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CULTURAL ACTIVITIES:
Enrique Valerio, Latin Dance Teacher.
Enrique is our Latin dance teacher, and has helped
countless students overcome their 'two left feet'
and become impressive Salsa and Merengue dancers!
He is a performer himself and gives workshops nationally
to foreign and local students.
Jeannette Vargas, Cooking Teacher.
Jeannette lives in Fátima, Heredia, where she worked for many years in the National Institute for Cooperatives before joining Intercultura in 2003 as a host mother, teen chaperone and then cooking teacher. She studied at the Professional Culinary Education Institute, and she believes that cooking is an art in which there is always something new to be learned. Jeannette's hobbies are cooking, dancing, and exercising, and meeting and talking with people from other cultures and her own. Her warm and caring personality (and of course her excellent food!) make her a favourite with students.
Maxi Weiner,Volunteer Program Coordinator.
Maxi is from Germany, where she grew up before moving to the US for university. She graduated from Lindenwood University with a degree in Mass Communication, emphasis in Public Relations. She combined her interest in interpreting human information systems with a minor in Cultural Anthropology, focusing on the evolution of communication in the age of globalization. She has written for her university’s newspaper, was a board member of the Intercultural Club and worked in the language lab tutoring German and taking Spanish classes herself. Maxi worked in PR and marketing at the Contemporary Art Museum of Saint Louis, where she gained valuable insight into individual perception and meaning. While studying Spanish at Intercultura, however, she discovered her interest in Costa Rican culture and being, and found a place where she could best combine her interests in a work setting, as the Volunteer Program Coordinator of Intercultura. Maxi speaks fluent German, English and Spanish.
Jeri Arend, Tour Guide.
Jeri helps Intercultura offer students excursions
all over the country. He is from Costa Rica and has
been involved in tourism his whole life. He likes
working as part of the school team, and values the
human contact and professionalism of his coworkers
and students alike. The enthusiasm of the students
and the interpersonal contact with them, as well as
the chance to learn about different cultures and his
own country, are what attracted him to working in
tourism.
Gabriela Gutierrez, Arts & Crafts Teacher.
Gabriela is from Heredia, Costa Rica. Since she was
little has always loved art, which later led her to
choose to study in the Fine Arts School at the Universidad
de Costa Rica, where she obtained her degree with
a specialty in engraving, with complementary studies
in metallurgy, textiles, ceramics and painting. She
currently teaches art with the Ministry of Education
at the high school level, and teaches art and handicrafts
to Intercultura students.