Seville: The City of Beauty and Siestas Past Review
By Graceanne S (Sociology., Trinity University) for
CIEE: Seville - International Business & Culture
It was absolutely worthwhile! Mostly because I not only learned more about the world and different cultures but also more about myself and where I fit into the big picture.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I was in a English speaking program which made my abroad experience quite a bit easier for me, but the classes I took were enriching, exciting and very relevant to my everyday life in Spain. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
My program seemed to run fairly smoothly. Our director made sure to keep us informed about everything that we needed to know and was great about responding to our questions and being easily accessible. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host family was fantastic! The hardest part for me was getting accustomed to the food, but I was lucky to get a family whom adjusted their diets in order to keep me satisfied. I could ask them for anything and my needs were always met and I was treated as one of their own children. My house was just a 10 minute walk from the metro which made getting to class really easy and I was less than 15 minutes from downtown Seville. |
| * Food: |
My senora asked right off the bat if there was anything I could not/did not want to eat and she made those accommodations throughout my stay at their home. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
CIEE is great about planning cultural activities. They planned trip to Morocco was my favorite trip of my abroad experience. CIEE is very interested in culturally enriching their students and making sure that we not only have a fun time but also learn at every possibly opportunity. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Seville is much like any other large city, if a person takes necessary precautions they will be safe. The healthcare facilities were easily accessible to us and the one time I had to go to the doctor I was able to get in easy contact with a program director and my host family assisted me throughout the entire process. Most of the mandatory vaccines are typical for America as well, but I definitely recommend getting the Typhoid vaccine if you plan to take part in the Morocco trip. |
| 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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | N/A |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
CIEE is a fantastic program to take part in if you want to improve your language. Although most of my classes were in English I was forced to speak Spanish on a daily basis when interacting with my host family and other locals. At first it was difficult to step out of my comfort zone but I realized that many people appreciated my effort and attempts at Spanish. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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? | Try to talk to people who previously went abroad. Ask them what kind of things they thought they needed that they forgot. Every person is different but make sure to take things that are sentimental and add a homey touch, prepare for all kinds of weather but make sure not to over pack. If you have special products that you use that you can't get abroad then stock up, but surf the web a bit and see what kinds of things you can find in your specific city. Studying abroad is fantastic, and really helped me grow as a person! |
