If you want a cheesy slogan, it's not happening - I would love to live in Barcelona again Past Review
By Maggie H (Spanish & Communications, DePaul University) for
ISA Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain
I love the Spanish language, I love Barcelona, I loved my time abroad. It was professional, yet laid back & the instructors were younger, allowing cultural anxiety to be almost nonexistent. I ended up going on to major in spanish & communications & this course definitely helped me determine that path.
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. |
My professor was AWESOME - she was totally understandable, broke it down efficiently & all around, a really great teacher. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Cute, young & relatable administrators picked us up from the airport, exciting everybody & setting the tone for the trip. They were awesome. Sadly, though, at the end I had a friend who was having issues with her host mom & they were unsympathetic & it really put a strain on things. The girl was 'kicked out' of her house 2 days early for really no reason at all & they refused to believe her. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I went with my best friend (she studied at Lincoln, Nebraska & I went to DePaul - this program was great middle ground) & we were hosted by a single, really old spanish woman. My friend has severe asthma & we were supposed to be paired with a nonsmoker, but Rafaela was always sneaking smokes in the stairwell.. she thought we couldn't tell. It ended up being more funny than anything, because she was such a spitfire. She had beds set up for us, cooked dinner every night & treated us with a descent amount of respect, though she would often make snide comments about our shopping expenditures/shoot down Americans for being to materialistic. We really didn't go shopping all that much & it was evident she was assuming a preconceived stereotype.. Perhaps she had watched to much of 'my sweet 16' & other awful shows that portray US citizens as rich brats |
| * Food: |
GELATO!!!! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
we went to a winery that some people really enjoyed (i though it was boring) but it was near a breathtaking coastal town (sitges) which we later visited again outside of the program. - - we mostly did cultural field trips outside of the directors plans |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
i live in chicago, so their seminars on pickpocketing were old news.. nothing else really needed to be addressed |
| 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? |
Almost everybody spoke english - a bunch of Americans in a foreign country going out & speaking Spanish? > not likely. I practiced with my host mom (she didn't speak english) & took all Spanish tours/listened to as much Spanish as possible. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | it was a fun, organized & expectation met program that allowed me to meet some really awesome people - i still keep in touch with girls from california, oklahoma & hawaii. -- Go out & meet locals, because it's the only way you're going to practice the language & do a full term abroad, not just a summer session. Also, take the tours in Spanish, because the exposure will help immensely. |
