Exchange Semester Experience Report
ANR: 921603
Name: Sebastian Wichterich
E-mail: s.wichterich@tilburguniversity.edu (feel free to contact me for further information)
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
Academic year: 3rd (5th Semester Bachelor, Liberal Arts and Sciences (Major Law in Europe))
Host University: Tecnológico de Monterrey (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey; ITESM)
Country: Mexico
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
With around 5 million inhabitants Monterrey is, behind Mexico-City and Guadalajara, the third largest
metropolitan area of Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Nueva Leon, which is located in the
Northeast of the country. Since by car the city is only around 3 hours away from the border with Texas it
easily detectable, when you drive your finger down South from the Texan border. In general, Monterrey
is quite an industrial city. I would most likely not spend my holidays there, but if you want to experience
the bustling (and chaotic) atmosphere of a large city of an emerging country, Monterrey is a good
choice. In terms of security, contrary to what you hear often about the whole of Mexico in the media, in
Monterrey I did not experience any feelings of unsafety. Apparently there was a crisis of security in
2010. Since then the city has invested a lot into security improving measures, i.e. a new police force, and
during my stay it was, from what I heard and saw, completely calm there. Monterrey is also one of the
wealthiest city in Mexico. However there is quite a large disparity of wealth, which means that you will
easily see beggars next to high-luxury cars when you walk or drive through the streets. Furthermore,
Monterrey is also a very “Americanized” city, which also means that you will find quite a few American
stores and restaurants from the north down there (i.e. Walmart, Wing’s Army, Chili’s, Applebee’s).
Nonetheless, there is still a lot of more typical Mexican culture and cuisine to explore.
The weather in Monterrey was quite hot (August and September) or warm (October to November), and
dry for the most time. Only in the beginning of October there was a sort of rain season for around two
weeks and in the middle of November it got below 10 degrees for another two weeks.
The “Tec” (abbreviation mostly used to refer to the university) is located in the South-West of the city in
a neighborhood which is actually named after the university, Distrito Tec. The campus is a really
compact one, like a city in itself, with all the buildings grouped around two blocks. In the beginning it can
be a bit confusing to find the right lecture rooms and offices, since all buildings are built narrowly
together and some of them look quite similar, but within two weeks you should have figured out where
you have to go. Also do not hesitate to ask one of the guards at the entrances, they are normally really
helpful, or some of the students that are passing by, they will help you and often also ask you where you
are from and what you are doing in Monterrey (a good opportunity to practice your Spanish and maybe
meet some natives, I actually met my best friend from Monterrey at an entrance when we were talking
about how to get to a certain building on campus). The campus itself is kept in really good order and
there are a lot of ducks, goose, pickocks and even deers living on it, which are really nice to observe
when you spent your lunch break outside. The library at the Tec is open 24/7, which is really convenient.
I also recommend the study room on the first floor of the Cetec building, because the study facilities
ther are really nice and it is less noisy than in the library (it is usually open until 11pm).
On and around campus there are several cafeterias and restaurants. If you want something low priced,
filling and reasonable tasty I would recommend to eat some Chilaquiles or tacos in one of the three
cafeterias. If you want something fancier, you should go to Paseo Tec, just North-East of the Campus.
There are several restaurants and bars located there. Around campus there are multiple (fast-food)
restaurants as well. I personally liked Senor Gordita (right next to Campus, behind Aulas 4) and Tacos
Felix (one block behind the big roundabout to the left) quite a lot. In the neighborhood there are also
several street vendors, selling hot dogs, hamburgers or tacos.
If you just want to have a few relaxed drinks close to campus, I recommend one of the bars at Paseo Tec,
e.g. El Constenito. If you want to have a proper night out, there are, to my knowledge, mostly two areas
you should go to: one is Barrio Antiguo (they also have some nice restaurants there), where you should
go to Casa Morelos (mostly alternative electronic music). The other big nightclub area is San Pedro,
where there have a whole lot of different locations, mostly fancier ones. I would give El Barrezito, La
Press and La Gomez, which is a bar, a try. Furthermore there are a whole lot of house parties in the
student apartments around campus, especially in Villas and Torres Tec, which are nice events to get to
know both Mexican and international students. There are also quite a few festivals and concerts of
different genres in Monterrey. I did not make it to any, but what from what I heard a lot of nameable
artists play there (e.g. Deadmau5, Calle13 or Queens of the Stone Age), so I think it is worth
investigating about them.
