CIEE is a wonderful program that works hard to make sure every participant feels satisfied with their experience and become true global navigators. The staff members were as eager and excited as the students and CIEE did a really good job of matching students with their home families. I personally fell in love with my home stay family and I plan to visit frequently in the future. In addition, I made amazing friends that live throughout the United States and we are in contact till this day. CIEE not only makes sure that it's participants feel safe and comfortable throughout their trip, but they also make sure participants experience a diverse set of activities, all which help them understand the culture of Chile. My experience was amazing and I felt like I was part of a new family.

This program brought some of the best weeks of my life.
I was deeply well prepared by an educational program CIEE has you take before attending the program and got to know the people in my group really well.
There was a great balance between volunteer work time, tourist activities, and social time planned for each us all.
My host family was very kind, the maid always helped clean our rooms so that made life 10X better, and we always had breakfast, lunch, and dinner prepared it was always beyond delicious.
We would usually spend the morning in service, and then do something related to tourism or exploring the area in the afternoon, or take Spanish classes.
We went to a local school to play sports with kids, and really just have fun with them. It was really interesting to see differences in countries with the school system.
The best part of the trip was the three - day excursion where we went to kind of a resort like area and we had our own cabin rooms that were super beautiful. We had little waterfall pools by us all and there were horses everywhere! We got to go hiking, and see an area that Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed at. We got to help plant trees and chill at the beautiful beach. I remember going to places with little mini tiki huts, and hammocks, it was absolutely beautiful.
The trip was so fun, helping the kids out and playing with them was beyond an adventure, and I remember how I learned so much more about the world just by being in a different country. It was an absolute gift and an experience I'll never forget.
If you're looking to volunteer, grow, learn more about the world, life, and meet incredible people looking for more experiences, I 10/10 reccomend.
This was an amazing experience in my life that I am beyond grateful for, and I hope that you get to experience this too.
Post program, I was more driven to travel in the future because I now know how beautiful, fun, and fulfilling it can be. I now value a lot of things that are in the US that many countries don't have like AC in most buildings, and clean drinking water.
Some useful tips if you decide to go
1) Don't come in with expectations and be prepared for a whole different way of living
2) Sometimes the showers only have cold water
3) Their are A LOT of bugs in Santo Domingo
4) Be prepared to be around people a lot and try your best to socialize to have a fuller experience
5) If you try everything, you won't regret it! You have to get out of your comfort zone or else you're not going to be truly happy
6) Things on this trip WILL NOT GO perfect. If you complain, you'll only make it worse. If you accept it, and do what you can about the situation than life will be 10X better for you
7) Allow yourself to have more fun on this trip!!

This was a delightful summer to grow and improve my knowledge in Leadership. All lessons were led by professional lecturers and there was a lot of practical tasks. For example, we had to work with Portland baseball team, analyze their image and make suggestions to improve the game experience. There was enough support provided to ensure quality work and fun experience. The facilities were amazing with locally cooked buffet meals, gym, beautiful Maine scenery. Overall, it was one of the best summers I had had.

During my time in Santiago, Dominican Republic was AMAZING. I grew so much from there, not only did the children I mentored learned something from me but I always learned something from them. I took what I learned and applied it to my everyday life. Having GREAT program leaders also contributed to my trip, there was never a dull moment while with then and I felt quite comfortable with them and the people who travel with me were great, I still keep in contact with them and soon will visit them. While study Abroad, I got the chance to volunteer, learn about the culture and language, interact with the citizen and travel on excursions! One of the best parts that made feel right at home was staying with an host family, scared right? The total opposite, my host family was so welcoming I felt right at home, we cooked together, watched tv togther, and ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner togther, which gave me the tile to get to know them! I don’t think I would ever chose a difference program other than CIEE to travel abroad with, I felt really safe and the experience was GREAT!

My experience was unique because of the people I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending. Some advice I'd have for future participants is to prepare for your host family experiences more. This has impacted my life post-program by giving me new connections across the country and across the globe and by influencing my choice in major (I've chosen Environmental Analysis) in college. My favorite memories are at the campsites with my friends. It was a really great group of people because everyone is passionate about the focus of the trip, conservation/ecology and are adventurous and excited. Some more specific memories are going to the mall with my host family, early morning safaris and exploring with my friends.

The people and the location was amazing, and I truly enjoyed my stay during my 3 weeks. The staff was amazing and always willing to help us out in any situation. I would recommend that a simple understanding of Portuguese should be done in order to not feel isolated or confused. But many people in Lisbon are willing to help you out! The region has amazing weather and plenty of things to do while I was present.

By offering me a scholarship and a guaranteed safe trip, CIEE was able to give me my first ever travel experience. Other than flying on an airplane for the first time, the trip gave me a new sense of confidence and self worth that I will forever cherish. I could not be happier with my trip to Portugal as I had an incredible time and made life long freinds. I highly recommend this trip to anyone thinking about traveling as it changed my life and will change yours as well.

My experience in Chile with CIEE was one of the best I have ever had in my life, and I think about it almost every day. Not only did I learn lots of new Spanish communication skills, but I also developed a very strong bond with my host family. We got very close over the course of the program and are still in touch today. I was excited to wake up every day while abroad and there was never a dull moment.