Living in Granada: The Best Experience of my Life Yet Past Review
By Lee W (N/A, Wesleyan University) for
ISA Study Abroad in Granada, Spain
Yes. It was such a good experience living and bonding with my home-stay mates and just roaming around the city. Especially coming from a rural background, the study abroad gave me a much more expansive experience.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was pretty easy after completing through Spanish 4 in high school. But I guess you could say I have linguistic talent. Everyday interaction was much more difficult and helpful. Practice, in the end, is what helps most. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Everything was really good except what was mentioned above. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The housing was fine. It was just difficult adjusting to the Spanish perspective of water conservation. The program director warned us about common theft, but none of us were ever in any situation like that. |
| * Food: |
Awesome! Although I think some students went to McDonald's, which, in my opinion is kind of a waste. There was some confusion as to the definition of meat. I am vegetarian. Just be ready to explain your conception of meat (i.e. sandwich meat is not considered "carne" so they served me that). But it worked out fine in the end. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I can't even list them all off. There were tons of cathedrals and palaces and memorials and cultural sites, and all of them were jaw-droppingly stunning. Well, if you're into exploring old luxurious buildings and you're an architecture enthusiast. But the landscape and everyday people we saw was pretty awesome too. We went on somewhere around like 10 excursions. Maybe a couple less. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Totally safe. I'm sure there were shady types around, but in the two weeks we stayed in Granada, our program didn't have any incidents. |
| 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 was some interaction with native students who were learning English, but I think there could have been more. But going to stores and restaurants was helpful. Very few Spaniards spoke English. However, the majority of time was spent with other people on the program speaking English. Kinda. |
| 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?
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? | I would probably not go to Spain as a 15-year-old on a 16-18 age range program, which is what I did. That is, unless you're very confident of yourself. My Spanish was fine, but I was a tad inexperienced n stuff. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Intensive Spanish |
| Course Department: | I Don't Know |
| Instructor: | I Forget |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish (Espanol) |
| Comments: | The teacher did not speak English, so I had to use quite imaginative pieces of my known vocabulary to figure out new vocabulary. Very helpful in building new vocab and learning the weird grammatical odds and ends that you can only get with a native speaker. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | N/A, at least so far... |
