Elena Caceres grew up in the suburbs of Chicago as the youngest child in a family with three older brothers. Not only did Elena just recently receive her degree in bilingual eduation from Loyola Univeristy in Chicago (we have a real certified teacher on our hands) but also completed the LE Panama program last summer! She has spent lots of time in Panama (her dad is Panamanian) and her brother currently lives and works in Costa Rica. Elena studied abroad in Costa Rica and was able to explore and experience both Costa Rican and Panamanian culture for 6 months. Elena is the perfect go-to person for questions and concerns both about Panamanian life and about teaching Spanish speaking kids in general. Elena taught English in La Colorada last summer and absolutely loved her host family and had an amazing experience. Elena has tons of awesome advice, such as bring facewipes if you are a girl who likes to wash her face at night, because she says that in her village they always turned the water off at six o clock….you have to think about these things because water is not something you can take for granted like we tend to do in the United States.
Elena is a certified teacher who is fluent in both Spanish and English and knows a ton about Panamanian culture so would be an awesome person to talk to if you need advice about teaching or living in Panama! Elena already has a teaching job lined up in bilingual education in a school in the suburbs of Chicago that starts in August. Elena’s biggest fear used to be spiders but says bugs are no big deal to her anymore, after her experiences in Panama! Elena is extremely helpful and knowledgeable and will definitely bring a lot to the table in both your own personal experience in Panama and the teaching mission in general!
