Erasmus experience in Foggia

Hello, I did an Erasmus (both semesters, Medicine student) in Foggia in the course 2017-2018 and it was a great year. This is my review, with some subjective information based on my personal experience and some objective information about life in the city.

Getting started

Ok, you check the internet and you see your truth, your destiny, your future written on the screen... Terrifying. Erasmus destination: FOGGIA.

You probably had never heard about Foggia before. You probably didn’t write Foggia as your first option when asking for your Erasmus. But for one reason or another, it was probably your only option. But relax, I’m here to help you out of this hard situation that we all went through… there is light at the end of the tunnel. Like Bob Marley wrote: every little thing is gonna be alright.

Here is a set of FAQ before coming to Foggia:

- Whaaat? Foggia? Yes. Foggia. Congratulations J.

- But… is this a place?! Yes, it’s a small city in the south of Italy in a very beautiful region called Puglia.

- Ahh, Italy… Will I eat a lot of pizza? Hell yes.

- Will I be alone there? Nope, there are 150. 000 people living in the city, and 300 of them are Erasmus students.

- Why have I read/heard bad things about Foggia? Because some people come here with the wrong mind-set.

- Will I have a good experience in Foggia? The experience you will have doesn’t depend on the fact that you are in Foggia, in Paris or in New York. The experience you have depends on you and how you choose to feel and receive what life is bringing to you. For having a good experience in Foggia, come here with the right mind-set and it will all be alright.

- How should I prepare for my trip? Learn as much English as Italian as you can before coming here. Also, start eating less one week before your arrival in order to make space in your stomach for Italian food.

- Thank you so much! Prego, prego.

Mind-set

Source

Before coming to Foggia, I suggest you to do a mental exercise that I think is very healthy (not only when going for an Erasmus, but in life in general). It’s very simple: get rid of all expectations. Get rid of the previous image that you have of how an Erasmus should look like. Forget all the experiences of other people in other places that you’ve heard of.

Why? Because every experience will differ from others, and Foggia is very different than the main Erasmus destinations that your other friends will be probably going to.

Foggia is a small city, maybe not “beautiful” in the ways you would say a city is beautiful the first time you see it, but it’s very comfortable and welcoming.

Even though there are some nice buildings to see, do not expect to find amazing architecture and historical old buildings (also because on 1943 bombs were thrown and destroyed the oldest buildings). You can pretty much see everything in half day walking around (the church, teatro Giordano, Villa, etc. ). Foggia is not a city to visit, it is a city to live in.

But undoubtedly, there is beauty in Foggia. The discovery of it might come to you later, if you open your heart to the city, to its people, culture and food, and to your experience on it, and once you start collecting wonderful living moments all around.

That’s what brings us to the point of this introduction that I wanted to start with: get rid of all expectations. Only like this, expecting nothing, you will find and receive everything.

An Erasmus is a wonderful opportunity of LEARNING, of submerging yourself in a different world, a different place, a different culture and country, and doing it from the best perspective possible: that of a student with a grant.

Now, going away from this “psychological” introduction, I will explain some useful things about the city and living here in general. But remember to do not create an “image” from my words, mine is only one possibility, one point of view, this was my experience, but yours will be different.

Money: prices and costs

Depending on how much money you have, here are your chances of the life you can have:

• The simple Erasmus: 400 euros a month.
• The quite cool Erasmus: 600 euros a month.
• The rich Erasmus: +800 euros a month.

Falling in one or another category or another depends on how much money you have saved before the Erasmus and how much do you receive from the European Union.

Here is a break down of the main things that you will spend your money on:

1. House: you can find shared rooms or single rooms for 150 euros/month (for the Simple Erasmus), and most other single rooms cost between 180-220 euros (for the Quite cool Erasmus). There are more expensive rooms, in fancy flats in the center with lots of facilities, but this would be a luxurious choice for the Rich Erasmus.
2. Expenses: for any kind of Erasmus, the expenses are about 30-40 every month (internet, condominio, water, electricity, gas, etc. ). Be aware that winter gets really cold inside the houses: but gas is really expensive (about 4-5 euros per hour open) – so bring warm clothes if you don’t want to freeze while trying to save money.
3. Food: I have spent around 100-130 euros/month on food. Some people have really bad diets for less money, other people buy too expensive products and end up spending more. Me personally I am vegetarian and I was buying normal stuff in supermarkets and vegetables in another shop. Veggies and fruits are really cheap and high quality in Foggia.

