Spain: It's not "Good bye". It's "See you soon!". Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload was not demanding at all, but I think that's a good thing. Your out of classroom experiences are just as valuable as your in class ones and I don't think that students should be locked in their rooms or a library doing hours upon hours of work like we would do in the US. That's not the point of study abroad. I think Hamilton did a good job of providing a quality education without being too demanding. Depending on the class, our grades could be based on only two tests and a paper or on a few quizzes, graded homeworks, tests, projects, etc. It varied. I thought the professors I had were pretty fair with grades. The Spanish style of teaching is usually a lecture with little class participation. However, I feel like for the most part my classes did require my active participation, which was nice because it reminded me of my home institution. One big difference I noticed between Spanish professors and American ones is that Spanish professors are far less complimentary than American ones. In other words, they don't feel the need to tell you what you do right or well, only what you do wrong so that you can learn and improve on that. I feel like American professors tend to stroke your ego more, especially language professors who usually try to encourage you by saying that you speak Spanish very well. You won't find that in Spain.

On-site administration of your program

I thought the directors administered the program wonderfully. The directors were always available to us. They were very knowledgeable about Spain and helped answer a lot of our questions. They were sensitive to the difficulties that foreigners, especially American students, have while studying in another country, and yet still encouraged us to integrate into Spanish society and to take advantage of all the Spain had to offer. I think the program size was good. Not too small not too big. Our classes were generally very small though. The only fault about this program is that I felt we didn't get enough support in meeting Spanish students our own age. They did have Spanish university guides for us in the beginning, but it was hard to keep in touch with them because some of them studied abroad themselves. In this respect, I would have liked to have been more integrated into Spanish society and coming away with friendships with Spaniards.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host family was awesome and I think was extremely helpful to my language acquisition. I ate all my meals with my family, which helped us bond more and I learned a lot from them. My house was only a 15-20 minute walk from school which was awesome. My host family was very relaxed and accepting and let me have a lot of freedom in the house. I had my own set of keys and I could come and go as I pleased. They always tried to make me feel comfortable.

I ate so much food, but the food was always good quality. My host mom took a lot of time, effort and pride in making my meals. For breakfast you don't really eat much, but that's just the Spanish style of eating. Lunch is the biggest meal and my host mom always made a ton of food for me.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

All of our group troups were the best!! Our orientation in Galicia was incredible and our trip to Barcelona was also fun, though I wished we had had more time there. Our program also did these events on Fridays because we didn't have class then so if you weren't travelling you could sign up and participate. They differed every week and they were always a great balance of fun and education. I really loved them. Also, they were covered by the program which was great. My program also reimbursed us for any cultural events that we went to as long as we brough the receipts in on Wednesdays. There was a limited amount of money alloted to each student, but it was certainly enough for you to take advantage of many cultural things.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I think overall Madrid is pretty safe. I never ran into any problems. I think if you are smart and don't do anything stupid, you will be fine. Just behave like you would in any urban setting (stay in a group, careful with your wallet,etc.). The only thing that was hard was that I lived in a homestay by myself so I would have to walk alone for a little bit (just from the metro to my house). This wasn't the best idea but just given the nature of a homestay situation that was hard to work around. You could take a taxi to avoid that. Otherwise just try and walk in well lit areas and stay near people. I did get sick during my program but I had great health insurance and our housing director went above and beyond to help me out. Madrid has many clinics, but my director pointed me to one where they are particularly friendly and helpful. The pharmacists there are very knowledgeable too and they can usually help you out with minor stuff. I didn't need any vaccines to go to Spain.

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

I practiced Spanish with everyone and anyone. You have to speak Spanish at all times while you are enrolled in the Hamilton program. All of our classes were in Spanish, we all stayed with host families, and we all had to speak Spanish to one another. I found that Spaniards are very receptive to foreigners who try to speak their language. I always used Spanish for daily interactions.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• honor code
• the faculty and staff
• cultural events on Fridays and cultural reimbursements

• integration with Spanish youth
• better on campus facilities
• make it easier to attend classes at a Spanish university