Erasmus: Granada with a Child

How I got to Granada...

My son was five years old at the time and in his penultimate year of Kindergarten (nursery/reception in the UK) when I decided to head off to Granada in Spain for half a year. I was in my fourth semester of studying Education Studies and had never actually thought about it, nor merely considered that it would be possible to do a semester abroad with your child.

When a classmate of mine at the time then told me of her Erasmus plans, I suddenly developed such a great yearning to have an experience abroad, that it didn’t even take one day until I was stood at the door of the Erasmus Office at the University of Hamburg. The deadline for the coming semester had unfortunately already passed and I saw my hopes dashed. A very kind member of staff found my plans so very interesting and unique (going abroad with a child! ) that she did everything she could to somehow still make it possible to get me on board.

I barely had time to find out about the possible destinations and had to tell her which places would be my preferences straight away.

It wasn’t even a week before everything was then in the bag: my son and I would be in Granada in less than six weeks!

Erasmus grant and the duration of my stay...

After a few weeks in Granada I received payment of my Erasmus grant already. It was approximately 1, 400 Euros. When you go abroad with a child, the grant is a little bit higher. Nevertheless I knew that that money alone would not be enough for my son and I. As my aunt was so enthusiastic about my plans, she offered me monthly financial support. Without this I probably would not have been able to make ends meet.

My Erasmus semester began in February 2013 and was intended to finish in June 2013.

Preparations for the stay

Since my son went to Kindergarten back in Germany (he was 5 at the time) the next step now was to enrol him there. I did that with very mixed feelings, amongst which fear also figured. Fortunately, the head of his German Kindergarten was able to relate to my fears very well and promised me that she would immediately take him back into the Kindergarten should we have to return to Germany sooner after all. That gave me a feeling of security.

I tried to find a Kindergarten in Spain for my son from Germany but I simply could not find anything, because on the internet search machines I only searched with the term ‘Guardería’. Later when I was already in Granada, I found out that I should have searched for ‘Educación Infantil’.

Anyone who has already been on holiday with their children a few times knows that travel preparations are somewhat exhausting. You ponder which clothes you should pack, which toys, which sun cream etc.

But when you plan to spend a longer period of time abroad with your child, then the considerations and preparations are a little more extensive.

You must think twice as hard about which clothes you are taking with you, because you are also by all means away in the other country over two seasons. Then you have to think carefully about which toys you will take with you for the child - the ones they are really attached to and the ones they could easily leave behind for a few months.

And then you should also think a bit about a small first aid or medicine kit. In our case, for example, it was beneficial to bring homeopathic medicine with us. In Spain the awareness of Homeopathy is not yet so advanced and here, amongst other things, you have to fork out a bit more both for an alternative medicine consultation as well as for the alternative medicines themselves.

Despite the extent of the things that you have to think about and you have to take with you, it is advisable to keep it all to a minimum where possible. At the end you would also like to bring a few nice things back home after all!

Arrival and further important preparations once there

For the first few days in Granada we had obtained accommodation on Couchsurfing. I had also tried to find a flat in Granada from Germany, but because you barely know the area yet, it is recommended instead to look around once you are there.

Back in 2013 in Granada’s old town, ‘Albaycin’, it was still easy to find a room or a flat. Nowadays due to the high demand, and because many only offer their rooms on Airbnb, it has unfortunately become much more difficult. After a week I found a large room for both of us in a shared flat.

Finding a suitable school was also quite informal and happened much quicker than it would in Germany. I quickly met people who recommended a very nice primary school in the same part of the city to me and the very next day, my son was already able to start there.

Studying at the Universidad de Granada and student life

Admittedly, the most complicated part of my stay in Granada was the start of my semester at the University of Granada. There is an Erasmus mentoring through students at uni, but I found that the support was not very extensive. It wasn't exactly explained to us how to choose courses and which courses you were allowed to choose etc.

Eventually you find everything out by yourself because you meet a lot of Erasmus students at the uni who are facing the same problems.

Being able to follow lectures was the next problem. I had already had Spanish tuition before back at home, but it was not quite sufficient to follow the fast ‘Granino’. In addition, I took further Spanish tuition at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas, a very good local language school; through which I improved my Spanish very quickly.

My Erasmus student life differed greatly from the student lives of the other students, because I could never go to parties or take part in open air drinking sessions due to my son. Nevertheless, I met a lot of nice people at uni and particularly because my son was taught at a very alternative primary school. My entire social circle centred very quickly around my son’s school and the old town, which I lived in.

I even think that my life in Granada was perhaps somewhat more authentic and ‘closer to the living environment’ because my son went to school there and I came into contact with locals straight away.

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