Panama Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This was not an extremely rigorous academic program -- we had classes, but they were very relaxed and there wasn't too much work to do outside of them. However, it was a very intensive program and we were in class at least six days a week, often seven. It was really go, go, go, but also super fun. I would say that the major weakness was the selection of professors, who were sometimes fantastic and sometimes didn't really seem to have it together. I learned so much, though, both inside and out of the classroom.

On-site administration of your program

Our academic director was extremely hard-working, but his job was so big -- he came on all the trips with us, organized most of our outings and classes and also taught an entire course, Research Methods, by himself -- that he seemed to have trouble getting it all done. He was really nice and everything, but the problem (I believe) is simply that the trip was understaffed.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I loved every single host family, and we stayed in eight or nine different homes over the course of the semester! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, this was a real highlight of the trip.

Panamanian food is just delicious! Our host families cooked for us most of the time, and if not then the program would hire cooks for us. They were always excellent.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Because of the number of homestays that we did (eight or nine), we were able to meet a lot of Panamanians from different areas of the country. I always felt like I was getting to know people, and that was really wonderful. This also made it convenient for learning Spanish. However, we also spent a lot of time in just our study abroad group, with about twenty other students from the US. Breaking out of this comfortable shell was difficult and made it hard to really get to know Panamanian students and kids our age, outside of our homestay families.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

When I had a problem, my academic director brought me to three different clinics until I got the prescriptions I needed to feel better. These trips were fast and he helped a lot. My host families were also extremely helpful in these situations.

We travelled around the country a lot, so safety varied depending on our locations. Panama City, however, always felt pretty safe as long as we were in a big group. We were told to be careful if we were going to take a taxi by ourselves, but I did it numerous times and it was ok. I guess the only problem was that, since there isn't much public transportation in the city, there was no way to get around without taking a taxi, and that meant sometimes taking it alone. Nothing bad ever happened, though. Outside of Panama City we always traveled together in a group.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Panama is pretty inexpensive, compared to the US.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

We were always encouraged, by our academic director, homestay families, and professors, to practice our Spanish. This is called a "biology" program, but it is really a "biology and Spanish" program.

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• Host Family
• Hotel
• Hostel

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• Host Families
• Independent Study Portion

• I would have been nice to be able to spend less time with the other American students. They were nice, but being with the same people so intensively for so long got tiring and annoying.