Post by Gregory Grove on Jun 10, 2010 10:08:17 GMT -5
I was at ILC quite a few years ago, even before Vanessa was there and she had met her husband Fidel – they run the school together now. So my experience is quite outdated but I can tell you what I did.
Cultural experience and Spanish language emersion, you’ll definitely get. Chachapoyas is fairly remote and doesn’t see very many tourists at all, (you wander through the square and will get a fright to see another traveller!) This means that there is plenty of Spanish to be spoken and everyone is super friendly. I was there by myself and felt very safe. I lived with Fidel and his mum who were nothing but super lovely and took me on a few outings. My students and their families took me on outings too.
In terms of secluded, it’s a solid few hours on a bus ride from the coast – for memory something like 6-8hrs? There is heaps of internet available though and plenty of little trips to be done around Chachapoyas, although you definitely won’t be just popping down to Lima or to the south where all the tourist destinations are for a weekend – you’d need more like a week to make it worthwhile just because the buses are so slow.
Yes, I taught English. The school was just starting when I was there. I had lessons plans and stuck to them but also taught additional things, or taught things differently. I also tutored in the evenings if students wanted additional lessons.
My favourite part was definitely Fidel’s mum and living in a remote area. I travelled there via the Ecuador border which not many people cross so it was pretty amazing.
Do you speak Spanish already? My advice would be to study for a few weeks at least if you don’t, somewhere in Peru – before landing in Chachapoyas.
[NB, Rosita was the Chacha nickname of Bridi Rice, but she asked not to have her full name on the web]
Cultural experience and Spanish language emersion, you’ll definitely get. Chachapoyas is fairly remote and doesn’t see very many tourists at all, (you wander through the square and will get a fright to see another traveller!) This means that there is plenty of Spanish to be spoken and everyone is super friendly. I was there by myself and felt very safe. I lived with Fidel and his mum who were nothing but super lovely and took me on a few outings. My students and their families took me on outings too.
In terms of secluded, it’s a solid few hours on a bus ride from the coast – for memory something like 6-8hrs? There is heaps of internet available though and plenty of little trips to be done around Chachapoyas, although you definitely won’t be just popping down to Lima or to the south where all the tourist destinations are for a weekend – you’d need more like a week to make it worthwhile just because the buses are so slow.
Yes, I taught English. The school was just starting when I was there. I had lessons plans and stuck to them but also taught additional things, or taught things differently. I also tutored in the evenings if students wanted additional lessons.
My favourite part was definitely Fidel’s mum and living in a remote area. I travelled there via the Ecuador border which not many people cross so it was pretty amazing.
Do you speak Spanish already? My advice would be to study for a few weeks at least if you don’t, somewhere in Peru – before landing in Chachapoyas.
[NB, Rosita was the Chacha nickname of Bridi Rice, but she asked not to have her full name on the web]