Housing & Meals

The Office of Study Abroad at Holy Cross views home-stays as an important element of any language-immersion program. Staying with a local Spanish family will give you important insight into every day life in A Coruña for its residents. It will also help your language acquisition as host families are an opportunity to practice your Spanish outside the classroom. 

This is an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself and become a member of your host community! It’s important to go into the experience of living with a host family with an open mind. All families are different, and your experience may very well differ from that of your peers. Avoid making snap judgments in the beginning and give yourself and your host family some time to get to know each other. Make a point of being available. Don’t get in the habit of staying in your room- it’s a hard one to kick and it won’t help you feel at home. 

Please note that you may not be housed in the city center. Welcome to everyday life in Europe! Most people do not live right in the center, and while there are a few families who do, you may be housed outside the center (still in the city) and need to use public transportation to go to school and to other locations. Part of studying abroad is learning to live like a local in another country, and most Spanish people routinely use public transportation to travel to school, work, etc. There are buses in A Coruña that are very easy to use! 

You’ll learn to love your time on buses and trains when living in Europe. You’ll get to see areas of the city you wouldn't have otherwise seen, you get to people watch, you get to chat with strangers who will give you so many insights into your new home and host culture, and you’ll get to read a lot more (something we Americans driving in cars don't have the opportunity to do as much!)

DON’T FORGET PHOTOS!  Your host families will be interested in where you come from: your family, town, friends, and school. Take pictures that help explain parts of your life in the U.S. These are great conversation starters when you don’t know yet what you have in common.

*It can be nice to bring a small gift for you host family that represents where you come from: handicrafts, chocolates/sweets/magnets/etc.

In your study abroad portal at sa.holycross.edu, there are many post-decision documents you need to fill out. One of those documents in a Housing Questionnaire. Make sure you take your time filling out the questionnaire honestly since this is what we send to our on-site housing director to "match" you with a host family! In addition to the form in your portal, our host family coordinator will ask you for a more-in depth bio and a picture of yourself via email. He will use all of the info you provide to make a great 'match' so it's important to be thorough! 

Your host family will provide you three meals a day, but you should expect to face some adjustments when it comes to the timing and contents of meals. In Spain, the largest meal is typically eaten mid-day (around 2-3pm) and "dinner" is much later (and lighter!) than what you might expect in America. It's important to approach meals as an opportunity to learn more about Spanish culture, and to try new things! Make an effort to try any new foods your host family might offer you. You're allowed to not like certain foods, but it is considered very rude to not at least try new foods once! Of course, your host family will be alerted to any specific allergies or dietary requirements you might have. 

TBA