¡Hola!
It feels like a long time since I’ve posted a blog! (So sorry, I was traveling — more on that later!)
In this blog, I thought I’d share a little about the University of Alicante, as I spend a lot of time close to its campus and am technically registered as a “student” there during this semester (even though I don’t have any university classes).
A couple of weeks ago, I bought this delicious small plate of shortbread cookies (see picture below) and walked around the campus in order to both orient myself within in (it is a much larger campus than Belmont) and to do something different outside (it was a beautiful day that I couldn’t waste).
If you’re wondering why all of my pictures have no students in them, it’s because I went on a Saturday, too self-conscious to take pictures around campus with students nearby!
A couple of facts about the university:
- An international university, they have more than 120 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in many different languages
- Total enrollment at UA is around 26,000 (it’s comparable to a state school in the US — when I told some Spanish students that my university had only 8,000 students they gasped audibly)
- To attend university there, especially when getting your undergraduate degree, is very cheap — only about 1,000 Euros per year. As this is a trend of Spanish universities, it is interesting to note, however, that Spanish universities have some of the highest drop-out rates in the world (because there isn’t a monetary reason to stay).
The campus itself used to be a regional airport before it was converted into a university. The campus is very much laid out like an airport, with long stretches of walkways that run in a grid system. Also, there is an old hanger that has been transformed into a garden and the building that used to house the control tower now holds offices.
The hanger 
Lots of plants inside here now 
You can see the control tower at the top of this building 
One of the long stretches of walkway (this is even on one end of it)
It’s also just generally very pretty. It’s one of the few places in Alicante with grass and trees, which is very exciting. Here are a few more pictures:
The main library on campus 
The view from inside the library. You can just see the control tower and hanger. Beautiful, no?
And finally, the map of campus. If you’re wondering why the university’s name is spelled differently on the plaque, that’s because it’s in Valencian, which is a dialect of Catalan (one of the four official languages of Spain). It’s heavily based in Latin, hence the use of “t”s. Valencian is everywhere in Alicante: street names, tram stops, and the information on the tram is always given three times — first in Valencian, then in Castilian Spanish (regular), and then in English (with a British accent). The reason it’s used in Alicante is because the province of Alicante is part of the autonomous community (think: state) of la Comunidad Valenciana.
So that’s a little of the university! Lots of different things than I’m used to, but at the end of the day, it’s still filled with students with caffeine-addictions and papers due at midnight!
¡Hasta luego!
— Grace
Where in the World Is Grace Elizabeth? 