Let me introduce ourselves…. I had studied (development) economics with a specialization on Latin America at the University of Amsterdam when I came to Costa Rica about 17 years ago. The culture, the language, nature and lifestyle, of Costa Rica touched me deeply and I decided to stay longer.
While I worked as a raft and tour guide I met my husband Fernando, native of Turrialba, Costa Rica. When our first daughter (now 14 years old) was born, I started to study Spanish and work at different language schools in Costa Rica. In 1998 I had the opportunity to go to Bocas del Toro (Panama) to set up a school. In the beginning Bocas was not known by international tourists, but little by little, the school started to grow and now we welcome over 50 new students each week in high season. Soon the concept of “Spanish and Sea Adventures” (like Padi dive courses) was born and many students combined their Study of Spanish with diving, sailing and surfing.
After all, you learn better when you have time to relax your mind at times as well……………..
Four years later, when our second daughter (now 10 years old) was born, a school in Turrialba (Costa Rica) fulfilled our dream to combine Spanish classes with River Adventures (like rafting and kayak courses) on the Pacuare river, where on the banks of the river, Fernando had been operating a River Camp for many years. Fernando´s hobby, breeding horses, turned out to be useful when we started to organize our own horse ride trips, in the surroundings of Turrialba.
Three years later, our third daughter (now 7) was born, we opened a third branch, this time in the highland town of Boquete, Panama. This school is also called “Spanish by the River” as the town of Boquete is located near Panama´s best white water
Four years later, our son (now 3) was born, but we had no time to open another school until two years later when we started soon after each other a school in Panama City and Puerto Viejo (Costa Rica).
The ages of our three daughters coincide with the ages of the first three schools and together with our son, they are our motivation to continually work hard, improve and enjoy our schools!
Although there is a lot of work to do to keep five schools running, it is possible because of all the great people that in some way work with us. Because of them, I managed to not only finish my Master Degree in Spanish as a foreign Language, but also to enjoy what I really like do: teach Spanish and be active in the beautiful surroundings of our schools!
We look forward to meeting you, teaching you Spanish and showing you the beauty of these two incredible Central American countries!
Familia Murillo – Lommers
