Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The academics were not incredibly challenging, but our guest lecturers and NGO visits were wonderful and supplemented our learning well. Every opportunity we had to get out of the classroom was wonderful and cherished by the group. Our days were incredibly long, however, but such is life when you are trying to cover complex topics in 10 weeks of study. The workload was challenging, with about 6 papers in total, three language tests, 2 language oral exams, and the ISP at the end, but definitely doable. I definitely could feel the cultural difference in local professors when we had language class and guest lectures but it was definitely a positive experience (aside from a particularly challenging experience with a Serbian language professor).

On-site administration of your program

I gave a 4/5 mostly due to my experience in Croatia. The administration there, especially our assistant Goga, was amazing. Extremely accessible, always helpful, and most importantly, KIND. In Serbia, sadly, this was not the case. Our homestay coordinator was extremely inaccessible and our program assistant was much younger than our assistant in Zagreb and was unable to help us in ways that our Croatia assistant could.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

In Croatia, I stayed in an apartment in the Zagreb neighborhood of Spansko with two host parents and their children when they were around. In Belgrade, I lived about 20 minutes outside downtown in a house with two host parents. <br /><br /> The only problem I had with the location of homestay families both in Zagreb and Belgrade was my commute time. I had a 40 minute commute in Zagreb and a 30 minute commute in Belgrade. That was very difficult during rush hour. Both neighborhoods were safe from what I could tell but it definitely took a while to get to the center of the city for nightlife. I was treated with respect for the most part from my host families with the exception of a few cultural relativism bumps (aka- I must always wear slippers in the house, I have to leave the house with socks on no matter the weather, etc). For my ISP I lived in an apartment with two other Americans, one from my group and one who was a volunteer for the NGO I was volunteering for. For this, I needed to buy my own food but that was it.

I had no troubles since I eat pretty much everything, but the vegetarians in our group had to be specific as to what they do and do not eat and they had to explain multiple times why they did not eat meat. This region is very meat-heavy so be aware of this before you arrive. The quality of the food... SPLENDID.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

To be honest, I didn't get a lot of time to go out but group dinners and our time in Bosnia was especially wonderful. We had lots of field trips and excursions... the trip itself is only 10 days in Bosnia so it was essentially an excursion. That is what made Bosnia so memorable for me.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I will focus on one incident I had that was supposedly rare but still happened... in Zagreb, I was mugged at knifepoint outside of a club. Zagreb is an incredibly safe city but this is a perfect example of the fact that things can always happen no matter where you are. I am fine and was not injured, but I learned a few lessons. 1- Don't ever leave a place at night by yourself. Bad idea. 2- Do not keep a lot of money on you, and don't have it all in one place. 3- Look out for your friends... if they are leaving alone, go with them. Power in numbers. Belgrade is less safe but I never had any trouble because I stayed in groups.

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

I did not know a single word of Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian when I arrived... now I can hold conversations for a decent amount of time and am able to chat with my homestay families to a point! I practiced with my professor, my homestay families, and a TON on my ISP... which helped so much. I definitely needed that language study because in the Balkans, there are people that know English in the cities, but when you go to rural areas (like the area of my ISP), you cannot count on knowledge of English.

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