Why I Chose the Program I Did

Researching study abroad programs reminded me a lot of applying to college. I read lots of reviews, made comparisons, and tried to learn as much as I could about each of my options. Though I looked at programs that are run by my university, as well as affiliated programs managed by other organizations (such as IES Abroad, The Institute for International Education of Students), something stood out about the CIEE Seville Advanced Liberal Arts program. In the end, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

Here are some of the reasons I chose this program, and why I’m so excited to head out in a few weeks:

• Seville sounds like the quintessential “Spanish” town; it has flamenco dancing, cathedrals, bullfights, paella, and more. I considered programs in Madrid, but I wasn’t sure about living in one of Europe’s largest cities. (Population-wise, Seville is similar to an American city like Detroit or Seattle, and in terms of land area it’s more in the range of Minneapolis or Boston.) Barcelona also sounded great, but I’ve read that students trying to work on their Spanish (or, Castilian) have a hard time living in an area where the Catalan language is more prominent. Seville seemed perfect for me in terms of size and availability of cultural experiences, especially considering that trips to other Spanish cities wouldn’t be too difficult to plan.
• The CIEE Advanced Liberal Arts Program allows me to directly enroll at the University of Seville. As opposed to other study abroad programs that somewhat isolate American students, this program enables me to take classes in Spanish with Spanish students taught by Spanish professors! A little about the University from my program handbook:

The Universidad de Sevilla, a large urban school with nearly 75,000 students (including post graduate studies), has been one of Spain’s leading institutions of higher learning since it was established in the 16th century. The year 2005 marked the 500th  anniversary of the founding of the University. Former president of Spain, Felipe González, is one of its many distinguished alumni. There is no central campus; instead, the university consists of many facultades (schools), which are located throughout the entire city. Many of the university’s students commute, not only from different areas of the city, but from neighboring villages, towns and even provinces. … Regular Universidad de Sevilla classes of the facultades of Philology, Geography and History are held in the Tabacalera, a very impressive building that up until the mid 20th century served as a tobacco factory. The Tabacalera was the workplace of Bizet’s operatic heroine, Carmen. The university courses of other schools are held at locations throughout the city. The vast majority of students enrolled in the Universidad de Sevilla are Spaniards. Nevertheless, there are a growing number of ERASMUS (European study abroad) students, as well as a smaller number of international students, including American students from other study abroad programs enrolled in the university and therefore enrolled in regular university classes.

• Opportunities for excursions! From what I understand, CIEE organizes tons of day trips and weekend trips to other cities and locations in Spain. I already have a huge list of places I want to go and things I want to see, so organized trips to locations like Granada and Córdoba sound amazing. There’s also a “linguistic immersion weekend” at the start of the trip where the students in my program and students from the University of Seville will travel to Sierra del Huéznar in Constantina, a nearby municipality in the province of Seville.
• This program lets students choose from a variety of housing arrangements. Participants can decide to live in a shared apartment with other students, in a residencia (dorm), or in a homestay. I chose a homestay for several reasons (despite the fact that it makes me a bit nervous!): first, I’ve spoken to other people I know that have studied abroad and everyone says that staying with locals is the best way to work on language fluency and learn about the culture; second, 3 meals a day/7 days a week are provided in the homestays, and this sounds like a great way to get to try authentic Spanish cuisine (plus, I think if I had to cook for myself I would end up eating cereal the whole time!); and third, laundry and cleaning are provided in homestays, which is definitely great, as well as practical, as that will free up time for me to study and explore.
• Cultural Reimbursement Program: Basically, CIEE will reimburse me for tickets purchased for theatre, ballet, opera, and other special events. How great is that?