Sol Education Abroad - Faculty Led Programs

I greatly enjoyed my time in Costa Rica traveling with Sol Education Abroad. Our program itinerary included the perfect combination of service, tourism, and cultural immersion. I loved staying with a host family as it was an experience that gave me a glimpse into the every day lives of the locals, as well as an opportunity to use and improve my spanish! Our tour guide, Leydi, was absolutely phenomenal! She was very knowledgable and experienced, and her presence made the trip even more enjoyable! I can't wait to return to the beautiful country of Costa Rica!

I really enjoyed my time abroad in Costa Rica! SOL Education provided me with all the necessary resources prior to traveling. My host family was very welcoming and always made sure that we were taken care of. I am typically a picky eater, but stepped out of my comfort zone to try some new foods and I was not disappointed! The excursions were a lot of fun as well! Kidtopia camp is a great program and really allowed to me engage with the students and learn more about Costa Rican culture. The directors were phenomenal and made the experience fun and welcoming!!

Our University guided study abroad trip to look us to Here, Costa Rica for the second winter in a row. I have such success in the initial trip that 4 of my students returned for a second visit. We ran a day camp in Heredia as part of our service to the community. Students really enjoyed the homestay portion of this experience and the location could not be better, affording students the opportunity to explore their neighborhoods independently. A great trip!After camp each day, students engaged in various cultural activities around the country, allowing them to get a richer experience of the culture and landscape.

This was truly an amazing experience. From working with the people at SOL, to working with kids and taking tours. I feel like even in a short amount of time you get to learn so much about the culture of Costa Rica while also doing good with the service learning aspect. The staff really helps you feel welcome and safe and they take care of you. Living in home stays with host families truly makes the experience one I’ll never forget. My mamatica took great care of me and even with the language barrier we communicated well!

My experience abroad was unique because we stayed with host families and were fully immersed into their culture. Whether you spoke Spanish or not, you were forced to try and communicate to everyone. Although we were not there for academic credits, we learned something new everyday whether it was something about their culture or how to say something in their language. I think future participants need to go with an open mind and be ready for any activity that comes your way. My favorite part about this trip was being able to build relationships with not only other people from Costa Rica but also classmates that I never would've met if it wasn't for this trip.

I've led a total of 4 study abroad programs. This was the first with Sol Education Abroad, and it has been --hands down-- the best experience I've had. From the moment we exited the terminal area at Barajas airport in Spain to walking us to the security check point at the airport on our way home, the SOL staff was attentive, friendly, accessible round the clock, and couldn't have done more to make sure we had a great experience. They were knowledgeable and relatable to our students, warm and with a sense of humor, both Rocío and Marcell outdid themselves as they went out of their way to enhance our experience. We were sad to say goodbye to them, and I genuinely feel that they felt the same way when we parted ways. I would recommend, without reservations, working with Sol to anyone looking for a caring and attentive study abroad program provider.

The program was excellent. Classes, excursions and activities were well organized. Yeyo is a wonderful host. He is very cooperative and knowledgeable guide. He is very professional and very dedicated to the group. In the future I'd like a program at least two weeks to have more time to interact with locals. Our program was only a week and it was a little overwhelming and exhausting. Historic places and sites visited gave a complimentary understanding of cultures, peoples and customs of indigenous ethnics groups living in the area. A wonderful place to do educational programs. Families are well selected and students had a great experience learning from residents. Oaxaca has an outstanding food, and entertainment.I recommend to go to this program.

I had a wonderful time in Costa Rica! I believe it had everything to do with the people involved. My host mother, Janiva, and Leydi were welcoming and made sure that we were comfortable. They were kind, flexible, considerate, and patient. They worked very hard to make sure we would have an enjoyable time.

Before coming to Costa Rica, I was worried about what to eat because I have to eat gluten free. While in Costa Rica Janiva, Leydi, and my host mother made sure that my food was gluten free.

My Spanish knowledge was very limited, but everyone I interacted with was patient with me. By the end of the trip I was able to learn a lot! I was very grateful to have a host mother that knew English because I barely knew Spanish coming into the trip. My host mother was able to communicate with me while helping me learn Spanish. She also was loving which made it so I did not feel homesick at any point! I had a wonderful experience and I am grateful to the people that made it possible!

My program was helping as a counselor at a camp for kids called Kidtopia. It was the first year for the camp and it was to help the kids get to explore nature and science and even learn some English through immersion. Not only did we teach them English but they also taught me a lot of Spanish and different cultural differences between the U.S and Costa Rica. The staff that worked with us were very genuine and kind and made our safety their number one priority. They also planned many excursions for us that were another great way to learn the culture. I really learned a lot from this experience about the culture and myself and I tried new things that normally I would never do. It got me out of my comfort zone and I’m so grateful I got the opportunity to experience it.

This experience was truly amazing and one of a kind. I felt like we were completely immersed in the culture of Costa Rica and got to experience fun things. Working with the children was also an amazing time and it was neat to see how differently they do things compared to other children I know. This experience provided opportunities to eat Costa Rican food, stay in a house with a Costa Rican family, meet and teach children, and go on touristy adventures around the country that were truly amazing. We experienced and amazing water rafting experience, zip lining, food tasting and cooking. We even got surprised with a beach trip. This experience was truly on of a kind! Costa Rica is beautiful and even with a mediocre knowledge of the Spanish language communication was possible.

Overall, I think that this trip was really great! I really enjoyed the trip because we not only did things like learn about the culture, visit and learn about the healthcare there, but we also did touristy things to make the trip even better. I also really enjoyed the group that was there: including the professors, the group coordinators, and all of the attending classmates. What I disliked the most was how much forced group activities we had to do. Sometimes I just wanted some space and independence, and more free time to do this would have been very welcome. However, this being my main dislike is minimal. Thank you for creating such a great abroad experience for me.

This trip was great! I love exploring the city of Oaxaca in ways that I would never have had the chance to without this trip. Ena and Priscilla were excellent at planning great activities for us and being translators/tour guides for us, and by the end of the trip, we were all really great friends. I loved being able to tour hospitals and clinics around the city and communicate with the people who live there. It definitely gives me a different perspective of healthcare and makes me feel very fortunate for the resources we have available to us in the US. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone in the future!

Loved the tour guides and all who were involved making this trip happen. they were all so educated about the area, and worked extremely hard to go above and beyond when taking us to new places. I know this was their first time working with a group of nursing students, but i honestly feel like they had done all of this before. I loved getting to share our knowledge of the nursing world with them, and then getting to share their knowledge of the world with us! I really have no complaints besides the minor miscommunications that took place. (which were more so our fault)

This was my second time attending this SOL Education in Costa Rica and it was exceptional. I liked the whole itinerary and opportunities to learn spontaneously. What I really love is that even when there are small changes or a bump in the road the SOL support team are there to help the students move forward and gain an experience from the whole process. It was a great experience and I feel that the combination of the staff and families as well as Posada de Belen staff created a wonderful experience. One suggestion for the next time is to have a little more structure at Posada de Belen allowing our students to train staff or parents about child development. My favorite memory was visiting/meeting the teen mothers at Posada.

I loved my host family and wish that everyone could stay there. They were so welcoming and ready to learn more about my own culture. The best was probably going and not being just a tourist but being a traveler. I loved when we went to the hot springs and stayed at the hotel it was so beautiful. I wish that we could have stayed at the hotel at least another day to have more relaxation time. Overall my experience was great and would totally do it again.