Sasha and her roommate on a hike in Las Alpujarras.
What made you select Spain?
I have been all around the world visiting different cultures and societies, and the one culture I had not visited was a Spanish/Latin American culture. I decided on Spain because of its vast history and beautiful culture that I had heard about and seen in documentaries. I was especially excited to see the architecture of all the different places in Spain.
A visit with Sol Abroad to the Catedral de la Almudena.
What were your living situation like while abroad?
I lived with a host family in their apartment in Granada. I shared a room with a fellow Sol Abroad student. My host mom was an AMAZING COOK. I never wanted to go to restaurants because I didn't want to miss her cooking. We stayed in a spacious room with storage for our clothes, we each had a single bed, and we shared a bathroom. It was a very comfortable living arrangement. The only thing that was difficult was during siesta, there wasn't a cooling system for the hot days.
What was a typical day like for you in Spain?
A typical day in Spain for me was waking up around 7 a.m. and getting ready for class at CLM (Centro de Lenguas Modernas). My roommate and I walked to CLM from our host house, and had class from 9 a.m. till noon. After, we went home for siesta and had lunch at around 2 p.m. with our host family. Then around 5 p.m. we would meet with our Sol Abroad group at a central destination and go for our day excursion. We usually had dinner with our host family, or depending on what our excursion was we ate with our program.
What are the top reasons you'd want to go abroad again?
I would go abroad again would be to see and learn new cultures. I learned a lot about the Spanish lifestyle while living in Spain. It was amazing to see how different and similar their lifestyles were compared to mine in the United States, and I would love to see visit and learn about another culture.
In the old barrio with the Alhambra palace in the background.
Would you recommend your Sol Abroad program to others?
Yes, definitely I recommend Sol Abroad as a program to use because they were so well organized. I loved that right from booking our flights for the program, to landing in Madrid the program was me at every step. I also loved that they took us to places that I would have never known about without their help. Also, they kept my parents well informed so it made my parents feel at ease while I was away. Most of all, my directors were just amazing. It was an easy connection with them, they made things fun, and I felt safe at all times.
If you could change one thing about your program, what would it be?
The one thing I would change about the program is to have the option to visit Barcelona on the trip. I really wished we could visit another city while I was in Spain.
