Program Description | Host Family & Community | Host School | Travel | Orientations & Activities | Eligibility
Program Description
Panama comes from a word meaning “place of many fish.” This tropical paradise is home to beaches of unparalleled beauty with coral gardens lining their shores, as well as rainforests with exotic animals and rare birds. But today’s Panama also includes the cosmopolitan financial center of Panama City.
As an AFSer in Panama, you’ll live with a host family, improve your Spanish skills, and attend a local high school. Panama boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the region (97%). Classes are typically lecture-based, but study groups meet after school to analyze the material.
Language
The primary language in Panama is Spanish. Due to strong diplomatic ties to the U.S., approximately 10% of the population speaks English.
Although there is no language requirement, it would be very useful to have a basic background of the Spanish language before your arrival.
Host Family & Community
You may be placed anywhere in Panama, but most students are placed in small towns and rural areas. About 10% of students are placed in Panama City.
Host families in Panama, like all AFS host families worldwide, are volunteers and not paid. They open their homes to students in order to share their community and culture as well as to enrich their own family lives.
Panamanians
Mestizos, people of mixed Native American and European descent, make up 70% of the population, but the country is also home to sizable West Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and U.S. populations. The U.S., after all, built and ran the 50-mile-long Panama Canal, the country’s best-known economic asset, from 1914 through 1999. Now Panamanians, having lived many decades with a foreign presence and a canal that brings a nonstop flow of international commerce, are cosmopolitan and comfortable with visitors.
Contrasting Panama’s urbanity, however, more than half the country remains tropical rainforest, and there are seven indigenous tribes that still live according to prehistoric customs.
Every region hosts a festival where the music and dances are especially popular. Panamanian families are usually very close and quite large. Aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents often live nearby and families see each other frequently. Children often share rooms and privacy is limited. Children remain close to their families even when they are grown, often living at home until they marry.
The father is the head of the household; parental authority is recognized and children are expected to follow the house rules. Because both parents often work outside the home, children (especially daughters) are expected to help with running the house.
Teens
School friends usually form study groups that meet after school in their homes, especially before important exams. You can easily be invited to these groups if you take your schoolwork seriously.
Your study group may organize weekend activities, too, as weekends are the time for parties and socializing. Teens like to go out in groups, go to dances, go to movies or just hang out in the park. Baseball, soccer and basketball are favorite sports among the youth in Panama. Every region hosts a festival where the music and dances are especially popular.
Girls are normally given more stringent rules to follow than their male siblings.
Meals
Panamanian food reflects the influence of the different cultural groups that have settled the country. Rice is the staple of the diet and is eaten twice a day. Meals include meat, beans, platanos (a type of starchy banana) and vegetables like tomatoes, carrots and cabbage. Spicy foods are rare. Meals are often accompanied by sweet cold fruit drinks called chichas.
Unlike many of their other Americas counterparts, family members may eat informally and at different times. Few families have the habit of gathering at the dinner table every evening. That is something which is reserved for special occasions or when they have visitors, but this will vary family to family. Panamanians often offer food as a sign of friendship and it's important to accept people's hospitality.
Host School
Most AFS students will attend public schools. However, if you are placed in Panama City, you may attend a private school that waives tuition for AFSers. You will choose your field of study among those offered at your school (business, humanities, sciences, etc.).
High schools in Panama have either morning sessions from 7:00am to 12:30pm or afternoon sessions from 1:15pm to 5:30pm.
All students wear school uniforms. You should bring $70-$100 to cover uniform costs.
Check out the Host School FAQ (.pdf).
Travel
You will receive a Travel Notification email about 6 weeks prior to your international departure with your international flight itinerary and detailed instructions for when to arrive at the Gateway Orientation site in Miami. At that point, you may arrange your domestic travel. In Miami, you will join other AFS-USA participants for an overnight Gateway Orientation before you travel together to Panama City.
International airfare is included as part of the tuition, but it is your responsibility to arrange travel from your hometown to the Gateway City Orientation.
Your Arrival
After the Gateway Orientation in Miami, you and your fellow AFSers will travel to Panama City, the capital, where AFS staff and volunteers will be waiting for you at the airport. After an overnight Arrival Orientation, you will take a bus to your host community.
Your Return
You will fly from Panama City back to Miami with the other AFS students who have been living in Panama.
Orientations & Activities
In addition to the orientations that you will participate in domestically (the locally held Pre-Departure Orientation, the Culture Trek online orientation, and the national Gateway Orientation), you and your fellow AFSers will have several orientations while abroad.
The required orientations are intended to help you maximize your AFS experience, prevent culture shock and to gain knowledge, skills and a global understanding.
Arrival Orientation
This first orientation will take place upon your arrival in Panama City. This will be an overnight orientation that is intended to prepare you for your first weeks abroad. This will be an international orientation and your opportunity to meet participants from around the world. In addition to covering the rules and safety tips, there will be an emphasis on approaching your experience from an intercultural learning perspective.
Mid-Stay Orientations
After about 6 weeks, you will have another orientation, organized at the regional level. This will last for a three days and will focus on cultural and school adjustment. You will also meet with AFS staff and volunteers to evaluate your first few weeks and be offered guidance to make the transition as smooth as possible.
If you are participating in a year program, you will also be offered a regionally organized 1 day Mid-Stay Orientation about halfway through your stay. Once again, this will be a time to meet with staff and volunteers, evaluate the first half of your experience, and gain more tips to aid your cultural adjustment.
End-of-Stay Orientation
Finally, there will be an evaluation camp prior to departure. This is your chance to reflect on your experience and to share with other AFSers. You will also prepare for the cultural readjustment that is a part of returning home.
Optional Activities
AFS volunteers may organize several activities for you during your stay. These may include informal get-togethers, weekend trips, picnics, and a weekend in the mountains or at the beach. There will also likely be some short exchanges between different communities and a week-long trip to Panama City to see the Panama Canal and other sites of interest. Unlike the orientations, these activities are optional and are not included in the tuition.
At some point during the year, there is a two-day trip to the San Blas Islands along the Caribbean coast. Kuna Indians whose culture remains relatively undisturbed by outside factors, inhabit these islands. The trip is optional and requires a small additional fee.
Eligibility
To participate in this program, you must:
- Be within the age range upon departure (located in the ‘read more’ drop-down)
- Have a minimum 2.8 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale
- Be mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy in accordance with AFS Medical Evaluation Policies
- Have a U.S. passport at the time of application; passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the program end date
- Have an open mind, willingness to be flexible, and the ability to adapt to new a culture, school, and environment
Participation Notes
Vegetarians are welcome to apply, though it will be exceedingly difficult to accommodate vegans. It is unlikely that your host family will follow a vegetarian diet, but they won't be offended if you simply choose to avoid meat dishes. Special meals and dishes will not be prepared for you nor will you be allowed to prepare your own. We encourage you to be as flexible as possible with your dietary restrictions.
Graduates will not be considered for program participation.
Although there is no language requirement in order to be considered for the program, it would be very useful to have a basic Spanish language background before your arrival.
