EXPERIENCE REPORT
ANR: 352997
Name: Lily Theelen
E-mail: lilytheelen@gmail.com
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina (UCA)
Country: Argentina
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
During my exchange semester I lived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The city
contains almost 3 million inhabitants, what means it’s a really big city. You notice that for
example because of the busy traffic and the time it takes to get from one place to another.
Most of the students live in the neighborhoods Palermo or Recoleta and the university is in
Puerto Madero. This means it will take you about an hour by bus or subway to get from your
home to university. But don’t worry, you will get used to that and it even becomes normal.
Buenos Aires is a great city where you have everything you want. Different neighborhoods
offer different aspects, for example Palermo has excellent places to eat, terraces and clubs to
go out. Then Recoleta offers great shopping facilities, in La Boca you’ll find the heart of the
tango dancing, in Microcentro you have the main square “Plaza de Mayo” and in San Telmo
there is a great market every Sunday. The university is located in Puerto Madero, which is a
new neighborhood with high and modern buildings. It’s easy to notice the differences between
neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, and Puerto Madero is a really nice “richer” one. The
university is located next to the river and it has one campus. There is a lot to do and see
around the campus, for example I visited Starbucks quite often, you can take a walk along the
riverside or sit in the park. It’s not the best neighborhood to hang out during the night, for that
I will surely recommend Palermo. I lived in this part of the city and I am really happy I did,
because I just fell in love with Palermo. There are always people on the streets and things to
do. It has so many nice bars and restaurants that it actually doesn’t matter where you go to,
because every place has a great atmosphere here. I know that the university offers sports
facilities as well, but I subscribed at a sport center in Palermo as well. I liked the fact that it
was only 5 minutes by foot and the center offered everything I was looking for. After 4.5
months of living in Buenos Aires, I still don’t have the idea I’ve seen everything. There are still
so much parks, museums, shows, restaurants or clubs I didn’t have the time to go to. You
won’t get bored in this crazy city! Not only the size of Buenos Aires will be a big change, but
also the way of living is totally different from what you will be used to. The mentality of the
people is totally different. The busses won’t come in time, there is actually no time schedule at
all, you just have to wait for the bus to come. People are very friendly, if you ask for the way
on the street people will always take their time and maybe ask some other random people
around to help you as well. Strangers will often start a conversation with you, they are always
very interested. And if you say goodbye to them, it will be with a kiss on the cheek. Yes, also
with people you just met. These are only a few examples of the differences with our life in
Tilburg or The Netherlands and of course you have to get used to this totally different way of
living, but in time you will start to appreciate it and you won’t even know any better.
The faculties of the university are divided in different buildings, but they are all in a row so it
has only one campus (except for the agriculture faculty). This means you can have easy
contact with all students from different faculties. The campus itself offers a few restaurants
and a library to study, but next to the campus you’ll find much more facilities. This library is
not as big as the one at Tilburg University, it has a lot less computers but it’s fine for working
with your group for example. In total UCA receives around 400 exchange students every
semester. This is a pretty big group with people from all over the world. During the orientation
week you will get to know each other, and maybe even earlier if you attend the evenings of
the PALS. The PALS are students from different faculties of the UCA which arrange
everything for the exchange students and are buddies in the meantime. If you subscribe for
having a PAL, you will assigned to a buddy which helps you with every question you have.
The PALS invite all students to their Facebook group and make events in which they invite
you for a lot of activities, parties and drinks all around the city. In this way you will meet the
exchange students very fast and you won’t feel alone, especially in the beginning this can be
crucial. Of course there has to be studied as well. In the orientation week you will also have to
choose your courses and you can subscribe for sports teams the UCA offers. The next week
the courses already begin for most of the faculties.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
At the end of December you will hear from Tilburg University which destination you will go to
for an exchange semester. In March we received an e-mail with application instructions for
the UCA and the deadline for that was half May. I didn’t make the deadline, because I still
needed my Spanish certificate and a recommendation letter. I e-mailed the UCA that I
couldn’t make it and sent them the documents I already had (also by e-mail), and fortunately
everything was okay and they said I could send the documents later. After I finished my
Spanish course in June I sent the missing documents so they could process my application.
This means I was quite late, but I was in contact with the UCA and they said it wasn’t a
problem. They also had some delay in processing all the applications. Somewhere around the
start of July I received information from the UCA about the orientation week and information
about housing. The orientation week would start at the 28th of July and I would arrive in
Buenos Aires at the 23th, so I had some time to adapt before starting university. I could say
that I didn’t experience any difficulties with UCA before I left, everything was clear and I really
appreciated they gave me time to finish my application.
Visa procedure and arrival
A big advantage of going to UCA is that you don’t have to arrange your VISA in The
Netherlands. I know from others that this can take a long time and if you’re unlucky you have
to go back to The Hague a couple of times. We didn’t have to arrange anything before
leaving, the UCA would start the process of getting a VISA when we were there. Indeed, in
the orientation week we already received information about the steps we had to take. The
process consisted of 3 steps. The first step was at the end of August, we had to go to a place
in the city to sign some forms and pay a first amount of money. This was something around 3
Euro. The second step was a month later, we had to go to the Migraciones with some more
forms and we had to pay another 30 Euro. One month later we would receive our VISA. A
disadvantage of arranging your VISA in Argentina is that at the day of your appointment you
have to wait a few hours, because there are always so many people which are also waiting
for the same thing. Like in a lot of situations in this country, you have to be patient. Also, I
actually never received my official VISA. They had a big delay in processing the applications
of the VISAs, because they changed systems. We received a replacement form, which we
could use for a month. But that wasn’t useful, because when it became invalid I still needed a
VISA for my trip afterwards and so I needed to go to Migraciones another time to ask if they
could extend my old replacement VISA. All in all, it was nice that we didn’t need to arrange a
VISA before leaving, but it cost me a lot of time to arrange it in Argentina as well and
eventually I never even received an official VISA document and we did pay for it.
When I arrived in Argentina there was unfortunately no one to pick me up. I arranged a shuttle
service (cheaper) from the airport which brought me to my hostel in Microcentro (Millhouse
hostel, highly recommended). This wasn’t a problem at all for me, I already knew it would go
like that and I booked my hostel in advance. It takes approximately 1 hour to go by taxi from
the international airport to the city center. 5 days after my arrival the orientation week started.
This week was well organized. Everything was situated at the university itself, this means we
didn’t make any trips and so there were no costs involved in this week. We received a lot of
information about the university itself, the city, living in Buenos Aires, international office, the
PALS, the courses and a lot more. You could attend the international office for any questions
you have. There was also often one PAL present at the international office. We all felt
welcome at our new university.
Orientation/Introduction activities
As mentioned before there was an orientation week which took 4 days (Monday till Thursday)
and every day they arranged breakfast and lunch. It was a very nice week, because next to
the all the information we received, you also get to know the other exchange students. We did
a few games together in which we had to work together, so that made it easier to get to know
each other. Already before arriving in Argentina we could subscribe ourselves for a
buddy/PAL, which of course I did. I would highly recommend this. Most of the exchange
students are connected to a PAL. It’s nice to already have someone when you arrive to meet
with or ask all your questions to and they also involve you in the activities they organize for all
the exchange students.
Housing
The UCA already gave us a hand-out with a small overview of some houses and apartments
that were available before I even arrived. They also put lists in the orientation week where you
could subscribe if you were looking for other people to live with, so you could meet and start
searching together. I was told by two friends that already went to Buenos Aires to wait with
looking for housing until I would arrive. In this manner you know the city better, you know
where you want to live and you can look for people who are also looking for a house and
search together. There is no possibility of living at the campus, but there are enough great
options in the city. I waited till I met some exchange students who were also looking for
housing and fortunately I met two nice girls at the second evening of my stay in Buenos Aires
at a night for exchange students. I started looking for apartments (most common) in the
neighborhood Palermo (because I already heard this was the best neighborhood to live for
students). The PALS provided us as well with a list of housing on their Facebook page. I
immediately found some options and e-mailed if they were still available. Two days later we
chose with the three of us one apartment out of two final options. It was a great apartment at
a top location at Palermo Soho. The name of the landlord and his office as well is Maxim
Rentals. Apart from the great experience with the apartment during the semester, at the end
he ripped us of by keeping the deposit. This was not our arrangement and we couldn’t do
anything about it anymore, so I wouldn’t recommend this company. One more advice is to try
to pay in pesos instead of dollars or euros, because you will save money most of the time.
