Craig and Mary Noke, Volunteers in Chile

United Planet Teaching Quest
  • "I don't believe international travel should be about seeing the sights while your tour group is herded around like cattle. Living and laughing with a local family while almost experiencing what the locals experience is the only way to travel. We look forward to showing pictures but what we really enjoy is sharing what we learned, what we talked about, telling all the wonderful stories. Travel for us is about making friends that we'll stay in touch with - and the Quest succeeded."--Nokes
Craig and Mary Noke, a retired couple from California, flew into Santiago after four days of sightseeing in Peru, including  Machu Picchu.  Their three week teaching assistant/CAP quest in Chile included two weeks in Santiago and their final week in Viña del Mar.
 
In Santiago they quickly felt “at home” in the large, comfortable apartment of Maggie Diaz, a gregarious, warm-hearted widow.
 
In Viña del Mar they were welcomed into the home of a couple of engaging journalists, Karen and Marcelo, and their three young children. The fact that Karen is Maggie’s niece made their homestay transition easy.
 
The logistics were also easy as UP’s coordinator took them to the Santiago bus station and two hours later Karen was waiting for them at the  Viña del Mar bus station.
 
During  their first week, Craig and Mary made CAP talks to engineering students in business English classes at Universidad de los Andes, as well as to a group of seniors at a community center.
 
Their second week was spent helping Chilean English teachers at a girls school (grades one to twelve) in a section of Santiago known as La Florida.
 
One day they developed a special presentation on different kinds of music which was very well received by their students.
 
Another day they were invited to make CAP talks at one of Chile’s top private schools, and finished that day by giving a presentation before the school’s 90 teachers.
 
On the weekend, they took an all-day bus tour high up into the Andes Mountains, to El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine, and Sewell, an abandoned mining town.
 
Craig later commented that, as a fan of processes, he especially enjoyed watching how a huge rock crusher operated inside the mine.
 
Another day the UP coordinator took them on a walking tour of historic downtown Santiago that included such landmarks as the Plaza de las Armas, the Cathedral, Santiago’s Stock Market, and the Moneda.
 
During their last week the Nokes gave talks to English classes at a technical college of 5,000 students in Viña del Mar. They later commented that they could not believe how warmly they had been welcomed by the teachers there. They also spent an enjoyable day touring the Port of Valparaiso with its picturesque hills, and visiting the home of Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.
 
The day before leaving Chile, they sat down with the UP coordinator to explain why they considered their Chile quest such a fantastic experience. They loved both their homestay families. They had received a warm welcome by the Chilean English teachers at all the schools they visited.
 
They enjoyed their classes with both high school and university students, especially the interest shown by students in their CAP presentations. They liked answering the students' sometimes unexpected questions.
 
Their advice to future volunteers was simple and along those same lines.  They say you have to learn to expect the unexpected. They are also convinced that sharing their life experiences, as they did for three weeks with Chilean students and the new Chilean friends they made, was valuable for everyone.
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