The last 6 weeks have literally been the best of my life. I cannot believe how much I have learned and how close I have grown to all the other students on the program. If you would have told me 6 weeks ago that I would learn this much about the Spanish language and culture, I would have thought you were absolutely "loco." I try my best to live my life without regrets because if you regret something that that means you don't trust the plan that is set forth for you. However, I do have some recommendations for those who will follow in my footsteps and participate in this outstanding program:
Things To Do (I know they may sound silly or unimportant, but you should really take the advice from all of us who have been through this):
- Meet up with everyone as much as possible in Ann Arbor before the trip over seas. It will help immensely with the relationships that you build, because trust me, you all will get ridiculously close and share a bond like you do with no one else in your life. I will treasure these friendships forever and I only with I could have started them earlier!
- Guys - Bring nicer clothes than you would wear at UM. I thought I dressed to impress in The States, but everyone here shows me up big time. I spent a lot of money on clothes because I didn't want to embrace myself at clubs or just during a simple evening out. You could leave room in your suitcase (and budget) to buy some clothes here too.
- Remember, the experience of an experience abroad is worth much more than the Grade. This one might now be too popular with the administration however, it is not hard to balance school work with experiencing spanish culture. Do no sacrifice fun nights with friends and indulging in the culture to break your back studying. If you professor is as great as ours has been, there will not be a problem mastering the material if you give it your all in class, do the Homework and study "enough." "Enough" is different for everyone but again, I wouldn't say you are in Spain to study... You can do that in Ann Arbor...
The Don'ts of a Great time in Spain:
- Don't be afraid to talk to your host family in your crappy broken spanish from day one. Your family will be your most valuable resource in learning spanish. The will coronet you, teach you, stretch your understanding and love you with all their heart. Do everything you can to build a lasting relationship with each person in your family because they are the things you will miss about Spain. They want to help you with all things spanish and probably with life in general. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED OF SCARED OF THE LANGUAGE BARRIER! It gets better :)
- Don't be un Aguafiestas. Everyone in our group suffered form FOMO - fear of missing out - and therefore we had very few Aguafiestas (party poppers). I think it is a good thing to experience everything you possible can here in Spain, even if it is a wee bit out of your comfort zone (I'm not talking about things that could land you in jail, just little things such as food and crazy nights). Live it up because you will wish you had done more things with your time rather than regretting the things you did do.
- Don't be terribly sad when it ends -This is the toughest one for me. You are all from the same school and will all be going back in the fall (apart for the graduating seniors who you are allow to miss and be sad about). You will be able to go to football games, have BBQs and hang out at places where you don't have to pay for drinks to be together. Just because Granada is over doesn't mean that the friendships will end; they will just get better with more time to hang out in A2!
Welp, I guess thats all. I wish anyone luck who is going on this amazing adventure and I hope that you can have as great as an experience as I have had!
Ian Beck, 2014 Granada Alumni
Great suggestions, Ian. As I often say 'don't be scared!' - of the food, the language barrier, of missing out. Soak the experience in and enjoy it.
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