... Dave's ESL Cafe

I've been lost in Dave's virtual ESL cafe for the last several hours, researching my trip down South. I don't think I've mentioned this yet here, but about halfway through my trip to Guatemala I resolved to move to South America for a year or two to teach English and travel. This was really half the reason I went to Guatemala in the first place - to see if this taste of travel would make me want more - and if so, how much? The answer was a big "YES PLEASE" and as for exactly how much... well I'll figure that out once I'm down there.

So I'm very grateful that there are resources out there like Dave's ESL Cafe, but at the same time, they can suck you in for hours and leave you with many more questions than answers. Between DESLC and a new list of blogs about Chile that I found, I will likely be up reading for the entire night!

My goal is to try to resolve at least two things: which country will I teach in, and which certification will I get? Up to this point I've been focused in on Chile, but now I'm questioning if it's really the right spot for me. Valparaiso is apparently 'seedy,' Santiago is choked with smog, and the Chilean accent can be difficult to decipher. But teacher demand is high, the country is safe and not corrupt, and pay is supposed to be good. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Colombia is notoriously notorious, but also gorgeous and seductive, with clearly spoken Spanish. I was looking at my friend's pics from his travels down there and it just looks so beautiful and like quintessential SoAm (but I'm pretty sure I'd put my parents into their graves if I went there, and I too would have safety concerns). Ecuador & Argentina are also possibilities... Ecuador being slightly more attractive because it's not as gringonized, and Argentina being slightly more attractive because it is more gringonized.

You get the picture... I could go in many directions at this point, and I'm having a hard time narrowing things down based on all the info from books, strangers on discussion boards, and my Travel Channel buddies Samantha, Tony & Andrew. But really, I shouldn't be complaining. I'm lucky that there's a wealth of information out there, I just need to wade through it a bit more!