Mi vida en España...Granada, Spain - my life abroad. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Overall I learned a lot and received grades comparable to what I would have received here in the U.S. The workload was very light in comparison to what I am used to at home but I thought the grading system was fair. There was only one teacher I wasn't a fan of because I found him to be rude and not really care about us. Overall I got better at Spanish and set out and achieved what I wanted to during my semester abroad.

On-site administration of your program

Begonia was great. She was very good at speaking English and helping us with our problems very quickly. The other staff had a limited English proficiency and in times of need I wanted to speak my native language. Some of the other staff seemed very disorganized on excursions and when they were supposed to be taking us for cultural activities. Everyone offered a lot of insight about Spanish culture to us which was nice. The program size was quite large which may have been a disadvantage because it didn't force me as much to integrate with locals over Americans simply because there were so many Americans and we were always together.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The residencia was a very good choice for housing. They kept it clean for us - cleaned our rooms twice a week and cooked all meals for us except on Sunday's. The only issues I had with it were my roommates. I lived in a flat with 3 Spanish girls and 1 American. I had issues with the Americans who were not respectful of me and always went out and partied and woke me up in the middle of the night, etc. The staff at the residencia however made up for this. They were all so nice, they were like my Spanish host family. I enjoyed getting to know them and learned a lot from them. I would recommend that if you are traveling alone to room alone from the start. It eliminates potential problems arising. You'll make friends some other way.

I personally found that I am picky and did not really like the food. It was a lot of the same things over and over and if you don't like that you're kindof stuck. If you don't like something though and you tell the staff early enough they will try to accommodate you.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt like CEA could have informed us of more cultural activities /events or even taken us to them to give us a cultural perspective. Some of their excursions could have been organized a lot better.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Granada is very safe - I never had any issues. I can't comment on the health issues because I didn't have to deal with anything of this nature while abroad. I got a couple of vaccines before I came but simply as a precautionary measure. I would recommend that.

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

I practiced a lot at school and with people in the residencia as well as my intercambio partner Manuel.

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• International Students
• Local Students
• Americans

Select all that apply

• Americans

• The language component was strong and really forced me to improve my Spanish.

• More cultural activities to immerse even more in the cultural.