I had wonderful wonderful professors and advisors Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I had wonderful wonderful professors and advisors. They truly wanted to make the students have the best experience possible. They also made us emerse ourselves in the culture and for the most part they would only speak spanish to us. The educational system (teaching methods, workload, and grading system) was very similar to my home University.

On-site administration of your program

The administrative personnel and professor are what made the program so great. I could ask them anything and everything and they would help. Since most of the employees had studied abroad or had visited the U.S. they were very knowledgeable about America. The program size was relatively small, it only consisted of 80 to 100 students. For the the most part my expectations were met. I owe alot to this experience and i am forever gracious to Bilbao and its people.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in a student dormitory named Unamuno in the residential area of Sarriko, Bilbao. <br /><br /> I lived in a dormitory and my accomodation was a single bed room with a private bathroom. I lived with about 20 other American students and 100 local and international students. Bilbao in general is a safe city and my area was very safe. I was about 25 walking minutes away from my university, 10 minutes by bus or metro. I was about 20 min. away from the beaches by metro, 10 min by car. I was about 40 min. from downtown Bilbao by foot and 10 min by metro. I was about 30 min from the mountains by metro/foot. Since i was in Spain (actually Euskadi) nightlife was everywhere.

The way they ate was very different then what i am accustomed to. They ate "large" lunches and snacked around for the rest of the day. I liked most of what i tried but the quantity was not enough. I would recommend tortilla de patata, paella, pintxos, and the kebab store across the street from Unamuno residency. O and their pastries are really really good (Lemona is a good pastry shop)

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

So many. It seemed like they had a festival/celebration every week. I would definately recommend carnival. We had 1 overnight trip to Madrid which was ok but the local trips were the best. We went to Guernica the setting for Pablo Picasso famous painting Guernica. We went to the gorgeous Mundaka where the world surf championships are held. Also we visited the French Basque Country which was also just unbelievable.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Bilbao is one of the safest cities in Europe and never once did I feel threatened. I didnt have any health issue while I was there and I didnt need any vaccines to go there or while i was there.

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

Everyday I was emersed in Spanish. I went to Spanish class for three hours a day and in my other classes we were required to speak Spanish. I also lived in a dormitory with local university students who mainly spoke spanish. Just going out i was forced to use spanish. Everything involved the use of Spanish. I even spoke spanish with the other Americans occationally.

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• Hotel
• Dorm

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• Local Students
• International Students
• Americans

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• Americans