|
|
|
|
|
Our Onsite Directors - Meet the Team! Our onsite directors our bilingual and bicultural and also have assistant directors for help during excursions and cultural activities. Our directors are usually host-country nationals with cross-cultural experience. All directors have experience working with groups and have international experience (travel and work) and have studied abroad themselves as students. |
Select a country: |
Germán Casado Germán was born and raised in Durcal, a small Andalusian town outside of Granada, Spain. He holds a Master’s Degree in Translation & Interpretation (English, French, & Italian) from the prestigious University of Granada. He also has a degree in Business French from the Business Chamber of Paris. Germán has studied and lived in France, Belgium and Italy, where he perfected his language skills. He is a true outdoor enthusiast! Germán has worked for sporting events such as the World Championship for Alpine Skiing in the Sierra Nevada (Granada), and the World Cup for mountain biking. Germán is skilled at rock climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking, skiing and roller blading. There isn’t much Germán doesn’t do! Besides travel and outdoor extreme sports, Germán has worked as a producer for documentary films for the BBC and other European programs that focus on Andalusia. Since 1997, Germán has operated a travel and study abroad business in Granada for North American and European students. He also combines his work as a study abroad director with leading hiking trips to the Alps and the Atlas mountains. You will really enjoy having Germán as your director! Granada is his speciality! |
Nuria Sánchez Nuria was born near the English colony of Gibraltar in the city of La Línea de la Concepción. She has her licenciatura (similar to a Master’s in the US) in Environmental Science from the University of Granada. Later she spent four years in Seville studying sculpture, taking additional classes and working. Currently, she is completing another degree in Fine Arts at the University of Granada. Nuria is also passionate about languages. She studied English at the University of Cambridge in England. She has taken courses on teaching Spanish as a foreign language and speaks English, Turkish, and Italian. She loves studying abroad! She lived for a year in Turkey and six months in Padua, Italy working and taking language courses in both places. Nuria has held many interesting jobs. She worked for an Andalusian recycling program and was involved with decision-making on waste management in the region (urban, residential, and agricultural waste). Nuria has also worked extensively in tourism both in and out of Spain. She was a guide for dolphin watching in the Strait of Gibraltar where she worked with tourists from all over the world and more recently in Morocco in a tour to the Sahara. She has worked as a tour guide in several historical places at Granada such as the world-famous Alhambra Palace and the Hospital Real museum. Nuria has also worked as a language instructor and taught English in Granada, and in Turkey was a Spanish professor. Her main focus in Turkey, however, was an environmental education project with Turkish children. This was funded through the prestigious European Volunteer Service Grant. While in Italy she worked for a company that studied contaminated water sources and worked towards solutions to water pollution in Venice. Nuria’s other interests include painting, theater, film, sports, environmental volunteerism, and music. She loves dancing and going to concerts! Nuria is also a huge fan of the beach and enjoys scuba diving. She is a very open and active person! You will enjoy having Nuria as one of your directors! |
Brent Hunter Brent was raised in Brenham, a small town in central Texas. As a high school student he developed a passionate interest in the Spanish language. Beyond his love of language, he also took great interest in the outdoors and environmental conservation. As a result of these interests, Brent studied at the University of Texas at Austin, where he double-majored in Field Biology and Spanish Linguistics. He later completed an MBA in International Business at St. Edward's University, also located in Austin. It was not until college that Brent discovered the inspiring possibilities offered by study abroad programs. For his first experience, he traveled to Mérida, Venezuela on a summer study abroad program. Later, he completed his MBA coursework while studying abroad in Costa Rica. He has been hooked on the importance of study abroad ever since! Brent has always enjoyed working with students and is a natural guide. As an Eagle Scout he worked during the summers as a counselor at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. Brent has worked for many years now as an overseas program director for student groups in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Spain. He loves sharing unique cultures and places with others. Brent's other interests include hiking, rock climbing, yoga, biking, art, and reading contemporary Spanish literature. |
