Katie S. - Salamanca, Spain - Spring 2008

Hey everyone! I’m Katie Smith, and I’m currently studying in Salamanca, Spain. Salamanca is a smallish town near the border with Portugal, about 3 hours from Madrid. I’m taking classes through my program, IES, which are taught by University of Salamanca professors and are taught all in Spanish. I’m living with a host family, which consists of a divorced woman, her mother, and her 19 year old son. Ok, so now that I’ve got the details over with I can tell you about what it’s really like. Studying abroad is the most amazing time you will ever have! At least for me, I was scared to death before I left. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. For me there isn’t really a difference between USAL (University of Salamanca) and EC. You get up, go to class, talk to your friends, come home, eat dinner, do some homework, go out partying, come home and go to bed. I don’t really know what to talk about. I guess I could offer some advice based on my experiences so far:

1. Make sure to pack a laundry bag!
2. Pack plenty of aspirin/Tylenol/ibuprofen
3. Start walking now! Walk at least 40 minutes in a row every day.
4. Find extremely comfortable shoes, even if they’re ugly.
5. Buy a huge memory card for your camera.
6. Talk to your bank to make sure your debit card will work all over Europe, it’s best to have one that’s connected to a company such as Visa or Mastercard.
7. Prepare yourself for limited Internet usage.
8. Relax, it’ll go faster than you think and you’ll have a blast.

If you’re going to a country where you’ll need to speak a different language: It’s fun and not as hard as it sounds! The first few days are hard but you’ll start improving almost immediately. After about 4 weeks you’ll be fully in the swing of things and while you may not always be able to express your ideas you’ll be able to understand the majority of what people are saying. Especially in classes. I’ve found that when you start classes in a foreign language the first few weeks you pay very close attention so that you can understand everything. After the first 3 or 4 weeks, you find you’re able to space off slightly and still keep up with what the teacher is saying. It’s amazing.

I would definitely recommend staying with a host family. My host family are the most amazing people ever. The abuela (grandmother) sits and watches tv and makes sure you eat. The mother jokes and hugs you and accuses you of not eating enough. The son corrects your grammar and cheers during soccer games. It’s so much fun, at least in my host family. Each family is different, but most of my friends in host families enjoy them. The student residences here have nice things about them such as Internet access, but you also have to provide most of your own meals.

On the subject of homesickness I would say that it usually depends on the person but that in general it’s not too bad. With modern technology most people speak to their parents at least three times a week, whether via webcam, phone, or e-mail. You will get homesick though when you are sick, it’s inevitable. Time flies by really fast though, so you’ll be home before you know it.

McDonald’s isn’t that great in Europe. Burger King is better. Milkshakes are non-existent in Spain, well they have them they’re just the consistency of juice. Don’t eat Chinese food in Spain, in Ireland it’s not too bad. Pizza Hut is pretty good, though the menu is different. American restaurants are horribly expensive though. It’s better to stick with something local, pizza is offered pretty much globally, I think, as a cheap option.

For people traveling to Spain: All incoming calls are free, so if you’re parents can get a cheap foreign calling phone service like Vonage it means they can call you for practically nothing. Internet is expensive and rare, but places called Café & Te offer free Wi-Fi to their customers and I would recommend the Swiss Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (Chocolate Suizo con Nata) but it’ll set you back over 3 Euros. Hot chocolate here is a really thick, rich affair which should only be eaten with churros, which are yummy. The idea of salad is iceberg lettuce with olive oil and possibly tuna. Lunch is eaten from about 2-4pm and is usually 2 courses, a soup and a meat. Dinner is around 9pm and is something small. Pork is the main meat, if you ever wonder what you’re eating it’s probably pork. There are two main forms of traveling: by bus or by train. I would recommend the train, but it’s generally more expensive. Oh, the Madrid bus station doesn’t stay open all night, be forewarned. The airport is open all night but the train and bus stations close during the night. Bars and clubs generally are open most of the night but they don’t fill up until about 1am. People stay out until around 6am, especially on weekends.

Ryan Air and Easy Jet are good companies to buy plane tickets from, though they don’t always go to the biggest airports causing you to have to pay an extra $20 on transportation into the city. Also, just because it says that a flight only costs 20 Euros doesn’t mean you will only pay 20 Euros, they add on about 40 Euros worth of taxes. Also, you can take one carry on bag and a purse onto the plane without charge, it’s decently expensive to check a bag. Research how to get from the airport to your hotel or hostel before you leave, it makes the whole process much easier.

Ok, so I think that’s all the helpful advice I have. I’m having a great time, I can’t stress that enough. Everyone’s experiences are going to be different, even in the same city, but it’s the most amazing time you’ll ever have. So, relax, enjoy your last few days/weeks/months before you leave and have a great time!