Maximo Nivel

My first day to La Carpio was somewhat intimidating. Due to the inaurguration all the buses had been moved. The confidence and flexibility of the project staff helped me relax. I had a lot of fun with the kids. They are simply amazing. At first, they seem a little shy. However, after a while they began to warm up to you. Before I left both the kids and the project staff hugged me.
The staffs in maximo are amazing. I got lost once at night, and one of the staff asked to talk to the bus driver. I end up going home safe with the bus driver pointing to where I was staying. Shout out to my host mom. Her cooking is to die for.

I volunteered for Maximo Nivel for 4 weeks and I taught English to teenage girls. I have to say that at first I was scared to do this. Living in another country for 4 weeks, knowing little of their language and their culture and having no one there, all seemed scary to me at first. But then you get here and you meet the staff at Maximo Nivel. They are all so friendly and supportive. You meet these people and realize how much support you have here and then all your fears go away. It's not only for your project that they support you, they help you for a lot of other things too. They teach you how to use the bus, where to eat that has good quality and reasonable price, where to explore and how to take the tours to both save money and have fun and all the other things. I mean, I'm a student and I want to have fun but not spend that much money either and Andres, one of the staff, helped me so much to plan trips and trours for very cheap, I'm really grateful for that. I just knew that if anything happens I can count on them. Actually one day I was a little sick and they all helped me so much. Andres would come and check on me every 15 minutes to make sure that I was ok. It was just great to see that I have all this support here.
They also support you so much to make sure that you feel comfortable teaching and you don't have any problems with your project. Steve, Emmy and Daniel always help me on the site so I can make the most out of my teaching experience. Marta always help me and encourage me to make worksheets for my students. You think teaching English is difficult and you cannot do it? Well, yes it is a little challenging, but with all the help you have from these awesome people you can definitely do it. I don't have that much experience teaching English myself but Maximo Nivel made it totally possible for me.
And then you go to the class and you see all these students, so eager to learn and so grateful that you teach them, and your know at that moment that all the time and money you have spent are worth it. You see them learning English and becoming more and more excited and comfortable about English and all of these are so heartwarming. Their enthusiasm is adorable and they are such amazing and kind girls.
I'm truly happy that I decided to do this project with Maximo Nivel and I highly recommend it.

People in CR are so friendly. I had such a good time!
In CR you can experience the best of adventures, beaches, wildness and night life in just one place.
People in reception are so nice and welcoming.
You can meet people and have a great time in the best PURA VIDA lifestyle. People that are also like you. And finding good friendships, you can enjoy the most.
The Spanish classes were fun and full of jokes, and for sure, learning. I can completely say I have a experienced a huge improvement in my Spanish.

I volunteered in the medical project with Maximo Nivel in San Jose for 2 weeks. Maximo Nivel is a fantastic organization to work with. The staff are great and friendly. The services the agency offers are very helpful and they provide you with all the information and help you could need during your stay in San Jose. Two of the staff members working in Maximo were especially amazing. Marta, who was always super friendly with volunteers and always smiling and socializing with them, and Andres, who was amazing with volunteers. He always tried to help when he could and treated them more like friends than formally as volunteers, which made everyone much more comfortable.
As for the medical project, do not expect to get a lot of hands on work. The amount of practical skills you apply in the project are very limited and not much of a medically learning experience. It is still a learning experience because it is nevertheless a new experience. You´re putting yourself out of your comfort zone and going somewhere new and interacting with new people. However the project itself gets very repetitive because the work is limited and pretty much the same every day. I started to get bored after the first week.
But other than that, the city is greatñ definitely go exploring because that´s where the actual experiences are.
If you stay with a host family, like i did, they are absolutely fantastic. Extremely friendly.
Also, if you can brush up and learn some Spanish before you arrive, it would definitely be worth while so you´re not clueless in public. But they offer spanish courses at Maximo which are also great.

I did a month long program with Maximo and learned so much. I arrived with a very basic level and am happy with my improvement. All of my classes were specifically tailored to my strengths and weaknesses, and at my own pace. They were incredibly supportive and the opportunity to converse with native speakers was a great resource. The facility was kept spotless, the staff was friendly and helpful, and my teachers were outstanding. I highly recommend this school for other students.