IES Buenos Aires, an introduction to the world outside of my life. Past Review

By Michelle T (Geography and the Environment, The University of Texas at Austin) for

IES Abroad: Buenos Aires - Society & Culture

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

I wouldn't be who I am today if I had not gone to Argentina for four months.I see more clearly now what I want to do with my life, and what I think is important in life. I also met some amazing people that I hope to never lose contact with. Many of them were Americans, but that does't bother me in the least. It's who the person is, not where they are from that matters.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	My Spanish classes were a bit of a joke. Didn't learn much there. I loved my History of the Argentine Environment class, for it was the only class that honestly exposed me to new information and challenged me to think critically about it. My other classes seemed to be an overall waste of time.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The strengths were definitely the accessibility of staff in the building. The weaknesses center completely around the difficulty getting computer access if you didn't have your own computer in the country. Our "library" was only open during school hours, which didn't include the weekends or anytime past eight. Also, they got a lot of people to sign up for organized trips during our first week there, and you quickly learn organized trips are a rip-off. Still, I was unable to take myself off the list, and was basically forced to go on this trip and now have to pay 350 for it. This bothers me to this day, seeing as I already gave this program 12500 in tuition, but they claimed that I just couldn't take my name off the list for they had already payed for me to go, five weeks in advance. Later I heard one of the staff members saying they had just paid the week before we left. I felt cheated out of my money.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?
* Food:	I was a vegetarian in Argentina and it was FINE! There are plenty of options, you just need to make sure you;re host parents understand what it means to be a vegetarian or vegan.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Many were offered, but I wouldn't recommend anything that isn't free.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Buenos Aires is supposed to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It was fine, as long as you used common sense.
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)
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Don't go on organized trips, they are a ripoff.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Advanced
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure?	Fourth semester language course, but there were people who had not taken a minute of Spanish classes and they made it work just fine.
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?

Other Program Information

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

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	The close knit community
* What could be improved?	Too many Americans! Also, students need more access to computers and internet.
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	This program isn't for someone who is trying to escape Americans. Believe me, there are nothing but Americans in the program. It is nice because you bond quickly with people, but it can also get frustrating if you want to get out of your American English speaking bubble. Still, I made some of the best friends in my life on this trip, and they are all American.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Spanish Reading and Writing Workshop 250
Course Department:
Instructor:	Vale Tetti
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Good discussions and laid back very real teacher. Again didn't learn too much, but I blame that more on myself than the course.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Theater and Development Workshop
Course Department:
Instructor:	Lautaro Villa
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Fun course, but didn't take much away from it. The teacher was a riot.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Spanish 250
Course Department:
Instructor:	Paola Arcois
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	I didn't like the way the course was structured. It wasn't until the end of the semester that I finally felt like I was really being exposed to new concepts. many things were going on at once and not in a good way. Also, the teacher was demeaning to students who didn't pick up on things very quickly.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	History of the Argentine Environment
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Great course with great information and discussions. Really well informed professor who showed a genuine interest in the students comprehension of the material.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	The Impact of Globalization on Latin America
Course Department:
Instructor:	Gabriel Molteni
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	Terrible course, would never recommend it to anyone. It felt like a complete waste of my time. Even the assigned readings were mediocre at best, complete with punctuation and spelling errors. You could tell a lot of the stuff we read were drafts, and this made them very hard to understand.
Credit Transfer Issues: