SIT Study Abroad Reviews

I cannot speak more highly of this program. Not only was I able to fully appreciate BA's nightlife and culture, but I learned so much about its history and culture thanks to amazing professors and staff.

I absolutely loved this program. We spent two and a half months getting to know Managua and going on excursions to other parts of the country (plus Cuba!) and then another month on our own doing independent studies. I grew so much from this experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.

The main things I gained were botanical knowledge, field research experience, and connections with the science community in Ecuador. I did not find the program very academically challenging and a lot of the topics covered were pretty basic ecological/biological concerts. We did a fair amount of birdwatching on the program, which is something I very much enjoy. My favorite experiences were the cloud forest excursion, going out on a boat on an Amazonian lake, and my independent study project that took me to an altitude of 3 miles above sea level. However, my Spanish did not improve much (started and finished as an intermediate speaker) and there wasn't much time for cultural immersion.

The best aspects of this program were the excursions, the close relationship with the professors, the homestays, and the independent study. We went on 4 major trips throughout the semester--a cloud forest & rural community, the paramo highlands, the Amazon, and the Galapagos--and they were amazing. Our professors travelled with us for all of the excursions and were present every day at class, and they were very helpful and supportive with everything we did. My homestays were all fantastic experiences, especially my main homestay in Quito. My Quito family seemed perfectly chosen for me and I always felt comfortable and happy there. Finally, everyone completed an independent study project for a month toward the end of the semester. This was an excellent opportunity to develop as both a researcher and a person.

I learned so much while abroad! It was 1000% worthwhile. I loved that the program had a specific, interesting and relevant theme that all our courses and activities pertained to, and I learned so much from these components of the program. I also learned a great deal about myself and really matured and grew individually just from adjusting to a different country/city, culture, language, homestay, etc.

I had an amazing experience in Valpo, it's an extremely unique city full of open, adventurous people. I had an incredible host family and made great friends through SIT. I highly recommend the program.

SIT Regional Integration very clearly has worked hard over the years to develop a program which is challenging, and which integrates the students into various aspects of society. While unfortunately the program is subject to change on a semester by semester basis, the opportunity to visit important social movements, communities, and international institutions is invaluable. This is absolutely not the program for you if you are not looking for a challenging semester. While it was certainly less work than a typical semester, it was not a vacation. Speaking of which, opportunities to travel outside of the program are somewhat limited, though definitely possible. It is not a program where you can just jet off for a week. That being said, the program does have a few rules about homestay and travel, so be prepared to work around those.

This program definitely helped me develop as a student and a global citizen, but you get there through work.

My 4 months in Peru were absolutely incredible. I can definitely say that studying abroad in Cusco was the best decision I have made in my life thus far. I chose SIT Peru for a number of reasons including the location, program theme, and positive feedback I heard from former students who had studied abroad. The classes were not very academically challenging, but for our seminars we did have a lot of reading which was hard in the beginning before my Spanish improved. The ISP was definitely difficult. I was pushed far outside of my comfort zone when I decided to spend my two weeks of fieldwork at bilingual schools in the rural sierra where the people were native Quechua speakers and wary of foreigners. In the end, however, I formed close relationships with both students and teachers and completing a 60-page ISP all in Spanish felt like a great accomplishment.

I was fortunate to have an AMAZING homestay experience. My mom and brother were very supportive and caring, and truly welcomed me into their family. I learned a lot about Peruvian culture from them, and they certainly helped me improve my Spanish! My mom was a great cook, so I enjoyed delicious food. The vast amount of potatoes and rice that makes up a large portion of the Peruvians diet was certainly a challenge. Not being able to eat raw vegetables, including salads, was difficult for me. That being said, I did my best to keep an open mind and loved how much fresh fruit there was. Meat is also very common, and I got to eat cuy many times during my fieldwork. It's actually really good!

Having Cusco as a home base was fabulous. It is a beautiful and culturally diverse city, and being able to walk a block from my house to a cozy café or take the combi to the Plaza de Armas to do work was a unique opportunity that I certainly took for granted. The night life was also fun, and it was great to have so many options within such a manageable distance.

Traveling around the country was one of the highlights of the program. I will never forget the time we spent with an Indigenous community in the Amazon, with our "second" host families on Lake Titicaca, and at schools in Lima sharing our culture with the children and learning about theirs. The fact that the program only had 18 students was unique, and I made many close friends. Being back in the states, I miss Perú so much. I would definitely recommend this program, and would give anything to go back!

This program is a wonderful experiencing mixing Spanish and science together in order to experience the best of both worlds. The excursions are the best part of the program and you get to travel to the Amazon, the Galapagos, the Paramo, and the Cloud Forest, and learn all about the plants, the birds, and the interactions. Everyday coming home to a host family was such a great experience as they were really open and wanted to help me learn Spanish and experience Ecuador.

I deeply cherish my study abroad opportunity with SIT Perú: Globalization and Indigenous People program. Community within the program grows deeply and closely between the students within the program and the program staff, while also offering endless possibilities for you to be as much or as little immersed into the Peruvian culture, and that of Cuzco specifically during your time there. The lectures and courses we took within the two and a half months in Cusco and travelling to other communities during the excursions were challenging and enriching, providing a unique and realistic visual of the diverse culture, the history of the indigenous communities, and the current state of indigenous communities and their lands today in Perú. The experiences during the excursions were all so beautifully different, but enticing in how we learned hands-on about cultures and the people of varying indigenous communities, learning values and crafts of their communities alongside them. However, the most life-changing aspect of this program, other than the love and care of Alex Alvarez, the program director, and Milagros del Carpio, the program coordinator, is the month-long independent study project. The idea that a program would grant you the opportunity to study not only a topic of your passions, but also with a community or in an area of the country which interests you most, is beautiful-- especially when the first two and a half months of the program help to create, form, and execute your topic of investigation, with the aid of the knowledge and encouragement of the program staff and your own personal adviser who specializes in the theme of your investigation.

Investing in the culture and the communities and hearts of the people of Perú was one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. I went to learn about Peruvian culture and study the language, but I left with a heart full of locals who felt completely like family, of memories and laughter of adventure, self-discovery and exploration, and of an enrichment in not only the Spanish language, but of what it looks like and means, and feels, to get your hands in the dirt alongside of different versions of "Peruvian". A part of me, and life, and love, and home, and place, and the power of people and storytelling remains in the mountains of Perú, in friendships with fellow tíos and tías, and in el monte of the Amazon jungle with more family with the people of Quero who so invitingly and humbly allowed me to live with them, taught me the elements of their culture, and filled my heart and knowledge with stories of the past and what it means to be Wachiperi.