I had a great time in Madrid with IES Abroad. This program was perfect for me because my focus of my abroad semester was immersing myself in a different language and a new culture. IES paired me with an amazing host family, who I am still in contact with.

Additionally, they did a great job making sure that I continued studying hard but also exploring the city and country that I was in. I am very glad I chose IES Abroad Madrid: Language and Area Studies.

Before I went abroad to Madrid, Spain, I had many reservations about what my experience would be. With only traveling out of the United States two times beforehand, I thought that living in Europe for an extended period of time was always going to be

challenging. I was afraid that not only I would react poorly to my new surroundings but also I would not enjoy being away from home for so long. However, as I adjusted to life in Madrid I found that the reservations that I had were simply doubts. Throughout my time abroad, I was able to become immersed in the city’s culture by eating at various restaurants, visiting many important monuments and public sites, and learning about the historical significance of Spain in my program’s classes. Most importantly, I met a wide variety of people who were kind, generous, sympathetic, and open. Through study abroad, I was amazed by how I became more aware of the world around me as I was able to make life long friends and have many memorable experiences. I am incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to have studied abroad in such a beautiful, dynamic, and encapsulating country.

The IES Abroad Madrid program was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not only was the city of Madrid clean, entertaining, and my favorite city I've been to, but the citizens were some of the friendliest I encountered during my entire stay in Europe and

most of my experiences in the USA as well. The program allowed us to mingle with local Spanish students while exploring various monuments and points of interest around the city. Also, my host family made the transition to life in Spain very smooth. While they didn't speak English, the ability to practice Spanish and learn the culture in more of an informal setting was very beneficial in the long run. The first couple weeks were a little challenging, but it was extremely worthwhile in the end. Overall, I did not have many complaints about the program. One of the few was the transition to having attendance policies for classes, which is very unlike most universities here in the states, but I understand the reasoning behind it and it forced us to focus on class, but the workload outside of class wasn't overbearing and allowed us to explore and enjoy my time in Madrid.

I spent this past semester studying abroad in Madrid, Spain with IES Abroad. The program I was a part of was affiliated with the local university, therefore, my classes were taught by local Spanish professors on a variety of different topics all in the

Spanish language. My classes centralized on concepts of history, feminism through international female writers, theatre and art history. During the week my time was spent in and out of the classroom, one class specifically taking weekly field trips to the Museo del Prado, I spent my time learning in and utilizing my Spanish. In my free time, I lived with a host family, explored the city of Madrid, took a flamenco dance class and learned how to prepare authentic Spanish food. A large contributing factor that made my semester in Madrid feel so special was the people I shared it with. With the common interest of Spanish, I found myself surrounded by peers with similar interests and goals, as well as those I could learn from and grow with. With no wiggle room to take the easy way out, finding myself in a home stay where the only language universally understood was Spanish, I recognized an immediate hurdle. Although I had prepared myself to face this obstacle, throughout the first few weeks I was nervous that my own language skills wouldn’t be able to match my own personality. However, I surprised myself by being able to meet this challenge and exceed it. Although I cringe when saying it, my semester abroad was a life-changing experience. I interacted with a new culture, language and community on a daily basis and was able to learn a lot about myself in the process. This experience studying abroad in Madrid allowed me to grow my confidence and practice my independence.

I was very apprehensive when I first arrived in Spain, but once I arrived the ies staff was very helpful and made the transition process much easier. In addition, my host family was extremely patient with my speaking abilities, and they gave me tips about

the life in Spain. I made some of my best friends from other schools that I would otherwise not have met. This experience has opened up my mind as I am eager to continue traveling and meeting new people. I will definitely return to Madrid at some point in the future. I hope that anyone who has the opportunity to travel to study abroad takes these opportunities because for me, it was life changing, and I now view the world very differently. I really felt like I was involved in the culture that I lived in.

I studied abroad with IES Madrid in the Fall of 2012 and it was the best semester of my life! Madrid is an incredible city with great nightlife, culture, parks restaurants...the list goes on! You will never run out of things to do. And it's easy to get

anywhere else in Spain or the rest of Europe. IES was great with planning activities for students, from field trips to sight seeing around Madrid. The orientation trip to León and Asturias was unbelievable! The IES staff, Yolanda, Angel, etc. were amazing and approachable. Classes were pretty easy, but there is a strict attendance policy. It was great not having class on Fridays, allowing extra time to travel on the weekends. Almost everyone I knew loved their living situation, whether it was a home stay, apartment or a dorm. I lived in a home stay and adored my host mother. We had a great relationship and she was accommodating, caring and down to earth. However, other than my host mom and the program staff, I did not interact much with Madrid locals. There was not much interaction with American and Spanish students unless you lived in a dorm. Although not perfect, I would definitely recommend this program.

The IES Abroad program definitely tried to immerse us into the culture of Spain and I really felt as if I was a student there, as opposed to just studying abroad. For the 5+ months that I was in Spain, I felt like I got a handle of it was it was to live

in Madrid and really understood the culture that surrounded it. IES Abroad did an excellent job in providing different activities and field trips in Spain that taught us more about the culture and really gave us some great memories to take back home. In addition, the classes that they provided were a great tool to learn about the history and culture of Spain and it was awesome to actually see it be lived as we traveled and learned more about Madrid.

IES Abroad was amazing. The staff was there every step of the way and really wanted us to enjoy our time in Madrid and to see other parts of Europe also. I also learned a lot in the classes because the atmosphere was relaxed and I felt like I was able

to just focus on learning the material and not necessarily have to worry about my grade. If you do what is expected of you, you will do well AND learn a lot! I also had a wonderful host family and the IES abroad staff checked on my family and I to make sure that we were enjoying each other's company throughout the year and just making sure that everyone was comfortable with the arrangement. I totally recommend this program!