Una vida maravillosa en Granada Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

All of my lecture classes were in Spanish, so I definitely got a lot of practice speaking and using vocabulary I wouldn't use on a regular basis, which has helped improve my fluency. The teachers at the CLM were great about answering questions and expanding on their subjects, so I also learned a lot about the history and culture of Spain while I was there, which was part of the reason I wanted to go. It was difficult at times, though, that almost none of my teachers spoke English, so if I didn't understand and asked a question and didn't know the words they were using, I just had to get by on context clues until I could go home and look stuff up in the dictionary.

On-site administration of your program

I loved, loved, loved Edu. She and Gérman were both very good about helping us with any problems we had with our classes or host families (I never had any problems with my host family but I had friends who did) and really did their best to make the transition from American life to Spanish life as easy as possible. Edu was extra awesome, though, because she would constantly send us information about activities going on in and around Granada so that we could be even more immersed in the culture and meet new people.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I absolutely loved my host family. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met in my entire life, and they are definitely what I miss most about my time in Spain. My "mama española" was an amazing cook and she was always great about taking our eating preferences into consideration when she made meals. She was always willing to help us with whatever, and just hanging out and talking to my host parents helped me improve my Spanish way more than any class I've taken in the States could ever hope to.

In Spain, they eat a lot of seafood. I like seafood, but I did start to get tired of it after a little while. But that's part of the culture, and man do they do seafood better than we do here in the states. Also, portions are pretty big, or at least they were with my host family, so you never really have to worry about going hungry. My best piece of advice when it comes to food would be to keep an open mind because everything about the way they cook is different than the States. Some foods we would never really consider eating here were some of my favorite foods over there.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The majority of my interaction with Spanish people came from my host family. The CLM was almost all foreign students, and the majority were American, so aside from my professors, I didn't really get to interact much with Spaniards while I was at school, which was something I was hoping to be able to do. You do meet a lot of people when you go to things like language exchanges, though, and Sol provided us with at Tic Talk Gold Card so we could go to them for free.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

So, I was lucky enough not to get sick while I was abroad, but my roommate had to go to the doctor several times. She would tell our host mom what was up so she would be aware, but to go to the doctor she told our program director she was sick and wanted to go to the doctor. Edu booked the appointment for her and went with her to act as a translator during her appointment. I know Sol provides insurance while we're over there, but I don't know how easy it was to use because my roommate never really mentioned that part.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how safe Granada was. I never really felt unsafe while I was there. If you ever got lost or anything, we had our program directors phone numbers and our host parents phone numbers and taxis were really cheap and could be found all over the place. I also passed by cops at least once a day on their patrols. It's a really safe city.

I really loved the people in my program but most importantly I absolutely loved my host family.

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

I saved up for my study abroad for two summers before I actually went, so I had plenty of money to get by while I was over there, especially considering I didn't have to pay for meals or laundry (host family took care of that). I went out for tapas with my friends fairly regularly and was even able to travel to different parts of Spain a few times. I think I averaged spending about $100-120 a week, but I also almost constantly bought souvenirs.

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

My host parents didn't speak English, so I had no option but to speak Spanish in the home, which I didn't mind. I think I improved a lot, and my host parents even told me I did. On the excursions with the program, my director always talked to me in Spanish (they're fluent in English and Spanish but talk to you in you're preferred language) and all of my classes were in Spanish.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students

• host family
• other people in my program
• the excursions with my program

• better roommate placement