i were you, i would be a little concerned trying to support 4 people on a L.American TEFL salary. unless, you had significant savings or both were planning on teaching. for example, one could teach 7am-12PM, the other could teach the typical L.America schedule 3-8PM....

with two salaries at $500-700, you'll net $1000-$1400 for 4 people....that wouldn't be so bad.

don't forget, i believe you'll have to pay FULL airfare for all 4 people from OZ, including the 3 month old that will be 2 years when you travel.

[VenusGrotesque]

[naturegirl321]

BsAs I guess for the amount of pollution, but it seems to be very European, or so I-ve been told.

I think Montevideo would be a good option, less tourists, but possibly low pay.

[VenusGrotesque]