You absolutely need Spanish to live in Córdoba Past Review
By Danielle B (Women and Gender Studies and Spanish, Wellesley College) for
PRESHCO: Study Abroad in Córdoba, Spain
It was absolutely worthwhile, I'm very glad to have traded a year at wellesley for a year abroad. I learned that there is a whole big world outside my college life, and I gained a lot of confidence by living abroad and solving my own problems. I also got to travel through europe and northern africa a bunch. I think I have a better understanding of how europeans view the US and what it is like to live, and succeed, in a completely unfamiliar culture and language. On more concrete levels, my spanish skills improved greatly and I finally understand the organization and functioning of the EU.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | University of Córdoba |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
| The term and year this program took place: | Full-Year 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The best language practice I got was always out of class with spanish "family" and friends. UCO is a joke compared to wellesley, and the classes directly in the university were always the worst, as in poorly instructed and organized with no student participation. Program classes were smaller and more liberal arts based, much better. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
PRESHCO director and staff were always very helpful and accessible |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with one other american student, and a spanish host family. We had a mom and a dad, they were older and had four grown children and five grandchildren who visited almost daily. It was the smallest apartment I could have imagined, no heat, and now and then no hot water. Lovely people, amazing food. <br /><br /> It was located very close to the university, but was so incredibly small and having no heat in winter was like torture. |
| * Food: |
the food was 98% of the time delicious, but my host parents both insisted on my eating far too much, even when I was already too full |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
a good amount of organized travel included at no extra cost, reembolsos money for cultural spending |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Córdoba is totally small and safe as long as you are smart. Our program would send one of the staff to accompany you to the doctor upon request. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | very little, just frequent coffee dates and spending time in bars since that is spanish culture |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | the gym is horrendously expensive compared to home, about 50USD per month |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Spanish 275 |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
speak a lot with spanish friends, go out all the time, and live with a host family. you absolutely need spanish to live in Córdoba, very few people speak english. |
| 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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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I recommend PRESHCO with serious reservations. I think I got lucky in that I loved my housemate to death and quickly made many spanish friends. Without my housemate or those friends, the year could have been awful. The program itself is great, they are very helpful and offer tons of opportunities. And in the spring I was reimbursed for the orientation trip (since we weren't going to go on the same trip again) with a very large sum of money. But the schools involved with the program seem to send very socially awkward people, and represent a pretty low level of academic skills. Also, UCO classes are a disgrace to academics. Córdoba itself can be great if you get out and get involved, but it could be too small for some people. so yes, I recommend it with a number of reservations, and I'm not 100% sure that I would choose it again, I might go on a program open to more different schools and in a bigger city. |
