Cuernavaca: A Great, Lifechanging Experience That I Would Do Every Summer if I Could! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

We taught English for 2 hours per day for 4 weeks. We did not take any classes at the university.

On-site administration of your program

Upon arrival, we were welcomed and felt very comfortable, but we were not given very much direction (specifics about what they wanted to accomplish in the classroom) in terms of our teaching. I think this was because we came very prepared with websites made with all of the content and materials we were going to be using throughout the course and I guess the administration was happy with what we had prepared. It would have been nice to have a little feedback from the university administration - if someone would have come to our classes to observe and give feedback/comments we could have felt more confident in knowing that what we were teaching is what they expected from us. Towards the middle/end of our trip, we did not see anyone from administration until our last day of teaching.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We lived in a 10 bedroom house in Guacamayas. The neighborhood was nice and close to a c-store and coffee shop. We were also within walking distance of the bus stop and it was about a 20 minutes bus ride to el centro/town. We had to pay about $4 for a taxi to the university, which was reasonable. Our roommates were mostly students (or former students turned interns) at the university. They were from Germany, Denmark, and New York. All of our roommates were very friendly and helpful. The owner of our house was also very helpful - he took us to the market when we needed to go and took us to get phones and checked in with us frequently throughout our stay to make sure we had everything we needed. The house was nice and had a pool and everything we needed in our rooms - each room had it's own bathroom, which was nice. I felt safe throughout our entire trip.

The university had good food at a reasonable price. We either ate out at various restaurants or cooked dinner at the house each evening. Los Arcos was good for the atmosphere on certain nights, La India Bonita was good food at a good price, Gaia was a little more expensive, but worth the price, there was a restaurant next door to Los Arcos that was my personal favorite... Lots of good choices!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We arranged our own weekend trips - all were fantastic and highly recommended. Tepotzlan, Teotihuacan, Pie de la Cuesta, Mexico City (Anthropology Museum)...

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

We went through the normal my-body-is-rejecting-this-food phase, but it was not horrible. I did not have any health problems personally. I did not drink the water or even use the filtered tap in the house. The others that used the filtered tap did get a little sick... I used bottled water for everything. Advice for future students - just because they say it's filtered doesn't mean it really is! Use bottled water or boiled water to clean any veggies or fruit you buy at the market and to drink and to brush your teeth, but don't overdo it - the ice at the restaurants is ok to use. All restaurants serve bottled water, but their ice is ok. Safety - there was one incident where one of our roommates got robbed at our front gate, but other than that I felt safe. Mexico is a place where you have to be continuously aware of your surroundings. Stay with other people - if you do venture out by yourself, only do it during the day and take a phone and check in with someone throughout the day and let them know where you are and where you are heading. ALWAYS look around you and know what is going on and have a plan. Be friendly with people - most people are good. There were definitely some problems in Cuernavaca with drug gangs and stuff - but they keep it away from the community. A lot of the narcos are raising their own children in Cuernavaca and they want to keep the community clean and safe for civilians, so I didn't feel like I was in danger from the drug-war, it was the people looking to rob someone for whatever they had on them that I was worried about, but it you are always aware and stay in groups and take precautions, you should be fine. For example, if you get home late, ask the cab driver to drive around the street shining the lights around and look for shady characters before you pull up to your residence and get out - and when you do get out of the taxi, have your keys ready and ask the driver to wait until you get in the gate before he leaves.

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

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• International Students