My daughter wanted a Spanish immersion program and the environmental sustainability focus of the Amigos PZ program caught her eye. As a parent, the 5 month training leading up to departure was key to her success in Costa Rica. The training helped her get comfortable with the idea of being disconnected from home and gave her the confidence that she would know what to do once there. It helped us to know that she would be prepared for anything. The training was culturally sensitive, met the teens where they were at and really focused on teamwork. She grew in so many ways and returned to us with newfound confidence and resilience that she continues to draw on when faced with challenges. Fundraising for "tuition" makes it a more affordable option for study abroad.

My trip to Costa Rica for Amigos was a very interesting and unique experience. During he trip I met a lot of cool people and saw and experienced things that I wouldn't be able to experience in San Francisco. I think that people who are planning on going on doing Amigos should know that there are challenges but there are also lots of great moments that happen during the trips. I recommend it for a way to see something new and to push yourself. A big thumbs up and I wish I could go back and see my host family again.

I had the privilege to serve as a Project Supervisor alongside the rest of the summer staff team and I would describe this opportunity as a once in a lifetime experience. I built the most amazing friendships with the members of my community, volunteers and of course my amazing staff team.

Not only are the members of the community very welcoming but the beauty of Costa Rica's nature is just fascinating. I was able to meet life long friends and build meaningful relationships. As for my incredible volunteers, I got to know them on personal level as I watched them blossom throughout this summer experience. I dedicated myself to providing them with all the support and resources that they needed to be successful leaders in their community, but ultimately they were all natural born leaders. Where they to built unbreakable bonds with their host families as well as learned a lot about themselves. Although I may be a bit challenging for some, I like to think of the quote "Nothing worth having comes easy".

As for the community members that I got to know, their humbleness and willingness to come together to provide an unforgettable experience for the volunteers is what I appreciated the most. They maintained the volunteers well being in mind and treated them just like family.

I had am amazing experience in Costa Rica as a Project Supervisor and I would recommend AMIGOS to anyone who is willing to adventure out of their comfort zone, build meaningful relationships, work on their leadership skills and explore Latin America.

My six weeks with AMIGOS in Palmares were some of the best six weeks of my life. I loved, loved, loved this program. Everyone I met was so kind. Ticos (Costa Ricans) are genuinely kind and caring people. Everyone in my community was so excited to meet us, to have us in our homes, to offer us a meal. The other volunteers on my project were genuinely unique and funny and accepting and I loved spending time with them. My supervisor was so supportive of me and my partner and encourage us to enjoy our time there to the fullest. The project director was so sweet, and Casa de la Juventud was such an integral part of my experience; they made a great partner agency. If you're on the fence about AMIGOS, do this program. I promise you you'll love it.

Amigos is really the best! Such a great program. My summer in Costa Rica is something I'll cherish forever. I learned more that summer then I ever thought I would. Everyone told me how great Amigos was, but I didn't understand truly how special it is until I experienced it for myself. Every day was a new adventure. Amigos gave me a family in Costa Rica, people I will never forget and who i have so much love for, and friends across the U.S. Amigos gave me the experience of a lifetime and memories to hold onto forever.

Beat trip ever. I made new friends, experiencing culture, and grew my Spanish. I now have more friends across the US. I talk to my friends often, and I can’t wait to see them again. I worked with community members to grow my Spanish, develop a mural, and I got out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t used to being away from home for an extended period of time, but it felt so great to be so independent. I also got to know my host mom really well. We talked a lot and she became family to me. I can’t wait to go back. I would recommend this trip to anyone willing to take a chance and go on a life changing adventure!

During the first half of my trip, I lived in a tiny community of 20 people called Macho Mora (mora=blackberry or “berry” for short). Macho Mora is located next to the tallest mountain in Costa Rica so it has amazing views of the valley, waterfalls, colorful sunsets. I lived with a host family with one ten year old girl and one sixteen year old boy. Additionally, my two Amigos partners lived in the same community, and we all worked on the same project. Our project was to paint an entire community center inside and out. With community input, we selected a bright blue color for the walls and red for the columns, and we also designed a mural that had important symbols of our community such as trout, waterfalls, and flowers. Finally, we added our own handprints as well as the handprints of the past volunteers in Macho Mora to illustrate the collaborative effort in our project that will hopefully benefit the entire Macho Mora community for years to come.

