CIEE College Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain

My trip to Spain was absolutely unforgettable. I stayed in a residencia in Barcelona which was reasonably comfortable and had a beautiful view! During this month long trip, I was able to get out of my comfort zone, travel, meet new people and become familiar with other languages and cultures. I plan to be an immigration lawyer and believe what I have learned and witnessed will benefit me in the future. Everyone I came in contact with in the program were extremely welcoming and friendly. It was admirable to me that all of the staff seemed to be excited and passionate about their jobs. Overall, I loved everything about my experience. The excursions were my favorite. I absolutely adored the sights! This experience was totally worth it!

First, Barcelona is the perfect city to study abroad in; it's beautiful, safe, culturally vibrant, well-situated for travel to other major European cities, geographically diverse, the list goes on. If you're still deciding where to study in Spain, the choice is simple: Barcelona all the way.

You also can't beat CIEE's ALA program. CIEE provides a tight-knit community and an academic/social support network to facilitate your overseas transition.

ALA courses are completed with both local students at the University of Barcelona and other international students through CIEE. This track is more academically challenging than other CIEE programs, but I found coursework to be very manageable. Do not be intimidated!

I also highly recommend selecting to live with a host family. This was a highlight of my abroad experience. CIEE works hard to make sure students are comfortable with their living situations, and will make necessary adjustments throughout the semester. I personally had a terrific housing experience, so my advice it to take the risk - it will pay off.

Improving your language skills is directly correlated to the amount of effort you put into communicating in Spanish. It is possible to get by with doing very little, or you may work to consistently speak, write, and think in Spanish. The level you improve by the end of the semester is up to you.

I returned to the US in June and I'm already nostalgic. CIEE played a key role in my abroad experience. I recommend CIEE's ALA program to anyone looking for a balance of academic rigor, social activity, cultural immersion, and travel. As a first-timer in Spain (and Europe in general), you can't do any better than CIEE ALA!

Barcelona is a great, approachable city to get to know during a semester abroad, and choosing CIEE's Advanced Liberal Arts program definitely made my experience the best it could be. I lived with a host family, and my Spanish improved astronomically. It was great to have a home away from home to come back to every day, and it was cool to see how families in another country live. I also really enjoyed taking classes at the Universitat de Barcelona and with CIEE. It was nice to be immersed in local university life while also having the CIEE Casa as a home base.

My time in Barcelona was a fun and unforgettable learning experience in more ways than one. Academically, I would say that this study abroad experience was crucial for my confidence as a language major. I finally got over my fear of using my Spanish with native speakers and reached a point of fluency where not only am I able to read and write at a competent college level in Spanish, but I now am able to have meaningful conversations in my second language, thanks to study abroad. Personally I felt I was able to grow in my confidence to get around in a big city and travel through Europe, as well as make friends of all different ages, cultures and backgrounds. Barcelona is a fun, vibrant, international city full of art and good food.

Program-wise, I could not have been happier with the choice I made. I was in Barcelona with CIEE for the full academic year, so I got to know the staff at the center pretty well. They were wonderful, laid back, helpful people that I always know that I can come back and visit if I'm in the city. The ALA program was a great fit for me because it had a good mix of challenging literature classes at the University of Barcelona and smaller cultural classes at the program center that helped me get to see and understand the city at a deeper level. All of the classes were taught completely in Spanish by knowledgeable and friendly professors.

As far as my housing experience went, I highly recommend the host family option. I lived with a host family first semester, then changed to the student "residencia" so that I could experience both options. I really connected with my host family while I was there. Not only were they great friends, but having dinner together most nights really helped my ability and confidence with using Spanish. I also met some great friends through knowing them with whom I kept in contact. The residencia was also a good option, although I had much less interaction with locals living there. It was, however, in a great location where I discovered many of what would become my favorite bars and restaurants, as well as having very nice facilities.

Overall, I would highly recommend Barcelona, and specifically CIEE to anyone looking to study abroad in Europe. I am very thankful for my time spent there and know I will return in the future!

My time in Barcelona has been an experience I will never forget. Whenever I reflect upon the last few months, a nostalgic happiness fills my heart as I remember all the moments that have pieced together a beautifully vivid painting of unforgettable memories. 