José “Pepe” Almazán Fernández José “Pepe” Almazán Fernández was born and raised in Granada, Spain. His family has been host to several foreign exchange students over the years, and as such, Pepe has firsthand experience with students from other countries as a host brother. He also lived and worked in the United States for seven years as an Office Services Technician at MidAmerican Energy in Iowa. He attended C.F.P. Ramón y Cajal where he earned his degree in Computer Languages. While in the United States he was a member of the Iowa Bonsai Association where he discovered one of his great passions, bonsai. He also enjoys painting miniature figurines, with some of them winning a number of awards in both the US and Spain. Pepe loves travelling as well, and has visited many cities in the US and Europe. What he loves about travelling most is the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. Other hobbies are playing tennis, reading, and music. Pepe is generous, open-minded, loyal, philosophical, funny, honest and always eager to talk and show his beloved city of Granada to new visitors and share with them the experience of walking through the streets of the historic district; an enchanting “city within in a city” as he describes it. |
Juan García Juan (or Juan Eke, as we like to call him) was born in the north of Spain in Asturias. When he was very young his parents immigrated to Oaxaca, Mexico where they still reside. Juan grew up in Oaxaca and attended university there. He has a degree in Communication. During his years in Oaxaca he developed a life-long love of music and working with sound. He was the lead singer for an alternative band called Eleanor and toured all over Mexico. They even had music videos on MTV Mexico! Juan loves to travel and learn about new cultures and above all else meeting new people! His desire to travel and pursue his passion for music and sound led him back to Spain as an adult and he has lived in Madrid since 2006. Besides his work with Sol Juan is a sound technician at a famous flamenco tablao called Las Carboneras. Juan works with recording for bands, his own musical projects, and creating music scores for film and theater. Since the first day he arrived to Spain Juan has worked as part of the Sol team. He is a very happy and communicative person and enjoys helping students feel comfortable upon their arrival to a new country and a new experience! |
Arturo Merino Arturo was born in Colchester, England while his father was finishing his Master’s degree. When he was four his parents moved back to their home of Mexico City where they raised Arturo. Arturo lived in Mexico City until he finished college. He has one brother, Edgar, who is a musician and lives in Mexico City and one sister, Claudia, who lives in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and she is studying her Master’s in Chemistry. When Arturo finished high school he lived in Cancun for 6 months. It was an incredible experience living away from home for the first time. He loved the experience because of the beautiful beaches and also because he met people from all over the world. Later, after college, Arturo decided to study abroad for his post-graduate degree and applied to the same Master’s program that his father had done in the UK but he received a better scholarship to study in Madrid so he moved to Spain! Arturo move to Madrid in 2004 and loves his adopted city! Arturo has worked in many different public and private companies but always with something related with International Trade. He first started working in the Mexican Ex-Im Bank and after that he worked for the California Trade & Commerce Agency in Mexico. Then, he changed to the private sector, working for an Internet Start-Up Company making online auctions for different businesses. Currently, Arturo works for a Spanish Contractor who specializes in the energy sector for the International Purchasing Department. Arturo loves his job because he enjoys meeting people from different places and he is always interacting with people from different cultures. When he was studying for his Master’s he met his girlfriend who is from Romania - so this is yet another new culture that he has gotten to know!!! Arturo loves working with young people as part of the Sol Abroad program in Madrid and looks forward to sharing Madrid with you and introducing you to Spain! |
Alberto Peña López Alberto is a native madrileño (from Madrid) who has had the distinct advantage of growing up in both Madrid and Granada, and knows both cities like the back of his hand. He attended the University of Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid where he earned a degree in business, after which he spent a year studying English and working in the hotel and tourism industry in Scotland. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe and is passionate about sharing his discoveries and stories with others. He currently owns two successful businesses in Granada where he works with foreigners and locals every day. He is philosophical, pensive, open-minded, extremely generous and gregarious. He is happy to share his knowledge and expertise with you. |
