"IA Summer" - Learn Spanish through Cultural Immersion in Mexico

If I had to summarize my trip to Mexico on Iguana Abroad in just three memories it would be:

1) Visiting the ancient Aztec city of Xochimilco on the first weekend. When we got there it was so busy because it was a Mexican national holiday, but that actually made the experience better! We rented a “trajinera” boat to explore the area and there were hundreds of Mexican families on other boats playing music, having BBQs and enjoying the amazing weather. One of the best parts of the Xochimilco day was when a Mariachi band came onto our boat and started playing Mariachi music to us – an incredible experience!

2) Travelling to Yautepec for the village carnival. This was one of my favorite days on the program just because it was so unexpected. We arrived in the village to explore a traditional Mexican village but when we got there there was a carnival happening which was awesome! I also think they do a Day of the Dead carnival there too in November which we didn’t see, but hopefully next time!

3) In third place I would have to say the two gorgeous dogs that live outside the Spanish school! (Chiquilin and Gordito… the most adorable dogs you will ever see)

Hard to choose just three memories but these are maybe my favorites!

I had never travelled outside the US before signing up to Iguana Abroad but I am very happy that I did! Iguana Abroad was an incredible experience <3 I made so many friends on the program, learnt a lot of Spanish and visiting another country for the first time was nerve-racking but ultimately so satisfying! One thing I’ll never forget is the way that the Iguana Abroad guys make you feel so at home when you are there – taking time to help you buy groceries in the market, making sure everyone is happy on the program, and generally just making the trip an awesome experience. The process of arriving in Mexico is very easy because they come and pick you up from the airport and the routine of Spanish classes, day trips, cooking classes, etc, is something that I will definitely miss! Everyone on the program was amazing and weekend trips were always so memorable thanks to the awesome people in the group <3 Overall, Iguana Abroad make the whole process so easy from start to finish, they really show you the best side to Mexico and make the whole experience so much fun. An all round perfect Spanish course!

Iguana Abroad offers incredible Spanish courses in one of the most beautiful parts of Mexico. The courses are designed to encourage you to speak Spanish as much as possible and the programs really do help you to step outside your comfort zone and start speaking Spanish confidently. Aside from taking the daily Spanish classes I also did a Mexican cookery class, a Salsa dancing class, visited an Aztec pyramid, tried amazing Mexican food, visited a temazcal (Mexican-style sauna), went to a rooftop-terrace party, and so many other incredible experiences that I will never forget. Harry, Harry and Priscila did an amazing job at ensuring that we felt connected to the local community, as well as introducing us to the best sides of Mexico through the excursions and immersion events, and Cesar, Fernanda and the other Spanish teachers at the school really did everything they could to help us learn Spanish as fast as possible.

I absolutely loved my time in Mexico on Iguana Abroad. Learning Spanish has been a long-term goal and this trip really helped me to achieve my aim in the most fun and unforgettable way. My Spanish went from around an A1 level at the start of the program to a strong B1/B2 by the end (including a week of independent travel in Mexico after the program ended). My conversational Spanish improved so much during the four week duration of the program and I can now happily say that I can speak with any Spanish-speaking person in any situation - even if they have a difficult accent or are speaking quickly. I majored in zoology and one of the reasons that I chose Iguana Abroad originally was because I was interested in the diversity of Mexico and the different species and ecosystems that you can find there. If, like me, you are interested in wildlife I would highly recommend this program because we saw so many incredible animals on the trip, including axolotls which are an awesome species only found in central Mexico, as well as monkeys! Aside from the nature I really loved the cultural aspects of the Iguana Abroad program – visiting small Mexican towns and Aztec sites, as well as modern Mexican cities – as well as the social aspect of the trip. Overall I would definitely recommend Iguana Abroad to anyone who wants to step outside their comfort zone and really experience a new culture, as well as learning Spanish and having a great summer!

“México Mágico” is a phrase you hear a lot in Mexico (it means “Magical Mexico”) and in my experience this was the perfect way to describe my trip to Mexico on Iguana Abroad! Mexico really is a magical place and Iguana Abroad was a perfect program to make it happen. Some of the locations we visited on the program were absolutely stunning (Las Estacas and Tepoztán were my two favorites - as well as Cuernavaca), the Spanish immersion was perfect and I learned so much about Mexico and Mexican culture while on the program. We were even lucky enough to visit the village of Yautepec when there was a Chinelo festival happening (a local tradition in this part of Mexico) which was an incredible experience! I loved every moment on Iguana Abroad and I hope I can make it back one day!

I’m so happy I decided to choose Iguana Abroad for my trip to Mexico. Iguana Abroad make the experience really special right from the start by picking you up at the airport and helping you settle into Mexican life so you feel at home from the very first day. The Spanish classes were incredible and they really help you to speak confidently (they also teach you Mexican slang and other aspects of authentic Mexican Spanish). We also visited loads of amazing places when we were on the program, such as national parks, archaeological sites and awesome Mexican villages, which were all really interesting! You can also learn to cook Mexican food on the program which I enjoyed a lot because the food here is incredible. It was sad to have to say goodbye at the end because I met some amazing people on the program, as well as making some unforgettable memories!

I met some absolutely amazing people on the course, finally got a good grip on Spanish - and Mexico was definitely a better place to learn Spanish than in Spain! I've actually been to two Spanish courses in Spain before (Valencia and Seville) and was almost going to go to one in Madrid, before a friend mentioned IA to me. Definitely really glad I ended up coming to Mexico in the end and taking the Iguana Abroad course. Everything in the course had been thought about and ran really smoothly - can't think of any problems on the course. Mexico was also a really perfect place to take a course like this as well.

Iguana Abroad was a really valuable experience for me because it gave me the opportunity to not only learn Spanish but also live in Mexico independently, which has been a dream of mine since I was young. The course was really well structured and the teachers give you a lot of opportunity to practice your Spanish outside the classroom in real-life situations. The course is also a really good way to meet other travellers – after the course ended I even went solo-travelling with some of the girls I met on the program which was an amazing experience! Overall a highly-recommended and worthwhile program for anyone who is interested Latin American culture or learning Spanish.