Living Costs
I received a grant of 750 Euro from Tilburg University to support my semester abroad, but
except for that money it’s smart to save a lot of money before you go. I borrowed up to the
maximum in terms of study grants, and I also received a fee from the public transport in The
Netherlands which was 100 Euro per month. Next to that I had a savings account which I had
to use. My income per month was a little bit less than at home, because I wasn’t working in
Argentina and I did at home. Also because I made a lot of trips and I even went for travelling
after my semester at the UCA, my expenses were more than in Tilburg. The weekend trips
and the travelling were of course the most expensive expenses, but I wanted to get
everything out of this opportunity of going to Argentina and so I wanted to do and see as
much as I could. If you choose not do travel a lot, and just stay in Buenos Aires, I think you
could compare your expenses with the ones in Tilburg. Food can be really cheap, it’s often
even cheaper to go out for dinner than to cook yourself. Public transport is also cheap, and so
is for example alcohol, cigarettes and housing isn’t more expensive than Tilburg as well.
An important fact is that there is a ‘blue rate’ for the dollar and euro in Argentina. I advise to
take a lot of cash with you when you are planning to go to this country. This blue rate is used
to change your cash dollars/euros to Argentinian pesos. Instead of getting money from the
cash machine (where the rate during my semester was 10.5 pesos for 1 euro), you go to a
‘casa de cambio’ (house of change) where you change your euros in cash to pesos. Here you
get a higher rate (when I was there it was around 15 pesos for 1 euro). This rate differed a lot,
it got higher during my stay and at one point it decreased again. In any case, there is a huge
difference between the official rate and this ‘blue rate’. A famous place to change is the street
called Florida, where there are a lot of people screaming ‘cambio’ or ‘change money’. In the
beginning I didn’t know about this blue rate, but when I discovered it and used it by asking
people who visited me to bring me euros, I had a big advantage. In Argentina of course you
can’t get dollars easily, but in Uruguay you can. So a lot of people travel to Uruguay to get
their dollars. This could also be an option for you, but please don’t forget to bring euros from
The Netherlands as well.
My approximate monthly budget during my exchange was:
- Housing: 300 Euro
-
Food: 300 Euro
Transport: 30 Euro (public transport but also the use of taxis)
Books: I didn’t have to buy books, I only had to pay for the costs of copying my
Spanish course book which was around 10 Euro I guess
- Miscellaneous: Differed each month, depending on for example how many trips I
made or how many times I went out. But my income per month was 1000 Euro, and
there wasn’t any month in which I made the month with this amount of money. Every
month I had to take money from my savings account. But again, I did a lot and it
depends on how much you travel or do next to studying.
All my expenses all together, for 6 months of studying abroad and travelling, where
approximately 6x1000 Euro (study grants) + 4000 Euro (savings account) = 10.000 Euro.
Academic Calendar
I arrived the 23th of July and I started my orientation week the 28th of July. The first day of
the semester was one week later, the 4th of August. But this week only the obligatory Spanish
course started, the rest of my courses started another week later. The mid-terms are at the
end of September and beginning of October. Than my exams I had at the end of November
already, so I was done at the beginning of December. This gave me enough time to travel
before going back home. I have to tell that I followed PEL-courses, which are courses of a
special program for exchange students. They take into account that we were exchange
students and we want to travel, that’s why the exams are earlier than the rest of the faculties.
For other faculties the exams could take up to half December. Also, the Argentinians have a
lot of long weekends. I think we had around 3 or 4, which gives you great opportunities to
travel for a long weekend. I know that in the spring semester there are even more.
The International Office
There is an international office at the campus in case you have any questions. I went there
mostly in cases of my VISA or to register for events. In all these cases it was really helpful to
have this office and they helped you well. For important things they always e-mailed us.
Furthermore the office had certain opening hours, but that was fine.
Exchange promotion
During my exchange at UCA and by meeting so many people from Argentina and other
countries, we of course discussed our own universities as well. I noticed some differences
between Tilburg University and UCA, mostly in the advantage of Tilburg University. Of course
I expressed these things to other students. I also took part at the exchange market of the
UCA, where we had a small stand of Tilburg University and we answered questions about our
university at home. There were a few people interested in maybe going to our university, and
additionally we gave our number to them in case they had more questions. I think taking part
in this market was a good way of promoting Tilburg University.
Social Activities
The team of PALS organized a lot of parties, trips and other activities for international
students. They take you to places even local people are going and take you to really nice and
worthy places to visit in the country. Unfortunately, they don’t have student organizations, but
everyone joined the activities of the PALS and felt connected to each other by this. These
PALS really made my exchange. I also had contact with local students. Argentinians are very
open and will always try to have a conversation with you. At university or at parties you will
get easily in contact with local people. This is a good thing, because they will learn you even
more about the culture, language and their lifestyle.
I also travelled a lot during my exchange. I went to Puerto Madryn (which is already in
Patagonia) to see whales and sea elephants during a long weekend in August. Then I went to
the Iguazu Falls in September with the PALS, and I also went to a city called Rosario with two
friends in September. In October I made a road trip in the north-west of Argentina, around
Salta. We rented a car for a week and saw some outstanding landscapes. In November I only
went out during the weekends, because it was such a beautiful summer weather in Buenos
Aires and we wanted to enjoy our last month in Buenos Aires together. Than in December I
started backpacking. First I went to the south of Argentina called Patagonia, then I visited the
Lake District, the vineyards in Mendoza and saw some places in Chile such as Valparaiso.
After that I returned to Buenos Aires for some days and took the plane to the north of the
country with two Dutch friends who came to travel with me. From there we travelled for 2.5
weeks through Bolivia and Peru, which was amazing. I did everything I wanted the most, but
still there is so much more to see in South America. That means I have to go back one day,
but I’m not bothered by that idea.
Culture and Language
I surely experienced a culture shock during my semester abroad. In fact, it started from the
moment I arrived. I immediately noticed that everyone spoke Spanish and everything was in
Spanish, and my level of Spanish was way too low. This immediately caused problems,
because especially in the beginning you have to arrange a lot of stuff and you meet a lot of
people. The fact that everything was in a language I couldn’t speak good enough, made
everything so much more difficult. Also the contact with exchange students was in Spanish,
so I highly recommend you to make sure you can speak in at least basic Spanish from the
beginning. This will make everything a lot easier. At UCA you have to follow a Spanish course
when you have a level less than C3 or something like that. I just possessed the level I needed
to go on an exchange, but I noticed speaking is a different part of a language and surely the
most difficult one. For me the language course at UCA was very helpful, but it is also
important to just try and speak it because then you’ll improve the fastest. I also immediately
noticed that the lifestyle of the people in Buenos Aires is so different than what we are used
to, for example the way they interact with each other. The people are very open and direct.
Family comes first in this country and they always make time for friends. As said before, the
people in Argentina greet each other with a kiss on the cheek and also with saying goodbye
they do this, also with people you just met. The size of the city, the huge amount of traffic, the
protests on the street every day, the public transport without schedules, the different eating
habits, the infrastructure, no possibility of riding your bike, are just examples of differences
between the culture of Argentina and the Netherlands. In the beginning it was quite difficult for
me to adapt and especially the language I couldn’t speak made it really difficult. You start to
realize that we (Dutch people) live in a country that is really well-organized. It seems that we
took care of everything in The Netherlands, for example the insurances we all have or the
great infrastructure. It’s not so logic for the Argentinians to have all that we have in the
Netherland, they can only dream about living in such a developed country. I expected that
Argentina would have been much more developed, and relatively Buenos Aires is, but you
can’t say that about Argentina. I also expected that I could manage it in the beginning with
speaking English and I definitely thought the exchange students would communicate in
English, but that wasn’t the case. Everything was in Spanish. It took me 2 months before I
could have a decent conversation and after that it became only easier by time. Also, slowly
you’re adapting to the culture and lifestyle and eventually you will make it yours. At the end, I
appreciated the lifestyle of the Argentinians so much and by finally speaking the language I
really achieved something for myself and I enjoyed my time there to the fullest. The
Argentinians have a great way of how they interact with each other, everything is so
personally. Also with the professors at university you have a personal band. They appreciate
everything they have, also when they don’t even possess that much. In The Netherlands the
people are quickly dissatisfied and stressed, I think people in Argentina don’t even know the
word ‘stress’. Furthermore Argentinians know best how to prepare meat and dinner is the
most important meal here. It starts late, you share everything and it takes hours, it’s their
quality time with family or friends. They have a kind of rhythm and rest over them, Dutch
people could take as an example. I surely had to get used to all of this, I mean I wasn’t used
to this lifestyle, but except for the fact that they are not that good in organizing things and
being in time, I could appreciate it. And even the negative points you take for granted over
time. I learned to be more relaxed, don’t plan too much, live day by day and enjoy the people
and things around me.