Raúl de la Mano Raúl is a native of Buenos Aires (a porteño). His greatest passion is sharing his hometown with others. Raul is a natural guide and has worked in tourism for most of his adult life. In order to always give his best as a guide, he continuously takes courses offered at the different points of interest in Buenos Aires and the various tour guide organizations. He loves learning all he can about the history and culture of Buenos Aires in order to share it with the Sol Abroad students! Raúl has an interest in languages and has studied English for many years so he is more than prepared to help students and parents if English is needed. Raúl also has a great interest in art and photography and takes courses to improve his skills as an art critic and guide. Knowing the city like he does he has amazing location to practice photography. Before joining the Sol team Raúl worked for five star hotels as well as small luxury hotels in the city to provide guide services for guests. He also leads volunteer programs for international organizations working as a guide and interpreter. He assists the Lion’s Club for different events and trips they have to Argentina. He often accompanies a group of ophthalmologists from the US who visit Argentina for volunteer work. In January 2010 he was the coordinator for Lion’s Club International’s visit to Buenos Aires while on their trip through Argentina, this was part of the Lion’s Club Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean. He does similar work with students from Aruba who come to perform internships in elementary education. Raúl is married and has three children all in their late teens and early 20s. He is one of the most energetic and friendly people you will ever meet! You are going to love having Raúl as your director and could not be in more capable hands! |
Alexia Zamparo Alexia Zamparo was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Half of her family originally came from Italy and half from Poland, so she has a multicultural background like many Argentines. Since she was a teen she has studied drama, which is still her passion today. She has acted in fiction films, advertisements and in plays for adults and children. She got a postgraduate specialization in Clown Theater in Ibiza, Spain and presented original clown routines in many festivals across Europe. She lived abroad for three years in both Denmark and Spain and she has traveled throughout Western and Eastern Europe where she had the opportunity to see many places, people and cultures. This was a very enriching experience that gives her valuable perspective for her professional work. Upon returning to Argentina, she studied to be a tour guide and now works both in Buenos Aires and the countryside, especially with youth groups, children and teenagers. Nowadays she shares her time between her work with study abroad groups and the theater as an actress and acting teacher. She also teaches Spanish as a foreign language so she can help you with your homework! Alexia is very friendly and open-minded. She loves art, nature and spending time with people from all over the world. Alexia will help show you all that Buenos Aires and Argentina have to offer! |
Christian Martínez Christian was born and raised in Buenos Aires, the city that never sleeps! In college he studied Systems Engineering and worked for local network providers during his post-college years. However, one of his passions since a young age was Nordic culture (mythology, history, and culture) and after his university studies he decided to start learning Finnish. Over the years he became increasingly active in learning the language and working with international tourists in Argentina. In 2007, through his own persistence, he obtained a scholarship and traveled to Finland to study Finnish – a dream come true! He studied for 2 months at Joesuu University as an exchange student. This was a life-changing experience for him and helped in taking him on a new direction in his career path. Christian is very active with the Finnish Embassy in Buenos Aires and works often with the Argentine Finnish Association and now helps coordinate Argentine-Finnish exchange programs. Also, due to his time in Finland, he is the webmaster and content administrator for the Festival of Latin Cinema in Helsinki since 2007 (www.cinemaissi.org). It was through this connection that he participated in Fear Factor Finland (http://blip.tv/file/2986398) ilmfed in Argentina. Due to his travels in Finland, and working more frequently with international students, Christian was certified in 2008 to teach Spanish as a Second Language to Foreigners. In addition to his interests in Nordic culture Christian is also an accomplished muscian. He plays three different types of percussion instruments and is involved in several musical projects that involve bossa nova, contemprorary dances and an ensemble of Peruvian “cajón” . Also, characterized as a Tango Entrepreneur, Christian is a manager of tango dancers and groups, and organizes live shows and tours. As to outdoor activities, Christian likes to run, hike and play soccer. His favorite book is Lord of the Rings, which was one of his inspirations to study Finnish. He also likes to read works of science fiction. You are going to very much enjoy having Christian as a director! |
