Falling in Love with (and in) the city of Granada Past Review
By Anna L (Spanish Language and Literature., Ithaca College) for
IES Abroad: Granada - Liberal Arts & Language
Yes! After being abroad and having such a positive experience, my partner and I plan on moving back to Spain for at least a year after graduating college. I also plan on visiting several other times. I am excited to see my city from a different point of view, and also to visit some of the people I met while there, mostly my host mom.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I learned things in this program I could have never learned in the United States, simply because their way of teaching is different. Overall, I had a wonderful experience in classes, but there were a few cultural barriers that were hard to overcome at first. We had a lot of group projects, which isn't unusual in the US, but certainly not as common. Also, their paper formatting is quite different, as are their requirements for papers and essays. The biggest issue wasn't the difference, but the fact that nothing was outlined on the syllabus, and since it was common in Spain, most professors didn't think to explain the finer details to us. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The only problem that I noticed was that of the computer availability, mostly for printing. Since most people have their own computers, there weren't many in the school, but no one had a printer in their homestay, so printers were always being used. Some things are unavoidable, such as technology breaking down, but even in that circumstance, everything was fixed very quickly. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My Spanish mom made my roommate and I feel right at home from day one. Had I stayed in any other housing situation, my experience would have been drastically different. |
| * Food: |
Kebab is the most delicious fast food probably in existence. It is fast, cheap, AMAZING, and actually quite healthy. I ate kebab at least once (or maybe three times) a week or so. The pizza in Spain is also extremely delicious! And croquetas, which are very different anywhere else. Also, chirimoyas are the most amazing fruit in the world. It is like nothing you have ever tasted, and they're a specialty of Spain. Just eat everything! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
All the trip arranged by the program were amazing. The only thing that was a little hard was the fact that some of the hikes were a little longer and tougher than they told us. I am fairly certain that the locals were just used to walking more since they walk all the time. Cabo de Gata was an extremely long hike, but worth every single view of the sea and beach that we saw there. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
No special medical treatments were needed before the program, and I just took care of myself while I was there. The allergens are different in different places, though, and a few weeks in the spring were pretty rough. But there are pharmacies everywhere, and if you don't know what to get, ask someone from the program to go with you. Several students did that, and it made purchasing the right thing much easier. |
| 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? | I went into the program expecting to spend about $4000 for the entire semester. I ended up spending about half that, because of where I was and because of good planning. Weekend trips are easy to do for just a little money. By staying in Spain most of the time, I was able to save my money for the long Holy Week in April to buy plane tickets. My friends and I went to the beach for 3 nights, 4 days and instead of staying in a hotel or hostel, rented two apartments for 3 nights (that was the minimum). We went in the off season, which is still pretty warm in Spain, and we ended up paying about 70 euro (or a little less) each for housing and food because we were able to grocery shop and cook. When traveling to other countries, look for people you know to cut down on having to find a place to stay and paying for it. It frees up money for other activities. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Since I was abroad, I forgot about the book expenses I would have, and also forgot about notebooks and writing utensils. They are pretty cheap there, so don't bother bringing any, but don't forgot to factor in books to your overall cost. They didn't cost a lot, however. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 370 |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I spoke only Spanish at my homestay, both with my Spanish mother and my roommate. I also spoke Spanish daily at school to all the faculty and staff, as well as in restaurants, on the street, in shops. I did speak some English with friends, but most of the time we tried to stick with Spanish to further our understanding and fluency. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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 do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | This program is for people who love people, not partying. Not saying that partying doesn't happen, but people here take classes (more or less) seriously before they go out. I never heard a student from my program being rude to anyone else. Even compared to other US students we were more conscious about our surroundings. We didn't want to be the obvious Americans in every bar and place we walked in. Everyone in the program was excited to be immersed in the culture, they weren't just looking for places to party overseas. |
