Tell me more:
Florence: Best Semester of my College Years
AIFS: Florence - Richmond in Florence
Program Information
Be a part of the community, not just a tourist, living in your own Florentine apartment and enjoying restaurants and cafes throughout the city with your AIFS meal vouchers. Experience the culinary side of Italian culture with wine tasting and cooking classes. Explore Italy's artistic heritage with visits to mu... More
| Provider: | AIFS |
| Location(s): | Florence, Italy |
| Year Founded: | 1964 |
| Website | Take me there! |
Review By:
Beth D. (Art, Presbyterian College) on January 19, 2011
Overall Rating
Personal Information
| * Start Date: | 2011-01-13 |
| * End Date: | 2011-05-05 |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The AIFS staff were so friendly, so helpful and very kind. There were plenty of school sponsored activities, many of them were free or discounted for student groups. The school planned trips for us to travel together to Venice and Rome. There was a huge calendar on the wall with the listings of each day's activities: cooking classes, wine tastings, dinner with local Italians to work on conversational language, and all of the students' birthdays for the month. |
| * Housing: |
The apartment that I lived in, as well as the ones my friends and fellow students lived in were wonderful. They were all within comfortable walking distance from our school and each other. They were clean, well stocked with living supplies and safe. My apartment made a great home-away-from-home for me. |
| * Food: |
AIFS gave us vouchers to use at participating local restaurants. This allowed us to try many different types of food and the experience of dining out in our city. We were also given vouchers for a near by grocery store so that we could buy food to keep in our apartment kitchens. This meal plan was one of the best things about AIFS. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My program coordinated school trips to Milan, Rome, Assisi, Cinque Terre and San Gimignano. We participated in the Carnevale celebration, several cooking classes, wine tastings, field trips to many local art and history museums and social dinners with local Italians. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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* Home Institution Advising:
How well did Presbyterian College prepare and support you for your time abroad? |
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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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent about 100 American dollars per week. However, I didn't have to buy food the majority of the time I was abroad because if the restaurant voucher program my program had for us. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | My spending advice is to budget your money into envelopes or zip-lock bags labeled for each week. Make sure you don't dip into another week's allowance in order to make sure you don't run out of money towards the end of your semester. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I had never had an Italian course before departure. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Most people speak English in Florence, just because of the many English-speaking visitors the city receives daily. I was able to practice Italian in my Italian language classes, when ordering at restaurants, asking for directions, and other examples of every day conversations. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? | Yes |
| * What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? | Best semester of my college years! |