Benjamin Griffith Benjamin Griffith first started studying the Spanish language at the age of ten when his family moved from his native Louisiana to Texas. Since that first seed was planted in junior high school, it has sprouted, grown and flourished into a life long career and deep rooted love of the language and the many countries where Spanish is spoken. Benjamin’s international experience started in high school when he joined the Amigos de las Americas program and worked in community service projects in Honduras ‘76, Nicaragua ‘77 and Paraguay ‘78. In 1979 he did his first study abroad program in Mexico City. In 1981 he studied in Costa Rica with the University of Houston’s summer program abroad and the following year, 1982, he received a scholarship from the Institute of Hispanic Culture of Houston to continue his studies in Madrid, Spain. That same year, he received a B.A. degree in Spanish from the University of Houston (UH). In 1984, Benjamin decided to continue his international studies and moved to Paris, France where he received the Diplome de Langue Francaise from the Alliance Francaise de Paris in 1985. Upon returning to Houston, he continued his studies at UH and in 1987 received a B.A. in French and his Secondary Ed. Teacher’s Certification in Secondary Language Acquisition. In 1996, he was awarded the Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera, Nivel Superior by the Universidad de Salamanca through the Embassy of Spain-Education Office. In 1988 Benjamin began teaching at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas where he has taught IB Spanish for the last 21 years. Throughout his career he has been a member of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and served as the Treasurer of the local Brazos chapter for 17 years. He is also a member of the Texas Foreign Language Association. He has presented educational workshops at the local, state and international level. During his teaching career, Benjamin has received numerous prestigious awards as a testimony to his dedication to the profession: Red Award for Outstanding Teacher-Lamar High School 1996; Outstanding Educator Award-University of Richmond 1997; Teacher of the Year-Lamar High School 2001; Outstanding Community Leader/Educator Award-Rotary International 2003; named Huesped Distinguido de la Ciudad de Cuernavaca, Mexico-Ayuntamiento de Cuernavaca 2004 and the Lee Keding Award for Teaching Excellence-Lamar High School 2009. To support his philosophy of “the world as the classroom”, Benjamin has traveled with student groups throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. For the last 17 years, he has been the coordinator of a study program at the Cemanahuac Educational Community in Cuernavaca, Mexico. We are happy to have Benjamin as part of the Sol Abroad team this summer! |
Jimena Sabagh Jimena was born in Córdoba, Argentina, the heartland of the Argentina Pampas and was raised in Villa Allende, a small town located in the Sierras Chicas. Her university studies were completed at the prestigious Universidad Católica de Córdoba, obtaining a degree in Social Studies and Political Science. She has always been fascinated with foreign cultures, and has traveled throughout Latin America and Europe. Before coming on board with Sol Abroad, Jimena taught English and History to students in Córdoba. She has always enjoyed teaching and working with students. Jimena is completely in love with her country, its culture and history, and is always excited to show its hidden mysteries, fervent history, and secluded tango shows to its visitors!! |
Ron Roosevelt Ron was raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. His love of language and culture stemmed from his parents and began at an early age. For as long as he can remember, his parents would speak German when they did not want him to understand what they were saying. Ron was fascinated by this use of language. After gaining further inspiration from his high school Latin professor, Ron set out on his own path of learning and mastering foreign languages. At Indiana University-Bloomington, Ron majored in German and Spanish, and minored in Business and Latin. Still thirsty for more language study he took several classes in Portuguese. Needless to say, his passion for languages and his love for traveling are apparent. As an undergraduate, Ron studied abroad for a year in Germany using the country as his base to explore the rest of Europe. After living in Germany for a year, he switched his focus to South America; specifically honing in on Buenos Aires because of its rich culture and history. Ron moved to Buenos Aires in December 2006 to teach English. Ron loves sharing his passion for language and culture with others. His position as the director for Sol Education Abroad in Buenos Aires allows him to show students all that his home Buenos Aires has to offer. Besides his love of working with foreign students, Ron’s hobbies include playing fútbol, studying foreign languages, photography, outdoor activities, and partaking in the famous Argentine asado, or barbeque. READ MORE! |
