AIFS Student in Granada: An Experience of a Lifetime Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I learned so much in my Spanish classes. Since I had had several years of Spanish in the United States, I had sort of hit a plateau of learning here. The Spanish classes in Granada taught me Spanish concepts I had been wanting to learn without knowing it. It took the basic Spanish I already knew and went deeper with it, for example, we learned other ways to say the same thing in order to sound more like a native. In my other class we learned about Spanish culture, then after class we went out and about in the city and saw/experienced in person what we had just talked about! It was great!

On-site administration of your program

The resident directors were amazing. One was an AIFS student in Granada years ago herself when she was in college, married a native, and had been living and working with AIFS in Granada for over 20 years. The other was a native of the city. They were very helpful and knowledgeable. They were always available if we had questions or problems, but they weren't over-bearing. They took us on several cultural excursions around the city and country and had a lot of interesting stories they shared with us that we wouldn't have known if we had just visited by ourselves.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in an apartment with an older lady and two other girls in the program. Julia (our host mom) was pretty hands-off and let us do pretty much whatever we wanted. She was very sweet and it was nice to be able to practice Spanish with her.

The food was delicious. Our host mom made huge amounts of food for every meal and it was so good. My friends and I loved going out for free tapas (with the purchase of a drink (even soda)) and gelato almost everyday. I learned in my classes that Mediterranean food is the healthiest in the world, so not only did it taste great it was healthy, too!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

AIFS is a program for American college students, and our classes were for Americans and other exchange students. Therefore, most of our friends and people we interacted with were Americans. AIFS did provide opportunities to meet up with local college students, and we became friends with a couple of girls. We also met and talked to the owner of our favorite tapa bar. The cultural sites and excursions we went on helped us feel more included in the culture for sure.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I didn't have health problems there personally, but I knew students that did. We had health insurance through CISI, and the resident directors were always there to help.

As with any country in the world (including the United States) there are wonderful people and dangerous people. It is good to be aware of your surroundings and make good decisions. There wasn't really a time when I felt unsafe.

I can't imagine a better program to go with. AIFS provided a safety net, but provided an opportunity for me to spread my wings. and explore in another country. The academics were great, the activities through them were great, they were very personable and knew a lot about Spain and Granada. It's a lot cheaper than a lot of other college study abroad programs, and it is all inclusive. They arrange for us to fly with other AIFS students, pick us up at the airport, and do all the behind the scenes logistics smoothly, efficiently, and professionally. I would absolutely do it all over again with AIFS if I had the change.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Spain (or Europe in general) is not the cheapest place to live. The free tapas helped quite and a bit, and having all three meals provided for (through out host mom) helped, as well. We could have spent less, but we wanted to take the opportunity of being in Spain and travel. I got to travel with friends to Madrid, the mountains, the coast, and by myself to Austria. I have no regrets: these memories were worth the money.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

We were encouraged to use the language, but since we were all American, previous Spanish experience was not required, and we were all on different levels, the resident directors always talked to us in English. We all had to take Spanish classes, though, and they encouraged us to explore the town and speak Spanish on the streets.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Americans
• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Americans
• International Students

• Spanish culture
• Resident directors in Granada
• Spanish classes

• More opportunities to practice Spanish
• Only one student per host family

The Avid Adventurer