Sevilla: An amazing city and experience Past Review
By Mallory M (Advertising, University of Colorado - Boulder) for
CEA CAPA Education Abroad: Seville, Spain
YES! Go abroad! You will never get another experience like this. It changed my life, and made me grow so much as a person. I never realized how much I didn't know about the world and how much I wanted to see it until I went to Sevilla.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Overall I learned a lot. My language courses were particularly challenging, but were very good classes. The grading system is differnet in Spain, and typically grade much harder at their Universities but the program did a great job of making it easy for us to understand the grading system and let us know what was expected. Overall, the classes were pretty on par to what our United States Universities expect, with a bit less homework. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I enjoyed most of the faculty from CEA and they were very helpful when something needed to get done. They are very aware of the cultural differences between Americans and Spaniards and know what to expect we will have difficulty with and how to explain things to the students. Overall, they were very helpful and |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We lived in a great neighborhood, as well as everyone else in our program. The program provided us with beds, comforters, pillows, dressers, couches, television, tables, and kitchenware. Bring your own sheets. Our landlord was very kind and very helpful. He only spoke Spanish, so it helped a little bit with learning Spanish but it was of course a bit difficult to communicate everything. |
| * Food: |
The food types in Sevilla are limited compared to what we have in the United States and is very different. Every restaurant seemingly has the same 20 items on the menu, and it is hard to find a more expansive menu. The grocery stores are good though, and relatively cheap. They have all your basic needs. If you do not eat meat, it will be a bit harder for you to find a variety of foods for you to eat. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
There are two main week-long festivals in Sevilla (both which you get school off for!) The first is a religious festival called Semana Santa or "Holy Week" and is basically a procession of religious "floats" that lasts a week long. A lot of native Sevillans don't even like this festival, but it is definitely interesting to see for a day or two. The second is called Feria, which is amazing. It is basically a huge, week-long carnival where everyone dresses up in their Flamenco Attire. This is definitely worth seeing as well. As for field trips, CEA took us to Lagos, Portugal, which has the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. They also take us to other Spanish cities including Granada and Cordoba. All these trips are definitely worth going on, although a few seemed very short. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
Sevilla was extremely safe. All that I can say is, if you want to carry a purse, make sure it has a zipper or something that would make it difficult for someone to pick-pocket you. This was an extremely safe city and as a girl, I could walk with one friend at any time of the night and feel completely safe. The only downside of anywhere in Europe is pick-pocketers. This doesn't happen randomly on the street, but when you go out it happens at bars, clubs, and public transportation. Otherwise, the city is very very safe. CEA was very attentive to any health issues we had. My roommate had a few health problems while we were overseas and CEA took her to the doctor whenever she needed to go and she seemed to get proper medical care. Another one of my friends broke her ankle, and she was well taken care of as well. We did not need specific vaccines for this program. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
|
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
| Language acquisition improvement? |
We practiced language with students at the University of Seville, we spoke only spanish in class, and we had assignments that we had to interview Sevillans. If you don't have a basic Spanish background, living in Seville will be very difficult for you. If you don't, be ready to learn fairly quickly. Few people speak English and will rarely try to speak English to you even if they do. The Spanish people are generally very proud of their language, and this is very true in Seville. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
|
| * What could be improved? |
|
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would say just figure out exactly what you want in a location before you choose your city. If you want to be by the beach, make sure you choose a coastal city. Sevilla, for instance, was an hour bus ride from the beach and we only made it there once. If you want to be in a Spanish speaking country make sure you will put in the time and effort to learn the language or it could be a bit difficult. However, larger cities, such as Barcelona, will be easier for English speakers because more people speak English in larger cities. Keep these things in mind for sure! |
