Juliana Mesa: Thank you so much for doing this interview with me. Can you introduce yourself, your pronouns, your major and/or minor, and the program you're attending?
Kate Dillon: Thank you for having me. My name is Kate Dillon. My pronouns are she/her and I go to the University of Michigan. I'm in the College of LSA and I'm a history major with a Spanish minor. I am currently attending CGIS: Latin American Societies and Cultures in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Selecting the program
Juliana Mesa: Why did you choose to study abroad in Buenos Aires?
Kate Dillon: I took a class with Professor Sueann Caulfield two years ago called Latin America, the National Period (History 348). I recommend it to anybody who can take it. Prior to that class, I knew I wanted to study abroad and practice my Spanish, and it felt like it made sense to go to Spain. When I took the class, I was floored, and a little bit embarrassed, at how little I knew about Latin America prior. I thought that my education prior would have taught me more things. The reality was that I knew nothing, and because I knew nothing, I had many inherent biases about places and grouped [countries within] South America together. I really wanted to explore [Latin America].
KD: I fell in love with Latin American history, specifically Argentina. I think Argentina is fascinating. It's such a case study: they call it the empire that never was. There's a quote that Argentina never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. People say that when you come to Argentina, you don't even have to try, you just walk out an expert in the economy and economics; something’s going on constantly. Something that particularly grabbed my attention was Los Desaparecidos. During the military coup in the 1970s and ’80s, which was not that long ago, the government had essentially murdered and disappeared a whole generation of college students. That really fascinated me as well. I thought, how have I never heard of this?
KD: So, I pivoted. I love hiking. I love new adventures. I figured that South America and Buenos Aires, specifically, would call on a specific kind of person who really wants that adventure and wants to do something different. That was kind of the beginning of that journey.
JM: Amazing. That sounds like you found the perfect combination of different things that you like and that Buenos Aires and Argentina in general could offer. I'm very glad to hear.
Academics
Juliana Mesa: Are you taking any local university courses? How was the registration process?
Kate Dillon: I'm taking classes at Universidad Católica Argentina, which is called UCA here. I am taking a class about tango, which is fascinating and really fun. The campus is gorgeous. Registration was a breeze. We had one day of orientation. This program allows you to pick between attending UCA, Universidad Buenos Aires (UBA), or Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (DiTella). Most students picked UCA, although I have friends in both UBA and DiTella. And we did a one-day orientation. There were a lot of texts and emails about, here's the stuff you do. It was very smooth.
JM: Did you register your classes before or after arriving in Buenos Aires?
KD: We did IES orientation for a week, which is something I love about IES. I studied abroad in London last semester with IES [independently, not through CGIS]. They really hold your hand for the first week. I think a lot of college students may think, oh, why would I need my hand held? You need your hand held. It's so important to have your hand held for the first week. And it's amazing to be forced to hang out with everybody. You make really good friends during orientation.
JM: Right, it's a great moment to create community with your peers.
KD: Exactly, yes. So we had that orientation, then shortly after, the UCA orientation. It was very smooth. There were no problems.
JM: Excellent. To go off that, before coming here, did you get the list of courses? And did you talk with your U-M academic/department advisor to make sure the courses were a good fit for you, and were going to help you fulfill requirements?
KD: Yes. I am in an interesting situation because I'm graduating this semester, so the stakes were even higher to make sure that I had all my ducks in a row. I have Rob Gordon as an LSA advisor—if anybody needs a great advisor, I can't recommend him enough. He's phenomenal. We met and made sure everything lined up.
The UCA classes were a little different, because we're on UCA's time, but IES did a great job of facilitating that [process]. We didn't know the specific classes [offered] until we got here, but we're given sample courses of what they had last semester, etc. Just like U-M, it always shifts a little bit. But it was definitely a transition to understand that this is the fall semester for [universities in Argentina]. In March, they were just booting everything up.
JM: Yeah, that's a good thing to point out. In the Global South, late February to early July is the fall season. It is opposite to the Global North, where we're having the spring season. Well, except in Michigan, spring is never really spring.
Housing
Juliana Mesa: What housing option did you choose, and how is your experience thus far?
Kate Dillon: I knew that if I was going to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, this was my opportunity to improve my Spanish. I'm taking almost all classes in Spanish. I live my life mostly in Spanish. I knew that I would be tempted to speak English if I lived with a bunch of people in an apartment, so I stayed in an assigned homestay. I was nervous about it; I think everybody is really nervous about that opportunity. I was just crossing my fingers. Not only am I having a phenomenal experience, but every single person I know—there are 24 of us in the program—has had a great homestay experience. There are no horror stories at all.
JM: That's good.
KD: Also, it's such a good opportunity to only speak Spanish. It really challenges me. I practice my Spanish and learn Spanish. But I think it's also a life skill to understand the importance of communication. Sometimes I don't know what my host mom's saying, or sometimes she doesn't know what I'm saying. I've been able to learn to go around [verbally] communicating, like through body language, which I've really become attuned to. I have loved it. I also have a roommate in my homestay, which a lot of people don't, and she's my best friend. It's amazing.
JM: Is she also an IES student?
KD: Yeah, everyone is an IES student. It's really fun. I will say, for people scared about homestays, I thought about it. I was really nervous, but I knew it would help improve my Spanish, and that's what I was here for. I thought of it like before U-M, or even at U-M, when you have neighbors and people in your neighborhood that you hang out with. That's really what it is. You still see your friends all the time, but you get your own safe space. At the end of the day, you get a home-cooked meal, which is incredible. It's kind of like high school in the way that you all hang out in the neighborhood. For anybody on the fence, you should go for it.
JM: Right. And I agree that it's important to have in mind that you will develop so many soft skills studying abroad in general, but also living with a host family. You get to immerse yourself in the language, in the culture. Those skills will be transferable to many aspects of your life, like having flexibility, being adaptable, developing communication skills, and communicating across cultures. If, in the future, you want to work with people from different nationalities or even go work abroad, you have that in your toolkit. That's with you.
Food
JM: You talked about food as well. I know a lot of students get concerned about the type of food that is offered. That's something you've enjoyed. Has your host mom cooked you meals that you like, or has there ever been something that you're like, ooh, that's a no-no?
KD: Well, there definitely has been, that’s the case with everybody. But the important part, again, is the communication and being able to tell them what you like. For example, I am allergic to nuts. By the way, everybody should look this up: “nueces” doesn’t mean all nuts, just a heads up.
I have a friend here who's vegan. And [being] vegan in the capital of the meat-eating country of the world can sound difficult, but the host families do such a good job of accommodating that. The food has never been an issue. It's really nice to learn the culture through that. What do people eat every single day? What does a typical Argentine kitchen look like?
Commuting
JM: What about daily commutes? How has that experience been going from your homestay to the IES center, or from the homestay to UCA?
KD: From my homestay to IES, it's a 12-minute walk. A lot of people have around a 20-minute commute, but it's a really nice walk regardless. It's really safe; I think that's another thing that people get concerned about. I have never felt physically unsafe here. I think it's good to be scared, because then you're prepared, but for anybody nervous about that—don't be. Walking is really nice. There's a really great bus system here, as well. To UCA from my place, it's 30 minutes by bus. From IES to UCA, it's around 20 minutes by bus. To walk, it's probably 50 minutes. I've done it before; it's a great walk. You walk past Casa Rosada and San Telmo.
KD: UCA is in Puerto Madero, which is a really trendy, gorgeous area right by the water. But the commute hasn't been bad. The bus literally drops you off almost right in front. The key is to know the bus system.
JM: Yeah, it's important to understand that. And I imagine during the orientation, IES gives you some guidelines for taking public transportation. Because here, you have not only the buses, but there's also the subway, or subte. All of you get the SUBE card that you will be using to access the bus, the train, the subway, so they make that available to you.
KD: They do. This is the hand-holding I'm talking about, which is phenomenal. They gave us all a loaded subway card to use and showed us how to tap in, where to reload the card. It's very old school here, which I love. It's kind of like stepping back in time, in many ways. You can't do it online. You have to pay at a kiosk. Another example is that I pay in cash almost everywhere because you get a discount, which is also something to know.
Culture differences
Juliana Mesa: Excellent. What about cultural differences that you've observed between Argentina and the US? Is there anything that comes to mind that has been hard to adjust or just noticeable?
Physical proximity
Kate Dillon: Yeah, one of my favorite cultural differences is the physical proximity to people. People here always kiss on the cheek before seeing each other; they're very physically affectionate. As an American living in Europe last semester, I was told by my European friends that I was more friendly than the average person—no, Americans are not friendly compared to Argentinians. Argentinians will get out of their way and help you. They're that type of people. It's honestly something that I'm really going to miss when I get back to the States.
KD: [Another cultural difference] is the mate that they drink. I knew it was popular, but I didn't [expect to] see people with mate at the airport at 4 AM, mate on the bus, mate walking around town with your dog, it's everywhere. They all share the bombilla, which is the straw. In classes here at IES, my professor will make mate and then just pass it around to all of us.
JM: For the purpose of the blog, mate is a herbal tea that is a little bit bitter. It's prepared in a special gourd and drunk with a straw to filter the leaves and the stems.
KD: Yeah, it's like tea without a tea bag. At first, it was weird [to share a straw with my class], but it's made me feel more connected to people: we're all human beings, we're all family, and I really think it feels like that here, especially with having a host mom—I've always been able to ask her questions and it's been nice to have that her to lean on.
