By Julia LeDesma
Are you on the fence between going to Latin America over Spain? Are all of your friends going to Europe and you are torn whether or not to join them? Choosing a place to study abroad is difficult, and the idea of going to Latin America specifically can be very daunting. However, as someone who spent a semester in Buenos Aires and had the best time of my life, let me try to convince you to give Latin America a chance.
On making friends: I know one thing I was highly concerned with was the issue of making friends. Going to a new country by yourself is a very daunting idea, especially if the rest of your friends all want to go to Europe together instead. However, don’t think that just because you are showing up by yourself that you are at a disadvantage. Likely, everyone in your program is going to be feeling the same way—specifically with Latin America, people tend to come on their own as more of a challenge to themselves rather than showing up with huge groups of friends. This means two things: one, the people in your program are probably very similar minded to you, as they chose that location for a specific reason, and two, everyone is just as anxious as you about finding friends to hang out with. I know in my program, the discomfort of being by ourselves and living separated from each other in our host families brought us together more as we had to be more intentional about the time we spent together, and I left abroad with a very close group of friends who I’m still in contact with today (and we’ve even visited each other a few times since). So, don’t let the fear of not making friends deter you from Latin America!
On FOMO: Similar to the friends issue, a big reason a lot of people skip over Latin America is because they don’t think it will be as fun as other locations. It’s true that Europe is popular for a reason: they have tons of touristy destinations to visit in the daytime and lots of places to go for nightlife. However, don’t think this is exclusive to just Europe! While of course it varies by location, there are things to do in every city. My recommendation: the bigger the city, the more options will be available to you. For my part, I went out more in Buenos Aires than I ever have in my entire life—and if I were to go back, there would still be countless places I hadn’t been to yet. More importantly, I never felt like I was missing out on anything by being in Argentina rather than somewhere else.
On learning the language: It goes without saying that Latin America is much heavier on the Spanish than a location like Spain. There are a lot less tourists in Latin America, hence a much smaller incentive to know English. Many people you encounter on the street don’t speak English at all. While you don’t need to be 100% fluent in Spanish to go abroad in Latin America (I was not), you do need a general foundation and you also need to be ready to be speaking a lot of Spanish and learning more while you’re there. This isn’t without challenges; I definitely had some moments where I felt like my brain was about to explode with all the Spanish and felt the urge to just revert back to English. However, you will be surprised at how quickly you can adapt to a new language when you are immersed in it all the time. There’s definitely a learning curve in the beginning, but I promise if you are actually making an effort to speak the language and pick it up, it will come easier than you think. Also, if you are considering Latin America as a prospect, I’m assuming you either want or are open to more Spanish immersion in your study abroad experience, so this probably isn’t news to you. So, go for it! You’ll surprise yourself in how much you can learn if you really put the effort in.
On living with a host family: While programs in other locations have housing options such as apartments or dorms, most programs in Latin America utilize the homestay option. This can be an initial turnoff for a lot of people, as nobody likes the idea of having a mom hovering over their shoulder and telling them they can’t go out. The good news is, your host family isn’t there to parent you (mine would actually sometimes tell me to go out more). Rather, they are there to help further immerse you in the culture. I think the biggest reason for my Spanish getting better was because of my host family—I lived with two old ladies who didn’t speak any English, so it was Spanish or nothing when I was home. They also are great for giving recommendations of local things to do around the city. Think of your host family as less of a parental unit and more as a wiser, (much) older sibling situation.
Moral of the story: take a chance and go! An unforgettable experience is waiting for you.
