We loved this particular post by a DU student currently in Argentina… she made two really great points:

“Being the foreign exchange student here has made me feel super guilty for how I have viewed foreign exchange students at DU. Probably 20% of DU is foreign students from China, and a lot of them are cliquey, and I haven’t tried to make any friends with them. I’ve found it a pain to work with people in classes who don’t speak English as well, because I was solely thinking about my grades. But now I’m in that exact position as the weird foreigner who cliques with the other foreigners, sits with the rest of the US kids, speaks English with the other exchange students, and am the one nobody wants in their group for class because I can’t do as quality work. I will never again take for granted how hard it is to switch cultures and be the foreign exchange student, and the intercambios at DU deserve so much more credit from students at DU.  DU prides itself in their inclusiveness, but I don’t think you can really understand the meaning of this until after studying abroad in a country with a different culture, different language, different customs…”

“… It’s a trade off, choosing to travel or immerse myself completely into the city. It’s two different ways of experiencing Argentina and progressing my Spanish, and although I’ve seen amazing views, I wish I could say I’ve made lifelong Argentinian friendships, because I really haven’t. The people in my program are amazing, and we are already talking about reunions, but I can’t say that I have connected strongly with the people of Mendoza. This is probably the one major flaw in my experience abroad.”

You can read the full post here.