A great place to be for my final semester! January 31, 2024
By A student (Environmental Studies, Williams College) - abroad from 08/08/2023 to 12/20/2023 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Puerto Rico
- big improvement in Spanish skills and comfort in the language - Spanish speaking work experience - learning to live in a culture that just felt warmer and in many ways more intentional, slower (in really good ways) than life in the mainland US
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. |
Kind and knowledgeable professors both at UPRRP and the Middlebury Spanish class. Less outside of class HW to do than typically found at Williams, but I honestly had quite a lot to do for the assignments that we did have, especially around midterms and finals. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Teresa is super kind and helpful whenever you need it! A great host and ambassador for Puerto Rico to all us newcomers! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
It was a fine place to live, but upkeep could have been better (mold growing). For my purposes, it was not a major issue. Good location close to the campus. |
| * Food: |
Always tough to adjust to not having a dining hall, but we had a kitchen to use (shared) in the building, on each floor. Local food options exist but not the best hours, and often closed on Sunday. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I could have made more of an effort on this end, but especially through local friends and my internship, I did feel like I found a local community and am very grateful for that. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
As with any urban area, be smart and careful, but I usually felt safe. Always better after dark to travel in pairs or groups! Río Piedras generally felt safe but there are some very dark spots without lighting that one might walk through, so again, you will feel safer in groups. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I think that the freedom to really explore and get involved in local life is great and something I wish I took advantage of even more. I think being immersed in an internship experience was a big growth opportunity for me. Overall, I was just glad to be in Puerto Rico this fall - it felt like the right place for me. |
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) |
Puerto Rico is expensive! And not having a dining hall / as cohesive of a campus environment meant spending significantly more out of pocket than I was used to. However, lower academic costs made this work out okay, but it was certainly an adjustment and something one has to account for. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cook for yourself!! You can go out when you want to, but don't feel pressured to do so! And finally, make use of the tren urbano and public bus system. It is not perfect but can definitely help you get around (at a very low cost with student discount). Not taking Uber as frequently will help. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
we signed a language pledge, but the enforcement of that was mostly on us as students. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 300 level literature course at Williams |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Speak in target language with friends if possible! Listen to podcasts by Puerto Ricans to hear the specific dialect and accent. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
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? | I think just explicitly realizing that the lack of dining hall would mean being self-reliant every day and every meal would have been good to internalize. Having not had to do that before, nor budget for what that means, was a challenge. |
