¡Que Divertido!

Going abroad to Madrid with IES was a great experience. The staff is extremely professional and truly cares that each student has a good experience. The classes are excellent as they are all taught by professors from the Universidad Compultense de Madrid, the best university in Madrid. My favorite was definitely Velázquez, Goya and El Greco at the Prado Museum as each class took place at the world-renowned Prado Museum and the class was taught by a curator from the museum. I lived with a host family in Madrid. While I was initially very nervous about it, it ended up to be one of my best decisions while abroad as it allowed me to be fully immersed in the culture and to practice my Spanish. There are no classes on Friday which allow students to have an opportunity to travel both in and around Spain and throughout Europe. Additionally, IES offers field trips every weekend in Madrid to sites such as the Royal Palace or the Botanical Gardens or to nearby cities such as Toledo and Segovia. Another benefit of the program is its size. I went in the fall of 2014 and there were 50 students. This allowed everyone to know each other, but it never felt too small. Overall, I would highly recommend going abroad to Madrid with IES to any motivated student looking to study abroad in a cosmopolitan city in a Spanish speaking country.