Alumni Spotlight: Tanya Villafuerte

I choose this program because I go to art school and I have always loved art. Rome, having being the home to multiple artists, not only allowed to me to get to learn a new language and meet new people, but also to dig closer into the fascinating pieces it holds in all the museums and national sites. It also has great food.

I won this trip as a part of a giveaway, so EF practically arranged everything for me. The housing, the flights and the program itself was carefully taken care by the team, which made it super easy, stress-free and enjoyable overall. And Fiona was super sweet and easy to reach; she also gave me all the info I needed to chose a course and everything.

I would say just go, even if you don't know anything about the language, the food, the metro or whatever is holding you. You will eventually find out - it is just way easier than expected, and you will find people around the path that will gladly show you and teach you all you may need to know. Also, I would recommend staying at a host family; this way you get more involved.

An average day to me would have been going to class in the morning from 8am till like 2pm, and then I would probably grab lunch somewhere new, and then wander around the shops, the streets or the free museums. At night, I would maybe go out or hangout with my roommate. Gelate was always the way to end my day.

My biggest fear was the homestay and getting around.

In my previous travels with EF, I always stayed at their residences, which made it super easy to get around, while this time I had to take the metro and the bus to get to the school, and having no knowledge on the language scared me because I thought I was going to be lost all the time.

Any weekend you can take a bus, a train or a flight to other cool cities like Venice, Florence, Naples, Milan, among other cool trips outside of Italy for a weekend getaway. It's easy to book and cheap, especially if you book with friends to keep you company.