Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? The flat we rented with 2 other student was very spacious and very cheap. Moreover it was situated in the old part of the center of Cordoba. The place was precious and I experimented the spanish way of living.

Personal comments:
The university was proposing some adresses of flat or house that could be rented. Though, the number of adress was a bit reduced in comparaison with the number of students. But it was not so difficult to find an accomodation because we could read advertisement everywhere in town, in bus stops, on the walls...

Describe host city: Students interact with the local community without much university involvement

Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Activities, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
Cordoba is a small town. It has got two main night clubs. These are Zaira and Qu. I personnaly prefered little dancing bars in the neighbourhood "Ciudad Jardin". A lot of Spanish music and the dribks are very cheap. Women always go in for free. Another tipical thing about the Cordoban night life is the "Botellones". A botellon means that all the youth(including exchange students) go and buy some liquors in a night shop and then they meet each other in certain streets, where they stay until 2-3 o'clock in the morning. This is really nice on a warm summer night.

Course recommendations:
the music teacher is the sweetest person in the world...she brought us cookies on the first day of class and then invited all of us over to her house for dinner at the end of the semester.

Personal comments:
the teachers were regular spanish professors and they didnt understand the american system of grading. we were grading spanish style and most of the spanish students dont expect to pass a course/exam the first time around. so it was frustrating that the grades that us americans got effected our gpa's when we were really graded the same way that we were used to in the states.

Language of instruction: Spanish

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:
I worked, but it was illegal/cash in hand work

Personal spending habits:
I spent more on food because we often ate out a lot in order to try new dishes. I called home more often and used the Internet for studying so our phone bill was high. Housing and nightlife are much cheaper in Spain than in the UK because of the exchange rate. I travelled as much as I would at home, maybe a bit more but again it was cheaper to live and travel in Spain than in the UK. Overall I spent less because I did not have a part time job like I did at home, therefore I did not have as much money. I did work occasionally doing PR but I still did not have as much as I did at home unfortunately!

Food, Telephone: was more expensive than at home.

Travel: was the same price as at home.

Nightlife, Overall, Housing: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
That finding a room, appartment is so easy: so I wouldn´t ahve worried before leaving.

In my opinion:
Most people loved it.