This summer I visited Granada Spain for 5 weeks to take classes at the Centro De Lenguas Modernas school of the University of Granada. My experience was a bit different than the typical “study abroad” experience. For one, I had been to Granada many times before: in 2008 I lived there with my family for 6 months, and I over the year I had travelled to the city roughly ten times. My experience was also much shorter than the typical study abroad experience that lasts a semester or a year, unfortunately as much as I would have loved to spend that amount of time abroad, I had professional obligations that wouldn’t allow me to spend that much time out of the country. Due to these factors, I had a different experience than most. I would say my experience would be characterized more as a tourist experience rather than a full immersion experience. While the idea of being a tourist has negative connotations and is often seen as a negative in study abroad, I believe that it has benefits that are often overlooked. Continue reading →