Amazing Program, Horrible Housing

The program overall was amazing and worthwhile. I gained invaluable professional experience at a psychiatrist's office and met a lot of incredible and intelligent people. I enjoyed living in the apartment, and I would definitely recommend requesting to live WITH SPANISH roommates instead of with Adelante candidates. If you request to live with Spanish roommates you might not actually live with Spanish people but at least you won't have to deal with the horrific situation on Calle Arenal (the apartment where Adelante candidates live when they request to live with other Adelante people). They do random checks of the apartment whenever they feel like it, letting themselves in and snooping around making sure that nobody has any friends that are staying over. If you let a friend or two crash on the couch until morning after a night out, and they find out, they will take your deposit away. They claim that there is no need since Madrid is a very safe city, but both myself and my roommates (all female) have seen men masturbating on two separate occasions in broad daylight and early in the morning. It's easy to understand why a woman wouldn't feel safe walking home alone after a night out, no matter how safe Madrid is generally. It's ridiculous to me that you pay so much for accommodations in Madrid and are unable to help a friend out by letting them stay on your couch till morning (nobody is staying for days or weeks on end). The lack of understanding and empathy from the people who do the random checks and who own the apartments on Calle Arenal is embarrassing and unprofessional. DO NOT LIVE IN ADELANTE HOUSING, but definitely do the program because otherwise it is a fulfilling and incredible experience.