Panamazing! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

While I did learn a lot of ecology because ecology is not very big at Brandeis, other students who had a more extensive ecology background from other schools felt disappointed by the academic (mostly scientific) quality of this program.

On-site administration of your program

There were usually 3 staff members working on logistical coordination at a time, so while that was often complicated in rural and remote places, the staff did a good job of improvising when it was needed.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The homestay families were always very warm and welcoming, but it was not conducive for completing homework assignments or ISP preparations to have not 1 of my 7 homestays with internet--a big part of research on uknown parts of the country and new ambitious projects. All other students were mostly satisfied with their homestay situations.

I was used to the Caribbean staples from my Dominican household, so the food (plus new food) was great. New things to try in both urban and rural communities too. For other students the portions were massive, but I think having too much food available was never a bad thing.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Panamanians are super-friendly and very Caribbean like my own Hispanic culture. However, Panamanians are also very accepting of US citizens because of the solid relations between the 2 countries. Distinct, but very few times did students feel uncomfortable in their living arrangements. Women also had to get used to several daily cat calls from passing cars in the city.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I got sick 3 times throughout the trip and not once did I go to the doctor. The academic director was always super-understanding of our health and did not let us work until we got better. The students who did go to the clinic always got better and the illnesses never lasted more than 2 weeks maximum.

No safety-related incidents occurred thankfully, as the group was always sure to travel in small groups or at least in pairs. The few students who ended up alone at night for maximum 20 minutes remained safe--nothing happened to them...we were always attentive and there for them. There are some parts of the city that are more dangerous but we were well-advised not to go there so no one ever did.

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

Most of the expenses were paid-for, especially during the month of travel as a group. There were a few times when we got stipends/reimbursement that usually (student-specific) did not cover what they were supposed to. Also, food on weekends besides lunch was not covered.

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

Without trying, students learned a lot of how to understand Spanish. Trying, all students progressed in their speaking abilities, especially those students who practiced speaking more often.

Select all that apply

• Other
• Host Family
• Hotel
• Hostel

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• Rubén, academic director--super-warm father-like figure
• Lots of traveling to 7 different parts of the country (including 2 indigenous territories and Costa Rica)
• Cohesive group with which I took all of my classes--more opportunities for friendships

• environmental research methods class: should be more scientific and less social-science-based for a hard-science program
• schedule of assignments--I prefer more and more frequent. This also deals with the rate at which assignments are returned (slow)
• most improvements would happen alone with more professors--I feel that Rubén should not be teaching classes on top of running logistics for the program

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer