Me encanta Espana! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

My professors were very unorganized and didn't know what was going on a lot of the time. They've been to Spain before too, and they still didn't know what was going on. I would ask questions about when we were leaving and when we were going to places, and it seemed like they'd get annoyed with me because I'd ask a simple question. As far as the workload, I feel like we did way more research than we had to. Also, I wanted to mention quickly, the professor snapped at a student on the bus when we were talking about climate change. She asked if he could talk more about it, and he said she should have researched it more and that she should know from what we talked in class. He was very rude to her! I'm disappointed with how he acted! So we had to meet four times before we left, and we had to do research each time. I understand that it's important to look things up about the country beforehand, but some of the stuff we researched was unnecessary and time-consuming, and we barley even talked about it in our meetings. Then, they told us that our grade would be based on our participation in the meetings and then the paper at the end. However, when we were in Spain, he kept threatening our grade if we didn't try to things or go to the places he wanted to go, which were optional by the way. I don't think his teaching style was appropriate. We just got done with our papers, and they gave us a chance to fix them based on their feedback, which I liked and it was nice of them. However, I hate how they lied to us. I had asked them if they would send our grade for the class back with our papers, so we could see where we stood. They agreed, but then they never did like they said they would. I asked them about it, and they said they didn't want us to be concerned about our grades. I was angry because they would always tell us one thing, but then never do it or do something else. Again, they were unorganized. The best part of the trip was when we had our free time and we didn't have to be by the professors. They constantly asked us questions about climate change. I know that's what we were studying, but they never gave us room to breathe and just think about experiencing the city! We would also have meetings during the trip at our hotel, and he would never wait for everyone to get there, which was rude! Also, this capstone was for students with any major. However, it seemed like the professors were disappointed with us for not knowing certain engineering or environmental answers. On some of the field trips, the information was too complicated and overwhelming to understand. They didn't even consider that there are students from very different majors. Then they said they'd make sure to bring students from certain majors for next time.

On-site administration of your program

My expectations were not met! The professors were in Spain last year, and yet they still had troubles while we were abroad. Also, I was very disappointed with our last hotel, because one of the professors looked it up and said it had very nice features like a pool and free wi-fi. However, she was wrong because we had to pay for those things. I was disappointed because she made us look forward to such things, and she doesn't even know Spanish, so I don't know why she was looking it up.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The hotels and hostels we stayed in were decent. However, some of them weren't in the greatest areas. Therefore, I think it was the professors' responsibility to know that ahead of time. They should have made sure we were in a safe neighborhood. They always encouraged us to go out at night; however, it wasn't safe to!

The food was good; however, I didn't like the prices so much. Most of the restaurants were a little pricy, especially when I was trying to save money for other things on the trip.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I really enjoyed seeing the flemenco dancers.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Just don't travel or go out by yourself. Always make sure you're with other people. I didn't have any experience with the local healthcare system.

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

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