An adventurous semester full of lingustic and cultural development. December 01, 2024
By A student (Anthropology, Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/31/2024 to 12/17/2024 with
PRESHCO: Study Abroad in Córdoba, Spain
I learned a lot about myself; how I handle traveling, how I handle loneliness, and living mostly by myself in a foreign country. I gained some confidence in my language skills and my ability to navigate in unfamiliar environments. It was definitely worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Universidad de Cordoba- Great, kind, mostly accommodating professors. Classes were low in busy work but required long essays and final exams. The lecture-style structure of the classes was boring to me coming from Wellesley where classes are mostly discussion-based. Professors were not very easy to reach out to. PRESHCO classes- Awesome professors, class style a bit more similar to Wellesley's with more engagement. Lots of smaller projects and homework spread out which I enjoyed more. In both cases, the program provided many available resources, such as tutors and other academic support. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The PRESHCO staff are absolutely fantastic, I can't imagine a better administrative setup. We had a separate office dedicated to our program and I think 6 or 7 dedicated staff members? They are always "on-call" so to speak, and will help you with whatever you need. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Loved my host family, they are amazing people and we got along very well. I had my own room and bathroom which was absolutely crucial for me. The location of my apartment was very convenient, only a 15min walk to campus. |
| * Food: |
I am vegan, so I knew going into the program that finding suitable food might be a problem for me. However the PRESHCO program was amazing in that respect, and I have almost no complaints. I managed to find lots of good options in Cordoba, and my host family was very accommodating. However, it is Spain, which is a very meat-heavy culture so there were some uncomfortable moments where I was left hungry at restaurants or had some mild confusion with my host parents. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I didn't really feel integrated with the local culture or the local Spanish students; however, this was mostly my fault as I didn't put myself out there. The interactions I did have with locals were positive. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any experience with healthcare. |
| * Safety: |
Cordoba is an extremely safe city, I never once felt in danger of being robbed or anything else. I felt safer than I did in the US. It is recommended to take a taxi home late at night however I would occasionally walk home when it was warm out and I never felt threatened. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I don't know if many other existing study-abroad programs can claim to provide the same level of support and care that the PRESHCO staff does. They are the highlight of the program. |
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) |
If you stay at home, eat your host parent's cooking, and don't travel, you will spend almost no money. If you decide to eat out a lot, travel, and shop, you will inevitably spend a lot. For me, on a week when I stayed in Cordoba, I probably spent 50 euros. On a week where I traveled probably closer to 300 euros. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 50 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Take public transportation, and travel cheaply in general. If you want to go out on the weekends, eat dinner at your house first and then get drinks at the bar afterward. Get your cultural reembolso (60 euros every two weeks)! |
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 |
They very strongly encouraged us to use the language. We took a language pledge at the beginning to speak in our target language as much as possible. |
| 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? | 200-level |
| 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? | Even if you feel embarrassed, just practice as much as possible. You might not ever be totally immersed again in such a supportive environment so just take advantage of it. Try to make local friends in your host country as well. |
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? | 0 |
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? | That the local students won't try to reach out to make friends with you so you need to start talking to them on day 1 and make the effort instead. Also, the time goes super fast so never waste a weekend, spend all the time you can immersed in the city and with your friends. |
