Italy and Greece Trip Was The Most Amazing Experience of My Life! Past Review
By Danielle M (Biology, General., St. Cloud State University) for
St. Cloud State University: Italy & Greece - CMTY 410 - Eternal Cities of Italy & Greece
It would have been worthwhile at any price. It was honestly the most enriching experience I have ever had traveling. You see some of the oldest places in the world and some of the most famous places in the world. Everywhere you go is beautiful. You learn so much without even trying to.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was very high for a 2 week study abroad. We had 2 6-8 page papers due before the trip and 2 power point presentations. Throughout the trip we were expected to complete journal entries that were very difficult and required a lot of research. When we got back from the trip we had a take home test due and a 4-6 page paper due. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Our tour guide was absolutely amazing. He was a native Greek so he knew a ton about Greece and really genuinely loved the country. The trip would not have been the same without him. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The hotels that we stayed in were for the most part acceptable. The hotel in Rome was not comfortable because the room had mold in the fridge and the shower and we had no air conditioning. Otherwise I was satisfied. |
| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian and all of our arranged meals were very accommodating to me. The arranged meals were always big enough and were very tasty. However, it would be good to tell students how much average meals cost in Italy and Greece because I spent much more than I thought I would on food. The average lunch was 7-10 Euros which is over $10 for just one person not including the drink. I did not quite expect lunches to be that expensive. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We did not attend any cultural events but all of our tours we did during the day were very culturally enriching. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The instructors and tour guide did a very good job of making sure we were safe without treating us like children. The only safety concerns I had were when girls would go out to the bars in a small group alone with no men from the group to accompany them. The professors really had no control over this situation though and it was not preventable. Nobody got hurt or put in compromising situations during our trip. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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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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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Anyone would benefit from this program. There are a lot of opportunities for drinking on this trip and it is such a short trip that if you are only concerned about partying and drinking you will not get much out of it. You do not want to be hung over during the day when we visit all of the amazing places we do. The people that enjoyed the trip the least were the ones who treated it like a party. |
