Program Reviews

This program was so amazing and I really enjoyed it. I met so many amazing people and friends from all over the country and all the cultural activities were so much fun. From cooking paella to trips to the beach in Malaga to touring the Alhambra, the coordinators really planned fun events almost every day. There is also a lot of free time to go out and explore the city on your own. Staying with my host family was such a great experience and I felt my Spanish really improved. The meals were all traditional Spanish style meals (which was great), and you also have options to go out and eat if you would prefer. There’s a ton to do in Granada and the Arabic part of the city really gives it its own unique style with lots of great markets and souvenir shops. I would totally recommend for any high schooler looking for an amazing summer experience!

I loved this program. Not only did I meet new people that I still talk to everyday, but I got to see the beautiful culture and land that Spain has to offer. Getting to see a new part of the world and comparing to America was a very unique experience. I gained confidence with speaking in Spanish and I learned lots of new things like pronunciation, something I wouldn’t be learning at home. The food was something that was very different and interesting to experience. Their culture is very different from ours and being able to enjoy traditional dishes was an amazing experience. All of the fun activities I was able to experience was my favorite part of the program. Seeing all the historical buildings and getting to learn the history behind them was a very memorable opportunity. I am so grateful I attended this program and would do it again.

I had a great experience. I got lucky and had two roommates who I really liked, and we got very close. We had a ton of free time each day to explore the city of Granada. We were all there for a month, and were able to make friends with other people in the program. Our host family gave us freedom to go out for meals, but were also willing to provide every meal for us. I did not get as much Spanish practice as I would have liked, but if I had interacted with my host family more, that would have been improved. I enjoyed the cultural activities (we took a trip to Madrid which was a great time), but often our program leaders didn't give us a ton of information about the sites. The best experiences were the times we spent exploring, or going out.

Upon arriving in Oaxaca it was nerve-racking to leave, and embarking on a new foreign experience. I was blessed to meet up with my roommate at the Fortworth airport in Dallas and we immediately bonded over our nervousness, unsure what the next 3 weeks had in store for us. My roommate and I were dropped at first, to our host families' house, they were so sweet and welcoming. Every day our house mom cooked us some of the most delicious homemade meals I'd ever had. We'd also been lucky to be in walking distance of the school as well as the city. Many days after school we'd meet up with others to walk the streets and explore. The excursions were fun but also helpful in developing our comprehension, listening, speaking of Spanish, and our immersion of the culture. Priscila, the director of the group, always goes out of her way to help the group and made sure everything went smoothly. The friendships made with the other solmates also made the trip/experience one to never forget...

The independence and welcoming community makes this trip well worth the money! The opportunity to see most of Costa Rica, from the Jungle to the beach. Ticos are very welcoming and nice. They will do anything they can to make your trip a great experience. If you are on the fence for just go for it. This is an experience you will remeber for the rest of your life. The opportunity to learn a new languages is amazing. The food that you try their will stick with you for the rest of your life. This trip allows you to find yourself. I will miss the walking the most, to walk into town it is three fourths of a mile. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery. In the market I was able to drink straight from the coconut. Costa Rica is on of the best places on earth!

Traveling abroad to study Spanish has been a life long dream of mine, and Sol Abroad gave me the opportunity to achieve this in Mexico! Over the course of the program, I made strides in my conversational Spanish larger than in my previous 3 years of education. I'm grateful to have been challenged with new technical and comprehension skills in and outside the classroom everyday. These language lessons were paired with incredibly enriching excursions designed to educate us about the spirit and culture of Oaxaca (My favorite parts). Oaxaca city is the most beautiful and naturally diverse city I have ever been to. I'm so grateful to the wonderful people I met, like my lovely program director, and compassionate host family, for showing us their city and also allowing us the independence to explore on our own. I cannot say enough about how positively this experience has impacted my life.

My trip to Oaxaca was a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Mexico and learn Spanish in a place where everyone speaks the language. I got full immersion and the daily Spanish classes were awesome. The classes improved my grammar and fluency more in two months than I’d improved in the past five years I’d tried to learn Spanish before. We also went on quite a few excursions to beautiful places and archeological sights. Our group guides were super knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Whenever we went on excursions where the meals were provided, they always chose great local options that catered to everyone’s dietary needs and were delicious. The local food was amazing! There were so many options to try and the street food was delicious.

Going to Oaxaca, Mexico with Sol was awesome! It was my first time traveling alone, and I had an awesome time with them, all the excisions were really fun. The language classes were really helpful, except I had some difficulty getting to a level that for for me, one was too easy and the other too hard without one in between, and one class gave a lot more homework than I would expect for a summer class. I got the best language experience through my host family, who were awesome! They spoke little English so we had to communicate almost all in Spanish, and this really helped my language growth, I’m going into AP Spanish in school now, and I don’t think I would be as ready as I am now without the experience of just having to communicate with them on a daily basis for 3 weeks.

My experience in Oaxaca was amazing I went on many adventures with my group during the trip. It consisted of just going on trips or learning and sometimes just talking to the friends that I made. We would try new foods every now and then and they were all really great. My favorite was this sushi place that was near my home called Sensei sushi. The housing I thought was amazing and my host parents were really incredible and made amazing food for me. The adventures we went on were really incredible as well we visited ruins and took mini trips away together. We would also just stroll around the city. Oaxaca is an amazing place to experience with the program and the people you meet there are really incredible I'll never forget my experience there.

My experience in Oaxaca will be forever be in a very special place in my heart and forever in my mind. The experience i have gotten was the first day I arrived in Oaxaca when I my sister took me to a flea market, and man I will never forget the hospitality and the culture in that place. Plus I cant forget my stay home mom where i felt like she was my grandmother and I was her grandson , and my two roommates who felt like brothers to me. I also loved the people in Oaxaca where they're the most hospitable people I've ever met. The people I've met and whom i made friends with are also one of the best experiences I have . To add to that the group I was with was phenomenal where we planned to meet and greet each other in the school we were taking was by far the best. So I encourage anyone who's willing to make friends and meet people who's have a large culture to take sol abroad.