Outside Buenos Aires you already notice the differences. Buenos Aires is a huge city where
you can find almost everything you want, but the rest of the country is less developed (except
for some other big cities). Argentina consist to a large extent of vast landscape. The country is
so diverse, you’ll find everything here. In the south you have the glaciers, a little bit higher you
have the Lake District, than higher in the west you have the vineyards, in the north-west you
have a desert landscape, in the north-east you’ll find the Iguazu Falls, you can find wild
animals in the east at the seaside and then they also possess some great cities and beaches.
Not only the landscapes are different, also the cultures, the people, their lifestyles and their
wealth differs. I’ve also been to Bolivia, which is way poorer than Argentina and Peru you can
compare more to Argentina but is still less-developed. Still Argentina is also a lot lessdeveloped than Europe or the Netherlands.
Personal Development
I experienced such a cultural shock from the moment I arrived, but the fact that I overcome it
and that I actually learned to speak the Spanish language made me feel like I really achieved
something for myself. I learned to appreciate the Argentinian way of living and I made it my
own. I met so many great people from countries all over the world and learned so much about
different countries and cultures. I even made friends for life. Actually I don’t even have words
to describe what this semester in Buenos Aires did to me, you just have to experience it
yourself. It will be such a personal development, in so many ways. This whole cultural thing
will only teach you things at the end and will make this semester so much more memorable. It
will make you a richer person and I can only recommend to do it as well. Don’t see it as
something negative, but just take your chance to experience this challenge.
Not only on a personal level, but also on a professional level such an exchange will bring you
further. You learn a lot about different cultures and habits. It will broaden your view about
things and you will have a more open view to the world. You have to adapt to a complete
different way of living in a city where you don’t know anyone and maybe you will also have to
learn speaking Spanish which will be difficult. But if you managed to do that, it will give you
the feeling that you can do everything you want. Such an experience is good for your
personal development and immediately for your chances at career possibilities, because
employers will always look for people with a lot of qualities. And you will surely extend your
qualities by going on an exchange to Argentina.
