Through UVM there are a lot of study abroad programs—Kate is doing hers through the AIFS Abroad program  which is a third-party program (not through UVM). Kate is being hosted in Granada in Southern Spain, and her program requires her to attend college classes in Granada. She took Spanish in high school and took a year of it at UVM, and originally wanted to study abroad in a Latin American country to practice her speaking skills, but she needed a proficient Spanish level which she did not quite have yet.

While in Granada, Kate is checking off a bunch of her required course credits, which hopefully they will transfer over so that she can graduate a semester early! The classes are rigorous, however there isn’t a lot of homework. She is currently enrolled in two Spanish classes—one on writing and grammar, the other more focused on speaking, listening, and practice—a Spanish art history class, a class on Arab relations with the West in the past and present, and an EU systems course that is tied into Spain’s political system. All of her courses are lecture-based with projects and presentations and numerous writing assignments—not too different from the courses she takes at UVM. Kate had to test into her Spanish classes, which determines whether her classes would be taught in English or Spanish—but she wanted to note that anyone can still take classes in English if they want to!

Being able to study at a school in Europe, Kate is learning about a lot of historically significant art that she is actually seeing in real life as well, including paintings and architecture on display in museums across Spain and in other European nations. She notes that there is definitely a different culture around work and life, where one’s job is important but it is not as prioritized as it in the US. People start work around 9:00-10:00AM, break for their siesta (nap/relaxation) and lunch from 2:00-4:00PM, go back to work until 7:00PM, and then spend their evenings socializing and getting tapas (appetizers) rather than a big dinner. There is less of a “go, go, go” culture, and instead, people take their time and engage in slower living. She also states that her classes place more emphasis on learning to learn as opposed to learning to get a good job after graduation—unless a person is going into a more specialized profession, like her host brother who is pre-law, so that is more intensive. People also tend to take gap years and graduate from college later than they do in the U.S.

Granada is very homey and not as large of a city as Madrid or Barcelona, so it isn’t too overwhelming. Kate is living in a homestay, where she lives with a Spanish family, but there are many residence options, including a residencia (dorm) or an apartment with roommates. The homestay experience specifically has helped her Spanish skills a lot as they only speak Spanish in the household—it is a full immersion in the language and culture, and she recommends this option to everyone! A lot of people living in Granada know a little bit of English, which is helpful, but Kate says she ends up speaking a lot of Spanish with locals anyway.

People enrolled in this study abroad program tend to be very curious and open to new experiences, which makes forming new friendships pretty easy! Orientation at the beginning of the semester is a very welcoming experience, and everyone (in the program and in the city) has been super friendly and helpful! Through this program, almost every weekend is a travel weekend where students get to visit places like Barcelona, Gibraltar, Paris, Mallorca, Lisbon, Ibiza, Geneva, and many other smaller European towns and villages. There is only a 4-day standard school week, so weekend trips are usually three days—providing a lot of time to explore! Some trips through the program require additional payment and others are included in the program’s initial payment already. The weather during the late winter and springtime is really nice (for the most part, though there is a bit of rain), which makes the whole experience even more enjoyable—especially when compared to Vermont winters and early spring! It is also less expensive than the U.S. in many ways, such as the €1 coffees at a lot of cafes!

Kate’s finals are at the end of May—we wish her luck on those and with the remainder of her semester abroad!