South Africa, Incredible Past Review
By Erin C (Political Science and Government., Trinity University) for
SIT Study Abroad: South Africa - Social and Political Transformation
It was the best. I can't wait to go abroad again.
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. |
The learning method is more experiential than lecture oriented. I loved it. I don't think I've ever learned so much in one semester. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Everything I needed was extremely accessible. The SIT program has a lot of built in support to help guide you - the people who work for them over in South Africa are incredible, especially John Daniel, Imran Buccas, and their team. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
It's really hard to be a vegetarian with the host families because most are too poor to afford vegetables. But once you get into the independent study portion, it's not hard to remain a vegetarian because there's a lot of incredible vegetarian Indian food. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Getting to teach school in South Africa was the most incredible experience I've ever had. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The actual city definitely isn't the safest, but the program is very helpful when it comes to maximizing safety. |
| 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? | The program literally provides EVERYTHING even some spending money. I spent very little of my own money. The only thing I spent personal money on was souvenirs and drinks at bars. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Avoid using your credit/debit cards - always use an ATM and pull out cash! There is a lot of theft, especially when they find our you're American. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Practices with host families, other students, teachers, and locals. We basically used Zulu everyday but at a very simple level. Most people spoke english but as a second language so the conversations were normally a mixture of Zulu and 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?
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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 did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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