It was the most liberating, educating, and self discovering experience to date. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

My Spanish "track" 300/400 level classes were intense, fast paced, and hard to keep up with. That being said, I learned a lot but I also did not get above a 69 on any of my Spanish exams. Other than that class everything else was fine and pretty normal.

On-site administration of your program

Administrators in the office were very helpful and tried very hard to get to know everyone in the program on a personal level and know everyone by name.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I had a good housing experience by living in a homestay with a wonderful family. Sometimes living with a family can make you feel isolated to other kids in your program and that, I would say is the only downfall.

Food was not what I expected. I thought Spanish people would eat super healthy and eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh fish being right near the ocean in Bilbao... but what I found was that white bread was served with every meal and pork/ham was eaten at least 3 times a week. I found my host mother wanted to feed me more than I was capable. If I had actually eaten all the food she wanted to serve me my eating capacity would have doubled.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Not integrated because USAC classes were only Americans in our program of 50 ish kids. I literally saw the same people every day and never talked to a local Basque student ever. We were encouraged to sign up to have "intercambios" but i never did that for whatever reason... More than one choice should have been offered to get Americans and Spanish kids to interact.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

During my semester abroad 4 people got the mumps and the program took care of it as best the could. They had students stay home from school and away from people for as long as possible to ensure that no one else would get sick. The program director helped a lot with those sick kids and helped them visit walk-in clinics or something like that.

Bilbao is one of the safest cities in Europe and I felt very safe every single day. I took the metro alone every single day to school and never once felt weird about doing so. Homeless and sketchy people exist but no one is in your face about it and I even felt safe very late at night even if I was alone.

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

I lived in a homestay which is more expensive than an apartment but I also got food made for me and my laundry done for me too. I only spent money when traveling or on the weekends going out to have drinks or some food.

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

all the time, except when we were all together we used English because some students were not there to take Spanish classes, they were in the business program.

Select all that apply

• Host Family

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• International Students
• Host Family

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• Americans

• The program advisors
• The city/location itself
• The people I met along the way

• Being more connected with the local people/students
• Maybe more encouragement/information to have students travel locally within Spain or the Basque Country
• Class/scheduling times

The Academic or Linguist