Volunteering in Costa Rica for Ages 13–14

I feel like the experience opened my eyes to new places and new people which helped me grow as an individual. Since the program was not a vacation, it enabled me to immerse myself more into the culture and speak more of the native language. I enjoyed making the tamales and not being so picky with what was offered. I learned not to take things and moments for granted. For example, working in the rain paid off in the end as the community was one step closer to their mission. Even during the course of a week, the young U.S. volunteers wanted to help out and contribute to the greater good. The local people were super friendly and I felt like I could talk to anyone. Everything we did felt like it had a lot of love and purpose, including the service projects.

I have never experienced anything quite like my trip to Panama with Amigos. It was an amazing opportunity to completely immerse myself in another culture and practice my Spanish skills. I was able to have authentic experiences that would not have been available to me otherwise. Additionally, I was able to meet the best people from both Panama and around the world. Making connections with many different people that I would not have had the chance to meet otherwise was certainly one of the highlights of my trip! Also, I loved being able to try new foods, explore the beautiful nature, and learn about how the lives of people in Panama were different from, but also similar to, my own.

It is hard to fully summarize this summer in writing, but I will do my best! My time in Panama with Discover AMIGOS was one of the most incredible, life-changing experiences I have ever had. Immediately meeting the other AMIGOS I was on the trip with, I knew I had found my life-long friends. The way Discover completely immersed us in Panamanian culture has opened my eyes, and will stay with me forever. I got to take part in so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences, including living with a host family, and teaching English at a local school. Not only did this trip greatly improve my Spanish skills, it taught me leadership, teamwork, and open-mindedness! The memories I created during this trip will stay with me for the rest of my life, and will continue to impact my view on the world. I HIGHLY recommend you do the Discover AMIGOS program, or any of the other AMIGOS programs!! It will change your life!!!

this trip was the best decision I've ever made! i had an awesome support network in Panama of supervisors and staff. we had check ins with our supervisor all the time where they would ask us about how everything had been going and they always made it easy to talk/go to them. the first week was filled with briefing, which i had not expected but was very grateful for because of how safe it made me feel. going into our homestay i was nervous because i pretty much had no language experience. i immediately knew that i was going to love my host mom! she was cute and little always filling me to the brim with food. i also loved my host dad who had the sweetest laugh and was always curious about life in america. i adored my host sister who played endless games of cards with me. i will never forget walking to the local tienda with her and getting dulces for the entire family every night. i also adored the local schoolchildren who always tried to give me little toys and who always wanted to play with the "Gringas". getting on that plane was the hardest thing in the world for me because i had felt that i had made a second family and really belonged in that town of two hundred people.

discover amigos was the best summer of my life. as soon as i met everyone in the houston airport i knew i would love the program. the supervisors were the B E S T and i think everyone on the trip would say that we call them friends not supervisors yet they do their job well and make sure everything is safe and well. the host family i stayed with was amazing and made me feel so welcome even though i didnt speak the same language as them. they cooked full meals, made sure i was off to school on time in the morning, and we loved sitting down to a good card game in the evenings. my favorite part about the homestays was just sitting with my host family at night, bouncing my host baby on my lap while my host aunt would braid my hair and my host uncle would tell me about his trips to china. going to the school was a blast and i think i can say for us and the school kids that we all had so much fun playing and laughing together. i now can say i have 20 new best friends from this trip some of whom i plan to go visit even if that means having to fly to go see them. best trip of a lifetime and im already looking into next year and planning all my next trips with amigos.