BE School | Interview with Kate Mackellar-Still
This week we caught up with our lovely friend Kate Mackellar-Still. Kate is probably one of our most-travelled friends, owing to her love of new places and the fact she runs an awesome travel company, Alternative Adventures. Kate is currently in La Paz, Bolivia - making friends with llamas!
BE: Hey Kate! It's great to hear about your adventures in Bolivia. Are you ready for some questions?
Kate: Absolutely!
BE: Okay, if you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?
Kate: I would love to be able to speak Russian so that my boyfriend's family didn't always have to speak English just because I'm there! I think it is really special to be able to communicate with someone in their mother tongue and I love learning new languages.
BE: Awesome. We are all about learning languages, as you know. We can't help you with your Russian yet! Where is your favourite place to go in Mexico City and why?
Kate: Alas, I have not yet been to Mexico City - it is top of my list of places to go next! I keep getting drawn back to South America but I really want to work my way up through Central America very soon! I've seen some amazing things in Bolivia, like cars getting blessed in Copacabana. Only one-in-ten people in Bolivia have a car and so, when they are lucky enough to get the opportunity to buy one, they drive it all the way to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca and have it blessed!
BE: What a great example of gratefulness! So, what is your definition of success?
Kate: My definition of success is to be happy and proud of your own achievements. Success means different things to a lot of people, but I think if you know how much work you have put in to something and how far you have come from the start and you are happy with that progress, then you are successful.
BE: Totally. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Kate: To be able to speak every language in the world! I've spent my whole life learning different languages and aiming to become fluent in them and I envy people who were born into bilingual families. The power to be able to communicate with anyone in the world would be amazing!
BE: Wow! You are all about languages - we love it! Continuing in that vein, why do you think it is important to be bilingual in Mexico City today?
Kate: Speaking multiple languages creates opportunities both personally and professionally and opens a whole new world to the bilingual speaker. From the opportunity to work abroad or with foreigners in the city, to being able to watch films in another language and learn about a different culture and way of thinking; being able to speak more than one language makes you stand out. Personally, I love the feeling of being able to communicate with someone in their own language. It drops barriers and creates more meaningful relationships and I think that now, more than ever, it is important to promote foreign language learning.
BE: Kate, it's been a pleasure!
Kate: Muchas gracias!