Argentina changed my life! Past Review
By Lizeth G (Spanish, Grinnell College) for
CIEE: Buenos Aires - Liberal Arts
I learned a lot about myself. I was challenged in every way possible and found myself in situations that required me to make smart choices. Don't trust everyone and don't get comfortable with the city life, by that I mean be street smart.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | Flacso and University of Buenos Aires |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I strongly suggest you ask around if some classes are harder than others. I didn't to that and I was to stubborn to ask for help. Don't do what I did. Classes at the University of Buenos Aires are challenging and you will be working with students that speak fluent Spanish, Argentinean style. The courses I took required a lot of reading and the readings were dense theory. Theory in English is hard, now image it in Spanish. It was stressful at times, but I did learn a lot. Basically, what I suggest is for you to ask people in CIEE about the history of theses courses and how other students from previous years did in them. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I lived in "Barrio Once" its nothing like Palermo, but I had access to a lot of great places. The subte is really close, I lived next to a shopping district and they have a big Bolivian community there. It was awesome :) |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had a lot of freedom in my household. I would go to class in the daytime and at night I would go to bars, clubs or restaurants with my friends from FLACSO or the university. I strongly suggest you make friends who are from the city. They will show you a different, less "touristy" Buenos Aires. The classes at the University are challenging but if you time manage, you can study hard and play hard. I also strongly suggest you challenge yourself to speak Spanish all the time. Basically, your study abroad experience is what you make of it. You will have days where you will want to cry and stay in your room because you miss everything that is familiar to you, but you will also have days that will make you love all these different cultural experiences you have been interacting with. Enjoy it all, the good and the bad it shapes who you are! |
| * Food: |
Try everything! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
If you can I strongly suggest you visit Jujuy. It is amazing and very different from Buenos Aires. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
If you will be traveling outside of Buenos Aires I recommend you take the vaccine. I forgot the name, but people in CIEE-Buenos Aires, Argentina can give you more information about that. Also it's better to go to private hospitals because the public ones are such a long wait. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
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| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Enjoy yourself but make smart decisions! |
