One of the places in Chile that Footprints places teachers is Calama, a friendly northern town seemingly in the middle of nowhere. That being said, many teacher absolutely adore the town and the opportunity to teach there. You need to be prepared and you need to know what to expect or at least what not to expect so you can determine if this is the place for you.
A Footprints teacher, Simon, who is living and teaching in Calama writes to say, "Calama is cool, I like it so far although some of the teacher's don't speak all that highly about it. But then there are others that say that there's some good and some bad. That's how I see it right now: I mean, there aren't any beautiful beaches or anything but it's quaint and people take their time while driving. I like that about this place. The weather is good, nice and warm in the day and dry so you don't sweat, and cool in the evening. I just wear a toque, a thin fleece and a sleeveless down jacket. That keeps me more than comfortable."
The teaching opportunity in Calama involves teaching adults and for the most part it is one-on-one classes so you can really focus on the troubles each student is facing but this also means there is a lot of planning and specific preparation.
In terms of living in Calama, the teacher housing is in a great location a short walk from the school and downtown Calama. Although the cost of living is generally fairly cheap in Chile, things cost a little bit more in Calama due to the fact that everything has to be imported in. Simon mentioned that he would spend around $50/week on food.
As a note, Calama is at 2400m or 7900ft above sea level so it could take some getting used to for those coming from places closer to sea level. Shortly after a Footprints teacher arrive in Calama we got a message saying, "the elevation takes time to get used to. I felt heavy and short of breath the first couple days, but I'm ok now. I worked out today at a park and my workout was considerably harder than usual. I'm sure that when I go back down to sea level, I'll be super human :)"... hopefully that's the case for all our teachers who head to Calama!
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