Housing
Skidmore in Spain provides students the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of living with host families. Living in a foreign country is exciting, enriching, interesting and sometimes frustrating. It is a fascinating experience in which one learns about different customs and how to speak another language. For this reason, the home stay experience is one of the program's most valuable aspects as it allows students to fully participate in Spanish culture on a daily basis.
We have staff in Madrid and Alcalá whose job is the personal welfare of the students.
The Director visits the Skidmore campus each semester to meet with students, review
their housing questionnaires, and answer any questions they may have.
The student's preferences concerning personal comforts, eating habits, health requirements
(smoking, allergies, etc.), and family composition are all taken into consideration
during family selection. Once the student has been placed in a Spanish home, the program
staff is in regular contact with both the student and the family to assure that the
adaptation continues to go smoothly.
The home stay allows our students to be totally immersed in the Spanish way of life
on a daily basis. Because of the importance of this experience as a source of contact
with the culture and the language, we place only one student per family. You learn
not only about the Spaniards firsthand, but also about yourself: your own values,
ideas and beliefs.
Your housing includes:
- An individual room with adequate furnishing to facilitate studying
- Two meals a day (breakfast and lunch or dinner, depending on your schedule), with a stipend to cover the 3rd meal.
- Moderate use of the family telephone is permitted (1 or 2 local calls per day)
- Laundry, including weekly changing of sheets and towels or washing machine access
Other housing arrangements are allowed in special cases with the Resident Director's approval.
