University and lectures
In Huelva they have to different schools that are under the umbrella of University of Huelva: Campus el Carmen and La Merced.
As Erasmus student you can choose if you want to take courses in English or in Spanish. They offer around 40 different courses in English, but of course just a few are from the field of tourism, but if your Spanish is good enough you are most welcome to take courses that are thought in Spanish language.
Since I'm only taking lectures in English I can only tell you, that teachers speak English quite well and that they are really nice. The only problem that I can see here is that maybe not everyone can find curses that are compatible at their home University.
Huelva
I came to Huelva really open minded with no expectations, because I knew that if I had high hopes, there was a chance that I might be disappointed At first there was quite a cultural shock for me, but went away in a week or so. I wasn't ready for everything to be so slow, everyone to be so nice and helpful, but the biggest shock was siesta. During that time no one is outside, the city literally looks like no one lives there :). But believe me, after a while siesta becomes your best friend.
Plaza De Las Monjas – city center
What I really find interesting is the time table of the shops, just because usually there is none. Supermarkets work from 9.15 – 21.15 and they don't have siesta, but some shops with clothes and food do have it. They don't have time tables written down on the windows of the shops, so you just have to figure it out by your self.
Otherwise, the city center is really nice and I like it a lot.
Accommodation
There is no student dorms in Huelva, so you will have to rent an apartment. I pay 166 € per month + additional costs (water, electricity). Our landlord is paying for the internet. I found my room with help from facebook – I joined two groups: Erasmus Huelva 2012 – 2013 and Esn Huelva and found all the answers there. If you still need some help you can go to International office, which is located in Campus el Carmen and they will help you find a place to stay.
Food
Prices for food in supermarkets are pretty much the same as in Slovenia, alcohol is cheaper than at home.
Usually people like to go for tapas, which are a great way of trying the local food. I can't recommend any student meals, because we cooked a lot at home.
Tapas
Activities
One of the best ways to travel and meet some of the Erasmus students (there are around 500 per semester) is to do it with ESN Huelva (Erasmus student network). They organize one day trips and some longer ones as well. I went with them to Cordoba & Granada for tree days and it cost me only 85 € and it was the same for Lisbon trip.
They also organize Erasmus parties every Wednesday, so you definitely won't be bored.
Party
Some good places to go:
· cheep drinks: Mombasa, 100 chupitos
· Spanish music: Buddha (during the weekend there is a lot of local people) – you have to have some kind of ID, but they let you in with ESN card as well
· other places that I like: Ego, New York, Moulin Rouge
Where are you from party Public transport
The best way to get around is with bus. Their local bus company is called Emtusa and one way ticket is 0,90 €. The city is really not that big, so if you live somewhere near the center, you really don't need to use the bus. If you want to get to the beach (Punta Umbria, Mazagon ect.) you can use the Damas buses.
Comparison with Portorož
Lets compare costs for living first. Rent and costs for food are pretty much the same as in Portorož. The only thing where you can spent a lot of money is on alcohol (of course it depends on how much and how often you party and drink), on tapas or just eating out and for travelling.
If I'm honest scholarship only, won't be enough for getting through the month. If you decide not to travel at all and not to try anything new there, then you won't need a lot more, but Huelva is a really good place to travel from (a lot of interesting places and countries to see are close), so not taking the advantage of that would be really stupid.
Cons
The only con for me is not the best selection of courses in English, otherwise I can't think of anything bad at all.
Pros
There is a lot of them, starting with meeting the biggest amount of great people. We are now one big Erasmus family and everyone is really nice.
The next one is learning or improving Spanish and also learning new and interesting things at lectures.
Then is trying new food, travelling, good parties, going to the beach, ect..
So, all in all, I would say that choosing Huelva for Erasmus experience was a great decision. I don't regret it at all and I would do it all over again.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate and just sand me an e-mail on tami_14.4@hotmail.com.
Hasta luego,
Tamara Ratej :)
tami_14.4@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment