Focus on Venezuela

  Venezuela

Durations of Program: 5-8 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months

Description: In Venezuela, you will attend morning or afternoon classes and choose either a science- or humanities-oriented course of study. However, there are several courses common to both tracks such as Spanish language and literature, cultural history, and physical education. The academic year runs from October to July, with breaks at Easter and Christmas.

You may participate in festivals, and local organizations provide opportunities for community service, sports, music, ceramics, and the arts. AFS organizes several picnics, field trips, sports events, excursions, and sightseeing trips, including an optional trip at an additional cost to La Gran Sabana National Park's beautiful jungle near Brazil that has the world's highest waterfall.

Highlights: Venezuela is breathtakingly beautiful with its Caribbean beaches, tropical rain forests, and the Andes mountains. And, if you have a spirit of adventure, you'll be intrigued by its melting pot of many cultures. You may learn to dance to joropo tambores, merengue, and salsa, feast on arepas, and celebrate regional festivities such as Los Diablos Danzantes (Dancing Devils) in the state of Yaracuy in late spring. During Carnival, business halts for games, races, and street celebrations. Other important holidays are the New Year and, in rural areas, the local saints' days. And baseball is now the national sport!

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview Required
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home
• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

AFS Intercultural Programs's Mission Statement: AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. AFS Intercultural Programs is a leader in intercultural learning and offers international exchange programs in over 50 countries around the world through independent, not-for-profit AFS organizations, each with a network of volunteers, a professionally staffed office, and headed up by a volunteer board.

Year Founded: 1947