Teen Language Camp in Spain with Greenheart

I recently participated in a teen travel Spanish immersion course in Salamanca, Spain. Overall, the experience was positive, though there were areas that could be improved. Pros: Beautiful Location: Salamanca is a picturesque city with a rich history. The opportunity to explore its beautiful architecture, vibrant plazas, and historic landmarks added significant value to the experience. The city's charm greatly enhanced my stay. Language Immersion: Being surrounded by the Spanish language daily was incredibly beneficial. Both formal classes and informal interactions helped me improve my speaking and listening skills more than I expected. Engaging Activities: The program included various cultural activities and excursions that were both fun and educational. Visits to museums, historical sites, and local markets enriched our understanding of Spanish culture. Supportive Staff: The program staff were generally supportive and approachable. They were always available to assist with any issues and provided helpful guidance throughout the course. Friendships: One of the highlights was meeting other teens from different parts of the world. The friendships and cultural exchanges we experienced were invaluable. Overall Experience: The teen travel Spanish immersion course in Salamanca was a worthwhile experience that provided a unique opportunity to improve my Spanish skills while enjoying the rich culture of Spain. While there were a few areas that could use improvement, the overall experience was positive and rewarding. I would recommend this program to other teens interested in language immersion and cultural exploration.

Travel is travel, but when you go somewhere with the intention of truly appreciating and adapting to the new culture it makes the experience all the more beneficial. Greenheart travel is a great entry point for new travelers and provided amazing service throughout my trip. This being my first time flying alone I found that I had little to no issues connecting with the program. Green heart travel was an amazing eye-opening experience, I recommend this program for anyone who is curious about the world and cultures around them.

We were disappointed with our Greenheart experience. We found communication very challenging. The complication arose when our 14 year old was left at the airport in Spain alone and no one was answering emergency numbers. We paid an additional $75 fee for a chaperone to meet him, his flight arrived at 6am which was outside the "normal" time. We did not have an issue paying this fee, however when the chaperone failed to show our son called us. At just after 1am EST (just after 6am in Spain) my husband and I called both the emergency phone numbers we were given, one in the USA and one in Spain. The number in the USA was an answering service (much like a doctors after hour number) and the service said both people who were supposed to be on call were not responding. As for the number in Spain no one was answering. So neither of the emergency numbers we were given worked and our 14 year old son was 3000 miles away in a different country. We entrusted our son's care with Greenheart and they failed. We were given instructions on the exact meeting location and our son confirmed with Airport security that he was in the correct spot. We were told later that the chaperone went to the wrong location. We finally were able to get through to Spain at 8:25 Spain time. When I finally did connect with Ana at Greenheart she apologized and said it was a good "learning experience" for our son and they would be refunding the chaperone fee. However I followed up a week later she told me that they would not refund the fee as despite the fact the Chaperone went to wrong location he was there. I had to send screen shots of my call logs to Emergency numbers and the length of time he was left alone to finally get them to refund this fee. We were stunned that no one bothered to answer the emergency lines despite knowing there were students scheduled to arrive. We were also surprised that even though Greenheart had our sons cell number as well as ours they never shared this with the chaperone who could have just called us or our son when he was unable to locate him at the airport. The other issue was what is promised on their website and what the kids actually get is not the same. The greenheart website says:Students that arrive at the Madrid airport before 11am travel by train to SalamancaStudents that arrive at the Madrid airport between 11am and 4pm will take the group shuttle that departs after 4:00pmSince my son was arriving at 6 am I assumed he would be traveling by train to Salamanca, however I was told that he would have to wait at the airport until 4 pm (10 hrs of waiting) to depart by shuttle. When I pointed this out, Greenheart finally agreed to coordinate two groups so that early arriving students didn't have to wait at the airport for 10 additional hrs. As for supervision and host experience the kids are pretty much left on their own to do whatever they want. The host family was very nice but there were a lot of people staying in their home, not all of them students, it seems they also rented out rooms to travelers. Greenheart also did not know who else would be staying with the host family which was not comforting. The students were given keys and allowed to pretty much come and go. Our son is used to NYC streets and is outgoing so he had fun exploring but if you are concerned with supervision there was not a lot. The classes at Estudio Sampere my son enjoyed and I would recommend going directly to them and skip using Greenheart. All and all it was a very disappointing experience. Communication is too challenging. I realize that we all make mistakes but what is telling is how people respond when a mistake is made. --