Academically disappointing but culturally invigorating! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The local university really didn't give me any work. I took three classes there and never had a single assigned reading or writing assignment. At least 75% of my grades depended on my final exams/papers. My two classes at IES (required grammar course and course on Spanish Cinema) were both great! They were very much like the American system and I loved both of the professors. Both of the women really cared about their subjects and their students. I had a lot of fun in both of the classes! Unfortunately, I just had a big negative experience with the university.

On-site administration of your program

IES was usually able to solve problems as long as they weren't local university related. The local universities just operated very slowly (i.e. we got there September 1st and didn't receive our university IDs until about mid October...)

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

LOVED my host mom and got along great with my roommate/housemate.

My host mom was a fantastic cook and cared really carefully for my food allergy (gluten). Though, I will say that basically the only thing I heard from other students was that their families hardly ate any vegetables and everything was fried and breaded. I really lucked out with my host mom because we ate tons of fresh veggies and I never had any allergy issues.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Spanish students seemed pretty uninterested in foreigners, especially within the classroom. All of the Spanish I met outside school at social events were obviously looking to meet us and were therefore very fun, but local students really didn't care to meet the exchange students there for the semester. I ended up going out a lot with friends I knew from a previous time abroad or the other Americans on my program.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I lived really close to a clinic and had to go there twice because of a recurring case of tonsilitis that had me out for about 6 weeks. I was seen quickly and administered medicine and was able to walk right to the pharmacy down the street to pick up everything I needed. Decently cheap as well.

Salamanca was SUPER safe. Obviously you couldn't be stupid about walking way outside downtown late at night by yourself, but as a woman, I always felt safe walking alone during the day and at night at never had issues with robbing. However, I know about 5-6 people on my program had their phones stolen, but it was usually due to them not being careful about it. Locals know you're not from there so if there is a thief about, you will be targeted. But as long as you're careful, nothing will happen.

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

I ate almost all of my meals in the house and usually spent about 50 euros a week on going out/snacks/activities. However, if you plan on traveling while here, prepare to lose A LOT of money because transportation is really expensive.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Frequent encouragement, but students didn't do it. I tried speaking Spanish with the other students and there were a few students who did as well, but most continued speaking English 100% of the time, which I found to be extremely frustrating.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Location
• Field Trips
• Homestay/Local friends

• Info on local universities
• scheduling--IES classes coinciding with LOTS of university classes

The Academic or Linguist