Barcelona - The busiest 30 days of my life Past Review

By (Media Management, University of Miami) for

ISA Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
YES

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 0-2 weeks

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

ISA was excellent in how they run their program. I loved having a week prior to the start of classes to visit Madrid, Toledo, and El Escorial. Staying in a hotel with the other ISA program students fostered a sense of community among us before we got to Barcelona. The ISA faculty-led tours were excellent.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Our location was AMAZING. I was in an apartment in Barcelona that was right on the beach, and right across the street from some of the newest and most popular night clubs in the city. I was also the closest out of the ISA students to Pompeu Fabra... only a 10 minute walk to class! The biggest negative was that we were very inconvienent to a lot of grocery stores and inexpensive restaurants.

* Food:

I like the food in Barcelona, but one month of it was enough... I gained about 8 pounds! Because we couldn't afford to go to restaurants for paella and other nice seafood a lot, we ate a lot of "bocadillo" sandwhiches, which I enjoyed but my diet was almost all carbs.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Field trips arranged by ISA were great

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
Language acquisition improvement?

Other students in program, native speakers when at school or out shopping or eating. I needed to use Spanish in most interactions, although many people in Barcelona do speak English

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans