I have been surprised to find that the majority of locals in Granada are not enthusiastically open towards foreign students. The city is commonly selected by students throughout Europe and the world as a study abroad location, so Granadinos are used to seeing outsiders. Their blasé attitude towards us is not malevolent, however, it’s more like they are simply used to having young international students living in their city. That being said, both my study abroad program (API) and my school have programming to connect Spanish language students with locals. Many of these people want to practice their English skills with us, and there are also opportunities to teach locals of all ages, volunteer throughout the city, and get a “big brother” family. Intercambios (language exchanges) range from meeting up with young people in tapas bars to teaching first grade students at an elementary school to spending an hour on outings with a Spanish family.
I have been in Spain for about two and a half months now, and there is still adjusting to do. I’ve always kept a budget while at Northeastern, but I’ve had to tailor my money-tracking system to accommodate cash and credit card purchases in two different currencies (credit card purchases always appear in your account as the USD equivalent). I also usually stick to using my card in Boston, but in Granada cash is more widely accepted. Plus, most of the money I spend is on snacks like café con leche or churros, so it doesn’t make sense to use my card for purchases that are usually 1-2 euros (although in Boston I totally would have).
Most of the money I have spent here has gone towards three main categories: food, clothes, and travel. Both food and clothes are cheap here, and most of what I’m buying is fun stuff rather than necessities. My individual travel purchases have all been fairly economical as well, and they have DEFINITELY been worth it. My advice to future study abroad students: if you’re going to skimp on something, don’t make it travel—visit museums (even the weird obscure ones), ride Ferris wheels, and eat two Belgian waffles a day.
