Your exact working hours will be set by your host family. These hours may vary from week to week. Sometimes your help is rather required in the mornings, and sometimes in the afternoons when the children come home from school. It might be also necessary that you take care of the children in the evenings or during the weekends.
In general, you will work between 30 to 40 hours per week. You will be granted with at least one free day and four free evenings per week. You will have one paid vacation day for each month working as an Au-Pair. If you are interested in participating in the program for longer than 8 months, you will accrue 2 paid vacation days per month from the 8th month onwards. Additionally, you do not have to work on national holidays, such as Christmas or Independence Day. However, if you are requested to do so, you will be compensated with an additional free day.
As you can see, you will have plenty of time to learn more about the country outside of your host family. You will also have the opportunity to meet new friends and maybe even go on a short trip to other parts of Chile or South America. For longer trips (>10 days), we recommend to plan the dates in advance and in coordination with your host family.
Talking to your host family about your travel plans can be very helpful. They might give you helpful information about the places you are planning to visit, so you can make the most of the trip.