By DandyLion
The volunteer work I did over the course of the Fall 2013 semester was perhaps the most rewarding experience of my entire first six months abroad. I did so much at La Bicicleta Verde - from getting to know the company, I learned about the city inside and out, which taught me more than I am sure I am still aware of. I know so much about Santiago from the tours that I gave and observed during my time at LBV, and I couldn't be more grateful to have learned it all - especially considering Santiago, Chile is a place I would be absolutely willing to move back to, and in fact am for the Spring 2014 semester! I worked in the office as well, doing research for the company, as well as scheduling, emailing and other various office tasks. During my time, I also was given the opportunity to walk the city by foot, going from hotel to hotel, maintaining our good relationships with the local lodging facilities in efforts to encourage them to send tourists our way.
The major challenges I faced were initially the language barrier, which was quickly overcome due to time and practice, and the lack of information, which was superseded by the same methodology. I am extremely proud of my now fluent understanding and grasp of the Spanish language - but more so than Spanish, than what is practically known as the Chilean dialect, which is extraordinarily difficult to comprehend and communicate in. They say that if you can speak Chilean, you can speak any time of Spanish - and I now speak Chilean!
I absolutely feel like I made a difference in my community. Apart from the good relationships maintained with other local businesses, office work in helping the small tour company to stay on its feet without excessive expenditures, and green tourism, I felt as though I was able to perpetuate a positive view of Santiago, Chile to the tourists of the rest of the world who came to visit, which I am especially proud of as I believe that many US Americans do not have a particularly fond view of Chile and perhaps other Latin American countries due to unknown reasons, stereotypical or otherwise. This enhanced my time abroad exponentially; it gave me a very real reason to feel happy and helpful in my community, and the people who I worked with were phenomenal. It was wonderful to go to work.
Now that I am done with my Fall 2014 study abroad program in Chile, I plan to continue it going into the next semester! I had such an outstanding time that I decided to prolong my graduation and spend a bit more time in the city that stole my heart. If I don't choose to continue at LBV, I may consider more strongly teaching English as another volunteer opportunity, which has proven to quite a few of my acquaintances to be rather rewarding itself. When I come back to GWU within the next year, we can only wait and see what happens, but if I can find a way to do green tourism there, I would be delighted! ¡Hasta luego, gracias y ciao!