Best experience of my life! May 11, 2023
By Emiliana M (Economics, Wellesley College) - abroad from 01/30/2023 to 05/14/2023 with
SIT Study Abroad: Spain - Social Movements, Democracy, and Cultural Identity
I learned to be flexible, go with the flow, enjoy life, and a lot about the Basque regional conflict!
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. |
SIT is a very interesting program because you have 1.5 month of very intense class schedule, where you have a different professor everyday so you get a very wide breadth of information and fields of expertise which is very interesting. Afterwards, you have 1.5 month aprox to write a research project, which could go as deep as the student intends. I think there is more wiggle room in terms of it goes as far as the student wants it too. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Zuri is an amazing administrator, she handles everything efficiently and with grace. Victor is very nice and always available which is nice as well. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I got extremely lucky with my host family, I was better taken care off than I have ever been and consider them my family. |
| * Food: |
The food in spain is so different than in the US, portion sizes are bigger, but the food quality is so healthy and organic. Additionally, outside food and drink is so cheap which made it fun and accesible to go out whenever I wanted too. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
On one hand, when it came to the host families I felt very integrated. However, in regards to people our age it was somewhat harder as we take classes only with SIT peers. I wish there was some more exchange in this regard. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I personally didn't need to use health care resources, but one of my peers had a knee problem come up and the SIT advisors made sure she never went to the doctor's office by herself. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt unsafe in Bilbao or Getxo. Locals are super friendly too! |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
SIT is a program that is not for everyone. The obvious cons are the lack of exposure to locals and the small program size. However, it was the best experience of my life. It was the perfect first look into Europe. Having a host family that cooked and did my laundry gave me so much free time to explore and truly take advantage of my experience. |
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) |
This depends from student to student but you do not have to spend any money if you dont want too as all three meals are provided by the host family and SIT provides enough money on the metro card to get to and from class. If you do wish to spend, going out is very cheap in Bilbao. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 30? |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Be flexible when it comes to independent travel, Ryan Air and Vueling will have incredible deals. Eat out only snacks if you have food provided. If you go out, pregame from a supermarket. |
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 |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Fluent |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | no requirement |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
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? | you can travel by yourself. |