The university offers a lot of extracurricular courses for sports and culture. Usually, there are beginner,
intermediate and advances courses offered for a wide range of sports. For instance, few of my friends
participated in the tennis course and liked it quite a lot. In addition, there are also many cultural courses
offered, for example lots of dancing (e.g. Salsa), music and cooking classes, but also pretty extraordinary
things like wine tasting. Many of the courses are free, for some you have to pay a fee, whose amount
varies individually. Unfortunately, I was not able to take any of the courses because of my academic
schedule, but I would recommend to test some of them during the first week of classes which is a free
trial week. Besides that, the Tec also has a decent weight room, which is open from 6am to 9pm on
weekdays (Saturday 10am to 3pm). In addition there are three running tracks really close to the campus:
in the stadium, around the tennis courts and around the football fields.
In terms of activities in Monterrey I would recommend the following:
Nature:
-
Matacanes: a national park where you can go Canyoning for a whole day. The price,
including transportation from the Tec Campus, is around 50 Euros, which I consider
reasonable. Try to go there as early as possible if you stay in Monterrey for the spring
semester, because once it starts raining a bit more in October the park might be closed on
the weekends due to floodings.
-
Chipinque: another national park which is more for hiking, jogging or mountain climbing. If
you want to climb on the top of the mountains you need to make an appointment with a
guide, but it is also nice without going alll the way up. If it is still summer you should go
there quite early in the morning (ca. 6am), because in the afternoon it gets really warm
there. The ride from the Tec to there is around 30 minutes. Either you have someone that
could take you in a car or you should share a taxi with a few people. If you are lucky you
might get to see some wild animals (lynx, bears, lizards).
-
Cerro de la Silla: is the interesting looking mountain range which you can see already from
the Tec Campus. Going up there takes around 3-4 hours, excluding the way down and the
time you want to spend on the top. You should go on a day when the sky is clear, so you can
have a nice view from up there.
Culture (I did not get around that much, so there probably is a lot more):
-
MACRO Plaza: around 15 minute taxi ride from the Tec. They have some museums, which are
quite interesting (i.e. Museum of Modern Art, Mexican History, and History of Monterrey). On
two days of the week the entrance to these museums is free (days differ from museum to
museum).
Relaxing:
-
Parque Fundidora: around 15 minutes away from the Tec. Bring a blanket with you to chill out
on the lawn. It is also nice for jogging and they also have concerts there.
-
San Pedro: On one day of the weekend, they normally close down some roads for the traffic
there, so you can stroll around in the streets. Apparently it is a really nice neighborhood.
Shopping:
-
There was one shopping center in the city that all of the exchange students praised that had
gone there. I am not quite sure, but probably it was the Plaza Fiesta San Augustin (it could also
have been another one in the Southwest of the city.
In terms of differences I think you should mostly keep two things in mind: transportation and nutrition.
In terms of transportation, if you do not have anyone that gives you a ride with his or her own car (most
of the students at Tec do have their own car I think) you will have to rely on taxis for most of the time
when you want to get to a place that is not within walking distance. However, taxis are really cheap and
the taxi drivers are usually quite nice (If you want to practice your Spanish you can do it with them quite
casually). Around the Tec campus (e.g. in front of Villas Tec) the prices are usually quite stable, but if you
are in other parts of the city they may vary a bit at different times of the day. Sometimes in can be
worth negotiating about the price a bit or look for a different taxi, if the price appears to be
extraordinarily high. Furthermore, especially during rush hour and when it has been raining, the traffic in
Monterrey is often quite dense, so take that into considerations for your timing.
Secondly, Monterrey, as well as the North of Mexico in general, is a meat country, which means that
almost any dish you can order consists of some sort of meat. If you like to eat lots of (delicious) meat
Monterrey is a good place to be, but if you like to it less meat things can become a bit tricky when dining
out. As a vegetarian, the option you have will be quite limited most of the time (you will probably eat
lots of quesadillas), and being a vegan in Monterrey is sort of a challenge (even though the guacamole
they have is really delicious). However, there are also two good purely vegetarian/vegan restaurants I
know of, one close to Plazeo Tec and the other one in Barrio Antiguo (close to MACRO Plaza), however I
cannot recall her names.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
As far as I remember I received the pre-arrival information well in time, I suppose in March or April, and
did not experience no notable difficulties in understanding what I had to do and when I had to be where.
Six weeks before the semester started, there was a pre-registration procedure online, where you could
pre-select your courses, although you could still switch courses in the first two weeks of the semester.
On the Tec website it says somewhere that you should send your application documents by mail, but if
you scan them or have them digitally, you normally can also send an e-mail. Passport holders from a
country of the European Union (as far as I am aware of from all Member States) are allowed to stay in
Mexico for 180 days without a visa. If you happen to stay two or three weeks longer you either have to
pay a fine (which is not that expensive, although I do not know the exact amount) or go to the United
States for a weekend. When you leave Mexico you have to return the little permission card they have
given you upon your arrival and when you get back you will normally receive another one.
