Costa Rica Internships — Global Skills & Knowledge!

I spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica learning about the culture and people while teaching at an English immersion school. The partnership between Maximo Nivel and the school was incredible! They provided me with the chance to work directly with Costa Rican students and the experience was life changing. My 7th and 8th graders were sweet, and taught me just as much as I taught them. Everyone here in Costa Rica has been welcoming, kind and always willing to help.

Maximo helped our group set up excursions to explore Costa Rica, so I visited Arenal Volcano, explored Tortuga Island, the beaches of Manuel Antonio, and much more! I highly recommed this experience and program for anyone and hope to come back again someday!

I stayed in Costa Rica for 2 weeks and volunteered with Maximo in the special needs project. The special needs project is located at casa esperanza. This was a very rewarding experience due to the fact that I was able to develop a close relationship with the adults. I could tell how much they appreciated having us there. If you are working in this project, I reccommend having some sort of game `plan for the time that you are there so that you can make the most of it. They love playing bingo, so make sure to never skip that as part of your schedule. Some things you can try is cognitive games such as matching, addition, and patterns. Overall great experience! Really enjoyed my time here!

Pura Vida!!!

The special needs project at Casa Esperanza is an incredible experience. The residents really enjoyed our company and we enjoyed theirs. Everyone loves to play bingo, and we spent the first hour or so everyday playing BINGO because it is their favorite activity. In addition to BINGO, they all love to color. We made a matching game with different shapes that they really enjoyed and we also did basic addition with some of them. They were always so excited to us, and sad to see us leave. Overall, the special needs project is a really rewarding opportunity and I would recommend it to everyone! I wish I had longer than two weeks with the residents, but the two weeks that I had with them were two of my favorite weeks in Costa Rica!

Maximo staff were amazing with my young teenage daughter and her friend. They were enthusiastic, helpful, encouraging, organized, accommodating. They made this an unforgettable experience for all of us. Anything we needed was taken care of. The Spanish lessons were the best I have ever taken. We were able to meet so many great ticans and representational volunteers. And the costs were so reasonable.

I spent 15 weeks doing an internship in San Jose through Maximo Nivel.

The internship was at a relatively small NGO in the centre of San Pedro called 'Fundacion Mujer' and I believe I have gained valuable experience during my stay here. Not only will my experience at Fundacion Mujer help me with any future employment but I was able to practice my Spanish on a day-to-day basis. The work was also very rewarding as I worked on a project that aimed to aid the integration of refugees in Costa Rica.

The internship providers, Maximo Nivel, played a big role in making my 15-week-stay stress-free and enjoyable. After each day of my internship, I would return to the Maximo Nivel centre where the kind staff would show genuine interest in my day and provide any necessary help. The help would extend beyond any internship or project enquires as they would also offer advice on how to make the most of my stay by suggesting places to visit during the evenings and weekends.

Maximo Nivel did an excellent job of organising my internship and visiting me several times to ensure everything was going well. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and feel like I grew thanks to the internship and a lot of this came down to the work done at Maximo Nivel.

I spent 4 weeks taking Spanish classes and 4 weeks working with a Nutritionist.

The 4 weeks of classes were great and gave me an amazing opportunity to practice my Spanish. The classes were small, the teachers were experienced and genuinely interested in seeing you improve, and the materials provided were very useful. On top of being experienced, the teachers were very nice and kept classes interesting and fun.

Maximo Nivel was able to match me up with an internship with a Nutritionist, which was a perfect match for me as I am double majoring in Spanish and Dietetics. Being matched with an internship directly within my major was amazing because it advanced my career, and allowed me to practice Spanish within my career of interest, allowing me to improve my knowledge of both my areas of study. It was really hands-on and very enjoyable. I even got to take breaks to workout (for free!) at each of the gyms my boss worked at.

The biggest thing I learned was to keep an open-mind, ask a lot of questions, and never be embarrassed to make mistakes.

I absolutely loved my time with Maximo Nivel in San Jose, Costa Rica. I was placed at a hostel and helped out with general operations and marketing. Although you do not get too much information before you leave, they are very thorough in their orientation once you do arrive. Everything about my internship was amazing-the support I had, the people I worked with, and the overall environment. My host family placement was also fantastic, and almost everyone I talked to had a positive experience with their host family as well. I also found the Spanish classes useful. I had private one-on-one classes, and although I have an advanced level of Spanish, I was able to practice my conversational Spanish. All of the teachers at maximo are truly wonderful and great at what they do. I would recommend the micro-business internship to anyone who is looking to get business experience abroad and who wants to practice their Spanish while also having fun while doing it. If I could, I would definitely do another program with Maximo, and already have plans to come back to Costa Rica.

I was volunteering at one of the nursing homes and the staff there were kind and very appreciative of my help. My favorite part was visiting with the residents and playing games with them. Through this program, I have made friends for life that I hope to continue to visit!

The staff at Maximo are also very friendly and helpful. They were always there to answer any questions that I had and helped me with any concerns. They also went out of their way to make sure that I got what I wanted out if the internship.

Spanish class was amazing! I had private lessons an hour every day and it helped me gain confidence in my speaking abilities. I highly recommend taking advantage of them! I also participated in the tandem program which allowed me to make friends with locals. One night they offered a speed dating tandem for the first time and every volunteer and local showed up. There was hardly room for everyone and I didn't get to meet everyone but it was a great opportunity to meet locals. They also offer free salsa classes and even if you know the basics of salsa, it's worth going to the classes so you can learn how to dance like a professional.

Thank you Maximo Nivel!