Barcelona: A LOT of fun! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I thought that the overall educational experience was wonderful in my study abroad program. I loved the art history class that I took in Barcelona because there were a lot of field trips that complemented what we were studying in class. It is an experience you can rarely get anywhere else! However, the workload was a lot and I felt that the teacher was a tough grader. For my language course, I was in the intermediate Spanish class. The class for me was not all that difficult and I loved my teacher. However, I felt that it was at times frustrating being in an intermediate class full of students from different places who are at different levels of "intermediate."

On-site administration of your program

The program was smaller than I expected but I think that was what made our group more cohesive and comfortable. The program staff were accessible and the support services were okay. There were many people on my program who had a problem with a specific staff member, however, in general everyone was nice and attentive to our needs abroad.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I enjoyed my housing experience. The apartment/dorming style had very clean facilities and a nice staff. However, I was not notified of where I was going to be living until after I arrived in Barcelona. I felt that I could've used the information to give to my parents who were worried and frustrated that they were not informed of my whereabouts.

It takes a little getting used to the cured ham that they serve on everything but overall the food was fantastic and it is definitely worth trying everything!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Overall I felt that the program had some greatly planned events for us on weekends and I enjoyed them thoroughly. Although some people who wanted to do some outside traveling during the program complained because many of our weekends were already packed with the planned events through the program, I believe that these cook & taste events or bicycle tours and wine tastings were things that I couldn't have thought of doing on my own. We also had a "cultural exchange" event where we got a chance to meet local people and students so that we weren't always closed off in our group of American friends.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

We were warned everyday to be careful for pick-pocketers and it is no joke! - Make sure you carry your backpack on your chest. - Do not carry too many things. - Make sure you make photo copies of your passport so you can carry THAT around instead of your actual one - Do not leave your bags, coats or anything unattended - Most importantly, just be aware of your surroundings

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

Although there are a lot of tourists and people who understand English, I used the host country language in my everyday interactions. In smaller pastry shops, restaurants, and grocery markets, there were less people who understood English so Spanish was very useful and handy.

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• Apartment
• Dorm

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• Americans
• International Students