Only with this three categories, the Simple Erasmus gets to survive in Foggia with everything he/she needs. But usually Erasmus life wants more investments: you might want to go out for dinner with your friends, grab a beer at night, do some traveling, etc. So here’s the breakdown for that:

1. Going out: really good restaurants (like La Fasina) are as cheap as 5-7 euros for dinner, with amazingly natural cooked food. During the day there are some cultural activities in the city (not many, honestly): cinema, theatre, etc., usually they are free or they don’t cost a lot. During the night, the money you spend depends on what you like to do and how you go out.
2. Trips: the good thing about living in Foggia is traveling. Unlike other Erasmus cities in which rooms can be up to 400 euros/month, the student in Foggia can invest more money on traveling because the accommodation is not that expensive. Again, the amount spent on traveling depends on your style and possibilities, I’ll talk about that later.
3. Shopping: again, it depends on you. Every Friday from 6:00 am to 12:00 am there is a second hand market next to Ipercoop. If you like markets you definetly have to go there: hundreds of clothes, shoes, for 1 or 2 euros. In this market there are also fresh vegetables, flowers, books, all kinds of objects (if you need things for your house like blankets, pillows, a lamp, etc. and you want to buy it cheap, you should come here). There is another part of the market that is not second hand but it’s really cheap as well.

If you like “official” shops and brands, other than the shops in the centre there are two big shopping centres. One is Ipercoop (there you find everything, all kinds of things) and then GrandApulia, a bigger shopping mall outside of the city (for going there you have to take a special bus).

CONCLUSION: basic things in foggian life cost around 400 euros, everything you add up from that depends on how many money you have and which is your lifestyle.

Accommodation

The prices for accommodation have been mentioned above.

There are two possibilities for you to find accommodation in Foggia:

1. If you want to live with Italian people, you should search for flats on the internet, or on facebook groups for Italian students. If you already can communicate a little bit in Italian, it can be a nice way to learn the language and get integrated in Italian life. But be aware that most Italian people (even young university students) don’t speak a word of English, so you don’t want to find yourself isolated. You can start your search about one month before arriving in Foggia.
2. If you want to live with Erasmus students, you should search for the facebook group of ESN (Erasmus Student Network). The ESN in Foggia is one of the best in Italy, it’s a group of Italian students who have been in Erasmus or like Erasmus people and they organize activities and help you integrate in the city. The ESN people have a facebook group called “Accommodation in Foggia” (or sth like that, ask them) and from there you can find your flat with other Erasmus people. You can start your search about two or three weeks before arriving in Foggia.

In Foggia there is plenty of cheap and good rooms, so don’t stress because of that. Some owners will want to make a contract and others don’t want to (if you have a contract you have more stability but you have to pay a little bit more because some money goes to the government; if you don’t pay contract, usually it’s 30-40 euros cheaper). Make sure you have a good feeling about owners, because some people try to take advantage of foreigners, but others are super nice and helpful. It all depends on who you encounter.

Regarding the zones where to live, most students live in the city centre or around it. Others live around the station or close to the hospital or the football stadium. Generally the more far away you are from the center, the longer you will have to walk in your daily life.

Personally, I’m a Medicine student and I wanted to have hospital practice so I chose a flat that was close to the hospital (in Viale Ofanto) and it came very useful. I would say that the best choice is picking a flat that is between the place you have to go to often (university, hospital, workplace) and the center.

Buses in Foggia don’t work very well (irregular timetable, delays, etc. ). If you plan to move around a lot, you can buy a second hand bike for 25-30 euros and they maybe even re-sell it. There is a second hand bike shop in Via arpi 107, and in the Friday market very early in the morning.

Food

ITALIAN FOOD

Food is one of the main reasons you should come to Foggia. Food in Foggia is cheap and is of and excellent quality. Bakeries are full of typical Italian products: make sure you try everything at least once. Pizza is sold in every street. Other than the “pizza restaurants”, where you can sit and be served, there are many pizza shops with the pizzas already done in which you can ask for several pieces with different toppings, usually to take away. That generally is a cheaper option: you can have a lot of pizza for only 3-4 euros.

