Granada, Spain- a great semester abroad! Past Review
By Rachael M (International Affairs/ Spanish, Trinity University) for
IES Abroad: Granada - Liberal Arts & Language
Yes, it was definitely worthwhile. I feel that I gained independence and cultural awareness.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Classes were challenging and interesting. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I LOVE the IES staff. They definitely get top marks. The program was very well-structured and I appreciated that a lot. I enjoyed the excursions that they organized; especially the trip to Morocco. The biggest downfall to this program is the size- well over 100 people. I would've enjoyed it a lot more if the program was a lot smaller and if not all of the students had been Americans. If I had known the program was going to be so large, I might have looked into other programs in Granada, to see if I could've had a more personalized experience. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I definitely recommend living with a host family. My host mother was an angel and our relationship really meant a lot to me. The neighborhood was very safe and our apartment was clean and comfortable. However, it was very far away from my classes and job and good nightlife. I didn't need to buy anything for the house. I was treated as a family member. |
| * Food: |
Spanish food can get very repetitive. A lot of meat (especially ham) is eaten, but most people are fairly tolerant of vegetarians. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I loved the trip to Morocco that IES organized for us, and I definitely recommend it. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Granada is a very safe city and I don't know anyone who had any problems. I never had an experience with local healthcare, and there were no common health issues that I was aware of. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | About 50 euro a week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | You will have to buy your own dinner every night, but usually that will only cost about 5 or 6 euro. |
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? |
I really enjoyed my language class, and IES made a big effort to set us up with Spanish students so we could improve our spanish. Granada is a great city to study abroad in if language acquisition is important to you, because most people don't speak much English. |
| 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? | Granada is the best city to study abroad in Spain! |