With respect to academics, I could not be more grateful for all I have learned in Barcelona. Largely facilitated by the teaching competence of my professors, I feel as though I have greatly increased my knowledge of some of the most important works in the canon of Spanish literature. However, what has made this learning experience particularly unique is the fact that I was able to study these groundbreaking and intellectually stimulating writings in the original Spanish tongue of their creators.

My favorite class of the semester was "Literatura hispanoamericana del siglo XX", or "20th Century Spanish-American Literature", thanks to Bernat Castany Prado, the phenomenally erudite professor who teaches it. With his vast and impressively deep knowledge of literature and philosophy, Bernat inspired me with his lectures, which skillfully interweaved both of these fields. In fact, my Spanish friends and I would often joke that Bernat is immortal, as though he has somehow lived through every century in human history. In Bernat's class, we covered five principal topics: The Avant-garde literary movement, Vicente Huidobro and Creationism, Pablo Neruda, César Vallejo and, finally, a portion of Borges. Bernat was so effective as a professor that I now feel not only comfortable with, but also interested in discussing and learning more about each of these five themes. 

Apart from the academic experience, I will remember Barcelona for its impeccable food. I noticed that, in general, the quality and affordability of food in Barcelona is impressive. Because of my enthusiasm, I quickly compiled a list of my favorite restaurants, and whenever anybody visited me, I made certain to take them to some of my preferred spots. Concretely, my favorite breakfast/brunch restaurant was Can Dendê, with its pulled pork pancakes and fried green tomatoes, my favorite lunch restaurant was Norte, with its pheasant burger, and my favorite place for dinner and tapas was Vinitus, especially for its paella del día (paella of the day), its pescaditos fritos (fried little fish), and torrija for dessert. If interested, I will be happy to share the restaurant list I compiled upon request!

But most importantly, Barcelona has a special place in my heart because of the unique individuals with whom I have been fortunate enough to cross paths. From the moment I arrived in Barcelona, I remained focused on one all-important question: what can I do to ensure I get the most out of this opportunity? For me the answer was always clear: I need to integrate myself into the local culture. With this in mind, my overarching objective was to befriend at least one or two local students with whom I would be able to keep in contact upon returning to the United States. While I certainly relished the ease with which I could travel to other countries while in Europe, I had always considered that a friendship with a local Spanish student would be more valuable to me than all the traveling and sightseeing I could possibly do. While memories of things seen are trapped in time, friendships have the potential to last a lifetime and may become fountains from which new memories continually spring to life.

Conscious of this objective, and also of the preciousness of my limited time abroad, I decided to be proactive in meeting local students at the University of Barcelona. During the first few days of classes, I made the intention to introduce myself to some of my classmates and, slowly but surely, I began to become familiar with many students. Little could I have known how much these efforts would pay off. While I had always thought I would be fortunate to befriend even one or two local student, I ended up meeting someone who has become one of my closest friends. One day before my 8am Sociolinguistics class, I met a girl named Anna Del Valle, and we immediately hit it off. To add to our excitement, Anna had always wanted a friend from the United States, and I from Spain. 

During the course of the semester, Anna and I kept closely in touch, and I hung out with her and her friends on multiple occasions. At the end of the program, I introduced Anna to my parents and my brother when they came to visit, and, on my second to last day in Barcelona, Anna's parents even invited me to their house for an exceptional good-bye dinner. I could not be more grateful for this friendship, especially in light of the fact that whenever either of us decides to visit the other's country, we will have someone with whom to spend time and "pasarlo bien.”  

While there is so much more I would love to share about these months abroad in Barcelona, I wanted to emphasize these particular factors, since, from a personal standpoint, they represent what I will remember most about the experience. As I write, I am enjoying my last 12 hours in Barcelona taking in final impressions of Plaza Catalunya, delighting in some of the incredible food I will dearly miss, and playing paddle with Anna before saying goodbye. Nonetheless, despite the sadness that has accompanied these final moments, I can rest easier with the hope that I will soon return to this city and reconnect with the culture and people who now hold a very intimate place in my heart.