If I could do things differently if I had the chance, I would have surely learned to speak better
Spanish before going. As said before, this would have made the beginning a lot easier. I
really regretted the fact I didn’t learn to speak the language properly. But I’m proud of the fact
I just went on my own and started a new life from the bottom. I learned a lot about myself,
about my life there and also my life in The Netherlands. The best experience of my exchange
is I guess the experience itself. The experience of leaving everything in The Netherlands
behind, just go to the other side of the world with only your backpack and an address of a
hostel, not knowing anyone in the city, not speaking the language, and then ending with being
able to speak a new language, new knowledge, new friends and a new memory you will never
ever forget.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
There are a lot of courses offered at the UCA, at different faculties. All the courses are taught
in Spanish, but there is also a program for exchange students. This PEL-program contains
around 20 courses, included around 3 English courses. I followed 4 courses of this program,
because it was my minor so I could follow courses I wanted. The advantage of this PELprogram is that they keep in mind that we were exchange students so we don’t speak the
language fluently. Also the professors talk more slowly, you can miss 4 classes during the
semester which is more than the normal courses and the exams are earlier than the rest of
the university. Courses of this program were based on Latin America and I thought thus very
interesting and they were easier than the regular courses of the university. If you can choose
courses you want, I would recommend to choose courses from this program. I followed the
following courses: Cultural Identity and Stereotypes, Desarrollo Humano, Procesos Politicos y
Sociales, Aprendizaje desde el Servicio and my obligatory Spanish language course. This
means 1 English course, and 4 Spanish ones. I was very satisfied with my courses, they were
all interesting and my schedule was pretty good. I could recommend all of these courses, but
of course it depends if you think they are interesting as well. But I recommend you to follow in
any case courses of the PEL-program if you have the opportunity to do so. These courses
have a lot of advantages, and they are also pretty easy to pass. I could say that the academic
level of my courses is much lower than my courses in The Netherlands. Most of the times we
just had to read articles and participate in discussions or do presentations. My only challenge
was the Spanish actually. The teaching style was more interactive and thus more personal as
well. Also because you will have lessons in small classes (no more than 30 students) you will
have more personal contact with the professors. This gives you a little bit the idea of a
secondary school, but it is actually pretty pleasant. The way of teaching was less theoretical
than what I was used to, there won’t be lectures in such a big lecture rooms as in Tilburg. We
had to work a lot in groups and we were asked a lot about our ideas and countries. Although
the academic level wasn’t that high, I followed maybe 5% of the first lectures due to my
problem with the language. Eventually I wrote papers in Spanish and had oral exams in
Spanish, and managed to pass them all, so I am very happy about that.
Exams
My midterms consisted out of papers or presentations, and my exams were also papers,
presentations or orals. It wasn’t that difficult, at one midterm you were even able to use your
notes for it. We were always allowed to take our dictionary and you could ask questions to the
professor if you didn’t get something. I didn’t have something like a theoretical exam I am
used to from Tilburg University.
Other
There is a library at UCA as well, it just doesn’t look like the one of Tilburg University at all. It
has a maximum of like 50 computers in one room which you have to share with all the
students of the UCA. This is doable though, because not as many students go to the library
there as we do in Tilburg. There is also a department of books and papers you can borrow to
read.
Description of Courses
Course name:
Desarrollo Humano
Procesos Politicos y
Sociales
Aprendizaje desde
el servicio
Cultural Identity and
Stereotypes
Español
Prereq.
None
None
Exam
Paper
Paper
Major at BI
PEL
PEL
Approved as
Minor course
Minor course
None
Presentation
PEL
Minor course
None
Presentation, PEL
papers and oral
Written and
Language
oral
None
Extra course
Extra course
Tips for the future students:
I would definitely recommend you to take your chance and go on an exchange. You always
hear such a great stories from people that went on an exchange, it actually doesn’t matter
where you go to. But I would definitely want to promote for going to Buenos Aires. Argentina
is just an amazing country, which offers you beautiful landscapes of all kinds, a great culture,
an appealing language and lovely people. Buenos Aires itself offers you everything you need,
a great atmosphere with incredible facilities. The UCA is a nice private university to study.
There is surely a difference between UCA and other universities in town. Only richer
Argentinian students have the opportunity to study at the UCA, the facilities and quality of the
education are more properly. They make you feel welcome and help you a lot. The fact that
UCA is there for people with relatively more money gives you a blessed feeling to also walk at
this campus, although for us it’s maybe more common to attend such an university. And who
doesn’t want to study at the same university Queen Maxima did?
Don’t forget to take a huge amount of cash to Argentina and try to learn to speak at least
basic Spanish before going. You can’t study enough or know enough to take care of yourself
directly from the beginning. I would recommend not to search for housing before going, but
find it all out when you are there. Then you can choose where and with who you want to live,
and there is always enough available in terms of housing in Buenos Aires so you don’t have
to worry about that. At last, enjoy! You’re going to have the best time of your life!
A picture is worth a thousand words
UCA
Iguazu Falls
Contact details:
Lily Theelen
lilytheelen@gmail.com
l.j.theelen@uvt.nl
Tango show Buenos Aires
Dinner with friends; Argentinian style
Macchu Picchu