Nilusha Jayasinghe is a student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County and an ISA Featured Blogger. Nilusha is currently studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the ISA Summer 2 program.
Hola mundo!
I can’t believe it but my first month of adventures in Buenos Aires is over already!!! I’m doing Session I and Session II here in Buenos Aires (2 classes) and all of my Session I only friends are leaving today. It is very sad because I’ve made some of the greatest connections and met some really unique and memorable people throughout this trip. Hopefully we will be able to connect again sometime in the future.
My first class of Intermediate II Spanish went really well, and I finished strong with an A! My experience with taking my first class abroad met some of my expectations and didn’t meet the others. The greatest differences from an American class would be the fact that there is no structured syllabus- our exercises consist of conversations more than writing, and that it was 5 hours a day instead of only an hour or 2. Nevertheless, my teachers were very passionate about what they did, full of energy, and helped make the time go by faster. However, I’ve realized that it was hard for me to balance my time between studying and doing other activities here in Buenos Aires. There was just so much to do and such little time, but now that I have been through my first month here, I think I am definitely prepared for my next course. Now that I have moved on to the advanced level successfully, I have to make sure that I continue to work hard and play hard.
Since my first blog post, I have visited some other must-go-to places here in Buenos Aires. While the Session I students were at Iguazu Falls last weekend, I went to Café Tortoni (the oldest café here in Buenos Aires), el Museo de Artes Latinoamericas de Buenos Aires (MALBA), el Museo de Bellas Artes, and took a free tour of the Casa Rosada (presidential building). I heard that there is a zoo that allow people to pet the tigers, lions, bears, and other animals in Buenos Aires, so I’m going to try to go to that tomorrow or Monday which is our day off before next classes start!
Chau for now!