International Internships — Costa Rica | Guatemala | Peru

I student taught in Costa Rica in August and September 2015. It was truly the most incredible experience. Maximo Nivel has very knowledgeable staff members and provide fantastic support and services. They are also working to better support the countries in which they serve. I would recommend this program to anyone going into the field of education. They provide intensive Spanish lessons as well as various different cultural opportunities and excursions.

Through Maximo Nivel, I was able to work on my Spanish language skills with awesome lessons from instructors. They personalized their lessons on areas that I wanted to improve on and I feel that I am much better at Spanish because of it. I also had the opportunity to teach English to adults, which I really enjoyed doing. All of the staff supported me throughout the whole process, where I felt comfortable asking anyone for questions or help My homestay was also a very memorable and positive experience and am so thankful for everything.

This program was awesome! I am very glad I decided to student teach in Costa Rica. It really was life changing. It opened my eyes to a different culture and way of living. I loved the Pura Vida life style (and even got a tattoo of it! :) ) Staff was all very friendly and welcoming! My host families were also very friendly as well! Our group of 8 became a family from doing this experience together!

I chose to intern in San José, Costa Rica for 8 weeks during my summer break, and the experience was incredibly worth the cost. I was placed at a small micro-credit lending organization that makes loans to low-income women all over the country. I cannot emphasize enough how welcoming and helpful my coworkers were. From day one they made me feel like an important part of their team and allowed me to take part in their projects and day-to-day business. Having to speak Spanish 8 hours a day in a business setting, improved my command of the language and more importantly, gave me the confidence to speak in groups and under pressure. I even had the opportunity to visit some of the clients, ask them questions, develop business plans, and handle their products. It was truly a worthwhile learning experience that boosted my resume in a big way.

One of the the most memorable stories I can share from my internship is when I got the chance to go with one of the credit assessors to a very poor neighborhood called a "precario" made of tiny houses stacked on top of each other. There, I got to meet firsthand some of the families that were benefiting from the loans we helped them get. We were able to speak about their small businesses and hear about the challenges they faced. All were extremely welcoming and willing to talk. One family even let us try the hydroponic lettuce they grew. This trip was very eye-opening as well as great professional experience.

Máximo Nivel did a great job placing me in a home near the office, and within walking distance of my internship. San José has so much to see and do that I was never bored on the weekends, even if I didn't travel to one of the amazing beaches or cloud forests that are never more than a few hours away. One of the reasons I chose to intern through Máximo is because it was the only program I found that did not include excursions in the price. They work with a travel agency to give you those options, and offer plenty of cultural activities, but I was glad to find a program that did not include all those extra costs.

Besides the natural beauty of Costa Rica, what really made my experience there memorable were the people I met. My coworkers, and mostly everyone I encountered was so friendly and helpful. I did not expect to be welcomed in so quickly and treated like a member of the team, but my time working at the micro-credit firm, Fundacion Mujer, was enjoyable from day one.

My Spanish classes were excellent and extremely helpful. I had never had a one-on-one class with a native speaker, and going 5 days a week forced me to constantly improve. Máximo Nivel gave me enough freedom to explore the city and country without feeling like I was being babysat, but they offer plenty of support and help to those who maybe feel a bit less comfortable abroad.

I loved living in San Jose, San Pedro specifically, because there is so much to do there. With universities nearby, live music, museums, and outdoor spaces, I was never bored. I felt so at home and safe there, and I miss it every day.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the internship program to anyone who wants to get international work experience and improve their Spanish in one of the most beautiful countries on earth. The entire staff was very helpful and friendly and I was completely satisfied with my time in Costa Rica.

As much as you want to think you have an idea of what it will be like to go abroad somewhere and learn, you will never understand it til you do it. It's a whole different world and makes you find out so much about yourself and the world we live in. It was my first time leaving the United States but Maximo & everyone involved does a great job at making you feel right at home. I found comfort in total strangers, ziplined above the cloud forest, got a volcanic ash facial in natural hot springs and saw spider monkeys and toucans and more. My spanish improved tremendously and I couldn't have done it had Maximo not given me great resources to submerge myself in! Costa Rica and "pura vida" changed my life, let it change yours. Whether its volunteering or studying, DO IT.

Two-month internship program with Maximo Nivel was incredible. Even though I had little knowledge in marketing regarding tourism, thanks to the advice and feedbacks from Maximo, I could do a great job at my placement (The Avocado Tour) and learn A LOT every day.
Thank you Maximo Guatemala for everything - from giving me very useful tips to bringing me laughs. Thank you for The Avocado Tour for teaching me everything about avocados and making me love and appreciate this fruit a lot more. Thank you Guatemala for always impressing me. I enjoyed every single bit and piece of my life in La Antigua. I am coming back some time!!

I had the awesome experience with Maximo Nivel in Cusco, Peru as a Hospitality and Tourism Project intern during the summer of 2015. Maximo Nivel is extremely flexible to your needs and does an awesome job placing you in a project that fits your desires and career ambitions! The in-country support staff was incredible, they truly went the extra mile to facilitate cultural emersion, help with appropriate Spanish lessons, and excursions/activities to do in your free time. I particularly enjoyed the free salsa lessons and the facility itself, where foreign interns like myself could practice Spanish and help local Peruvians learning English. I learned a lot about Peruvian culture and Peruvian Spanish through this process, which is why I recommend Maximo Nivel for anyone who wants to engage in the most cultural immersion, even if it is only for a few weeks! My Spanish professor was great for my experience level and it was an awesome way to meet other interns in Peru. As far as my project went, I had the awesome opportunity of working with a local business and helping them grow. I was able to use Spanish consistently at work, increasingly fluency. With so many fun activities to do, many of which are through the help of Maximo Nivel, I was always busy and had the fortune to visit many special places in Peru.

Maximo Nivel did an amazing job facilitating cultural emersion with appropriate level Spanish classes, an awesome facility to meet local Peruvians who loved speaking English and Spanish with travelers like me, and by giving me an amazing housing placement. In terms of my internship project, I was very fortunate to work with a local Bed and Breakfast and travel agency. I was able to utilize my Spanish consistently at work and took classes with Maximo Nivel that were tailored to hospitality vocabulary and the Peruvian vocabulary/dialect! My project was fantastic. The owners were very welcoming and appreciative of my service. I was able to gain experience working in the hotel with day to day operations, improving my customer service skills in Spanish and English, performing online marketing and increasing social media presence, translating and maintaing the company websites, writing blog posts, creating promotional videos and even going on excursions to analyze the trip and guide! This internship was awesome because I touched so many aspects of the hospitality and tourism industry while simultaneously increasing my fluency in Spanish. My project was unique because Maximo Nivel works hard to provide custom tailored internships to interested parties. Each project will be unique but they will be appropriate for whatever your needs and qualifications desire. They did a great job placing me with my company and will surely do the same for anyone interested. Besides work, Cusco is an amazing city to spend a few months in. If Machu Picchu is on your bucket list, I highly recommend interning with Maximo Nivel. There was plenty of time for me to travel between my internship and spanish classes, exploring the beautiful city of Cusco, practicing Spanish with Peruvian locals at Maximo, and of course salsa lessons!! The people are warm hearted and ecstatic, making it a pleasant experience to embrace a new culture and learn Spanish. I thank the Maximo Nivel in Cusco for the experience, it was life changing and very useful for my career goals.

I highly recommend this company for internships throughout Latin America if you are looking for high levels of cultural immersion and to improve Spanish language skills.