Chano Calderon

Story

We left our country early in the seventies, with a baggage full of hope and a mixture of enthusiasm and apprehension.

We left our country, our families, our friends, our way of life for a new country, of which we knew very little, let alone language comprehension.

We left our country each of us with our own and diverse reasons, we were young and determined, eager to fulfil our expectationsÉ

I left Chile on a cold day of April. Eight hours later at 4.30 pm, local time, and in a temperature of some 33 degrees Celsius, the Boeing 707 landed on Papeete, Tahiti. As I step down the ladder and onto the tarmac, I remember scantly dressed Tahitians trying to put a ring of flowers around my neck, while I am wearing a very heavy overcoat, neck scarf and even leather gloves! I also remember that no one speaks Spanish anymore, it\’s either English or FrenchÉ..

Red roofs! From the air as we approach for landing into Sydney, we could see that every house had a red roof, we could see the traffic\’s going on the wrong side of the road, but for some reason, we failed to see any kangaroos grazing merrily besides the runway….

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