Script:
WOMAN: I’ve been reading your personal statement, Paul. First, let’s talk about your work experience in South America. What took you there? Was it to gain more fluency in Spanish?
PAUL: Well, as I’m combining Spanish with Latin American studies, my main idea was to find out more about the way people lived there. My spoken Spanish was already pretty good in fact.
WOMAN: So you weren’t too worried about language barriers?
PAUL: No. In fact, I ended up teaching English there, although that wasn’t my original choice of work.
WOMAN: I see. How did you find out about all this?
PAUL: I found an agency that runs all kinds of voluntary projects in South America.
WOMAN: What kind of work?
PAUL: Well, there were several possibilities.
WOMAN: You mean construction? Engineering work?
PAUL: Yes, getting involved in building projects was an option. Then there was tourism - taking tourists for walks around the volcanoes - which I actually chose to do, and then there was work with local farmers.
WOMAN: But you didn’t continue with that project. Why not?
PAUL: Because I never really knew whether I’d be needed or not. I’d thought it might be difficult physically, but I was certainly fit enough ... no, I wanted to do something that had more of a proper structure to it, I suppose. I get de-motivated otherwise.
WOMAN: What do you think you learned from your experience? It must have been a great opportunity to examine community life.
PAUL: Yes, but it was difficult at first to be accepted by the locals. It was a very remote village and some of them were reluctant to speak to me - although they were always interested in my clothes and how much I’d had to pay for them.
WOMAN: Well, that’s understandable.
PAUL: Yes, but things soon improved. What struck me was that when people became more comfortable with me and less suspicious, we really connected with each other in a meaningful way.
WOMAN: You made good friends?
PAUL: Yes, with two of the families in particular.
WOMAN: Good. What about management. Did you have a project manager?
PAUL: Yes and he gave me lots of advice and guidance.
WOMAN: And was he good at managing too?
PAUL: That wasn’t his strong point! I think he was often more interested in the academic side of things than filing reports. He was a bit of a dreamer.
WOMAN: And did you have a contract?
PAUL: I had to stay for a minimum of three months. My parents were surprised when I asked to stay longer - six months in the end. I was so happy there.
WOMAN: And did anything on the administration side of things surprise you? What was the food and lodging like?
PAUL: Simple ... but there was plenty to eat and I only paid seven dollars a day for that which was amazing really. And they gave me all the equipment I needed ... even a laptop.
WOMAN: You didn’t expect that then?
PAUL: No.
WOMAN: Well, I’ll look forward to hearing more.
Choose the correct answer about “Latin American studies”