Great friends, amazing experiences, and breathtaking sights. Past Review
By gonzaloacorral (International Business., Texas Lutheran University) - abroad from 01/13/2012 to 06/22/2012 with
Central College Abroad: Granada - University of Granada
That there is an entire world out there ripe for the taking. Most worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The academic rigor was wildly unpredictable and varied from professor to professor. Although I still enjoyed and got something out of all my classes except for one. The resources available to us were pitiful at best. The program I thought promised to be part of the University of Granada and we were more of an afterthought to them, although a great afterthought that brought in a good deal of revenue for the University I am sure. We couldn't even use the University of Granada gym because technically we study at the Center of Modern Languages. I would have been fine had it been stated clearly that we were actually going to be mingling and studying with a bunch of fellow Americans and a sprinkle of foreigners. Instead The technological state the Center is pathetic. The sole printer available to students for the ENTIRE building was broken on a constant basis. Some of the computer were running Office 97 making it incompatible with my Office 2010 unless I remembered to make it so. In this day and age what University uses a software 15 years old it's just embarrassing. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Veronica made her self widely available. Although I consider myself a fairly independent person so I hardly sought her counsel, something I should have done more of. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The family was friendly enough. Although my room was a bit lacking in room it worked fine. I wish the Central College Abroad administration would make sure that ALL program requirements to host a student are being met. I know we are bordering on adulthood and should take action for ourselves, but considering we have an entire semester with the family all possible actions to reduce any tension enacted by the program whenever possible. |
| * Food: |
I think I made a mistake by telling host mother that I will pretty much eat anything and love fried food. It might have made it to easy for her to make the easiest thing possible. Which usually consisted of fried eggs, french fries, and some lettuce and tomato. I didn't expect to get a five star chef as my host mom, but I did expect more than fried food and a total of roughly 8 different plates. The saddest part of the food was that I only really got to try Paella as a Spanish traditional meal. Another thing that really bothered me was that my family and I hardly dined together and I am fairly certain that on occasions they ate different meals. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Considering my Spanish level it was really great interacting with the Spanish people and listening to their accent. I just wish the University of Granada would make this integration/interaction simpler by allowing us more freely and approvingly on their legit campus. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Did not have a health issue. |
| * Safety: |
The host city felt really safe. Although there was some shady people. Walking around late at night with a group of friends felt perfectly safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* 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) |
The euro dollar conversion sucks. Having said that the cost of living in Spain seems to be one of the lowest in the UE so that was great. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | Yes |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | around 50 euros |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Plan your trips to other countries carefully. You could save hundreds of euros by searching for the cheapest flights and staying at less expensive hostels. Easy on the alcohol. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Advanced Conversational Spanish |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Make friends with locals and get the benefits of making a friend and deepening your understanding of a language. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | How much I was going to miss my friends in Spain once I got home. |