I already had done an internship in Mexico over the summer and was brought to Monterrey by a friend,
but I think there are two arrival day during which there is a shuttle service provided from the airport to
the campus. If you do not arrive on these two days, you can either take a public/airline-based shuttle
bus from the airport to the central bus station and take a taxi from there to the Distrito Tec (cheaper,) or
you take a taxi straight to there from the airport. It might be handy to know that at both spots you have
to buy a taxi ticket inside before you go out to wait in line for a taxi. During the registration day for the
international students you can go to the student center to handle some administrative things (course
registration, insurance check, housing registration). If you do not make it there, you can still go to the
international office during the next two weeks (or even later) to arrange these things. There was a
welcome week for the new students (both Mexicans and internationals), but I did not enjoy it too much,
so I just went there for the first day.
I lived in an apartment in Villas Tec, which is around 10-15 minutes away from campus if you are
walking. Overall, the housing condition there was good. Only in November when it good really cold for
two weeks it was very chilly in my room, as the houses in Mexico are generally not well prepared for
the . (Therefore, I would recommend to buy a thicker blanket already in summer, when they are still
cheaper. In Villas, as well as in Torres Tec which is right next to it, you share your apartment with two or
three other students and usually a lot of international students live there. I reserved a room online
beforehand (http://rentatec.mx/english/1_2.html ). The lady that processed my reservation and I
communicated via e-mail in Spanish. However, ‘’Google Translate Spanish’’ would have been sufficient
to do that and she also spoke a bit of English. There is also housing on campus, but it was said that it is
more expensive and has stricter rules, so I did not take this into consideration. Furthermore, they have
nice apartments at ‘’Departamentos Colibri’’, which are also close to campus. In Villas Tec I paid around
268 Euros rent for each month plus around 30 Euros for gas, water and electricity. The interior
equipment was in good condition, the beds, rooms and the shared living room-kitchen-area are quite big
and every resident has their own bathroom. A few times we had some problems with (warm) water and
electricity, but the maintenance staff always arrived quickly to fix it. For grocery shopping you can either
go to ‘’Soriana Hyper’’ or Walmart, which are both quite close if you take a taxi.
I would say that overall living in Monterrey is cheaper than in Tilburg, but not a lot. Services are quite
cheap and you can eat cheap fast food out on the streets, but if you go to the supermarket or to a nicer
restaurants it is not a lot cheaper than in Tilburg. I would recommend not to spend too much money on
drinks and food in Monterrey, but save more of it for travelling on the weekends, when you take a break
from classes or for after the semester. Financially, it was nice that i did not have to buy a lot of books for
my uni courses, because most of the materials were provided online via blackboard.
III Mexico: Language, Culture and Travelling
On campus most teachers and students have quite a good level of English proficiency, but once you go
out into the real world it is handy to know some Spanish, since the average Mexican does not speak a lot
of English. However, I also had international friends that almost spoke no Spanish and still had quite a
good time. Still most Mexicans really appreciate it if you try to speak in Spanish with them. In terms of
living standards and structure it is convenient to have in mind that Mexico is a developing country and
therefore some things do not always work as smooth and punctual as you are maybe used to in the
Netherlands. In general, Mexicans also do not like to say ‘’no’’ very often, even if they mean it, and
phrases like ‘’perhaps’’ or ‘’maybe’’ are used quite frequently. In addition, Mexican time notifications
can also be quite flexible, even though at the Tec the time discipline is usually a lot higher than in
Mexico in general.
In terms of travelling I would recommend the following, even though there are a lot more places to visit,
of course (I wished I would have brought a Lonely Planet with me):
-
Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende: really nice colonial cities in central Mexico. I would
recommend to go there in any case, but during the celebration of the Mexican Independence
(middle of September, the university has a two day holiday then, so you have an extended
weekend) it is particularly bustling. The international student organization ISE (events they host
normally include a lot of drinking) offers a trip to that event, which is attended by many
international students. If you miss out on the independence celebrations, you should go to
Guanajuato and San Miguel later in the year, when the cultural festival Cervantino is hosted
there, which is also really nice (it might be handy to bring a Mexican person with you).
-
Mexico City (D.F.): even though beforehand I was respectful, because of the sheer size of the
capital (23 million inhabitants), I really enjoyed the three days I got to spend there. The
structure of the city center is relatively clear, the metro is cheap and well-organized (even
though during rush hours it can be really overcrowded) and the city has an infinite amount of
museums and cultural sights.