I have just returned from CIEE Barcelona - Advanced Liberal Arts and already want to return. There's a magic about studying about in Barcelona that is unparalleled anywhere else. The weather, the people, the language, the culture, and the program all have created this incredible environment that I would not trade for anything else. The support of the program staff such as Director Alberto Del Rio and Andres Taberez was incredible. I could go to them from quick questions about where to buy a toaster to academic issues and personal issues. They are the heart and soul of the administrative side of the program, and I am lucky to have met them and got to know them on an academic and personal level.
The program provides frequent activities and trips for students to attend, all voluntary. The best trip was the overnight trip to Basque Country because the entire program got together for trips. The weekly trips are with the other programs studying abroad through CIEE. These programs include cultural events and activities, tours through Barcelona, day trips to nearby towns and cities, yoga, etc. I went on nearly every day trip and found them interesting, as I got to see different parts of Catalonia that I never would have thought of going to. For example, we went to a dairy farm called La Fageda. We got to meet the cows (they were pampered with daily massages and classical music) and got to sample the products afterwards. I'm really going to miss the yogurt from La Fageda (it's only sold in Catalonia).
CIEE and UB were not too academically challenging. I've come out of the program having learned a lot about Spanish history, cinema, and writing (these were the classes I took), but the workload didn't inhibit me from traveling on the weekends. I traveled outside of Barcelona about half of the weekends during the semester, as did many of my friends who wanted to travel a lot. The program is very understanding of our desire to see Europe and have a generous absence policy from classes.
What I loved about being in Barcelona was that my days could vary from going to the beach, hiking through Tibidabo or Park Guell, going to a museum, walking the streets of the Gothic Quarter, El Raval, Poble Sec, Gracia, etc., stumbling upon street markets, and cheap restaurants. Barcelona is a city ripe for exploration. It's teeming with life and activity, and it's safe.

CIEE ALA is a great well-rounded program for many reasons. First, Barcelona is an amazing city with so much to offer. CIEE helps students get to know the city and gave us different opportunities to get more involved with cultural events in and around Barcelona. CIEE staff was very supportive academically. Personally, I was pretty nervous to be taking five 300/400 level courses all in Spanish some at the university with Spanish professors and students. But the CIEE professors were really wonderful, patient and there to help the students in any way possible. Also I found it really useful that CIEE provided study groups or individual tutoring sessions in order to prepare for exams. CIEE was also very supportive in other areas of the abroad experience such as issues or questions with housing or health, for example. There was never a moment where I did not feel like I had the resources I needed to answer a question or doubt of mine.

One of my favorite memories while being abroad was the CIEE ALA planned trip to San Sebastian where our entire program and some of our professors traveled to Northern Spain for the weekend and got to visit cool sites, eat great food, and enjoy a pre-planned trip in different cities in Pías Vasco. It was such a fun time and a great way to get to know people in my program and spend some quality time with our professors who, like I said, were really great and supportive!

Choosing to study abroad through CIEE Barcelona’s Advanced Liberals Arts Program was one of the best decisions I’ve made throughout my college experience. Barcelona is an incredibly lively city with a unique cultural history. ALA ensures that each student is given the support and access to take full advantage of all that Barcelona has to offer.

Through ALA’s academic program, I was able to take classes at both CIEE’s La Casa and the University of Barcelona. The set-up was ideal; I had the confidence and support from my professors at CIEE to challenge myself and succeed at the UB, one of the top universities in Spain.

Electing to live in a homestay was maybe the hardest decision I had to make but also the most rewarding. I was afraid that living with a family would mean some sort of curtailment of my independence or personal freedom. However, my homestay family was the highlight of my abroad experience – I was treated like another son, exposed to exciting family dinner conversations and able to make meaningful relationships that far exceeded my expectation. I know that when I return to Barcelona, I’ll get a hot meal and a place to stay.

Barcelona is the apex of the European experience. You live next to some of the most famous architectural buildings in the world, you witness firsthand the vigor of the Catalan independence movement and you get to experience a gastronomical culture like no other. There’s no better place in the world to study, grow and live.

Barcelona has become my second home and the Catalan people my second family. It has been a semester I will never forget. I can’t wait to come back.

Fins aviat, Barca!