There is also a lot of variety in sweet products, sold in Pasticcieria. Cakes, biscuits, cookies, sweet creams, all handmade and again, really cheap.

The truly good Italian food is in the south of Italy, because it’s where they grow all the vegetables, cereals and fruit, so expect a high quality in everything you eat.

DAILY FOOD

For feeding yourself you should buy most things in big supermarkets, and fruit and vegetables in the vegetable shop, in fruit trucks in the corner of the street or in the market. There is a huge everyday market from 7 am to 11 am in Corso Pietro Giannone. There is a second hand market only on Fridays (already mentioned above).

The university

The Università degli Studi di Foggia (or UNIFG) is a little university with four different faculties (medicine, humanities, economy, agraria), each one located in a different part of the city. I will speak about my experience as a Medicine student, but I think in other faculties the way of functioning is very similar.

Personally I was very surprised with how things work in Italy in the university.

LESSONS

some people came here thinking that they would have lessons in English, but all lessons are 100% in Italian. However, going to the lessons is not compulsory for Erasmus students. Anyways make sure that the first day of a subject you go to the university: introduce yourself to the teacher, get information about the lessons and how to proceed for the exam, ask for studying materials.

EXAMS

all exams are oral. Being an Erasmus student this is a huge advantage: probably the teacher will be nicer and more comprehensive with you.

HOSPITAL PRACTICE

if as a medicine student you have to do hospital practice + exams, know that the hospital practice (for Erasmus people) is in the morning, at the same time than the lessons. So it will be difficult if you want to follow the course. Usually in the hospital doctors are nice and not very demanding. If you don’t speak Italian it will be extremely difficult for you to learn and understand situations, since even the most young doctors don’t speak English properly. Really, learn Italian. It’s a nice language.

Other activities

Source

From my experience I have two suggestions for you:

ITALIAN LANGUAGE LESSONS

the UNIFG offers a free Italian course, one hour every week. This course is a nice initiative from the University but presents some problems. First of all, it’s a giant class packed with people, the place is very far away from the center, and it’s only one lesson a week. All of this causes the learning to be really slow. The good thing about this course is that it can be exchanged for 3 credits, but going to the lessons is not compulsory, you can do the exam in the end and pass without too many difficulties.

If you really want to learn Italian (which is something that I encourage you to do, it’s a beautiful language and being here it’s a huge opportunity), you aim for taking extra lessons. The best language academy in Foggia is called Daunia, the Italian teacher is called Francesca and she is AMAZING. All Erasmus students who took her lessons can certify that. The prices are really student-friendly and it will be a blast learning experience.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

in order to get integrated in the Italian life and to practice what you have been learning in your Italian lessons, it’s nice to find some activity with Italian people to do. The importance of this, other than submerging yourself in the real life of the city, is going out from the “Erasmus bubble”. This is a social bubble composed of all Erasmus people and some Italian ESN members, and you will see that most of your social life is in this bubble, like another world separated from foggian people. For some Erasmus in Foggia it’s likely that they will spend all their time here without interacting with italian people, and really getting to know Foggia.

This is why I suggest finding an activity you enjoy with italian people. You can take dance lessons, you can do a martial art, you can join an art club, maybe a sport team (for women few options unfortunately), you can join a scout or hiking group, or even a riding bike club. The best is finding a “group” activity. Personally I did a theater course in Teatro della Polvere and overall it was one of the best choices I could have possibly made. If you like theater Italy is possibly one of the best places in the world to learn: dramatic art is in the soul of every true italian, it’s the main art with which they express themselves and their culture. And other than that, you make italian friends, you practice the language, you learn something, you have fun, and your experience in the city is enlarged. And it’s nice to hang out with people who are not Erasmus all the time!

What to do in Foggia

• ESN EVENTS

  The ESN (Erasmus Student Network) here is really nice and they organize weekly events. Join the whatsapp and facebook group and even if you don’t know the people, join this events from the very beginning, they will be the way you make friends and get to know really nice people.

• CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

  it can seem that there is no cultural activity in Foggia but it’s not true. Check the theater and music performances in the Teatro Giordano, Teatro del Limone, Teatro del Fuoco and of course, Teatro della Polvere. Look in the website FoggiaToday Events. Look for events on facebook. Go to Parco città (in Parco San Felice), in the entrance they hang lots of posters announcing free events: yoga, reading club, music shows, etc. There are several cinemas, the cheapest one is Laltrocinema Cicolella and they put films weekly for only 2 euros (all in italian; you have to learn italian! ). There is also an LGBT association called ArciGay Le bigotte, they organize workshop and group debates.

• NIGHT LIFE

  personally I’m not a party animal and I was in a few parties (if any) during all this year, so I cannot recommend you lots of places. For what I have seen there are not many different options and people always end up going to the same places.

However, the night is a really good moment for an Erasmus student. This is really important: when Foggia is not giving you things to do, you have to create them. Be your own "architect" of activities and places and spaces. For example, during the first semester we built a group of people who liked music and doing creative things, so we would gather 10 people in one room in the night and we all would be jamming together with our instruments, singing and showing each other’s song from our countries. Bring your instrument to Foggia if you can play something! With other people we would also meet up during the day, have lunch together and then paint or draw. We also created a hiking group and on the weekends we would go to Gargano National Park (really close to Foggia) and we would do amazing hikes there, and doing this kind of things is how friendships and relationships started blooming between us.

Go out for a walk with people in the center (it gets crowded at Friday and Saturday evening), play flootball in the streets at night, go to the park and watch the sky, go and eat pizza, organize a boarding games night, watch a film, I don’t know, do whatever, be creative and enjoy your time at maximum. Find an activity that you like (running, music, panting, etc. ) and create a group of people to enjoy this together.

Traveling

Source

Foggia is a very good settled base for traveling. You can find cheap flights to Europe destinations (use your Ryanair discount! ), trains and buses to italian destinations (book with lot of advance for low price). Given that life here is not very expensive, use the rest of your Erasmus money to visit and see around. Italy is an amazing country, every town or place is rich in history and beautiful things.

The ESN people are organizing some day-trips as well, they hire a big bus and take all the Erasmus students around the region Puglia. Join this trips, it’s a nice opportunity to see around and of course to meet new people.

People in Foggia

The 99% of foggian people are extremely nice and welcoming. The pity is that most Erasmus students don’t try to learn italian so they cannot fully interact with them and experience their charmness and explore their culture. They are happy when they see that you like and enjoy this place, and they will be willing to help you in anything they can, and it’s likely that you will end up invited in their family luch. The foggian people are really laid-back, relaxed, they like to speak and laugh, to eat good food, they never do things in a rush, they don’t like to work a lot and they are usually late everywhere. You will never see somebody running stressed in the street because he is late to work. This is because in Foggia there is no such thing as strict “rules”: the meeting hour is always an approximation, shops might open a little bit later than the original timetable and nobody is bothered at all, the rules from university can be adapted to every case, etc. Other than all of this, they are also very religious (both young and elder people), and unfortunately not very open minded towards recycling, feminist ideas, LGBT people and illegal immigrants.

The 1% of foggian people are unfortunately not so nice. All places have a dark side and Foggia is not an exception. This part of the population is filled with people related to the mafia, thieves who might steal your phone in the club when you get distracted and your bike in the street. Powered by a strongly sexist society, there are also many disgusting and nasty men (yound and old) who enjoy sexual harrassment in the street, day and specially night. Unfortunately they think they have the right to interrupt conversations inviting girls on their car when they pass by, say whatever nasty things to them, look them and follow them, and being overall disgusting. From all the people I know nothing serious has happened: just try to ignore them. This will only happen if you are girls alone, if a male friend is around you they will recognise this as "another macho's territory" and will not bother you. Sad but true.

Regarding the Erasmus community, it is composed of about 300 students each semester. Half of them are Spanish, then there are a lot of Turkish and Ucranian people, and finally some few people from each of those countries: Hungary, Poland, France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Romania, and also some Asian people from Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. And there are also Catalan people like me!

Most of the Spanish people cannot say a word of English and are not interested in interacting with other cultures, so they basically exclusively hang out with each other speaking Spanish all the time. All the other people is extremely nice, and really open to the idea of forming an international group of friends.

Conclusion

Every single day Foggia will bring something new to your life.

Be open to it.

You are lucky.