Volunteer in España!!

In the CIEE Volunteer Teach in Spain program you are placed with a family, which has its pros and cons. It was definitely challenging living in a small apartment with four other people, but my family was so great! By living with them, I was able to practice Spanish each day, throughout the day, and experience things I wouldn’t have otherwise experienced (my host dad took me mountain biking!)!
One part of this program worth mentioning is that most of the schools don’t solicite for a host family until their school year begins in September. So probably won’t find out where you’ll be staying until right before you leave, or in my case after you’ve already left the States. (I left two weeks early to explore other parts of Europe.) So, with that said it’s important to just be flexible and know that everything will fall into place. The unknown can be scary, but CIEE has got your back.
Once I had a super frustrating morning at school. But, both the Spanish CIEE people and my English coordinator were super supportive and listened to my frustrations. It was nice to know that if I ever had any problem, there was someone to go to.

This trip was my first time in Europe, and I’m so happy I went through CIEE. I even went on a trip to Morocco with people I met in the program! With the program I felt way more supported and connected than I would’ve on my own. It I could turn back time I’d do it all over again.