CISP in Arica Chile..Una Experiencia Fantastica de mi Vida !! Past Review
By Kenzie S (Communicative Disorders, Spanish, University of Northern Iowa) for
University of Northern Iowa: Arica - Culture and Intensive Spanish Program (CISP)
Besides improving my spanish speaking and writing skills, I now better understand people of different cultures and it opened my eyes to many things in the world, outside the USA, that I would have not realized if I had not came here.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The homework during the first 4 weeks was not bad at all. The last 3 weeks were crazy with homework though. I thought they could have spread it out a little better. But all the professors were awesome and very understanding. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
This program is a great program! I enjoyed every minute of it! The head of the program, Pochy, was very helpful and an overall sweetheart! Although the university was in a toma while we were down here, they worked very hard to make everything run smoothly for us. Overall, it was an amazing experience! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my host family! They were very welcoming and treated me as part of the family. They had my room all set and ready for me when I arrived and took very good care of me. I had about a 25 minute walk to class everyday, so that got a little long doing that twice a day, but overall I loved everything about my host family. |
| * Food: |
I didn't have any problems with the food here. But when I went to Peru I had some trouble with a restaurant and I got sick. Have fun and try new things, but just be careful where you eat and what it is your ordering. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We had about 4 excursions planned for us throughout the trip. They were cultural and most of them were very fun and interesting to do something different. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The city was pretty safe. You just have to be smart and use caution at night and especially do not walk far by yourself at night. It's a bigger foreign city and you stick out, so just be smart and safe about your surroundings. |
| 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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
My host family, students, professors, and people of Chile and Peru. Yes. No. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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?
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? | DO IT!! It may seem as though its too expensive or too time consuming but honestly this experience is something you only get once! You need to do it because if it's anything like my trip was, you will leave here with memories and friends that will last you a lifetime! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Culture |
| Course Department: | Spanish |
| Instructor: | Jaime |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | The professor was awesome and made the material interesting to learn! He was very knowlegable of what it was he was teaching and I participated a lot more than I would have at UNI. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
