Leaving Australia...
They call the trip from Sydney to Santiago the timeless flight. It's a fourteen hour trip and you arrive in Santiago four hours before you leave (Australia)...
For me, this 'timeless trip' was the flight that brought me into a completely new world; a world where views on politics mean life or death, 70% of the population live under the poverty line and where "Hasta luego" isn't merely something you'd hear on a late night SBS film but the local lingo.
Throughout the flight I was sitting directly behind a Chilean family of four.
Their ranting on in Spanish made me nervous and sent a wave of uncertainty through my mind. Had I made the right choice to come to a foreign land where I knew little about the language and culture?
Was going from a first world country straight into the dangers of a third world country too much for any eighteen year old to handle?
I didn't want to have to answer these questions so I focused my attention towards the one of the on-flight entertainment screens showing 'Kath and Kim'. I tried to savour the images as they passed before my eyes as i knew that they could well be the last slice of Australia i'd get for six long months.
When we touched down in Santiago I felt like a child leaving his mother for his first day a school. One side of me was excited for the experiences ahead whilst the other side was reluctant to leave the warmth and familiar behind. As I sat in the waiting lounge I pondered "Was this 'timeless flight' going to bring me many good times ahead?"
Until Next Time,
Jesse Doyle - International volunteer
Website: www.BlogTheEvent.com
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