Janiva Cifuentes-Hiss A graduate of Pomona College in Latin American Studies, Janiva Cifuentes-Hiss has dedicated her career to leading life-changing journeys throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Over the past five years Janiva has led study abroad and volunteer programs in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Spain. Her journeys have taken her to volunteer with Indigenous communities in the Amazon, indulge in a yoga retreat in the Sacred Valley of Peru, participate in a vision quest in Patagonia, scuba dive off of the Bay Islands of Honduras, and trek to the Mayan ruins of Tikal and Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. She has led multiple volunteer programs focusing on sea turtle conservation, environmental education, sustainable development and organic farming in Costa Rica. Born and raised in Olympia, Washington, Janiva´s passion for travel began at an early age when she lived with her family in Bogotá, Colombia. In high school, she spent two weeks in Japan living and traveling with her host sister and Japanese teacher. She went on to study abroad in college in Salamanca, Spain where she studied Spanish and latin american literature and history. An independent video producer, her documentaries include Luna Nueva Biodynamic Farm (Costa Rica, 2008), Cafe Conciencia: Coffee with a Conscience (Guatemala, 2007), and Displaced (Colombia, 2005). She is also a video editor with Super Natural Adventures, a children's show about nature and the environment from the heart of the Costa Rican rain forest. A freelance writer, Janiva contributes regularly to The Tico Times, the leading English-language newspaper in Central America. She has also been published in The Encyclopedia Latina, Teen People Magazine, and the Exploring Costa Rica Travel Guide. Her interests include yoga, meditation, sustainable living, permaculture, local organic agriculture, fair trade, salsa dancing, cooking, learning to surf, and playing chess, piano and guitar. She has served as Costa Rica Director with Sol Education Abroad since 2007 and is Wilderness First Responder certified. |
Jessenia Saborio Jessenia Saborio is a native Costa Rican and a natural-born tour guide! She began working in the field professionally in 2004. She is certified with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) has many years under her belt in the fields of Ecotourism, Volunteer Coordination, and International Education. Jessenia was born and raised in Alajuela, Costa Rica and was drawn to tourism at a young age. As a teenager, she studied English and Tourism with an emphasis in group management at Alajuela University High School. Jessenia graduated in 2004 from the State Distance University with a degree in Sustainable Tourism Management. She has also completed short courses in Tourism, Geology, Volcanology, and Natural History with The National Institute of Learning and the Costa Rican Tour Guide Association. She is currently finishing her second university degree in Elementary School English Education. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Jessenia has applied her passion for environmental education and sustainable development to international student and volunteer groups from all over the world. She has worked as a canopy tour guide with Sky Trek in the Monteverde cloudforest region of Costa Rica and as the Volunteer Coordinator for groups of US students with Sustainable Horizon, an international education, adventure, and service organization. Jessenia also served as an Environmental Educator at FundaZoo, a foundation that manages the Simon Bolivar Zoo, botanical garden, and Santa Ana Conservation Center. She honed her marketing, sales, operations, and reservations skills with companies including Exploradores Outdoors and Innova Adventure Travel. Most recently, she worked in rural tourism as the operations and sales manager for the Costa Rican Rural Tourism Association. Jessenia is First Aid certified through the Red Cross of Costa Rica. Jessenia loves sharing her beautiful country with others and helping students have the best possible experience while abroad in Costa Rica! You are going to really enjoy having Jessenia as your director! |
Alexandria Tomayko Alexandria Tomayko was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She moved to Costa Rica with her family when she was a small child and has lived there ever since. Alexandria is currently finishing her degree in Business Administration and Hospitality Management at the Universidad Latina in Heredia (which is a member of Laureate Universities). She serves on the Business Administration Student Council organizing events such as the international student orientation. Her role as a student leader on the Cultural Committee has led her to represent the Universidad Latina at the national and international level. In 2011, she organized the 2nd Annual National Youth Leadership Conference, an international event drawing Laureate University student leaders from around the world. Since 2010, Alexandria has led teams of volunteers in disaster response projects at Manuel Antonio National Park and trash removal projects on Costa Rica’s pacific coast. She completed her professional practicum in hospitality management at Hotel Meliá Paradisus, a resort at Playa Conchal in Costa Rica´s northwestern province of Guanacaste. In 2001 she organized a reggae festival in the beach town of Tamarindo. Fluent in Spanish and English, Alexandria has worked as a translator and interpreter for groups of visiting medical volunteers in Costa Rica. She also volunteers for the Red Cross in her hometown of Heredia where she serves as a mentor for children in the community. Alexandria is first aid certified through the Red Cross of Costa Rica. She enjoys learning languages and is currently studying French. Alexandria looks forward to sharing all that Costa Rica has to offer with you! |
