History

When I was in college, I spent a semester overseas studying in Madrid, Spain. During my stay abroad, friends and family came on several occasions to visit me. While these visits were truly enjoyable, the preparations involved were a nightmare. Not only did the planning and scheduling require me to take valuable time away from my studies, the overall experience left me feeling less than satisfied. Because my foreign language proficiency was far from native, arranging hotel reservations was difficult at best. I felt as though the hotels were not offering their best rates simply because, as a non-native speaker, they had the upper hand in the negotiations. As far as getting my guests to and from the airport, I did not fare much better. Because my guests did not speak the native language, they were nervous about taking a taxi cab or public transportation to their hotel. As a result, I was forced to miss classes in order to meet them at the airport and escort them to their hotel. While the visits were memorable, playing the part of student and concierge was an unwelcome stress that can now be avoided thanks to ISC.