You'll Have the Best Time of Your Life ¿Vale? Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The CIEE language courses were not nearly as intense as I would have liked them to be. They could have been more rigorous & conversation based. We should have been more prepared for the "anti-American" stigma professors & students place on American study abroad students. Some professors made it really clear that they did not want to teach a class to a bunch of Americans. Overall though, the classes did help me with my oral comprehension and writing. I could always follow what the professor was saying, which made me feel proud in my Spanish abilities.

On-site administration of your program

CIEE was incredibly helpful with everything. Any question, concern, issue was immediately addressed by Elena, the program director. Everyone was kind and so happy for us to be there. The Guardian Angels (although flaky sometimes) were a nice asset to CIEE in helping us adjust to the new culture. The CIEE "Casa" was so nice and had computers, printers for us to use whenever we wanted. CIEE was great!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in the Sarria neighborhood, a little bit outside of the city center. The majority of my friends lived in better, more centrally located areas, which I would have preferred because sometimes it was a pain to take the different train to my house. But the apartment I lived in was really nice & big, because Sarria is a better, more well-off neighborhood. My host family was nice, although I never really saw them that much. I was home alone a lot and was never included in family events, unlike some of my other friends. By the end of the program, although I felt loved by family, I could tell that they were hosting me just for the money--which was disappointing.

I did NOT get enough to eat at ALL with my host family. Lunch is the big meal in Spain and because of my classes & my internship I never had a big lunch. Dinner was the always the smaller meal, which was when I was always my hungriest. After a month or so my host mom understood that I wasn't getting enough food and always gave me a second helping. However, she wasn't the world's greatest cook and the food was always sub-par. This was probably the worst aspect of my housing experience, but is by no means an indicator of what every host family is like.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I never really once felt major culture shock. I had many to Spain a couple times before, so I immediately felt at home. Only a couple of times (mostly because of the language barrier) did I feel not at home. It didn't take much time at all to feel integrated into the culture. Maybe it's because I look more Spanish with my darker hair, but many people thought I was actually Catalan.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I'm just giving this 5 stars because (luckily) I never had any health issues. My friends who did though were immediately helped by CIEE.

I always felt safe in Barcelona. CIEE prepared us with safety warnings, but because I go to school in New York City, I was already prepared with city-smarts. The only real danger in Barcelona are pick-pockets, but I never had anything stolen from me. You just have to walk in groups and not be stupid.

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

I think I did pretty well. Barcelona is an expensive city, but not the most expensive city in Europe. Having breakfast & dinner included in my housing definitely saved on some costs. The bulk of money went to travel--I took some trips to different European cities on weekends. But, if you don't travel, maintaining your budget is highly manageable. Just be sure to save up before you go!

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

The program directors and professors only EVER spoke to us in Spanish and always, always encouraged us to speak Spanish with each other. In the beginning we did, but the slowly deteriorated.

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• The people that I met -- my new American friends in my program and all the locals that I came in contact with (the nice ones anyway)
• The beautiful city itself--Barcelona is physically unlike any other city in the world. The Gaudi architecture, all the different barrios, the beach! Barcelona is beautiful & has everything you could ever want.
• All the fun that I had! Not just at the clubs (though that is a part of it, but definitely not the best or most important). But at the small little neighborhood bars my friends and I found, the museums, the festivals, the cooking classes, the interesting meals, the trips, the beach...everything about Barcelona was just so much fun.

• The CIEE courses--I felt like going to a lot of the classes was a waste of my time. A lot of game playing and movie watching, is fun no doubt, but I was there to really LEARN the language, and I feel like the professors (as nice as they were) could have been more rigorous with the teaching.
• The food--I love food. I'm a foodie. I'll eat anything & everything, I'm not picky. I think what a lot of people have a problem with is that Spanish food is not American--it's not convenient, easily accessible, and does not come in very large portions. I love tapas, paella, sangria, ham, everything. MY problem with the food was just with my host family. My host mom was not a very good cook and I often went to bed hungry. But don't listen to people when they say that Spanish cuisine is bad--it's not. You just need to get out there and try more things.,