Argentina: A land of Adventures (Buenos Aires, Tango, wine, hiking in Patagonia, & WWOOFing) Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Classes at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, often had large amounts of required reading. The amount of reading assigned to my classes at Di Tella was a normal Wellesley amount, but because it was in a Spanish, which is not my native language, the reading always took me much longer that I thought it would. This created some stress for me. However, the two courses I took at Di Tella were drastically different when it came to knowledge of the assigned reading material on the exams. For my class on Argentine Economic History, I did almost none of the reading, but took extensive class notes and passed my tests with one of the highest grades in the class (which was made up entirely of Argentine students). For my class on Comparative Latin American Politics, the professor expected that we had read and could cite the arguments off almost all of the articles that we had read for the class. Of the three universities where I took courses, Di Tell was the most similar to Wellesley in terms of workload and academic expectations. An important difference in the grading system that I observed across all the universities where I took classes was the dependence on one or two exams (and sometimes class participation) for the final grade in a class. In the one class I took at Universidad del Salvador, I had a very stressful interaction with the professor during our only exam (our grade was 100% dependent on that exam). Our class was officially scheduled from 7:30 pm to 10 pm, although the professor usually ended class between 9 and 9:30. On the day of our exam, the professor arrived late, and orally dictated our exam questions to us. To clarify our time restraints for the exam, I asked the professor at what hour we should end the exam, to which he replied between 9:30 and 10 pm. Our exam had official begun around 7:50 and at 9 the professor said we should begin to wrap up our exams. At 9:15 he announced that he was walking at the door and we needed to hand in our exams. Frustrated and upset (because I had only been able to complete 2 and a half of the 3 questions) I tried to explain to explain to him that he had led me to believe that the exam would finish at 10pm. He brushed off my appeals and basically denied that he had said any such thing to me. I was very distraught because I feared that I would not pass the class (because I had not been able to complete the exam, not because I did not know the material). In the end however, the professor ended up giving me a good grade. My largest beef with this process and professor however, was that he was very un-clear, un-professional and un-organized. In general, I found the professors in Argentina to be less approachable and less interested in me as a student than at Wellesley. Classes were also different in that they lasted between 2 and 3 hours and were usually information overloads. One of the more challenging aspects of study abroad was maintaining my attention span during class. That said I had two wonderful classes this semester at Di Tella and UBA. I connected with the professor and enjoyed the readings (which were predominantly in English) at Di Tella, and the course at UBA was very interesting, although it was an information overload and somewhat complicated.

On-site administration of your program

The local IFSA-Butler Program Administrators were excellent. Their support services, accessibility, ability to get things done, knowledge about Argentina and the transitions and challenges faced by American college students were excellent.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

IFSA-Butler’s housing policy is excellent. You are able to change your family if you are not comfortable or content. I changed my host family within the first month and I was extremely happy I had this option. I was also able to change my host family for the second semester and to take any family that I had heard good things about. This option enabled me to live with a wonderful family of seven that contributed enormously to my abroad experience. IFSA is also great with family location placement. All their families are located within walking distance of the subway and in the safer and more convenient and central neighborhoods. The families are also located in central areas where public transportation makes it easy to access classes and nightlife. I was treated as a family member, if more of a formal one, by my host families.

I did not get enough vegetables to eat, and had too much red meat. Of the four host families I lived with I was happy with the type and quality of the food I received, and the portion sizes at only two of them. I made up for the lack of vegetables in my diet by making myself salads or veggie sandwiches for lunch. If you are picky about portion size, it is important to make a point of insisting on serving yourself during mealtimes. Regardless, I always had space in the refrigerator to store the food that I had bought for lunches. I also did not get very much for breakfast. It that case, it was up to me to buy the food I thought I needed to supplement my breakfast.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Fuerza Bruta!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Compared to the rest of Latin America, Buenos Aires is pretty safe. Argentina as a whole (cities other than BA) is safer than the city of Buenos Aires. Notwithstanding, there is a lot of petty crime and theft. I had my bag stolen from me in front of my host family’s house, while walking home at night. The man ran up to me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and pointed a knife at me. However, when going out, I always put my money in my bra and did not carry a wallet. Be very cautious with your electronics (ipods, cell phones, computers). Do not take your laptops out to any sidewalk café. When possible leave your computer at home. Always be aware of your surroundings (pick pockets are very skilled) especially on the subway, trains and busses, and don’t walk alone at night if you are a woman (whatever part of the city you are in).

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

I practiced Spanish with my host families, my study abroad friends, the IFSA-Butler program staff, everyday strangers, and my Argentine friends. I made an effort to speak Spanish as often as possible, even with my English-speaking study abroad friends, even though most people in Argentina could speak at least a little English.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans