AIFS Abroad in Salamanca, Spain: Semester

Studying abroad in Salamanca through AIFS provided me with a spectacular experience. Not only did the staff do a great job of providing you with a wonderful home stay, but they were always there to help. If you were sick, had a general question, or just even wanted to chat you could always feel comfortable asking the staff. The program allowed for an easy transition from living in the US to the life in Spain by constantly having events and involving you in the culture. If I could go back, I would have no doubt in my mind that this program would be my selection. By the end of the semester, I am sure that you too will feel Salamanca is your home.

Salamanca was the best city in Spain to live and study. It was small enough that you didn't have to take a taxi between destinations. This opportunity to walk everywhere helped me to truly get to know the city better. At the same time, I never felt confined or bored. There was always an opportunity to find something new. The AIFS program also provided fun, interactive activities that familiarized you with Salamanca. Whenever questions or concerns arouse I always felt welcome to go to the AIFS staff who were consistently open and helpful.

Salamanca is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. I loved walking around the city to explore. My favorite place was Plaza Mayor. My friends and I would go hang out there and people watch. I could not have asked for a better place to spend 4 and a half months.

This program is incredible. Salamanca is an incredible city, small enough to be able to know the city in a semester but big enough to never get bored. I recommend it to everyone. And the AIFS program was great. All the trips were so much fun and Gaye and Julua, the program directors, are incredibly helpful!

I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed living with a host family. I felt that AIFS really made the best accommodations for me as far as travel and living arrangements. Our AIFS program coordinators made themselves so available to us as students and provided detailed step-by-step instructions for everything we needed to know. They guided us with the process of getting around the city of Salamanca, safety procedures in the city, and they arranged entertaining excursions for us to participate in such as tapas tours, a cooking session, and a horseback riding adventure! While at first I was a little homesick and it was difficult to acclimate to a completely new country, AIFS really provided me with all the help and advice in starting my life in Salamanca. The coordinators always left their office open for us to come in with any issues concerning us and we received their cell phone numbers as well. Overall the whole experience for me was great and my host mother was an amazing fit for me. She was maternal, welcoming, and patient with me as I attempted to learn the culture and language. While my host mother's house was in a safe area, there were other students in my program who were not placed in the safest of areas. This was one thing I noted that could be improved upon for future programs.

Whenever people ask me where I studied abroad in Spain, it always saddens me that most have never heard of the wonderful city of Salamanca. The experience I had in Salamanca with AIFS was amazing. The staff from AIFS are warm and always keeping you up to date on what's going on. I highly recommend taking the AIFS only classes at the university, especially the writing course, because I found them more challenging and rewarding than the regular classes the university offered. The town itself is wonderful, very easy to navigate and has lots to explore. I stayed at a homestay and loved my senora immensely, I grew close to her wonderful family who visited every weekend and she cooked amazing food! I really liked that there were so many excursions already included in our AIFS package, because I didn't have the resources to travel as much as others did on the weekends. Another thing I recommend is to take the opportunity to get involved with the people in Salamanca, for example with the help of the AIFS staff I joined a local church choir and also volunteered at a school nearby twice a day. I also used a recommended website from the staff to arrange intercambios with local Spanish students-it's totally terrifying at first, but really worth the extra practice! Ultimately, this experience was really worth it and I highly recommend it.

I loved my Spanish professor, I loved spending time with my new friends in the Plaza Mayor, and I loved getting to see more of Spain and Portugal! Salamanca is full of things to love.

In the morning I would wake up to Nutella and toast with juice that my senora had left out. I would then go to classes with students from all over the world. My teachers were great and loved hearing about all of our experiences in Europe. At 2pm it was lunch time! Lunch is the biggest meal in Spain and we had delicious food. After lunch I took a traditional siesta and then went to another class. I did not have afternoon classes on Wednesdays so I would go to teach 5 and 6 year olds English. After dinner at 9:30pm I would get ready and go to the plaza to meet friends at midnight. We would hangout for awhile and then venture on to the bars to experience the nightlife. The next day my senora would ask me all about my night and we would laugh about what had happened.
Whenever I left for trips on the weekends my senora would give me a doblebeso goodbye and also give me a bocadilla for the trip. When I returned home she got so happy and we would immediately sit down and rehash my trip and see what things we both had did at that city!
The only thing that was difficult was the two hour ride to the airport for trips but it was fun with friends and my senora packed me snacks!