Rome: the Greatest Place on Earth Past Review
By Sarah M (EDUCATION., Indiana University - Bloomington) for
IES Abroad: Rome Summer - Language & Culture
I learned to be independent and understand another culture other than my own. Being abroad has helped to become a better person.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Teaching is mostly lecturing. The grading system was pretty much the same as an American school. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program administrators were very helpful during the program. They helped us to find certain things, helped us with language and gave us very good instructions on how everything worked that we wouldn't know. They were not great about fixing things that broke in my apartment. The first day they had a very informative orientation that went over everything such as cultural norms, how the classes were going to be etc.. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
You are allowed to request a roommate but other than that they have you fill out a sheet with your living preferences and then based on your sheet, put you with roommates. The neighborhood was very safe, pretty close to where we out at night (in walking distance). The IES center was near the center of the city and my living arrangements were about 25 minutes walking distance from the IES center. You do not need to buy any items to settle in. They provide sheets, towels and kitchen appliances. |
| * Food: |
There are so many amazing places to eat in Rome! The places where locals go are the best. An amazing pizza place is Dar Poeta. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
IES took us on a weekend trip to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. It is not very easy to get there on your own so it was great to be able to go in a bus to these amazing places. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Rome is a pretty safe city overall. Obviously, never walk alone at night and be conscious of where you are and how you are acting. The program made sure that you could always get in touch with a doctor who spoke english and if you needed someone from the program to be there, they would go with you to the doctor. There were no vaccines needed to go. |
| 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? |
There were Italian students who helped out at the center and everyone was willing to help you with Italian. Most italians speak english so it is not hard to communicate with others. The italians really like when you speak italian to them instead of english. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Go on IES Rome if you want to have a great time socially and not work too hard in school. |
