An Unexpected Joy December 12, 2023
By A student (Education Studies, Wellesley College) - abroad from 08/09/2023 to 12/09/2023 with
IFSA: Merida - Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan
This was absolutely worthwhile. I gained some of the best friends I've ever made, learned so much about this history and culture of Yucatán, and brought my Spanish up to a level that I previously didn't think was possible.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Although my academic rigor wasn't exactly to the degree that I experienced at Wellesley (which, to put this in context, there aren't many other universities within the United States that I feel would give me the same degree of rigor that I get at Wellesley, so this was something that I anticipated going into the program), I feel that I have learned more real-world knowledge and grown more than I have in any other educational semester that I've had in my life. The IFSA program staff was always there to support us through academic difficulties (on which I can speak from personal experience), the classes offered through the IFSA program were incredible, and I cannot express enough how grateful I was for the program. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Valeria and Rodrigo, the on-site IFSA program staff, were absolute angels, and anybody who was in my semester of IFSA Mérida would corroborate how important they were to us. They were always there to support us---no matter what---and by the end of the semester they truly did feel like they were part of our big family. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Initially, when I was thinking about studying abroad, I was a bit worried about staying with a host family, because I had become so accustomed to living in a dorm while at Wellesley. However, I cannot imagine studying abroad any other way now. The host mom that they put me with is an absolutely incredible human, and I am so glad that I got to live with her and get to know her over the course of these four months. I was extremely comfortable from the first week that I met her, and I am going to miss her a lot. |
| * Food: |
Through the host family program, IFSA provides students with three meals a day from their host families, and there was always something I could buy near the house if I ever decided I wanted to. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We had many opportunities to connect with local culture, including our host families, friends we made at local universities, and excursions provided by IFSA. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had a health issue while I was in Mérida, which was extremely difficult at first, but with the assistance of my host mom I was able to get healthcare that I needed. I don't feel that I got assistance from the IFSA program doctor in the way that I needed (I had some form of strep throat, but the doctor diagnosed it as COVID pending test confirmation and told me to isolate), and given that I went multiple weeks without antibiotics, the infection spread to my tonsils and I was in a lot of pain. But, my host mom insisted (despite me telling her I did not want this, given my previous experiences with emergency rooms in the United States) that I go to the Star Médica emergency room and see a doctor there. I was seen after less than an hour of waiting, and the doctor actually made a visible noise of disgust/shock when looking at my throat and how bad the infection had gotten, before immediately writing me a prescription for antibiotics. I had excellent insurance through IFSA, so I will be reimbursed 100% for my medications, and both of the times I went to see a doctor. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I was not planning on choosing this program, nor the fall semester, but without any doubt I would choose this program again. During our farewell dinner, one of my friends said that she was originally going to study abroad in Chile, but that program got cancelled so she ended up in this one. She was originally upset, but now can't imagine studying abroad any other place with any other group of people. I feel the exact same way. Initially I was planning on choosing a different program and going during the spring semester, and I feel so lucky that I was able to go during this semester and meet the people in my program, who have become some the closest friends I've ever had. |
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) |
I personally spent more money than I was expecting on food, but it was all of my own accord, and not because I needed to/was lacking in food provided by the program. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Anywhere from $50-100 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | If you want to save money as an IFSA participant, you absolutely can. One thing that I would recommend is to bring more cash than you'd think with you, because there are many stores (especially the smaller tienditas) that don't accept credit cards. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Besides conversations with my fellow American study abroad students, my time in Mérida was 100% in Spanish. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | SPAN 241 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Don't overthink it---just try your best and I promise you'll make progress. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I would have trusted myself more at the beginning. I was deeply anxious that I wasn't going to make any friends and was going to spend the whole time alone, but of course that didn't end up being true, and I am so grateful for this experience. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Relaciones México-Estados Unidos |
| Course Department: | Transversales |
| Instructor: | Claudia Dávila Valdés |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | This is probably my favorite class that I have ever taken---bar none. The professor, Dra. Dávila Váldes, always made sure that we were understanding her explanations of the material, while still driving us to push ourselves and be self-directed learners. As I've said time and time again to my IFSA peers (who quickly became tired of me talking about how much I loved this class), this is the only one that I would be willing to trudge through 40+ page readings in Spanish, a language that at the beginning of class I was not comfortable with. I learned so much about the history of the United States and Mexico from the colonial era all the way to present day that I never would have known otherwise, and I am deeply saddened that I'll never have an opportunity to take another class with Dra. Dávila Váldes. We were assessed by four things: a solo presentation that we gave over a lectura (reading), a 2-3 page reseña (essay/response) that we wrote about the lectura we presented over, a midterm exam, and a group final paper. I tend not to speak in classes at Wellesley unless I feel very comfortable with the professor (given that I am still unlearning my fear of "saying the wrong thing"), but I felt comfortable enough in this class---both with my knowledge of the material and the class environment---regularly enough to the point that the week I was battling a severe throat infection and on heavy antibiotics and couldn't bring myself to participate, Dra. Dávila Váldes asked me if I was feeling okay because I wasn't "as engaged in class." I would absolutely recommend this class to anyone else in the IFSA Mérida program, with the caveat that it is a significant amount of work, but worth it all. |
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