Bella Isern: Hi, I'm Bella. I'm am a Sophomore. I'm an education major with a Spanish minor, and I go by She/Her.
Juliana Mesa, CGIS Study Abroad Advisor: Thank you so much for being here, Bella. I'm glad that we'll get to have this conversation about your Spanish to 230 in the Granada. Let's start by talking about your decision to study abroad on this program.
BI: Yeah. Like I said, I want to do a Spanish minor. Once you start junior year [in the School of Education], you have limited LSA classes that you can take. So, I wanted to get a head start on my Spanish minor, and I thought it would be a great way to really immerse myself [in a different culture] and become fluent [in Spanish].
JM: That makes sense. Does it mean you will be taking Spanish to 77 this fall?
BI: Yes.
JM: Nice! And had you already taken any Spanish courses at U-M?
BI: Yeah. So I took Spanish 103 in the winter right before going abroad. That helped because I had just taken Spanish. I knew a couple of classmates who had a break [between courses on campus and abroad], which made it a little bit difficult [for them]. For me, I jumped in just fine. But I definitely think it felt like an 8 credit course. We definitely had stuff to do every day, but I also think it was manageable. [In Spain], there's a culture like cafes and stuff. It was actually kind of fun to get together with your friends and do homework. I didn't feel totally overwhelmed. But we were still there for school. Obviously.
JM: That sounds pretty good. Did you have a long commute between your homestay and the classroom?
BI: [My roommate and I] actually got really lucky. We felt like we had one of the best spots, because our apartment was super close to everything. It was pretty much a 10 min walk every day to school, and then, our meeting point was 15 to 20 min. So for us, everything was totally walkable. The only time we ever took public transportation was for some activities outside the city.
JM: That's good to hear. And how is that experience with your roommate? Is it someone you have already known?
BI: We met upon arrival. I had reached out over Whatsapp and messaged her. But other than that, we barely really spoke until we got there, luckily we clicked super well. We had our own rooms and stuff, so you still had that personal time. But we both really loved our host mom and got along super well and kind of had the same friends on the program. For me. [having a roommate] worked out well. It was nice to have a buddy to go places with.
JM: Yeah, that's great. What about your host family? How was that experience? How was living in a homestay?
BI: Yeah. So our homestay was just a host grandma. She has two kids and two grandkids, but they don’t live with her. And she has two cats. She was really, really nice, and clearly was very experienced with having students. Upon arrival, she was talking to us and feeling out how much Spanish we knew and like realized [if] we need help, and would use a translator for things. At first, she would talk slowly and kind of knew how to navigate the language difference between us and her. She was super nice and welcoming. Always made us feel comfortable. And she happened to be a really good cook, too. Meal times [were] always a super fun time for us, because she was super talkative. We would ask random questions, and she'd always have long answers. I think that helped a lot with [my] speaking and immersion, because she was good at talking, and we would listen and ask follow up questions. We were both super sad to leave.
JM: I'm glad to hear that was a good part of your experience, and that you were able to connect and enjoy the language and cultural immersion by talking during meals and such. Is there anything else about living with a host family that you would like to highlight?
BI: I would say be gracious and conscious of the fact that you're entering someone else's home, and they have their own set norms. It's just kind of like being open and not afraid to mention if something's uncomfortable for you. Also don't be nervous if your Spanish isn't perfect. I think it's a lot more fun to form a good relationship [with your host family].
JM: That's really good advice for prospective students, and a really good perspective to have on how to engage with a different culture. Is there anything else that you took away from this experience?
BI: Yeah, we were there during Corpus Christi holiday and I feel like that was just a really cool cultural event to participate in. Additionally, I really liked the language exchange at the school just because I'm going into education. So I think that was a really cool experience; to see what the kids are like and how they're different from kids that I've worked with in Michigan.
JM: I'm glad you enjoyed the Corpus Christi celebration and the language exchange activity. Is there anything else you'd like to add or any final advice?
BI: When [the program] first started, the mornings were chill, and people were wearing sweatshirts. Then it had a big switch and got really hot. It’s hard to pack for both, but definitely have options for both, like layers. Also, getting used to no A/C was kind of difficult. It was super hot towards the end. And then, setting clear expectations so you can experience [your time abroad] naturally.
JM: That is great advice to give students. Thank you so much for doing this interview.
