Hi. I'm 16, and this summer I’m pretty sure I’m doing a 6-week summer exchange program. I know I want to go to North America, but I’m not sure what country to go to. I have to have 3 choices, and these are the countries I have to choose from...
Hi. I'm 16, and this summer I’m pretty sure I’m doing a 6-week summer exchange program. I know I want to go to North America, but I’m not sure what country to go to. I have to have 3 choices, and these are the countries I have to choose from...
Canada
Mexico
Costa Rica
I know my 1st choice is going to be Canada, and I'm not sure about the 2nd or 3rd choice
I was thinking maybe Mexico as a 2nd choice, then Costa Rica or Cuba as 3rd
Can someone who has traveled to these countries give me some advice?
I'm a 16-year-old girl, and I speak a little French (very little)
I want somewhere that I would have fun, and would give me a good experience
Thanks a lot!
Reply to this Hello George 😊
All those countries look great to me. If you have time to travel around I would choose Mexico, rather than an island, because from Mexico you could easily get down to Central America overland, and there are also plenty of places in Mexico that you could travel in.
Mel
Reply to this Canada has many wonderful cities. You can visit Ontario and Quebec 😊 Both of them are only 1 hour apart by plane.
Reply to this It depends on your likes/dislikes, but if you're concerned about communication, then you might want to consider the Scandinavian countries. Many Scandinavians speak good English and you'll normally find it relatively easy to get by from a language point of view.
Reply to this OK---your going to be on an exchange program. GREAT!! This means you are limited to your locations. I would opt for Canada as being my first choice. Several reasons. Your language will be spoken, the country is relative safe, it has a great deal to offer and you should learn a lot and they will appreciate you being there. Now about Mexico. I live in Texas and have been to Mexico dozens of time. The location where the program would be is most important for you. DO NOT consider any location close to the US border. The drug trafficking is so bad that many of us no longer go to Mexico. Just this week several college students were murdered close to the border. There are many safer and great locations in other parts of Mexico. Just check out those locations before you make a final commitment. I think Costa Rica is a charming and inviting country. I love the people there and find their culture interesting and exciting. I personally think this would be a great place for an exchange student. Would I let my son and daughter go there, absolutely as I would for Canada as well, BUT not some parts of Mexico.I personally think Cuba would be a fascinating country to visit for 6 weeks. Just expect poor conditions as the country continues to remain aloof from most of the rest of the world and economic conditions are among the poorest in the world. As an exchange student I would not go in there expecting to make radical changes, that is just not going to happen.
Reply to this Canada is amazing (I live in Vancouver BC), and most of the country doesn't speak French, it's very centralized in Quebec and eastern parts of Ontario that they do (and in those cases, most speak english, unless you go out into the boonies/small towns, then you might not have much luck) the further west you go, the less French we know as a majority!
Cuba is AMAZING as well. Scott and I met there, beautiful country, it is very poor, but the people we met there, in the hotels as well as in the towns we visited, were all very happy and helpful (which was a bit of a shocker for us). while they are quite suppressed within their country, the government is there for the people, free healthcare and education are great examples.
if you come to north america, I would recommend going there even for a week. I know things there will be changing soon, and have been since Raul took over for his brother, I would recommend going before too many things change as the country itself feels very untouched by the western world (since the 50's) and it's nice to see a country with no mcdonalds or walmart every block or so yet.
Reply to this completely agree with texaswillie, you must be very careful in mexico. Plan it out and go to more touristy places, mexico city is not very safe either. costa rica is cheap beautiful and people are very nice, but english might be lacking depending on where you go. never been to canada but vancouver looked really nice during the winter olympics.. lots to do in the USA as well, but i would still go with CR and central america
Reply to this Hi...
You should check out Prince Edward Island, Canada on the east coast. You'll find big lobsters, warm waters, nice people, great music scene...let me know if you need any help finding anything and check out
Reply to this Since my last post on this subject a few weeks ago travel in Mexico has become even more dangerous. This past week end in Acapulco there were approximately 15 individuals, including six police officers killed. Along the border two US citizens were also killed. The area just across from McAllen Texas is slowing turning into gang warfare. The government appears to be unable to stop the violence almost all of which is instigated by drug cartels. There are too many safer places to travel.
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