I have hit the ground running when it comes to my courses. I signed up for two classes at the Catholic university (UCA), Latin America in International Politics and Argentine Foreign Policy, to try this past week. Since both were six credit hours (for reference, most classes at my university at home are three credits; I took a course designated as “intensive” that was four), I only have room in my schedule to pick one. My plan was to attend both, and then make a decision about which to take. Both meet two nights a week, are a forty-five minute commute away, and require lots of reading.
My first class was one that my host Delfi’s friend had recommended to me, Latin America in International Politics. Her friend said the class was good and that the professor was “a good teacher and tall.” Both characteristics were confirmed on Monday. While I didn’t understand why we were talking about the topics we covered, I knew what was being said. After reviewing the syllabus (we received it after the first class), I understood what was going on. On Tuesday, I returned and arrived early, which was lucky because unlike everything else in Argentina, this class began ten minutes early. We had a different professor for night two, which I learned is normal here. In Argentina, most professors have a day job and then teach a class or two as an additional activity. As such, there are two or three different people who teach the same course and rotate who covers which classes. I sat next to an Argentine girl who let me look off her notes during class when the professor was talking too quickly. After class, she gave me her email and said to let her know if I had any more questions.
The second class was on Wednesday and Thursday night. I couldn’t believe how nice the professor was—he asked us all our names and why we were interested in the class. Instead of having a second midterm, we would have a practical exam where we would be given a foreign policy problem and have to suggest what Argentina should do. This guy was super friendly, and even took time after class to answer some of my questions. I was concerned that I didn’t have the history and cultural background knowledge to do well in this course; the professor suggested that I come back for night two, in which we’d be covering Argentine history from the 1800s to 1870.
Out of four exchange students, I was the only one who returned for the second class, which was an omen. We had another professor, who, in order to cover seventy years of history in ninety minutes, talked so fast I couldn’t keep up. I had heard of most of the historical figures he was talking about, but not the specifics (example: I know who Jose de San Martín is, but not in what order he went to each area in South America to help fight for independence from Spain). I was, however, able to answer a question about the Monroe Doctrine, but only after I figured out they were talking about James Monroe, not “Ames Mon-roy.” I admittedly struggle when terms I know in English are pronounced the way you’d say them in Spanish.
So my gut says to take the International Politics class. I think it will give me a broader perspective on the region as a whole, the time of the course is better, and I have a friend/someone who can help me. My study abroad program will find me a tutor should I need help in the course, but I think I might take advantage of that anyway because our only grades are the midterm, the final, and attendance. On Saturday, I went and printed all the reading for the first two weeks, which came out to roughly 200 pages. The rest of the today I’ll be sorting through that. Thankfully some of the readings are in English.