University of Seville Study Abroad Past Review
By Hilary W (clinical psychology, spanish, Tufts University) for
Sweet Briar College: JYS in Seville
It was totally worthwhile.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Most of my learning was experiential - I learned from living with a family, visiting sites, reading relevant books, and traveling. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were so helpful and very very approachable - it's a small program so they know everyone on it and are quite accessible to us. They are all really nice people. They were all Spanish (except for the administrative people in the US, who we never actually met in person) so their knowledge of the Spanish university system and of Spain in general was very helpful. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with a family - a young couple with three children. It was very family-oriented. They did a lot of activities together - went to religious activities, ate meals together, went to parties with extended family etc., and they always included me with them which was awesome. They were so nice and really really accomodating. No problems. SMALL apartment - pack light b/c you won't have anywhere to put anything! <br /><br /> I was about a 15-20 minute walk from the university of sevilla. It was an apartment in a fairly affluent residential area. I felt safe walking around there by myself at night. I would have learned the city better but felt a little less secure had I been more in the center of the city. |
| * Food: |
My host mom was a very good cook, but there is a lot of deep fried foods and the hours were difficult for me to adjust to - very late dinners and very small breakfasts, two things I'm not used to. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Feria with my host family was AMAZING, also semana santa - the spring it the time to visit Sevilla! I traveled with my program around Spain a bit which was nice. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I bought snacks and drinks, but ate all my meals (for the most part) with my host family. When it was cold out, you spent more money because you wanted to hang out with your friends so you had to pay restaurants to have a place to go. The bars and restaurants were less expensive in Sevilla than other cities in Europe, for sure, but you are still using the Euro so it is expensive. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
My host family had children, and they did not speak English, so it was very easy to use Spanish all the time. The professors also did not speak English. The program directors enforced a Spanish-only policy. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes 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? | Go for it! It's a really well run program. |