Lady Garita Lady Garita is an experienced naturalist tour guide certified with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT). Lady was born and raised in Heredia, Costa Rica and was drawn to tourism since childhood. As a teenager, she studied Tourism with an emphasis in Group Management at Alajuela University High School and graduated in 2010 from the State Distance University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Protection of Natural Resources. She has also completed short courses in Technical English for Tour Guides in the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals and also completed the Administrative Secretarial Course at the Community Education Professional Institute (IPEC). Fluent in both English and Spanish, Lady has applied her passion for environmental education and sustainable development to student and volunteer groups from all over the world. She has worked as a canopy tour guide with Sky Trek in the Monteverde cloud forest and Arenal Volcano region, and as a tour guide at the INBioparque with Costa Rican and international visitors. Lady also served as an Environmental Educator at FUNDAZOO, a foundation that manages the Simon Bolivar Zoo and Santa Ana Conservation Center. She honed her marketing, sales, operations, and hotels reservations skills with Costa Rica Best Hotels Group. During the years 2008 and 2011 she worked for SURA and FUNDECOR which offers educational tours throughout the country for public and private schools. Lady has experience working for hotels including Paradisus Playa Conchal leading ecological and bird watching tours for the hotel visitors around Conchal Beach, Guanacaste. Lady loves sharing her beautiful country with others and helping students have the best possible experience while abroad in Costa Rica! |
María Molina María Molina was born in Alajuela, Costa Rica but grew up in the highland town of Atenas. She graduated from the Liceo de Atenas in 2003, where she was involved in many culture activities, such as salsa dance classes and theater performances. In 2006, she received her degree in Costa Rican Tourism and is working on a second degree in Business Administration. María has worked as an onsite director since 2007 with Sol Abroad. From spring 2009 to spring 2010 María participated in an Au Pair program to improve her English skills. She lived near Baltimore, MD and was able to travel all over the US during her stay. This was an incredible opportunity to experience the country where the majority of the Sol students come from. In her free time María loves studying languages, dancing, reading (she loves Latin American literature! Her favorite authors are Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende) drawing, and going to the theater in San José whenever possible. She also is passionate about ecological conservation and is a member of Apreflofas, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of land and wildlife in Costa Rica. María is very proud of her country and culture and looks forward to sharing it with you! She lives in Atenas with her mother and family. |
Layla Meerloo Layla is originally from London, England and has lived in Oaxaca since 2005. She has always had strong links to the Spanish-speaking world and a passion for travel. Her grandfather is from Spain and after completing her degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester in England where she took classes in Latin American Studies. She moved to Valencia, Spain to teach English for 7 months and to improve her Spanish skills, she also studied abroad as an undergraduate student in Cuba. Her time spent in Spain, and her experience in Cuba, spurred her interest in exploring Latin America further. This interest led to a job in Mexico and she arrived to Oaxaca in 2005 to work in a remote indigenous village. In the village she taught English at the elementary school and worked on various community development projects, mainly with local youth. After working in the indigenous village she then took a job with a local non-profit organization in Oaxaca City called Puente, dedicated to battling malnutrition in the indigenous villages around Oaxaca State. She taught nutritional workshops to the local community and elementary schools. She also monitored a local market project designed to boost the village economy. Besides her travel experience in Spain, Cuba, and Mexico, Layla has also traveled all over the world. She has been to South East Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia), Australia, the U.S., Africa (Morocco, Egypt, and Kenya), Guatemala, and Belize. |
