Type of housing:
With a family

Arranged by:
Home university

If returning, I would choose:
Apartment/House
Why? Although I had the opportunity to live with a very nice woman who refrained from imposing strict rules upon the constituents of the household, I felt as if I did not have a substantial amount of personal space, which in some cases created a conflict because her motherly instincts took over where my independence began. Living in an apartment/house would also allow me to eat the food that I prefer as well as accomodate guests in a fashion that would suit me.

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

Activities take/s place mostly within the university/student environment

Nightlife take/s place mostly outside the university/student environment

Travel take/s place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Course recommendations:
Do not settle; if the program or university does not have the courses that you feel would serve you best, keep researching.

The language of instruction was:
Spanish

My proficiency in the language of instruction:
before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
after: At ease in most situations

Learning the language of instruction was a factor in choosing my host country

Main source of funding:
Personal savings

Other sources of funding:

Work opportunities
I worked, but it was illegal/cash in hand work.
Other kind of work

Personal spending habits:
My food was already paid for through the program, the telephone must have costed at least 5-10 dollars everytime I called the states or someone's movíl(spain), the property costs are less, I did not have to pay to get into nightclubs (and also recieved free drink vouchers on account of my own networking); finally, I spent less money traveling to three countries within Europe than I did traveling to Spain.

I wish I had known ...
I wish I knew that the constituents of the city of Madrid are not nearly as open-minded as they are proclaimed to be and that racism and prejudice towards people of color run rampant in that city, especially amongst the natives (not so much the cultured/non-native locals).

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!