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Most Common Spanish Phrases For Travelers [Survive South America]

a landscape of peru countryside

Unlike the US schools, we do not have a Spanish course or learn any foreign language at schools in India, especially in the small town where I studied. I grew up studying Hindi, English, and Sanskrit. I took a French language course during college, but a few classes and a French certificate was the farthest my foreign language aptitude took me to. 

 When I landed in Chile to teach English, I couldn’t even speak a few simple Spanish words coherently. I started living with a Chilean host mother who took upon herself to teach me the common Spanish phrases and words so we could communicate. Thus began my struggle of learning to speak Spanish in Chile.

I didn’t know then that the Spanish language would become one of my favorites, and also my third language.

Without trying to be melodramatic, I promise that if you start speaking even the most basic Spanish travel phrases when you are backpacking in South America, you would fall in love with this language; for Spanish is a passionate dialect. Spanish words and phrases cover almost every emotion; some of the feelings that can be described eloquently in Spanish are strangled by the lack of words in other languages I speak.

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Malaysia eVisa for Indians – All You Need to Know

a plane flying over malaysia

Update 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan river. My guide to Malaysia e-visa for Indians is recommended, too.

When I traveled to Southeast Asia this year, I knew that I would visit Indonesia, but I didn’t know where I would go from there. I zoomed out of the Asia map and turned the globe around to understand which countries were green and gave a visa on arrival or an e-visa.

The closest country to Indonesia was Malaysia, and its green footprint on the map captured my attention. Also, I am always excited to visit the less-popular places, and Malaysia is one of them. If you are planning to visit Malaysia now, you are lucky as you will see it before the country is flooded with tourists. I went to Malaysia in October, and sometimes I was the only one in a room in the entire hotel or the only one camping amongst hundred empty tents.

When I first traveled to Malaysia in 2012 for two days, my friends and I drove in and out of the Malaysia-Singapore border five times due to some immigration problems. Back then I had applied for a Malaysia visa via an agent; in those days I was not so rigid about I-will-plan-all-my-travel-myself.

This year when I googled about Malaysia visa, I found out that Malaysia now gives an eVisa to Indians which is valid for three months, and you can travel within Malaysia for thirty days on that eVisa.

Happy as a girl who had just discovered ice cream, I applied for the eVisa for Malaysia within a few hours. The next day my visa was approved.

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Myths About Nomadic Life I Shouldn’t Break

pretty-me-eating-malaysian-street-food.jpg

I haven’t gone out of my friend’s home, where I sit and write here in Bangalore, for three days, apart from a small walk that I did to the grocery store because I wanted to eat something better than lifeless noodles with invisible vegetables. Ironically, today I am writing about 100 days of my nomadic life.

I thought that being nomadic means staying on the road 24×7, and maybe, you feel that way, too. I will get to that, but first, let us go back in time to understand how my digital nomad journey started.

I chose this life for I wanted to be location independent. I wanted to be able to travel whenever I yearned to see a new place or live in a jungle where I could only hear the crickets whistle and the leaves rustle instead of the incessant blasting traffic of Bangalore or any other metropolitan. But having a rented apartment was sort of becoming a hindrance to free movement and adding up costs without adding any value, apart from providing me with a quiet writing space with a balcony.

I thought I better spend the money which I paid for the apartment where people shut doors on each other as if they were enemies on gorgeous Airbnb’s or friendly home stays or rustic hotels in the hidden corners of the world. At least I would explore, meet interesting people and have some meaningful conversations, and live life at my own pace.

So I gave up my room in the Bangalore flat and packed my bags to wander freely while working online. The whole idea was to move slowly; I have never found any joy in visiting a place for a weekend or two days and then leaving it, while I didn’t even know what lay in my backyard though I saw all the famous attractions of that destination. And while exploring the world one place at a time, I could afford the lifestyle of a digital nomad because of my writing portfolio.

But I have come to realize that not having a permanent location is not about traveling all the time. It is about moving with a choice.

This nomadic life has put up all sorts of choices in front of me and let me be honest with how I feel about them.

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Teach English in Chile–All About English Open Doors Volunteer Program

english open doors camp in santiago with my students volunteering in chile

Covid-Related Travel Update, Jan 2024: Chile is open to international tourists. Visit the Chilean government’s official website for travel-related information and regulations. Don’t forget to read the government’s rules to be followed in public spaces here. My guide to Chile visa would be helpful for Indian citizens.

What does this Teach English in Chile guide contain?

  1. What is the English Open Doors Program?
  2. What is the duration of the English Open Doors program?
  3. Who can apply to the English Open Doors program?
  4. What is the application process?
  5. But English Open Doors is a volunteer program. How well-organized would it be?
  6. Do I have to pay to volunteer for the English Open Doors program?
  7. Does the program pay the volunteers to teach English in Chile?
  8. What all does the English Open doors program provide?
  9. Which visa do I have to take to teach English in Chile?
  10. Do I need to know any Spanish if I travel to Chile?
  11. Which grades does a volunteer teach?
  12. Would the program train me to teach English in Chile?
  13. What is the English level of the students whom the volunteers would teach in Chile?
  14. How did a regular week of teaching English in Chile look like?
  15. Is teaching English to Latin-American students hard? How was your teaching experience in Chile?
  16. How was your living experience in Chile?
  17. Do you think your classes helped the students or made any impact?
  18. What do I do when the English Open Doors program finishes?
  19. Would you recommend the English Open Doors program and teaching English in Chile?
  20. I am still not convinced if the English Open Doors program is good?
  21. How do I contact the English Open Doors program?

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मेरी और आपकी महफ़िल

मैं : तुम से पागल को मिल के कुछ यूँ लगता है सनम ; यूँ खुद से गुफ्तगू , हम यूँ ही कर रहे थे | आप: खुद को पागल तो कह दिया तुमने यूँ ; पर कैसे बंया करे , कि तुम्हारी हर गुफ्तगू में हम शरीक थे| मैं:  क़ायल यूँ तुझ पे, ऐसे …

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हमें तो अपना नाम कुछ पन्नो पर छोड़ जाने की इच्छा है!

कहानिया और क़िस्से तो बहोत सुने, पर अब ख़ुद के बनाने की इच्छा है, दूसरे कवियों के शब्दों के साथ तो मैं बहोत उड़ी, पर अब औरों को उड़ाने की इच्छा है, वक़्त के साथ खिलवाड़ तो बहोत किया, पर अब उसको सर-आँखो पर बिठाने की इच्छा है, हम करेंगे, हम करेंगे, हम करेंगे, ये कहते-कहते …

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खाली पन्ने

बहोत कापियों के पन्ने भरे है तुम्हारी मोहब्बत में, कविताएँ, कहानिया, किस्से, गाने,  जाने क्या-क्या नहीं लिख डाला, तब तो सनम तुमने कदर न की,  अब जब खाली ही पन्ने पढोगे तब याद आएँगे हम तुम्हें !

एक घर

घर बसाना चाहती हूँ एक तुम्हारे साथ छोटा सा, दूर उस नदी के पार,  क्यारियों में लाल गुलाब लगायेगे,  उस नीम के पेड़ पर झूला डलवाएगे,  दीवारों पर तुम्हारी मेरी तस्वीरें लगायेगे, तस्वीरो से झांकती हुई हंसी में खिलखिलाएगे,  चिड़िया मैना के लिए एक छोटी सी मटकी टाँगेगे, बच्चे जब निकलेगे उनके, उन्हें फुर-फुर उड़ाएँगे,  …

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रुखसत

जब  भी मैं देखती हूँ खुद को आईने में, ऐसा क्यूँ लगता है कि कुछ अधूरा है, क्या है कुछ समझ नहीं आता, प्रतिबिम्ब भी मेरा कुछ नहीं बतलाता दूर तुमने किया है, समझाया भी है बहोत मुझे, काश तुम समझ पाते, ऐसे नहीं समझायी जाती ये बातें रुखसत किया जो जीवन से एक बार, …

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ये कैसा जीवनसाथी मिला है

ये कैसा जीवनसाथी मिला है, जिसके बारे में सोच कर, मन को इतना सुकून मिलता है, हमने तो उलटा ही देखा था अक्सर, लोग अपने पति और प्रेमी से बच–बच कर भागते है,  और वो तो कीचड़ से लथपथ सड़क पर हमारे पैरों की धूल पत्ते तोड़ कर उनसे रगड़–रगड़ कर साफ़ करता है, हमारे नाख़ून घिसना …

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Learning Spanish in Chile–A Mind-Numbing Experience

ubiquotous graffitis in valparaiso in chile.jpeg

Covid-Related Travel Update, Jan 2024: Chile is open to international tourists. Visit the Chile government’s official website for travel-related information and regulations. Don’t forget to read the government’s rules to be followed in public spaces here.

I went to Chile in July 2016 to teach English in a state school. I’m not a trained teacher, but I was volunteering as part of the English Open Doors Program, an initiative of the Chilean government.

All my friends, family, relatives, and acquaintances asked me what made me go to Chile. I told them I didn’t think much. They asked me if I could speak Spanish; I replied I would learn Spanish in Chile.

My family concluded my idea to travel to South America was an immature escape as the journey would leave me all alone and financially unstable. I was sucked into a whirlpool of emotional hurdles stirred by my loved ones who asserted they cared.

I was fired. I had just ended a two-year relationship I believed was my long-lasting love. The Titanic sank. I was going to be twenty-nine soon. Friends were getting married. Babies were being born. I did not know anyone in Chile. I did not speak Spanish.

Before I left, an uneasy feeling lingered in my stomach. Like the one that makes you shuffle through your pockets when you walk out of your home. Later I understood I was scared: of being alone, of unknowns, and of not knowing Spanish.

I did not know that in a couple of months I would learn the foreign language and speak it fluently.

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Chile Visa for Indians [From India and South America]

dunes in atacama desert chile

Covid-Related Travel Update, Jan 2024: Chile is open to international tourists. Visit the Chilean government’s official website for travel-related information and regulations. Don’t forget to read the government’s rules to be followed in public spaces here. My guide to traveling around South America is also a must.

Chile gives free ninety-day entry to most of the countries. But, of course, India doesn’t get free access, and we have to apply for a Chile visa. I was once stuck on the Chile-Bolivia border because I didn’t have any tourist visa for Chile as I had thought that India was also in the list of those fortunate countries. How wrong I was! 

Having paid more than what I should have for this mistake, I decided I would be more sincere while doing visa research and would also help other travelers by updating them with my knowledge on the world visas.


[Update 2019] : Since April 1 2019, Chile allows all Indians holding a valid US visa into Chile. So if you have a valid US visa, you don’t have to apply for a tourist visa. 

Please read the official message of the Consulate of Chile:

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