Esteban Lardone Esteban was born in Patagonia, southern Argentina. He was fortunate enough to attend high school in Norway when he moved there with his family. This experience sparked his passion for the outdoors, and he spent most of his weekends exploring the fjords near his home. With his mother being a history teacher, Esteban began reading Latin American literature at a very early age, falling in love with his native Spanish language. His last year of high school was completed in Mexico City, and after graduation he spent the summer backpacking and kayaking his way through Baja California. Esteban attended the University of Texas at Austin, obtaining a degree in Management Information Systems. Upon graduating, Esteban worked for several years in the corporate tech environment, but increasing travel to various parts of the globe saw him eventually transition from the cubicle life to pursue a career in study abroad programs. He became a study abroad director and is currently our director in Buenos Aires. Esteban has a passion for the Spanish language, loves to rock climb, teaches yoga in his spare time, and helps run a non-profit organization in the coffee growing region of México. |
Justine Standaert Justine is originally from Belgium. As a teenager she always dreamed of studying abroad and in 2000 her dream came true. She was accepted into an AFS program and lived for a year as an exchange student in Ciudad Ixtepec, a small town on the isthmus of Oaxaca State, Mexico. This was a life changing experience and the start of an exciting path. While in Mexico, she learned Spanish, how to make hammocks, was taught songs in the Zapotec language, and learned to cook traditional Zapotec and Mexican dishes. She experienced all that Southern Mexico had to offer. In short, she fell in love with Mexico. For her university degree Justine returned to Belgium and studied jewelry design in Antwerp. Every year she would travel back to Mexico. In Belgium, Justine taught Spanish classes and began selling her hand-made jewelry. Apart from traveling in Mexico, Justine has also spent time in Ghana, England, Spain, and the US. In 2003 she was selected as an Erasmus student; a prestigious exchange program directed by the European Union. As an Erasmus student, she studied for 6 months at the University of Barcelona in Spain. In 2005 Justine finished her Master’s degree and immediately set off to travel. Naturally, her first stop was Oaxaca! There she taught English to both children and adults and sold her jewelry. After 5 months living and working in Oaxaca she traveled to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Venezuela and finally found her way to Brazil where she lived for 2 months learning Portuguese. She also found employment with a local non-profit and worked with abused children. After her Latin American travels Justine returned to Belgium. She found the move back to Europe to be too much of a culture shock and immediately returned to Oaxaca where she secured a position teaching English and French to children. Justine also picked up her jewelry business (JustineJustine). Today she sells her jewelry in 4 shops in Oaxaca, 1 in Belgium and online. Justine’s hobbies include painting, jewelry making, design, travel, languages (she speaks Dutch, French, Spanish, English, and Portuguese!), cooking, baking, dancing, and reading. |
Soledad Zamora Soledad Zamora, or Sol as she goes by, was born in Mexico city and has lived in Oaxaca since 1991. She is a native Spanish speaker and has a B.A. degree as Foreign Language (English) Teacher from the University of Oaxaca. In 2004 she was awarded with a one-year, all expense paid scholarship to Kalamazoo College. Within her duties at Kalamazoo, she worked as a Spanish Teaching Assistant for the Romance Language Department while she was completing her studies in Sociolinguistics, Language, and Culture. Her experience working with foreign languages led her to write her thesis about the different ways students can learn a language in a native-speaking country while being immersed in real situations. After completing her studies in Kalamazoo, she moved to Augusta, Michigan to be part of the YMCA Sherman Lake Summer Camp. She worked as a counselor and international staff member giving presentations about Mexico and especially Oaxaca. In 2006 she was awarded to a month-long stay in Bremen, Germany. She and two other students from Oaxaca performed different cultural activities at Bremen University as well as promoting an exchange program between the Language Center of the University of Oaxaca and Bremen University. Through this experience, it was possible to share many things about the culture, language, and traditions of Oaxaca within an international perspective. Another amazing part of this trip was to practice the German language and develop her linguistic skills while being in contact with native speakers in daily life. As a final part of this experience, but no less important, was the combination of learning about German and English culture and language through visiting other cities of Middle and South Germany such as Göttingen, Hannover, and Leipzig, as well as London, England. She is currently working for a prestigious Contemporary Art Gallery in Oaxaca as an interpreter and director’s assistant. She also teaches English at different levels for the private High School “Carlos Gracida” and University of Oaxaca, her alma mater. Sol loves languages and learning new things and most importantly meeting new people, it's an amazing part of life! You will really enjoy meeting Sol and her name fits the program perfectly! |
