What is Chile like - especially for foreigners?

Question

I'd love to go there, maybe volunteer in an orphanage or something sometime - living in the poorer areas, and near/in cities.

I also want to eventually adopt some children internationally - from Latin America, I think (I already know some Spanish, and what I know about Spanish and Latin America, I love). In New Zealand the only Latin American country we can adopt from is Chile (and that has only been an option this year!). So Chile is really important to me.

I'd love to know about your experiences, visiting Chile. What advice do you have to other travellers?

What Spanish phrases were really useful for you to know when you went to Chile/Latin America?

I'm from New Zealand, so I'm a long way from Latin America, and I've never been there (or to the U.S.A or Canada), and I don't know any Latin American people living in New Zealand.

Answer 1

It is such a nice country, im going their in december and have been their 8 times before, possible my favorite country. The culterale experiance is great, and the treat foriengers like their own, but they assume we have more money.

Answer 2

Hi there, I also live in NZ and my family come from Chile. Chile is a well developed country, in my opinion Santiago is more developed than Auckland city.

On the orphanage side I don't really know much about it sorry. I'd say the more further away from the city you get the towns look older.

Advice I have to other travellers is that during the summer it gets pretty hot, so wear light clothing also when using public transport, which is probably the best method of getting around. Try and obtain a Bip! card which is a prepaid transport card which allows you to get on the Metro and buses. Also every commune have collective taxis where a taxi makes a trip to a certain destination and random people chip in with money to get to that destination at the cost of 400 pesos, around $1.50-$2.00NZ. Also with the bus and metro services in Santiago expect a long wait due to the restructuring of bus timetables and the amount of people that use public transport.

When purchasing at stores they will ask you either "effectivo" or "tarjeta" Effectivo = cash, and tarjeta= card. This was a problem that I had when didn't understand what effectivo meant. Also expect to tip for meals and super market bag packers. Maybe 10%.

Expect to eat alot in Chile as the food is delicious, especially completos, and lomitos.

I recommend that you purchase a Lonely Planet guide of Chile and this will give you heaps of info. I think either Borders or Whitchools they sell it for $30-$50.

Answer 3

Been there 7 times, beautiful country (especially the south) and there are thousands of chileans living in Sydney, which is not precisely New Zealand but I would say quite close! Chileans have strong ties with Autralians and NZealanders as many immigrated there during the military era.