Personal Erasmus Report- Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao.
Simone Luchtenberg (s.luchtenberg@student.rug.nl) – IRIO University of Deusto:
The courses I took at the University of Deusto have been:
1: Español Lengua Extranjera C1.1 (5 ECTS) 2: Español Lengua Extranjera C1.2 (6 ECTS) 3: Psicología Social (In Spanish) (6 ECTS) 4: Gender Studies (In English) (6 ECTS) 5: Geopolítica (In English) ( 6 ECTS)
When we arrived at Deusto, they told us that we had 2 weeks to visit all the classes we were interested in, and after these weeks we would have to make a decision on which ones we were actually going to take. Logically, this was kind of chaotic, because we ourselves had to check all the schedules (which overlapped a lot of times), but this kind of reflects the way a Spanish university works: Chaotic, but in the end it’ll all work out. The level of education is notably lower than in the Netherlands, with ofcourse some exceptions. It is quite doable to pass all your exams without any trouble, even with the courses in Spanish are manageable, this also because
teachers are generally very helpful when they know you are not a local student.
There are fixed classes with different year-layers, and we had to do a lot of group projects, so sometimes it felt a little like I was back at High School. The University is also very elitist. It is a private university and has a lot of money, and it shows. The buildings are absolutely beautiful, but sometimes there can be a bit of an elitist atmosphere in the university.
The mobility office at the University of Deusto is very helpful. They provide you with all the information you need, send a lot of e-mails before, during and after your mobility, and are always willing to help you with whatever problem you may have.
During my time in Bilbao, I rarely had contact with my home university. Only concerning the during mobility form, because I had made some changes to my courses.
Accommodation was dealt with by the University of Deusto, which saved us a lot of time searching for apartments. You will be given a map with all the available
apartments, you will have to make a top 3, and they will later assign you one of the apartments. Apartments in Spain are generally not the most modern, Spanish people like it brown and antique. But I had the luck of having two great roommates, and our apartment was at not even 5 minutes walking from the University, so in the end it was all fine. The rent is around 350/400 euros. Everything was very well arranged.
The expenses will of course depend on whether you want to travel a lot etc. But I think including rent, a 800 euros a month would suffice.
Personal experience:
Bilbao has something special. It is a big city, but without a lot of tourists, and It really gives you the opportunity to get to know the city, and to feel really at home. I also feel like Bilbao , or the Basque country, is the relatively unknown part of Spain. While the majority of the people go to the south on a holiday, everything I got to visit in the Basque country have outshined all the beaches and sun of the south. I would really recommend to go on hikes and explore the Basque country, because it is absolutely beautiful! I would also recommend to go to an Athletic game. Even if you are not a soccer fan, the atmosphere is amazing. Public transport in Bilbao functions very well, with the Barik card that you can use for all types of public transport, although you can get to basically everywhere by just walking.
The main reason for me to go to Bilbao in the first place was because of the language, so I tried to do everything I could to improve my Spanish. Of course we had our Spanish classes, but I really wanted to get more in touch with local people.
That is why I looked online for a local soccer club to join. This was the best decision I have made in Bilbao. I ended up at a small (and very ugly) town 20 minutes away from Bilbao, and I have met the most amazing people. Basque people are incredibly open, helpful and thankful at the same time. That is for instance how I got to spend new year’s eve at a teammates’ house, where we had dinner with her entire family.
Additionally, they did not speak a single world of English, so I was really forced to speak, and therefore improve my Spanish. I spent 3 nights a week there, and next to that we almost every week had a drink, dinner or went out together. This helped me not only to integrate more into Basque society, but I also made friends for life.
I think I would say that you can design your Erasmus experience the way you want to. You can travel a lot, or explore some sites closer to home. You can hang out with only Erasmus people, or with locals as well. And you can party a lot, or study a lot.
The beautiful thing is that whatever you want, Bilbao has something for you.
Furthermore, Erasmus students are generally super open-minded, so you will have no problem to find people to have a great time with, and Bilbao has multiple
International Student networks that organize activities and trips every day.
Practical things/ problems I encountered:
-It rains a lot, almost more than in the Netherlands.
-People in Bilbao live on the streets, no matter the weather . There are tons of bars that are always full of people that come together after work/school to have a drink and chat.
-Euskera (Basque language) is much more present than I thought. Basque people are really proud and they hold onto their language very much. However, with Castellano you will definitely be able to manage.
- You don’t say you (usted) to people that are older, until their at least 80, because that Is offensive to them. If you do so, they will get mad (trust me on this.)
- It is true that Spanish people are never in a hurry, ever.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, or just want some more information!
