Costa Rica Youth Exchange
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​Expand your reach.

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Friendships & Fluency.

Elevate your Spanish naturally through our nurturing social atmosphere. The key to fluency is putting people first and having fun doing it! Your first week is to relax, learn the local lingo and just slow down to our "pura vida" pace of life. Adapting to family and community takes a few days as your orient yourself to different sounds, foods and people. We enjoy making you feel at home. So don't laugh at our English and we promise not to laugh at your Spanish. This is a truly unique opportunity to experience the rural high school culture of Costa Rica. Our "Youth Lab", brings visiting and local students together in a variety of youth club activities from music, local arts, outdoor adventure and sports events. 
Learn more?
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Grow with us.

Summer is a beginning, a chance to reach out beyond your own world and embrace another. Can travel inspire greater connections? Yes, by going beyond the structure of tourism and engaging the true adventure of real people and community. Adventure leads to new discoveries, it makes us look deeper at ourselves which summons a new strength and resilience. We hope you will grow with us and we hope to grow from you. There is so much to do and we can't do it alone. We invite you during summer - but we hope your experience leads to greater friendships and new opportunities you never imagined possible.

How do we structure your day?

Short answer- we don't. After all this is a truly local immersion. Our "go with the flow" attitude reflects the informal local culture which often schedules events without much notice. Slowing the pace and enjoying the moment best defines the "pura vida' mindset. ​Each day is unique as we contribute to high school events and community shared activities. So one morning you may help contribute to a small community project and then after lunch you head to the high school to share your soccer skills. The next day has a hike to our neighbor village where we are helping the local school dig a new garden.  We are not on a tight schedule, some days you may want to linger at one of our waterfalls or learn how to make local "frescos". You will also have individual opportunities to share your own talents and interests. We do our best to connect you to the things you care about. Each week we give you an outline of the upcoming activities so you will have some choices. 
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Peace of Mind.

We embrace you into our lives. Taking care of all the details so you can put your energy into living just like a local high school student. We muster with students everyday to coordinate activities and support individual needs. Additionally, we supervise homestays, making sure each student is healthy and happy. We are supported by both the high school directors and village community leadership. Secondly, we invite parents to come get to know us at "pre or post" trip. We'll help with arrangements.
Ilba Prego, Program Director and her staff are on-cite and supervise all aspects of the student experience.
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The leadership.

The courage to step out of your comfort zone is the beginning of leadership, true leadership is about creating deeper and honest connections. During your journey with us you'll meet the caring people who lead our social and environmental programs. Openness is the beauty of our small community. We know we have differences - we must find common ground and bring our shared values forward.
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Next steps...

Summer is the best time for self-discovery. Let's reach beyond our own culture and find adventure in what is possible when we open ourselves to new people and explore new ideas on how to embrace the future with joy and wisdom. To join us next summer we encourage you to hold your spot below. With enrollment limited we maintain a truely engaging high school summer experience.
hold your spot in the program?
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We bring youth together organically!

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Our Community Challenge - 50 hrs.

The important thing is engagement with local people, it takes courage, energy and a sense of humor. It may feel akward at first, but it may take you down a path that could change your life forever - that's the adventure! Costa Rica Certificate of Youth Service, provided, approx. 50 hrs.
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Trust Yourself.
Be yourself, have fun and no pressure. Being active in the community is about building trust and making new friends.
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​Share with us your talents and laughter!
Have questions?
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Join us!
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​Costa Rica
​Youth Exchange
Tilaran, Costa Rica
Director - Ilba Prego
1.888.674.0408
​ilba@youthcr.org
Links:
​Our Director
Ask a question
Enrollment form
​Need community service hours?
FAQ's
Do you know?
We offer flexible dates
Our high schools are in session.
100% of  program costs stay in our village
We are Central America's oldest
high school exchange. 

  • Home
  • Dates & Costs
  • Friends & Fluency
  • Our Community
  • Our Profile
    • Staff & Support
    • Host Family info
    • Faq's
    • Partners / Schools
    • Blog
  • Quick ENROLL
  • For Teachers
  • Contact Us
    • Payment 2022