It’s next to impossible and the challenges are close to insurmountable.  That’s the impression websites give as they try to sell their services.  People say the same thing in blogs.  To land an English teaching job in Chile, you are told the best way is to enter the country on a tourist visa, get a job, and then obtain a work visa.  For an exorbitant fee some companies will place you in a teaching position.  I was ready and willing to go the route of entering Chile as a tourist and then getting a job but Raeski is a bit more cautious and liked the idea of having jobs before we arrived so we gave one of those placement companies a try.

Of all the temperate places in Chile, Santiago is our last choice.  Our preference is to live where the air is clear and people are more social.  With 12 million people, Santiago doesn’t pass the air quality test.  So of course this is where we were offered jobs at different universities.  We accepted the jobs simply because they got us into the country on work visas.  We would fulfill the contract, learn how things really work, and next year move to a different city.  All was well in Wooly and Raeski land until my job offer was rescinded.  Since Santiago wasn’t our optimal destination we decided not to take Raeski’s offer.

Because we don’t allow failure to stand in the way of success, we decided to take the impossible route of sending out resumes and hoping for call backs.  And it worked!  Both of us have been hired as English teachers at the Chilean Naval Academy in Valparaiso, Chile.  Not only did we get jobs in a much smaller and cleaner coastal city, the jobs are in the same building.

Sometimes saying no to the impossible works!