My Erasmus+ Mobility for studies at ESADA: Anna Pandolfo, Università Iuav di Venezia

When I chose to do my Erasmus in Granada, I never expected to have such an exciting experience.
Granada was my first choice because I was inspired by its culture and history.
When I arrived in the city, the first thing I saw was the Cathedral and the Realejo neighborhood: at first I didn't have a house, just a two-day stay in a hostel, but it wasn't very difficult to find a nice apartment in the center of the city.

On the first day of October I was at ESADA for the presentation of the school to the Erasmus+ students. Our group consisted of two Turkish girls, two Lithuanians, three Italians and a French boy and girl. We got along well and, between classes, parties and cultural outings, a good friendship was born.
At the beginning, it was very difficult for me to follow the classes in Spanish and to do projects, because at ESADA everything was done differently from what I was used to at my university. Little by little, day after day, I learned to understand the classes and to express myself in a language that was not my own.
In December, as the city, the school and the enthusiasm for the experience were still too strong, I decided to stay until June.
My family agreed, even though they were starting to miss me (in the end, I never went back to Italy during the whole experience, not for Christmas or anything).
So I stayed in Granada for another four months.
At the end of January, all my Erasmus friends returned home and for a few days the city seemed empty. Berfin, Su Eda, Agathe and Louis, how could I forget the first friends who made my stay in Granada special?

With the start of classes in February, new people arrived from all over the world. Among the fifteen new girls were Chiara and Camilla, both from the same university as me in Venice. Before this experience we hardly knew each other, but we gradually became great friends.
In this second semester, I gained more self-confidence, started speaking more Spanish and met new people.

I had the opportunity to get to know my classmates better and to increase the friendship between us. Sometimes I stayed at school with some of them to talk about the projects, sometimes we went out for a drink together sitting in front of the cathedral.
Almost all the professors in the first term were the same as in the second term, although they taught different subjects. I found it very strange because at my university all the professors are always changing, but I liked what you do at ESADA because it gave me the opportunity to establish a relationship with them and learn many more things.
There is nothing I did not enjoy during these months, from the food to the architecture, from the landscapes to the people and traditions, everything I experienced in Granada I will always carry in my heart.