Malaga--all play, no work! Past Review
By Katherine M (Biology, General., The College of William and Mary) for
ISA Study Abroad in Málaga, Spain
I had already spent a fair amount of time living in Spain, so I wasn't there to understand culture, but rather for intensive language study to improve my grammar and ability to write. We were not assigned ONE writing assignment at all during the semester (I was in both advanced literature AND advanced grammar), and even in literature, we read one page scanned excerpts and summaries--never more than that. It was really fun, but useless academically.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was well-intentioned, and on the day to day side, they were great. They sent out a list of cultural events every week, had great weekend excursions, and we visited a different spot in the city every Wednesday. As far as classes went, it couldn't have been worse. It was a constant wild goose chase to get questions answered, because the director of classes referred us to the program administrator, she referred us back to him, and then finally someone ended up having to contact the main office for the global study abroad company. Our schedules weren't set until the day we arrived, and the latest classes didn't end until 7 pm. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I was lucky and treated extremely well by my host family (it was just an 80 year old woman and her 50 year old son). Everything I needed was provided, and the food could not have been better. We lived 10 minutes walking from the city center and nightlife, and 25 minutes on the city bus to school. I was also only 2 blocks from the beach. |
| * Food: |
My best food was always from my host mom, but there are TONS of fantastic restaurants in Malaga also. Cien Montaditos is a sandwich place in Plaza de la Constitution where everything is 1 euro on Wednesdays, and the food is delicious. Its also a fun mix of all ages and lots of local students. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Malaga is extremely safe, and even pick pocketing isn't an issue for people that are pretty aware of their surroundings. The health insurance that was included was almost useless--students had to pay the first 50 dollars for any visit to the doctor, and tour directors conveniently forgot to mention that you could buy antibiotics straight from the pharmacy extremely inexpensively if you were sick. |
| 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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Bus tickets are like 7 euros for 10 trips, and there's a student price of like 23 euros on the unlimited monthly tickets if you get a student ID from the school. Spanish people don't have a lot of guests in their homes, so in order to hang out with friends, you end up spending a little bit of money every time for a coffee or soda in a cafe. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 281 I think--I had taken 4 to 5 college level courses |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
The location was PERFECT. I loved Malaga and would absolutely recommend it. Not many people speak English. Because our school and classes were only foreign students, I didn't get a lot of exposure that way, but my host mother was wonderful and we spoke in Spanish a lot. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | If you are a serious student really hoping to go from a proficient Spanish speaker to a fluent speaker, or if you want to spend time learning interesting or useful info, this is not the program for you. However, if you're looking to get to know another culture with a very light (never any homework) workload and lots of time to play, I absolutely recommend it! This is a good program for non-majors who aren't too concerned about increasing their language level. |
