All Aboard for Argentina

 Landon Greene
Argentina Fall 2009

What made you decide to go abroad?

Well, my minor is Spanish so I wanted to continue to learn the Spanish language, but I had already been to Spain twice, and I had always wanted to go to Argentina, where Marist already offers one of its programs.

What is the first thing you did after you decided you wanted to study abroad?

I started looking at other Spanish speaking countries that Marist offered programs through. I knew I was interested in Argentina, but I was actually only going to be the second person to go there.

What helped you pick your program? How did you decide?

Besides Spain, the only other Spanish speaking program Marist offered was the one in Argentina. I also have family in Argentina and I had already heard so many good things about it. I started to research the school, the program itself, and looked at all the different options they had for study abroad students.

Do you feel that you were prepared when you left?

I wasn’t really nervous or anything before I left, but when I got there, we landed in the slums of Argentina which was a little nerve wracking. We took an extremely sketchy taxi ride that lasted 40 minutes through the slums of Argentina. It wasn’t until we finally drove into down town Argentina that I could relax a little. This was how I found out that Argentina is a mix of third world and modern world areas- the outskirts are a little scary but once you get into downtown, it’s a lot better.

In terms of preparation, I had also Skyped with the woman I was going to be living with and she also facebooked me before my flight. I was most nervous about my Spanish, but she was so good about everything, it ended up working out fine. We used Google translator a lot in the first few weeks, but it got easier as time passed.

How could the abroad office have made your preparations easier?

I had heard the girl who went to Argentina before me didn’t have such a great time there. Jerre Thornton had forewarned me about that- but I think part of the fun of me going there was not being prepared and not knowing what was going to happen. I didn’t really have a lot of information about being abroad before I left, just the information I knew about Argentina itself- I liked not being prepared.

Once you get there…

What did you think of the classes there? Was there an orientation or anything that helped ease your nerves before your first class?

The school was all American students which was the only thing I wish would have been different. I specifically chose not to go to the University of Buenos Aires because its free to go there, so it’s a huge school and I thought learning Spanish that way would be too difficult. All of my professors were Argentinian, though.

We lived in an apartment and we had a neighbor who I met that was my age and didn’t speak any English. We became really good friends and became the primary way I worked on my Spanish. This actually helped a lot because the Spanish you learn in school is not the same Spanish that you hear abroad and in real interactions.

An orientation was given by the school, but it was really just about getting a phone, hailing a taxi, where to stay away from and how to stay safe, and some of the other necessities for just getting around the area.

How different were your expectations from the real thing? If very different, did that stress you out? And how did you relieve that stress?

I don’t think I had too many expectations before I went because I didn’t want to be disappointed. At the same time, though, I didn’t know what to expect at all. I relieved any kind of stress I felt by just going with the flow. Like I said before, I liked not being prepared and not having any expectations to fulfill.

Your favorite place to eat?

They have the best empanadas ever in Argentina. There was a place around the corner from the apartment I lived in that served them and my friends and I would go over there all the time and get a ton of them.

Food or drink you MUST try?

Definitely steak, which they eat a lot of in Argentina; milanesa, which is thin, battered meat, empanadas, and yerba mate, which is steeped dry leaves in hot water, which is a traditional tea that I found out will get you wired for hours.

Favorite place to go out with friends?

There was this one bar that was the only American bar around. The owner was also American so every Saturday they had football on and Tuesdays was game night. It was always fun when we went there. There’s also an area called Palermo which is kind of like the up and coming area in Argentina so they have a lot of cool restaurants and bars there as well.

Place students MUST visit?

Casada Rosada, which is basically a version of the White House, and Plaza de Mayo, which is famous for all of the demonstrations that go on there and political activists always there doing something.As for traveling, I would definitely say to visit Pategonia as well as Mendoza, where you can get some great wine and go on a wine tour.

Best place to get souvenirs?

In Palermo they had a street market on the weekend and they had some traditional Argentinian gifts you can bring home.

Place that was a little over-hyped, you wouldn’t recommend?

Boca was a street in the city of Boca painted all of these crazy colors, kind of like Burbon Street on Mardi Gras. It was fun going, but it was so touristy and everyone was trying to get you to buy things, so it was just one of those places that was supposed to be traditional but it’s just not anymore.

What is the best piece of advice you can give others going abroad?

One of the things I most enjoyed was actually meeting people from Argentina. Even though I went to school with all Americans, I honestly tried to not associate all the time with them. I tried to spend as much time with my friends who were actually from Argentina and learned about their lives and their language, which I wish I had done more in the beginning. There were some people I met there who didn’t want to try anything new. You definitely have to be open minded to whatever you’re going into and willing to experience everything that particular place has to offer.