API: Experience Salamanca, Spain (Scholarships Available)

Studying abroad has opened doors for me I didn't even knew existed. It has provided me with helpful skills that I use in my everyday life. I learned so much about the world and about myself abroad, all I want to do is tell people about it! Living in a different country can give you a fresh perspective and challenge your biases. You learn the importance of mindfulness, authenticity, gratitude, bravery, openness, resilience, and leadership. Since my study abroad trip, I have involved myself in three different internships informing others on the benefits of study abroad!

I had a really great abroad experience with API. They helped us to travel all over Spain and made sure we knew where we were when we travelled to ensure our safety and location at all times. The director starts you off in Madrid, where you stay in a hotel for three days, explore Madrid, see several palaces and museums and get guided tours through them. On the way to Salamanca, where I stayed, the program stops in Toledo for several hours where you see some old churches and mosques and understand the Christian and Arab influences that both took place there. Once in Salamanca, you get a tour of the city and the chapels while taking class from 9-2. The rest of the time can be spent however you want it. If you need any help at school or are interested in an intercambio program, API helps you to set up this type of activity too. They even send you off with a goodbye dinner before you go! Overall, I absolutely loved my trip and met a lot of great people from Spain, various other countries and from all over America. I highly recommend them to anyone going abroad!

Salamanca is a great city to study in. There are not a lot of english speakers, so there is always opportunities to practice spanish. It is an extremely safe city and very walkable. Also it is only 2-2 ½ hours away from Madrid. The API staff there is great. They are always there to help. I even got sick and had to miss an exam and the API onsite coordinator handled everything for me and I didn't have to worry about explaining to my professor what happened. I would highly recommend staying in a host family home.

My study abroad experience was hands down the most incredible experience of my life. API made the trip amazing with their continuous support and the excursions. When I began the journey I was terrified to be going alone, but they were with me every step of the way. I made amazing friendships with people who I am still close with today. When I tell people about the cost of my trip and what was included they are blown away. API definitely beat out the competition since I spent so much time researching. I will forever remember my trip and I can't wait to someday return to Spain and Portugal!

The excursions that the staff in Salamanca had planned for the group were extraordinary. I loved all the places I go to during my two month stay in Spain. From horse backing to trips to Galicia. The excursions were simply amazing! I believe my favorite trip was to Cadiz and Sevilla.

On any given day during my brief but unforgettable life in Salamanca I would wake up at the crack of dawn in my closet sized room and stumble out to the table for breakfast with my host mom. We would watch the morning news together and she would emphatically complain that I never ate enough and insist that I take a snack to class because I couldn't possibly get through to lunch on such a small breakfast.

Then I would set off for class on foot and walk the 15 minute trek through streets older than our own country is, passing by ancient relics like it was no big deal, but always covertly craning my head to marvel at the historic beauty nonetheless.

Then I would spend the next few hours soaking up as much language and culture as possible in my classes. "Women in Spanish History" was my favorite class, followed closely by Spanish cinema.

After class I would arrive back home promptly at 2:30 and tuck into a truly massive lunch with my host family. "Lomo con salsa naranja" was my favorite. Then I would have to sleep it off during siesta because no one could possibly get up and do anything with that much food to digest.

After a quick nap I would head out for the Plaza Mayor to meet up with my friends "debajo del reloj" and we would go shopping, or chill at a cafe, or the cross the ancient Roman bridge to the park if the weather was nice.

Finally I would come back home at 9 for dinner, debate the day's news with my host brother and help my little host sister with her English homework (explaining "good, better, and best" was an absolute nightmare). Around midnight I would fall into bed and sleep like a log, dreaming the sweetest dreams because I knew I would get wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

Thanks to API, those 4 months in Salamanca were the best of my life, and I will always miss my second home.

My day to day experience in Salamanca was overall amazing. Whether it be a day of exploring the small city that was easy to navigate yet intriguing as well due to the small holes in the wall that we discovered little by little, or the amazing people who welcomed you as a member of their city and encouraged you to learn their culture, it was always an experience. I absolutely loved the city overall and found it to be very safe (I felt the safest here than I did out of all the cities I had traveled to). I also was very much able to practice my Spanish, and my professors played a large role in helping me to perfect the language by the time I left. The people of Salamanca were also great and I met many new and interesting friends throughout my time there. I was also very lucky to have Maria and Inma, the program directors, by my side. They were perfect directors in that they introduced us to the Spanish culture (and others as well) while providing us with the perfect amount of independence and assistance when needed. I know that if I were ever to return (which will hopefully be soon) I will definitely be paying them a visit. I also lived in a residencia in which I had the most amazing Spanish mom I could ask for. Despite the fact that she didn't live there, she still spent ample amounts of time with us and I felt like I was actually living in a home stay. However, due to the fact that I lived with many other native English speakers from the program, it was difficult to practice Spanish in my residencia all the time. But I did love getting close with other students from my program, and it did provide a nice break every once in a while. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and I will recommend API Salamanca to anyone considering study abroad.

This program was great for me, because I chose (and was accepted to) the immersion with Spaniard students option. If you can't get into this program, Salamanca might not be the place to go. API is great, but if you want to meet students from there, the best option is to take class with them. If you're looking for rewarding but tough academics, this is also your only option (although the spanish classes that API provides are great, because the teachers really know what they're doing and try to make class interesting).

API allows for a lot of travel, and even takes you many places which is a plus, we went to Paris for free as well as Barcelona. It was so exciting. And the directors and counselors we had contact with were so welcoming and understanding and always available for anything we needed. This was definitely the plus of the program.
Salamanca itself is a great, but small city. You can walk literally everywhere. So if you're a big-city person, you might like Madrid more, but I personally felt safer than ever in this city and no taxi fare ever!
In general, the problem isn't with API, its with the level of spanish you go with on this program. I would recommend it for high level spanish speakers who want to improve their 'Spain' spanish, and take classes seriously.