Studying in Spain: an experience I will never forget! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload at the University there was about the same as the workload at my home university. It varied from class to class. I had one professor who gave me a test and a paper to do every week. I had another professor who only assigned 2 papers and gave 2 tests throughout the entire semester. The grading system was much easier in Spain. A 5/10 in Spain is equivalent to a 7/10 in the U.S. and a 7/10 in Spain is equivalent to an 8/10 in the U.S., so in Spain you have to do less work to acheive satisfactory results. The professors were all friendly, and in Spain you can call them by their first name which is nice. One professor gave us a trip to a flamenco show. That was a lot of fun. One problem was that in order to get the syllabus, and in order to print everything out, you have to go to la copisteria. It's a very small room and everybody has to buy a syllabus and print out essays, so it's always VERY crowded. You can be stuck there for half an hour, or even an hour. Another problem was that the classrooms were always changing, and for a while I wasn't even getting notified of room changes. I had to hear it from fellow students if the classrooms were changing, and sometimes I never heard back and ended up missing class. Overall though, it was a fun experience, and I really enjoyed what I learned there.

On-site administration of your program

They made sure that i got everything done that I needed to get done and they got me everything I needed. They told me what the school was called, what the classes were, and who I was staying with.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived with one woman who was 53. Her nephew would occassionally come over too. She had a husband that I only saw once, and a bunch of family members who came over on her birthday. The place I stayed on was just across the river from the center of the town and right next to the Metro. But also, that part of the town smelled bad for some reason. Partially do to the construction they were doing on the roads in the area. The host mom was a great cook. She could cook many different kinds of food including paella, gazpacho, sausage, chicken, good soups, and salad with chorizos in it. In Spain, they eat all kinds of different meat and have very few vegetarian options. I had never eaten really been much of a meat person outside of chicken. My host mom was annoyed with my limited pallet. But over time, I learned to love to diverse foods of Spain. I learned that meat in Spain is generally better than meat in America and that they eat more types of it, and I learned to love all different kinds of meat. I still to this day go to Spanish restaurants and order a paella with many different kinds of meat. In Spain, electricity is very expensive, and they don't want you keeping the lights on all the time. My host mom was reasonable. I could have the light on as long as I was in my room, I just had to turn it off when I left. In that house, there was no air conditioning. She gave me a fan to use. But she wouldn't let me have it on at night. She said if I left the fan on all night, it would burn. But I could have the window open. One thing that I hated about Spanish culture was that in Spain, they get very little water. Therefore most families don't allow showers longer than 10 minutes. My host mom was no exception. I hated it, and in my 4 months there, I never got used to it. But looking back now, I'm glad she did that because it got me in the cultural experience. The one unfortunate thing is that my host mom did not have conversations with me very often. Other students came and went in my time there and they had the same problem. We never had any conversations that really made us bond at all in my 4 months there. The nephew that came in and otu of the house was a little more friendly for conversation.

I love the food of Spain. Ever since I studied there, I still go to Spanish restaurants to this day to get paella, gazpacho, tapas, churros, etc. Great stuff. In Spain, they eat a light breakfast, a HUGE lunch, and a light dinner. In my host mom's home, the breakfast was always toast with chocolate milk. It was good. At lunch, they make A LOT of food. I don't care what your appetite is like, you will not be able to eat all of the food that you are given. Just eat as much as you can. They say hat in Spain, they eat a light dinner, but it's only light in comparison to the lunch. When I have dinner there, it was always good enough for 1 meal, as opposed to lunch where they make enough food for 3 meals. If the family or person you're staying with is any good, they'll understand. Also, when you go to Spain, you better be a huge meat lover, or at least you better be open to trying new kinds of meat. You also need to know that ham in Spain is better than ham in the USA. If you're a vegetarian, I suggest you study in a different country. You also need to know that they do eat later in Spain. They eat breakfast at about 9 AM, lunch at 2 PM, and dinner at 9 PM or later.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Our program started off in Madrid. We stayed at a 4 star hotel there that was right across the street from the Prado museum. When we arrived there, we rested up for one day, and then we had one full day of touring. We went on guided tours through the Pradio museum and the Royal Palace. Those are wondreful places. It's a shame that they wouldn't let us take pictures. The next day we went to Toledo and saw that city for a few days. Then, we went to see the windmills that Don Quixote fought. Then, we went to Seville. In Seville, we had a guided tour of the Cathedral and the tower. They didn't let us stay on top of the tower for very long because there is a bell that rings every 15 minutes and opn the top of the hour, it rings a certain number of times equal to what time it is. I made it to the top of the tower at 12 o'clock. My ears were ringing for quite a while after that. In October, we went to Lisbon, Portugal, and stayed in a 5-star hotel there. We saw a castle there as well as a cathedral, and some old cannons near the river. A few weeks later, we went to Granada. It was really cool there. We saw a flamenco show there. I saw 4 flamenco shows while I was in Spain, 3 in Seville and 1 in Granada, and the show I saw in Granada was the best. We also went to the Alhambra, which was amazing. In November we had a day trip to Ronda. We saw the bull-fighting museum, and we walked slong the trails there. It was all great.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

There are a ton of gypsies in Spain. The gypsies are poor people who will do anything to get money, especially from tourists. They may offer you "gifts." They may just plead with you. Rule of thumb: DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY. Or, if you feel inclined to open your heart, give them a euro or 2, and then: RUN RUN RUN! Once you give them money, they're going to ask you for more money. And if you give them more money, they're going to ask you for even more money. They'll keep asking you for money until you're broke. Not only that, but other gypsies will see your generosity, and then they will ask for money until you're broke. So if you give any money to a gypsy, you better have so really good legs! ISA warned us about this, but I ignored their warnings and foud out about all this the hard way. Don't make the same mistake I made!

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

I could speak Spanish with the natives, including my host mom, the ISA directors, my professors and the people of the city. With most of my fellow students, my ability to speak Spanish was limited since I knew more Spanish than most of them did. The ISA directors and most of the professors could speak English, but most of the time they spoke Spanish. The host mom knew very few English (the only words she knew ere "OK," "Money" and "Hot dog") so I spoke with her in Spanish. Most of the natives only spoke Spanish. I met a few people there from Germany who could speak English and Spanish and German. The program itself had a couple of "meet the local Spaniards" meetings where we got to meet and talk with native Spanish speakers. That was when I discovered a part of Spanish culture I did not like (drinking and smoking).

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• Host Family

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• Host Family