Córdoba, Argentina: No Seriously, You Should Live Here. Past Review
By Sarah C (Speech Communication, Trinity University) for
Study Abroad Programs in Argentina
YES. I loved every minute of it. My only suggestion would be to do CCCS and not ISA. Also, you should choose Cordoba. It is still a huge city but unlike Buenos Aires you can actually begin to feel at home here, instead of like a tourist.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Sometimes I was bored by some of my classes because everything outside of school was so exciting. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Ines was amazing. She was so helpful and so interested in our lives. She was truly an amazing instructor and a wonderful person. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I LOVED MY HOST MOTHER. Betty Cortez was the single most amazing host mom I could ever ask for, even though she did not speak a word of English. In fact, her lack of English skills really forced me to learn how to speak Spanish in order to communicate. Anyone trying to learn Spanish more fluently should definitely try to live with a host family. |
| * Food: |
There is a lot of meat in Argentina. If you like steak, get excited. If you don't, start getting used to chicken. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Note: FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING, TRAVEL AND EXPLORE!!! DO NOT BUY SHOES; NO MATTER HOW MUCH CHEAPER YOU CAN GET THEM THERE. IN 10 YEARS YOU WILL NOT CARE ABOUT THOSE SHOES, BUT MEMORIES FROM YOUR ROAD TRIP TO URUGUAY WILL LAST A LIFETIME. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Extremely safe and very good FREE healthcare |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | It depends completely on what you choose to do with it. I will say that the summer+semester program by CCCS is between 500 and 1000 dollars more than the ISA program right now, BUT CCCS provides 3 meals a day and ISA only provides 2, so ultimately you will probably save money by doing CCCS. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Transportation in Cordoba was way more expensive than I expected, but everything was so cheap compared to the US that it didn't really matter. Also, I traveled around A LOT, so that had some effect. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WITH CLASSMATES. Seriously. I spoke so much English for the first half of the program and hardly progressed at all, but once I finally swore it off I advanced a lot more quickly! |
| 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?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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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