IISMA (Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards) is one of the exchange programs from the Kampus Merdeka program in which I participated in 2021. I studied at the University of Granada (UGR), Spain, during the program. It became unreplaceable three months of euphoria in my life straight away.
My classes were fun and supportive, and I got to be in the same class with other exchange students from the U.S. They asked me to hang out with them and have dinner together where they cooked me “Green Chili Rice,” a New Mexico’s favourite dish, and the best of all when they bought me some gelatos to celebrate my birthday. Meanwhile, my Indonesian friends (fellow IISMA awardees) decided to surprise me with a prank, and I didn’t mind because it was fun :).
At UGR, we had a lot of extra activities we could do despite just going to class every single day. Every weekend, we travelled to other cities in Spain, such as Sevilla, Ronda, and Cordoba. On the other weekend, we had sports activities such as hiking and biking. Sometimes we visited historical places like museums, Alhambra, Cathedral, and Madrasah. If we wanted to add another plan within a week, we also got to manage our schedules. I joined a language gathering in a club that occurred every Tuesday and Taller de acuarela (an advanced watercolour workshop) in the evening. In the club and workshop, I met new people of more nationalities. I met friends from Germany, Afghanistan, Australia, and Italy. Some of them were lecturers, housewives/husbands, and artists.
After participating in this program, I became more productive and confident, and it gave me opportunities to join more mobility programs.