Daughter in Spain! Need Help!

Basically the types of jeans they wear are either spanish/european or the expensive sevens, true religion etc. Diesel and Levi's were also common. It's not so much the brand name thats important, its the style. Dark denim, tight and slim/skinny leggs.

Peanut butter if shes a fan is hard to find. Regular French's mustard, real chocolate milk and root beer with the things I missed that I would bring. Bring photos of friends/family/ what your local area looks like.

The advise we received from our study abroad office was to take min Am clothing = a week at the most. The students will want to buy clothing there that matches their peer group. We did, he did, and it worked out great. He was in Madrid and when we visited over Spring break we brought home all of his Am clothing that he had taken originally. They may be wearing similar clothing here as there but it is not the same.

What I noticed a lot this summer was the teens and early twenties were wearing the old style, high top Converse athletic shoes.

Ditto on the Converse! We were in France and Italy in May and we saw tons of Converse tennis shoes.

What all goes to my original point -- wait till you get there. The clothes will be different.

this may help you some, however i'm a male.

I am studying abroad in the fall in Florence. I am taking with my my 'essentials' - basically things that regardless where I am, I want to have. I will say i'm pretty 'fashionable' and I like to dress well...with that being the case i'm going to take a few pairs of jeans that I find the most comfortable, a few shirts that I really enjoy, as well as some shoes. I'll of course be taking boxers, t-shirts, and polos to wear as well but I know being in Florence i'm going to want to buy some things, but at the same time I want to have the clothes i'm most comfortable wearing and enjoy wearing regularly. Since it can get chilly and then down right cold in the December months, i'm taking a coat as well as a sweater or two that I like...

I'm traveling before so my clothes are being shipped to me. It'll be expensive but it's really the best option for me, I don't want to travel with a bunch of clothes.

I haven't thought of the ideal of taking only a weeks worth of clothes - I'm most definitely taking more than a weeks worth of clothes, and I still feel like there is more that I could be packing if I had the room to do so.

Best of luck,
JB

Buying clothes there depends on your daughters budgeting/money situation and interests. Clothes are only on sale a few times a year, and with the exchange rate they can be very expensive. (Of course there are cheaper stores like H&M and Zara), but it can buying clothes can brake a budget fast.

When I did my exchange I spent 99% of my spending money on travelling and entertainment/partying. I gave up some great clothing opportunities for some amazing travelling oportunities and don't regret it one bit.

Feminine hygiene products are different in Europe than in the US. She might want to stock up on her preferred items. I prefer our toothpaste, mouthwash and deoderant.

I am not sure about the specifics of the "feminine hygiene" comment - because I find plenty of "american" brands in France.

However - I found that students who do come often have favorite face products - cleaners, makeup etc. that are often not available. If your daughter is unwilling to do without - she should plan to bring.

As a general rule, items such as clothes and shoes can be more expensive here (shoes in particular).

Microwave popcorn (not readily available), peanut butter (available but horridly expensive), cinnamon chewing gum.

One other thought - school supplies

Many items that can also be expensive include Post it notes, highlighters, etc. Typically bring some of these maybe useful for getting started. Remember however that in Europe A4 paper is used which is different than US letter (slightly longer and thinner) so I would recommend waiting to purchase folders etc here.

We live in Spain and buying clothes here is a great suggestion - there are heaps of reasonably priced fashion clothes stores - Zara, Mango etc. Just one word of advice - the sizing can be very small - I often take 2 sizes bigger than I would in UK or Australia and in the younger, cheaper brands smaller still. Spanish people are quite small.

As for shoes, if she happened to have large feet (I do) forget buying shoes here without great difficulty.

Liz: Just make a day trip to either Rota (Cádiz) or Morón de la Frontera. Both towns have US military bases, and the ancillary businesses that serve Americans. (I wear a size 13 US shoe, and the base used to be my only hope of finding shoes. Also, peanut butter, Dr. Pepper, etc.)

Jona: In Spain we still have the equivalent of the old 5 and dime concept -- previously called a Viente Duros store, now called a Todo 1€ or "Chino". These shops are virtually tailor-made for students on a budget, and offer everything from cleaning products to school supplies for much less that normal shops. There is likely to be one on every corner of any big city in Spain.