CLA - Culture and Language Abroad

CLA - Culture and Language Abroad

Why choose CLA - Culture and Language Abroad?

Culture and Language Abroad is a uniquely immersive study program based in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Guanajuato, Mexico. Unlike less personal exchange programs, we focus on designing individual curriculum experiences that are authentic to both student’s needs and local culture. CLA is a non-profit founded and operated by a dedicated team of international educators – who also happen to be Guanajuato natives – whose university and community networks assure that program participants will study and live like a true local.

Reviews

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Rachel
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing Summer Program

The summer I spent in Guanajuato will forever be one of my most favorite and memorable experiences. Fabiola was an excellent guide, teacher, mentor and friend through the whole program. The program was highly organized and well planned out. Everyday was an adventure. The classes I took at the University were meaningful and manageable. I especially loved all the extra field trips and classes Fabi planned such as our trip to Mexico City and group cooking class. I highly recommend this program!!!!!

What was your funniest moment?
It is hard to pick just one! In Mexico City we went to a Lucha Libra fight which was super funny. Some of our most silly moments were just the down times, walking through town and getting drinks and snacks.
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Julia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best Sumer of My Life

I did a month in Guanajuato and it was so incredible. Fabi is one of the most amazing people I have met and worked so hard to make sure we all had a wonderful time. It was a learning experience and a fun one. The Spanish classes at The University of Guanajuato were very helpful and interesting. The trips the Fabi planned for the program allowed us to go to some of the most vibrant and culture rich areas of Mexico. While there were a lot of activities you could do, there also was time for you to explore the city on your own with other people both in and out of the program. I have made life long contacts with my host mom who was incredible to live with as well as others in the program and of course Fabi. She does an excellent job placing people in host families that will take great care of you. If I could do this program all over again I would be back in heartbeat. Guanajuato was amazing on its own, but Fabi took it to new heights.

What was your funniest moment?
When we travelled to Mexico City. We spent so much time laughing on our trip there.
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Joe
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Guanajuato: Vibrant City of Culture, Art, Music

Guanajuato is a beautiful city full of colour, vibrancy, and a friendly mix of locals and other international students. It's a great city to wander and find live music, fantastic street food or a little bar/coffee shop to relax in. As long as you make an effort with trying to speak, the citizens of Guanajuato are friendly and receptive and it was overall an extremely pleasant place to live. Fabiola and Samantha were our local program administrators with CLA and it's hard to put into words how incredible they were. From picking us up at the airport to showing us around the city to organizing weekly cultural excursions, we quickly became friends who I still keep in contact with today. My experience was definitely improved with Fabiola & Samantha's guidance and I couldn't have asked for a better study abroad program with them. I stayed with a family who again I cannot fault. I was apprehensive at first because I was joining a very large family coming from a small household, but they immediately treated me like I were one of their own. But when living with a family, it's important to get yourself involved with mealtimes and general family time. They are one of your best resources when learning Spanish and they'll be interested in your life and background too! When choosing a study abroad program, the academic program was important. I wanted to learn more about the language and place I was living but didn't want to spend my whole time inside of a classroom. I found that the academic program at the University of Guanajuato was a perfect match of what I wanted, and all the professors I had were extremely friendly and dedicated to helping us learn. Financially, it's important to budget your money and resist the urge to spend it all in the first few weeks. There are so many restaurants, bars, coffee shops, museums and other attractions that if you're awful at self-control like myself, it's easy to overspend at the beginning of study abroad. Other than that, like any tourist city it has its expensive and cheaper areas. It just takes a little while to figure it out.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
My advice would be to budget well. Guanajuato is an amazing city and it's easy to want to spend your money at all the different bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas etc.
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Hannah
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Three Months in the Most Beautiful City in the World

I had the opportunity to spend three months studying abroad (of my planned six months) before COVID-19 hit. It was truly the best three months of my life. I was placed with a host family that home-cooked every meal and had two amazing and supportive host parents. The academics were good, but the highlight of university life was meeting other students (both domestic and exchange). There were so many opportunities to meet people (language exchanges were a favorite). The cultural activities that we did the program were also really tailored to our interests and super fun/informative (cooking classes, a traditional tattooing workshop). Once COVID-19 hit, the director had us quarantine in her house with her before we had to leave. It was a great bonding experience and above-and-beyond for her to let us to live there just to assure our safety. Everyone involved in the program truly wants what's best for you and for you to have the best time you possibly can. I cannot recommend this program enough. If there's anything I could change, it would be the timing of the pandemic so I could stay longer.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?
People eating crickets! I never tried one (I was never brave enough) but there was a woman who sold cooked crickets outside of my house and there were always people buying them!
Response from CLA - Culture and Language Abroad

Thank you Hannah! We miss you <3

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Naho
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

me encantó ❤️

I am very satisfied with the program. That time was indispensable. Fabiola and Samantha are so kind and showed us many places, and always took care of us. Also, they have good relationships with the host families. I found that living with a host family is very different from living alone in Mexico. You can eat Mexican food, talk in Spanish all the time with people who they live there, and you can learn lots of things by living with them. I enjoyed the time with my host family, and of course Fabiola and Samantha.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Chapulines is the most unfamiliar thing I ate in Mexico. It’s a locust, tasted by chili. For me it tasted like a small fish.

Programs

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Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Fabiola Estrada Valtierra

Job Title
Founder and Director
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What is your favorite travel memory?

My favorite travel memory is sitting at the stairs of the Golden Temple - a religious city in Amritsar, India - and hearing the ceremonial call from the speakers that were situated in several points of the wall.

I remember thinking that even though I couldn't be further away from home, I have never felt more at ease and in touch with my true self!

I realized there and then that I wanted to provoke those feelings in other travelers by showing them my own country and all of its exotic and mythical places. It was then when the idea of CLA was born!

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

Starting a company (an NGO in my case) is a challenge in every possible way. You learn so much about everything and realize that to thrive you need to have many sets of skills and be truly multidisciplinary.

I realized that university doesn't teach you many of the skills you need. The most important thing that I have learned throughout this process is to trust my instincts and to remember that it is ok if you don't know everything about everything, as long as you can accept that and ask for help when you need guidance and you are willing to be an autodidact.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

I love to hear the things that they miss the most about Guanajuato when they go back home. Funnily enough, things that they miss the most are often elements of their daily routine - the faces of the people waiting for the bus, the kids coming out of school, the man that sells ice-cream in the street where they lived, etc.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would definitely choose the 20 Weeks: Semester in Guanajuato because it has all the components for an amazing experience and for discovering all spectrums of society and culture in Mexico.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Myself and the other three founders were study abroad addicts ourselves, so we really identify with our participants and always try to provide the best, most valuable experience for them.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Really putting ourselves in the shoes of the student by providing the experiences that we would have liked to have when we studied abroad.