An Intense Study of Spanish Literature While in Traditional Spain Past Review
By A student (University of Southern Indiana) - abroad from 08/28/2017 to 08/01/2017 with
USI: Mira - Spanish Theater in Theory and Practice
I gained some more fluency as well as a great deal of knowledge of Spanish theatre. I also learned quite a bit about myself and how I respond to others in challenging situations. It's one thing to have classmates, but it's another thing to live with them--all who are very different.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was rigorous, but it was also difficult emotionally due to the intensely personal nature of living together, having strong opinions, and tiredness. I thought all of the classes caused us to learn a lot though in such a short period of time. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
While I know that the hosts really had to adjust a lot to our needs, I often felt that there was miscommunication that led them to make us feel bad (or like we were disrespecting them). In addition, our professor struggled with trying to please everyone, and I think he felt like he could not really criticize the director of the internship easily. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I think that it was as good as it could possibly have been. I got used to no air conditioning in really hot weather, but I could never get used to the flies that constantly were crawling on all areas of your body. It made sleeping incredibly difficult, which resulted in worse moods as the time progressed. |
| * Food: |
I think Luis mostly did a good job with the food. He gave us a variety and seemed to try to please us. The food was especially good during the first part of the trip. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt like we got to experience the local culture pretty accurately. I mean, we had to do a lot of homework and stay inside our house most of the time, but we gained really great relationships with our neighbors and other members of the community. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I personally did not have any issues, but my friend fell and sprained her ankle. They took care of her immediately and took her to a doctor as soon as they could. |
| * Safety: |
I did not feel unsafe during 99% percent of the trip. I was a little nervous at night, but I quickly realized how crime is practically non-existent there. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
Even thought there were several challenging aspects to the program, I would definitely choose it again due to how much I learned and grew to know my fellow classmates. |
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) |
I think it really depended on what we wanted to spend. I thought it was easy to live on a student's budget except for the times where we ate out in Madrid. Twice we paid something like 20 euros for a meal. I thought that was extremely expensive. I only brought 100 euros for food for 4 1/2 weeks, so that was a huge chunk out of my eating diet for only two meals. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | On normal weeks, I spent less than 10 euros. However, like I said, in Madrid we spent more than that. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I would suggest knowing more definitely how many meals you are going to be responsible for and how much you're going to have to spend at those. One of my biggest help was not eating out as much. It is so much cheaper to go to a grocery store and make your meal (often you get more than one meal for a fraction of the cost.) Plus, price check everything before you decide to do it. Only do the stuff you really want to do. Don't waste your money on things you can do back in the US. |
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 |
We had to speak in Spanish almost 100% of the time. We broke sometimes when we were together and not around our professor, but it was very strongly encouraged to use the language. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| 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? | SPAN 490 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | I would encourage students to talk to the people they live with (homestays). Also, I would advise them to speak as little of their native language as possible. However, I do think it is important to be able to take a few minutes and relax the brain or if you're dealing with a complicated issue. |
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? | I not know that the play we were supposed to perform was not a finished play. I thought we were getting a script and going to perform it and memorize lines. That was far from the case. The entire purpose was the process of taking raw selections of a work and creating something, forming it, and then performing it. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
