International Internships — Costa Rica | Guatemala | Peru

I’ve been doing an internship at Maximo Nivel and have loved my time here. I have grown a lot and I highly recommend. I have met so many amazing people. Join all the activities, they have cooking class and salsa. They always make really good food. My host family has also been a wonderful experience. I recommend to be open minded and to put yourself out there. You will be able to get more out of this experience. The team in Cost Rica has been amazing, especially Gabby! Come join one of there programs you won’t regret it.

Really enjoyed my 4 weeks here, the host family was really nice and the support staff was very helpful. I had an internship at a hotel which was really enjoyable and good to practice Spanish speaking. The Maximo Nivel institute has lots of activities planned for the week, and the Spanish lessons were of great quality and very flexible to the sorts of things you would want to learn. The actual workbook itself was very detailed and the teaching was superb. Would recommend to university students who need or want to spend time abroad, the perfect place for this.

I just spent some of the best six weeks of my life in Cusco. I highly recommend this experience. It is the kind of highly valuable learning experience that you simply cannot get in the classroom, and I will certainly benefit from it in my future endeavors and career. Cusco and its surroundings are unlike anything in the world, and you WILL NOT regret it. Do not get discouraged by the cold - the climate is beautiful during the day. Also, Cusco is very safe. I am a young, single woman traveling alone and I never felt unsafe. This was the experience of a lifetime.

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.