Bom dia from Manaus, Brazil! I am thrilled to join this impressive group of cosmopolitan do-gooders. I look forward to sharing ideas with y’all. For the past six months, I’ve observed Northern Brazil’s work culture, the importance of family, regional differences within Brazil, race relati[...]
Archive for the ‘Careers’ Category
Machismo Madness: Workplace Woes
For the month of July, La Vida Idealist has asked bloggers to write about their experiences with machismo. This is the sixth post in that series. I really lucked out with my English teaching job in Lima- my workplace had a modern culture, and many of my students were great people with interesting co[...]
Migration, Microloans, and the Journey of a Kiva Fellow
On Monday morning, long before the sun rose on Quito, Fundación Alternativa’s Business Manager, two Loan Officers and I embarked on an all-day journey to remote Chunchi, Ecuador. After the promised “three-and-a-half hour drive, at the most,” we arrived at our final destination another five ho[...]
Now I’m Ready to Start: Five Tips for Volunteering Abroad
People volunteer for all sorts of reason; gap years, retirement, career development and oh yeah…. to help others! While it may seem strange to submit resumes and application forms to essentially work for free, if your ultimate goal is to work for an international NGO, you should be prepared [...]
Back in the Land of the Incas!
Hi, I’m Fran Talavera, one of the new bloggers for La Vida Idealist. I first came to Latin America in 2002 when I spent three months in Costa Rica and Panama and from then on was hooked! Most of my time since then (when not in the UK) has been spent in South America. I spent [...][...]
Still Working for Codelco
A month ago, I was looking for work in Rancagua, Chile, for romantic reasons, when I found a plain looking advertisement in a job website. It was a job teaching English for nine months, at a good salary, with free board, and a bonus if I complete the time. A good deal, even though it [...][...]
Rimaykullayki!
I'm a British writer-educator who's come straight from Manhattan to provincial Peru. But, as I found out, there’s nothing like hopping one-legged through a crowd of bemused Peruvians to keep you grounded. So take off a shoe and hop along with me, as we take a look at teaching and learning off the [...]
Teaching English to Build Bridges
Yesterday was the first day in a long time that my job felt truly perfunctory. I teach a variety of English classes, all to white-collar professionals here in Lima. At the end of each month I give exams to my Langrow Institute groups, which means I spend a lot of hours simply watching people take [.[...]
An English Teacher’s Connections
English teachers learn that earning a living as an EFL teacher is challenging. But there is another option. Many EFL teachers use their skills to teach private classes. I know a few teachers who have gotten very lucky, and were able to lock down enough private students to earn a descent amount. The [...]
Goodbye, Uruguay (for now)
About a year and a half ago, I visited a friend in New York who works for a hedge fund. “And what do you do?” her friends asked me, as we lazed in Central Park. The answer – volunteer programs management at an NGO – elicited a quite surprising amount of admiration, albeit tinged with schaden[...]
