It was an unexpected surprise. I LOVED it. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

We did not take classes on the capus of The University of Malaga we took classes about an hour out of town with other forgein students but we pretty much stayed with in our ISA group and did not meet very many locals unless you went out at night.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Spanish households are very diffrent than american and you need to be respectfull of that when you live in a spanish home. My senora was older and very old school. It was nice because one of my best friends from my home university lived with me and just my senora but some households have family that lives with them. A spanish household usually is a very private setting and you normally do not invite freinds over to the house to hang out you hang out on the calle or street as they say. It is a little diffrent than most americans are used to. My house mom also was very old school with meals. Meals are very imortant and lunch needs to be recognized as one of the most important meals of the day. Breakfast is one of the least imortant. They dont eat a lot for breakfast if you ask your senora to make you something more they will of course. I wasnt able to come home for lunch because of how far away campus was and my senora wasnt very happy because it is important to come home but she made me a bolcadillo anyways or lunch to go. I kept some sweets in the house just becuase that is what I need they generally dont eat sweets. You will always need to make sure that your senora and you understand eachother or else it can cause problems just try to explain as best as possible and it will help a lot. The nightlife in Malaga is amazing it is a beach town and there are a lot of things to do. The school was right next to the beach which was also nice. Just make sure you have a little extra money for things to do it will go fast just because the US dollar and the Euro are so diffrent right now especially with all the trips that you will take with ISA because you will want to explore and enjoy the food.

If you enjoy a variety of food such as chinese or itallian there isnt very much of that. Dont get me wrong I had tons of fun discovering the food in spain but sometimes you just want something new or a diffrent style and its generally harder to find. There is tons and I mean tons of fish in Malaga my friend hates fish and she had a harder time but she of course still found many things that she enjoyed. My senora did get a little annoyed at us just because we did not eat fish and that is the cheepest meat there. I will always sugest going out and discovering place that you like to eat on your own just explore sit down someplace and try it! You will get to use your spanish and discover something new. There are tons of places to sit down and eat with friends becuase many spanards hang out not in the house. Also try as much wine as possible I hated wine before I went but spanish wine is a wonderful to accompany any food!!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

All of the programs that are set up are wonderful. I loved every trip because we got to see a new town and also we had already payed for it. Also we got to have thanksgiving dinner with our group payed for by ISA and that was a really good alternative for not being home. Also they love!! Halloween there and it is amazing and fun everyone dresses up and there is tons of people on the street. Plaza merced is where most of the clubs and bars are.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The overally safty is fine you should always be acreful when you are drinking and you should never have to walk alone. That is true in America too so there is not much diffrent. Just notice where there are not a lot of people and at night try to stay where the people are. My house was far away from many of the night activities but I always had someone to walk home with if I didnt I was aware of my surroundings and I was watchful. Make sure that you recognize things around you with your belongings dont just leave your things laying around on the beach or your backpack open on the bus but that should just be common sence. You are a forgeiner so they think it will be easy to steal from you. I never experianced anything bad and most people in my program didnt either.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I took intensive spanish with teachers that did not generally speak english. So I spoke spanish a lot in the classroom and my Senora or host mom only spoke spanish as well so I also only spoke spanish with her as well. However one of my friends from ISA was a spanish speaking native so I spoke with her but I hung out with people who were from the ISA program and spoke english.

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• Americans
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