{"id":742,"date":"2024-06-21T11:41:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T15:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=742"},"modified":"2024-06-21T11:46:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T15:46:40","slug":"alcala-vs-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/2024\/06\/21\/alcala-vs-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcala Vs. Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Written by: Julia Tonacatl Mones \u00a0|\u00a0 Fall 2023<br \/>\nButler Semester in Spain (Alcala)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-752 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"Julia and classmates overlooking Barcelona in the background\" width=\"433\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona-300x225.jpeg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona-768x576.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/Julia-Tonacatl-Mones_Semester-in-Spain_FA23_overlooking-Barcelona.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px\" \/><\/a>Studying abroad was always in my plans while studying at Butler but I needed a program that would best \ufb01t my needs. I chose the Butler Semester in Spain program because it was a best \ufb01t \ufb01nancially and I would have other fellow classmates who could know what I\u2019m feeling.<\/p>\n<p>The semester in Spain program is set in a small town called Alcala De Henares and this program has you placed with a host family. I was lucky to get a wonderful mom and daughter duo who have been kind to me since before coming abroad. I was able to get my host mom\u2019s number before coming to Spain which was such a huge bene\ufb01t because I could get to know them a little bit and relive some of the stress my family felt being with another family for a semester. The Franklin Institute is located on a popular spot called Plaza Cervantes, where there are a ton of cafes to hit before school and even after to do some homework.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/processed-29F56739-4E90-4235-893E-50793FA5886C.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-745 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/processed-29F56739-4E90-4235-893E-50793FA5886C-214x285-custom.jpeg\" alt=\"A shake and croissant on separate plates on a table\" width=\"214\" height=\"285\" \/><\/a>Alcala is a small town and although there are cute shops and restaurants the best nightlife is in Madrid which is only a train ride away. Luckily for me my host house is close to the train station so I can easily get on the next train headed to Madrid. Madrid is a more populated place with a lot of big stores and popular places to eat tapas and drink sangria. The school in this program has no school on Fridays which is such a big bene\ufb01t to go out with friends on the weekends to enjoy a little bit of this popular city while having a small town to go back home to. Since Madrid is so big the transportation system can get a little tricky but the best bet if you\u2019re ever lost is to ask someone. Alcala is a small place that the best way to travel is through the bus station and it\u2019s a lot easier to meet you fellow classmates for co\ufb00ee in Alcala than in a big city like Madrid.<\/p>\n<p>This program has a requirement to have a certain level of\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff4b33\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/processed-87652795-5F3E-41A4-8B97-AA104E85FD6B.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-746\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2024\/06\/processed-87652795-5F3E-41A4-8B97-AA104E85FD6B-204x272-custom.jpeg\" alt=\"A full table of Spanish foods\" width=\"204\" height=\"272\" \/><\/a>Spanish completed because it is a complete language immersion program. You must be able to communicate with your host family, teachers, and other people you meet along the way in Spanish. Your Spanish doesn\u2019t have to be perfect but knowing key vocabulary is important if you ever get lost. The Spanish you learn in a Butler classroom is not the same as the Spaniard slang you hear in streets. Throughout my time here in Spain I have added a couple new words in vocabulary, which is something you couldn\u2019t learn from a classroom. Another big aspect about this program is the fact that you have classmates from Butler to always have a support system. I think studying abroad is such an important skill you can have, especially if you can have fun with friends while doing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by: Julia Tonacatl Mones \u00a0|\u00a0 Fall 2023 Butler Semester in Spain (Alcala) Studying abroad was always in my plans while studying at Butler but I needed a program that would best \ufb01t my needs. I chose the Butler Semester &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/2024\/06\/21\/alcala-vs-madrid\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9196996,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9196996"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":758,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}