Trust the process!

The program went super smoothly and they have lots of fun excursions to give you a well-rounded experience of the city! There's also tons of down time to do your own thing and explore; the hosts aren't overbearing and they don't treat you like kids. CEA kind of likes to wait until the last minute to provide a lot of information (I got my housing assignment the week before I left), but I wasn't pressed about it because I knew I'd get the info I needed in time, which I did. Alicante specifically is such a temperate, friendly and walkable city so I felt like I had a good grasp on the chill vibe after only a month there.