-
Yucatan Peninsula: Ancient Maya buildings, jungle and beautiful beaches. If party is what you
are looking for, you should go to Cancun (the Miami of Mexico, lots of Americans go there for
their holidays) or Playa del Carmen (more a mixture of party and relaxing, also really nice
alternative restaurants). They are both pretty touristic and one should be aware of the
numerous smart tourist guides down there (e.g. for snorkeling, diving or ferry trips) that might
try to fool you a bit when it comes to prices (e.g. by pretending to be the official tourist
information). If you like it more chilled you should go to Tulum and Merida, where you should
definitely visit the Maya sites of Uxmal. The world famous Maya sights at Chichen Itza are also
really impressive, but there a lot more people and street vendors, which somewhat destroyed
the atmosphere when I was there. You should also visit a Cenote and swim in it. If you really
want to relax, the Isla Holbox is also a great option for you.
-
If you want to see the original authentic Mexico, you should go down to the Southern States like
Chiapas, Campeche or Tabasco. Here the live is still more rural, they also have some very
impressive Maya sites in the mountainous jungle and lots of delicious fresh tropical fruits.
In Mexico it is quite common to take the overland bus for travelling to other cities. They kind of
resemble what the trains are in the Netherlands. Usually, the prices are quite fair and the seats are also
comfortable. If you are just on a weekend trip, you can normally take a night bus to save time. The buses
are mostly also quite timely. If you want to go on an (extended) weekend trip with several people you
can also rent a car for a reasonable price. One time some international friends who did this got pulled
over by police officers that put forward some pretext and requested an illogical high amount of money
from them. My friends then pretended that they would only have a limited amount of money with them
of the requested sum and gave this money to the officers. Apparently things like this happen not
frequently, but once in a while and it could be convenient to have a Mexican person with you that can
assess the situation better. If you want to fly to a destination, the airlines Vivaaerobus and Volaris offer
quite cheap tickets, a bit like Ryanair in Europe, but you should not expect too much service and
punctuality from them.
IV Academic Information
The Tec is a university which offers courses from almost all areas of studies. My lectures started at the
11th of August and ended in the last week of November, which was followed by an exam week that ran
until December 9th. A lot of the exchange students went did their main travels in Mexico and Latin
America immediately after the end of their exams). Because it fits in well with the information about
travelling provided above: The official attendance rules are stricter than what I experienced for most of
my courses in Tilburg. The general rule is that you are allowed to miss three lecture sessions if the
lecture is given once per week (for three hours), and six times if the lecture is given twice per week (for
one and a half hours). Normally, it will not hurt your study progress too much if you miss a few of the
lectures because of travelling during the semester (there is no official week of holidays during the
semester), but you should plan a bit in advance which ‘’faltas’’ (missed lectures) you want to use for
which travel trip. Attendance is regularly taken at the beginning of the lecture, but if you arrive a few
minutes late and tell the professor after the lecture that you were present for the overwhelming part of
the lecture he or she will usually mark you on the attendance list.
I considered the academic level of teaching lower than at Tilburg University, although this depended a
lot on the subject and teacher, and the grades I received in Monterrey were higher than in the ones in
Tilburg. In general, there seems to be a higher focus on quantity at the Tec. For many subjects I had
written assignments for each week, although they were not too demanding most of the time. The
lecturers at Tec also seem to like group projects a lot and, even though their level of English is usually
quite good, if you take an English taught course, they will not be too critical about your English writing
skills normally.
At the university you can take courses in both English and Spanish, although there are way more options
if you do the latter. I went for a mixture of the two. My level of Spanish was intermediate when I came
to the Tec and officially I might not even had been allowed to take courses in Spanish, because usually
an advanced level is required, but I fibbed a bit on the online language assessment test that you had to
do beforehand if you wanted to take courses in Spanish and later nobody seemed to care too much
about my level of Spanish. For me, if I was able to follow the Spanish taught courses really depended on
the teaching style (e.g. visual aid, articulation), and I switched some of my courses after the first two
weeks. It is probably also easier to follow a course in Spanish, whose subject is a bit ‘’lighter’’ (e.g.
Marketing, International Relations, Business Ethics). Most Spanish teaching lectures were really helpful
when they realized that my level of Spanish was not that high. E.g., I could ask questions in English and
in one subject I was even allowed to write my written assignments in English.
Within the first week of classes one still allowed to switch courses (I unofficially also still managed to do
so in the second), however one will normally already receive ‘’faltas’’ for the course one is switching to.
Therefore, and also to stay flexible, I would recommend to enroll for as many subjects as possible in the
beginning to just have a look at them. You are allowed to enroll for a maximum of 8 classes, as long as
none of them overlap, and, at least when I was there, one could still drop out of classes until the
beginning of October without that they would appear on one’s transcript. A friend of mine took this
approach and was quite happy with it, because she in the end she was able to select 5 out of the 8
classes.
The earliest classes at Tec starts at 7.30 am, and the last ones finish at 9pm.