Buenos Aires! Study Here

The fair in San Telmo
Buenos Aires is a beautiful, exciting, and friendly city. Known as the “Paris of the Americas”, the city is home to many museums, theaters, art galleries, gardens, and other places of interest. The people here take a distinct pride in their European ties. Many residents are descendents of Italian or German heritage; also the princess of Holland is an Argentine.
I think for anyone wanting to learn Spanish while saving some money, Buenos Aires is the place to go. The peso which once was on par with the dollar, uno por uno as the saying went, it is now about 1 dollar for every 3.4 pesos.
I would recommend the site, the staff here is really helpful, there’s a lot to do in the city, the classes are more or less agreeable.
The weather here is also a plus. Since the seasons are flipped you will end up with more summer than you would normally and the winter here is mild compared to that of NYC. Imagine wearing flip flops and sundresses or shorts to all of your Christmas parties.
At first Argentine Spanish is really difficult. The accent is very different and they even have a unique way of conjugating the second person! I still have difficulty understanding male speakers, really not sure why, but perhaps it is tied to their slurred accent and vocabulary. After a while though it becomes much easier and since there is a healthy mixture of Spanish and English in the city it’s really easy to learn and to be understood by almost anyone.
What people should know in advance however, is that it is really hard to meet native Argentines. Since the program is only Americans, and there is a large ex-patriot population here, places to go and things to see are somewhat segregated. My suggestion is to join a sports club or take a class of some kind outside of the university. With my home stay mother’s help I started taking classes at and art studio and met some people that way.
I got lucky and I have a really great home stay in Retiro, a very nice part of town. But I would warn people to be weary of the dorms. The people that run them are very strict, I’ve heard the food is not very good, and often times they have no internet, power, or water.
The places I really like to spend time in are Plaza Serrano, where there are a lot of nice bars, restaurants and clubs. During the day I like to sit in the Plaza San Martin and read or write.
The museums here are really great. MALBA has amazing exhibitions. Oddly enough a NYU graduate, was featured there when we arrived. Also all of the art galleries in Retiro are very interesting and all of the art here has a much vibrant life than the art in New York.
I really enjoy the botanical gardens for picnics and the zoo is nearby and relatively cheap.
Also traveling here is semi-difficult because everything is far away, but very cheap. Seeing all different kinds of country are available. I got to see penguins and glaciers one week and two weeks after I was looking at Incan archeology sites in the desert.
Really though, Buenos Aires is a city that will differ for everyone and there’s something to be said for putting down the travel book, or stop reading the travel blog and ask the people that live here what to do. I’ve loved finding little clothing and bookstores, and parks and streets that I would’ve never visited if I hadn’t put on my walking shoes and just wandered.