For the second part of the trip, my partners and I, as well as other Amigos volunteers and Costa Rican youth, traveled to Marino Ballena National Park located on the southern Pacific side of Costa Rica. If you look up Marino Ballena on Google Maps, you’ll see that it’s in the shape of a whale tail which is where the park got its name (ballena = whale). We spent our time in Marino Ballena cleaning and repairing the visitor trail.. In our free time, we would play volleyball, slip ‘n slide in the rain, swim in the ocean, and dance to Spanish reggaetón.

Over the course of my trip, I learned to be flexible, collaborative, and confident in my Spanish. I love having so many connections with people not only from all over the United States, but also from Costa Rica. I will never forget my experience because it was probably the best summer of my life. Thank you, AMIGOS!

When I was 17, I had taken Spanish classes for at least 5 years, but nothing could have prepared me for that summer abroad in Ciudad Cortes, Costa Rica. It was my first time away from home for an extended period of time and I'd never experienced such difficulty in communicating or commuting before. Mostly, I never realized how much language shapes your personality and efficacy.

I was living in a small rural town with sporadic water and electricity which almost made it harder than never not having running water or electricity. The host family I stayed with didn't really seem to care about me, even when I got "calentura," or heat stroke, and fainted for the first time in my life. They seemed to be in it for the money from hosting, which was even more isolating and depressing. I was bitten so badly by mosquitoes that my joints wouldn't bend anymore and I had to go to the "hospital" for cortisone shots where the doctors and staff laughed at "la gringa estupida." I couldn't believe the "zancudos" (mosquitoes) could bite through jeans and thick socks!

The whole 2 months was an extreme culture shock despite the year of training and cultural sensitivity classes we'd taken. I dreamt of home frequently and couldn't sleep because it was so hot and humid, and we didn't have any air conditioning or anything. Every night I had to splay out all my limbs on my cot to try to stay cooler, making sure my hands didn't touch the greased up legs of the cot (done to prevent insects from crawling up it).

My first night there in my bedroom, I was astounded by an enormous cockroach about 3 to 3 1/2 inches on my pillow. I ran to tell my host mother in my broken Spanish and she called her son. He came into my room, looked at the beast of a cockroach, and silently retrieved a huge machete. He whacked the thing in half on my pillow, just leaving it there, and walked out of my room without a word. Welcome to Costa Rica!

I forget what I used to get the cockroach off my pillow, but immediately after that I noticed a strange insect that I've never seen anywhere since. It was on the wall next to the window with its menacing stinger, doing push-ups. I was bewildered and terrified despite trying to remain calm.

The only thing/person who saved me from going insane was my program partner, Amy, who was the only other person in town who spoke any English. We bonded very quickly to say the least. Unfortunately for me, she lived about 2 miles up the bumpy dirt road and my feet were my only means of transport. She and her host family, however, had air conditioning and a car!

A few weeks later while walking through town with Amy and her kind host mother, I saw a dead insect in the road the size of a softball. I pointed it out to them and they didn't believe it was an insect. Upon first glance, it did look like a rotting orange or trash, but it had antennae, wings, and legs! (20 years later, I've traveled to about 25 countries but have never seen the biodiversity and gnarliness of Costa Rica matched.)

During my 2 months in Costa Rica, in addition to endless insect bites, I developed coprophobia- the fear of solid excrement- and could no longer have a bowel movement. I gained 15 pounds, intestinal spasms, and parasites.

But despite all of the extreme hardship, that summer was by far the most important summer I've ever had. It taught me the meaning of gratitude, and gave me a deep appreciation for language and communication. I now have a lifelong compassion for foreigners and people who struggle with English or whatever the primary language is. Ciudad Cortes opened my eyes to how much we have and take for granted here in America, especially our advanced medicine and technology.

I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.