I love Tufts, but I love Buenos Aires-CIEE more Past Review

By Andrew M (Spanish Language and Literature., Tufts University) for

CIEE: Buenos Aires - Liberal Arts

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I could write a 20 page paper on this, but this survey was already to long. It was just the best experience ever. Highlight of my time at Tufts. I love Tufts, but I love Buenos Aires-CIEE more.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	FLACSO, La Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina
The term and year this program took place:	Fall 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	I'd give it a 4.5/5 if I could. I learned a hell of a lot. Not too much stress. Overall there was less work than at Tufts, but there were still some moments during the semester where I actually had to hustle to get stuff done.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	THEY ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOO 100% there to help out the students. The coordinators are our age (a few years older), the chillest people on earth and the all bend over backwards to help out.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I lived with a 27 y/o architect. He was super chill. Would invite me to hang out with all of his friends/to play soccer with him. He was the nicest guy and I am soooo freakin happy that I had him as my host <br /><br /> I lived in Barrio Norte in one of the nicest/safest areas of BsAs. The apartment was small, but my host kept it very clean/neat. I was close to EVERYTHING and loved everything about my living situation. I personally requested to have wireless internet in my house. That was an EXCELLENT decision.
* Food:	Good, cheap food everywhere in BsAs. And my host was a BOMB cook. he was also very, very easygoing about eating. He was only required to provide breakfast and dinner and many host families are very strict about the kids going into the fridge or not, but on the first day he told me that whenever I am hungry I can go into the kitchen and get stuff to eat.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Best city for going out that I've ever been to in my live. Clubing is on another level. Going from Argentine night life to night life at Tufts is one of the most depressing things that has ever happened to me. And the "cafe culture" in argentina is fantastic and adorable. There are ALWAYS thigns to do in Buenos aires or in the neighboring cities (Tigre, La Plata, etc).
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	It is definitely not as safe as the United States, but for the most part I felt completely safe. I'm from NYC and know how to live in a city. There is more pick-pocketing and mugging though. A lot of students were mugged, but it was honestly their fault at least 2/3 of the time. It is just COMPLETELY STUPID to walk through three dark blocks just to save 10 pesos by taking the bus instead of a taxi at 4:20 am. Especially if you've been drinking the whole night. I mean, c'mon, would you do something that stupid in the states? No, so why are you doing it in a foreign country? You really just have to not be a stupid American and things should be fine.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	I really don't remember.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	You can have an AMAZING night out and go absolutely crazy for 70-80 pesos. that is under 20 USD. However, that does add up if you are going out 3-4-5 nights per week. Going out definitely burns a load of pesos.

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Advanced
Language acquisition improvement?	Spanish improved like woah.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Host Family
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	International Students

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EVERYTHING. If you have the choice to take whatever classes you want (I had fulfilled all of my distribution requirements and am a Spanish major, so I could essentially take any class that I wanted and it counted for credit) chose the easiest classes possible or ones that will have you SUPER interested. There is definitely a good amount of work on this program (much more than most study abroad programs) and the last thing you want to do is spend your entire time in a classroom studying.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Radio Workshop - taller de la radiofonía
Course Department:	From la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Instructor:	EduardoAliverti
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Amazing workshop course about radio. In my "lab section" we learned about making news bulletins. We would prepare our own bulletins based on current events. I worked in a small group with two Argentine students. We'd meet up outside of class, usually in a cafe and work together on our projects. Minimal work required in this class. My grade only depended on the two hour lab section so essentially the two hour theory section was optional. No attendance was taken during the theory section. Unfortunately I forget the name of my lab-TA. However, if anybody is very interested in this course feel free to contact me and I can send out an email or two and get you his info. A good lab TA was CRUCIAL for this course.
Credit Transfer Issues:	NONE

Course Name/Rating:	Adolescent Psychology - La psicoloía de la adolescencía
Course Department:	from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA)
Instructor:	I had two instructors, I forgot their names. Both lovely women
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Another class with just argentines. La UCA overall is a much easier university than la UBA. If this class were taught in my native language, it would have been one of the easiest classes ever. However, being that it was in Spanish I did have to work a little bit.
Credit Transfer Issues:	Overall Argentine students in University are more warm/welcoming to foreigners than American students. Sin lugar a dudas. My classmates in this course were ESPECIALLY friendly. Not only do I still keep in touch with a good handful of them, I went clubbing/got coffee and chilled out outside of school with them pretty often, especially towards the end of the semester. Obviously that has nothing to do with the class itself, but since it was such an easier material, it was a lot easier to just talk to the other students and really get to know them. There are many in-class, small group discussions. We watched two movies (one in Spanish and one in English) and also had a group trip to a hospital. Professors were LOVELY and very sympathetic to my being a foreign exchange student.

Course Name/Rating:	Academic and Professional Speech Workshop
Course Department:	FLACSO
Instructor:	Beatriz Autieri
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	EXCELLENT professor. The assignments were slightly confusing in nature, but the professor was lovely and would do anything possible to help us understand. I worked harder for this course than for any other,but that is partially because I chose to. In essence we refined our academic writing/presentation Spanish skills. Every class we'd take about an hour to go over the students personal questions about the Spanish language even if it had nothing to do with the class material. She purposely structured the course that way. I learned more advanced grammar and about the intricacies of the language from this class than any other.
Credit Transfer Issues:	NONE.

Course Name/Rating:	El lenguaje en acción: palabra y paisaje urbano en la Literatura Argentina / Language in Action: Writing and the Urban Landscape in Argentine Literature
Course Department:	FLACSO
Instructor:	Gabriela Yocco
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	The teacher is super into the material and if you actually were to do the reading (although there is good amount) there would be a ton to talk about in class. However, very few students actually do work for the class. There were many excursions during the class around Buenos Aires, and that was interesting. It was quite boring for me, but other students liked it. At any university it would count as an upper-level lit course. Since it was quite an easy course, I highly recommend it to any Spanish major because it is probably easier than taking an upper-level lit class at an American University.
Credit Transfer Issues:	NONE

Course Name/Rating:	Actuación I/ Acting I
Course Department:	Taught through Ricardo Rojas, an extension of la UBA
Instructor:	Martin Kahan
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This was a improv theater class all in Spanish. It was completely optional and non-academic. Although one could probably receive credit at an American university if they pulled the right strings and made a good argument. It was very similar to the Intro to theater course course that I took at Tufts. At first it was difficult, NOT GONNA LIE. However, at around the halfway point of the course, it became my FAVORITE PART OF MY STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE. Every week after class we would go out as a group and eat together. I partied with these kids ALL the time during the end of my Buenos Aires experience. I went to one of their birthday parties, I had multiple pregames in my house with them, met for coffee/pizza, etc outside of school. Improvisation in Spanish is not easy. The first class was difficult for me, but after a month (it meets once a week) as my overall Spanish improved and I also got to know them better, I had minimal trouble. A high level of Spanish and a huge willingness to learn is needed for this. I really put myself out there by enrolling in theater and it was so Freaking worth it.
Credit Transfer Issues:	Didn't try to get credit for it.