Hard, but extremely rewarding

I loved this program. In my year there were very few students, and we became as close as a family. Participation in the program was a lot of work, but completely worth it -- my language skills increased astronomically. We got to go on trips together, one longer one organized by the program, and others on our own. We explored the city on our own, and even when we were too lazy to think of something to do the program staff often had suggestions, or organized group outings within the city. This isn't a program that will leave you in a safe foreigner bubble, the emphasis on language learning encouraged us to go beyond our comfort zone, and we generally stayed away from the expat community.