Peru Past Review
By A student (Public service, Austin College) - abroad from 08/06/2012 to 12/17/2012 with
IFSA: Lima - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
The trips were fun and my Spanish did improve a slight bit but I was incredibly stressed out by how inadequately I was doing in classes and felt like I had little emotional support while there.
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. |
The trips were fantastic but I was not prepared for a full course load of Spanish classes and I felt very overwhelmed academically. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were present and willing to help find tutoring and help with class schedules. They also provided fun activities like free salsa lessons. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The family was very nice but they were rarely home or were busy. Also since the mom was Peruvian and the dad was English, they spoke spanglish which didn't help me improve my Spanish much. |
| * Food: |
The food was delicious. There was a variety of traditional ethnic foods but with a slight twist. Most dishes are heavy on pasta, potatoes, and/or rice but all were very tasty. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I was so swamped with reading for classes that I had very little time to try and join local activities. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not have any health problems but the school did have an on-campus health clinic that was free for students. |
| * Safety: |
Like any big city, there is the risk of being robbed, especially if you stand out in any way, but we were given a thorough safety briefing at the start of the program and I never experienced any problems, even when I got lost in a very poor section of town. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
Food was much cheaper than in the United States but other items such as shampoo and deodorant were more expensive. It was harder for me to budget because I'm used to cooking for myself rather eating out regularly and I was eating out daily because my host family lived an hour's bus ride away from school so I had to buy lunch every day. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
All classes were in Spanish and we were required to speak Spanish during orientation and any time we were around the program leaders. We were also strongly encouraged to use Spanish with each other. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Spanish 202 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
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? | I needed a Spanish/English program, not a fully Spanish program. |
