6 months in Argentina: Don't get robbed Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The classes were easy. The teachers didn't grade difficultly at all. They realized we were international students and were easy on us, for the most part. My class with Argentine students was quite easy as well, and only met once a week. Teachers in Argentina have a tendency of being late to class, so just prepare yourself. It's considered rude if you only wait for 10 minutes and then leave, so wait at least a half hour for a teacher to arrive before leaving. The grading system is numerical instead of letters, so an A+ is a 10, etc. A passing grade at this university was a 4, which wasn't that difficult to obtain, at least the classes I took. The most difficult class I had was the language class, simply because the grammar for Argentina is specific, and they use a different form of "you" than which I had previously heard. However, after taking classes with Argentines and taking all classes in Spanish, I feel as though my Spanish has improved immensely and now consider myself bilingual.

On-site administration of your program

The building itself is quite strange to find, it's just some random doorway on a busy main road in the capital. However, once you enter the staff is quite nice and helpful and it was great that they had fast, reliable internet services. They required that we speak only in Spanish in the office, which for the students with low speaking abilities was a fun challenge to overcome. The staff was so helpful especially if students were planning trips to other countries in South America and they helped us get our student visas. The staff was so friendly and helpful and they spoke english if someone obviously had language difficulties. They helped us with issues we may have with our families (such as food issues or living arrangements) and gave tutoring as well. All in all, they were awesome!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The place I lived was on the 14th floor of an apartment building with an elderly couple. They had two sons who had both moved out by this time. It was in an upper-class neighborhood, so I had no worries about walking around at night. It was quite far (about a 20 minute walk) to the subway station, and a 45-50 minute walk to the actual campus. I was rather close to the train station, which was easy enough to use (and easy to not pay for, if you figure out the schedules of the security). I didn't have to buy anything to settle in, as many of their previous students had left things for me to use. My hostfamily didn't understand some aspects of my personality, i.e. that I didn't enjoy partying in clubs or going out at night. Therefore, at times we didn't get along, and the food she cooked was only so-so. Halfway through my time she changed her meal plans and became a vegetarian, which I am not. It kind of offended me that she changed her meals for the other student that she received, but didn't seem to care about me that much. We were never really that close. I preferred the father figure in the apartment because he wasn't annoying.

My hostmother couldn't cook well at all. Her chicken was dry, and we had the same 4 dishes about every day. She made a spinach quiche once that tasted basically like grass, and when she became vegetarian she stopped accomodating my dietary needs (i.e. eating meat) because my new roommate (who was actually an alright girl) was solely a vegetarian. Sometimes I would get a frozen hamburger patty with dinner and she would call that my meat dish. Go to Argentina only if you like meat, desserts, and wine. I enjoy all of those so when I ate in restaurants I was quite content.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I loved the artisenal fairs that were held on the weekends. The parks are beautiful and well-kept. I loved our trip to Iguazu and the other trips arranged by ISA. The futbol games (soccer games) which were going on at the time (the world cup) were interesting and more or less shut the whole city down.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Buenos Aires is a main capital city of a large south american country. There were protests of varying degrees as the months got warmer (near the end of my program) but mostly they were peaceful. However, many people got robbed that I knew of, so keep a close eye on your stuff at all times. A friend of mine was carrying her passport and it got stolen, and it was just this long and complicated process to get her passport renewed from the embassy. I needed to get 4 vaccines to get cleared to travel through my university, most of them were just updates like tetanus. Get the hepatitus A shot, you never know. A lot of people got the malaria pills but I opted for the shot. That stuff HURT! When I got sick (just a cold) while in Argentina I just went the local pharmacy and they gave me some pills that helped immediately. I would've only gone to the doctor if it was serious. But we did get health insurance through our program and healthcare is universal in Argentina so it wouldn't have been too expensive.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I practiced with the family with whom I lived, because they didn't speak any english. Secondly I practiced with the ISA staff and the students in the same program as me, and finally I practiced with the local students at the university or people that I would interact with on the street.

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• Host Family
• Apartment

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• International Students
• Host Family