Night owl culture
KD: Another thing I would say is that I like to stay late; I'm a night owl at heart. I read about [Argentinians staying up late] and that is very true here.
JM: Right, they have dinner pretty late, at 9 or 10 PM.
KD: Yeah, I have dinner at 9 PM every night, but my host mom has dinner at 11 PM every night. My goodness. But again, it's one of those things where I think, when else am I going to do this in my life? It's a really interesting opportunity to try something new. When people go out here, you usually meet up at a pre-boliche, which is like a pre-game, at 11 PM. Then you go out and you're out until 5, 6, 7 AM.
It's a lot more sleepy here in the morning, but it also works in the favor of early birds, because all the places are still open. You can go to the library—there are some gorgeous libraries here—or go sit at a cafe early, and it's really peaceful. That's been a really cool thing as well.
There’s also the absolute obsession with football, which is huge. That is not understated at all.
JM: Yeah, that's very true. I agree with everything you were saying. And honestly, I arrived two days ago, and when I arrived, I did a little tour of places close to the hotel, like Casa Rosada and other places, and I was surprised to see people drinking mate outdoors. I was expecting to see people drinking it at a cafe or at home, but here, they're walking with their thermos full of water, and they have the gourd with the bombilla, walking around town, just doing a regular outing. That surprised me, and I thought it was so beautiful.
Leisure
KD: Now that you mention it, I think it's a perfect representation of Argentines being so proud to be Argentines—they have their own specific things that they do, and they're really proud about it. Another thing is that they love to take their time. The city is really fast-paced, but culturally, people are a lot more understanding that you're a human first, and an employee second. I think people are more adamant about it. Let's walk around the park, let's sit in the park, let's sit at the cafe. The cafe culture here is comparable to Paris. It's huge, and people just sit and talk for hours and hours and hours.
JM: People really value friendship, community, family, those human connections, and you can notice it when talking to people. Even kissing on the cheek, which also took me by surprise. I mean, I knew about it, but I've been so accustomed to being in the US and having personal space. The first person who I saw when I came, I just put my hand out to them and was trying to shake their hand, and they were like, oh, okay, you don't want to kiss, that's fine. Then others were trying to approach me a little bit closer, and I started to realize, oh, okay, I should be kissing them on the cheek. I'm Colombian, so I think they were expecting me to also engage in that. It was a funny transition just because my brain has been so accustomed to US culture.
KD: Exactly, yeah. It sounds so weird to say, but you feel very connected to people and people know you as a human being. And just for the sake of the blog, you don't actually kiss somebody's cheek, it's like a cheek-to-cheek situation. You put your right cheek to their right cheek and then you make the kissing sound.
Arts
JM: Yes, that's true. That's a good explanation of it. You were also mentioning that Buenos Aires, and Argentina in general, is an epicenter of the arts, literature, and culture of Latin America. There have been so many important events happening in Argentina that define the Latin American identity. Even the radio [first came to Latin America] through Argentina.
KD: Yes, and they have great literary figures and beautiful libraries, like El Ateneo.
JM: Yes. It's such a beautiful place. It was a theater and was turned into a bookstore.
KD: It's so beautiful. I'm taking a class on Argentine Literature, and it's really cool to see [Argentina’s literary] development. It really is an epicenter of South America and of the world. And, there's tango everywhere. There are tango bars, there’s a huge jazz scene, a huge literary scene. And a fun fact, the opera house with the best acoustics is in Buenos Aires, a gorgeous opera house called Teatro Colón. There's always something to do here and you feel like you're getting the best of the best of South America.
Biggest takeaway
JM: What do you think you'll remember the most about your experience abroad in 20 years?
KD: Many things, hopefully. I think most of all, the people here that I've met, Argentines and Americans. I think with the way that IES constructs this program specifically, there's such a sense of community and family, something that I have not felt in a long time and it's literally placed in your lap. You don't have to go seek it, though you can always find new things. I think I'll also always remember being able to experience the language in this way. Argentine Spanish is very different. Even my accent has changed—I think I will always have an Argentine twang, if you will. There's culture in that, the way they say things, the different words, like “vos.” I think that's something that I will always hold near me. This is kind of a silly one, but I have an obsession with medialunas here.
JM: Oh my goodness, they're so good. I tried one for the first time two days ago, and I'm obsessed.
KD: Yeah, they're phenomenal. I actually just did one of my presentations on the history of medialunas here. Medialunas are like croissants, but they're better than croissants. They're sweeter and a little bit denser, but it's a cultural thing here as well, to have coffee and a medialuna. I will miss those. There are vegan options, too. That's another thing: a lot of people think that the Argentine diet is like just bread, wine, and meat. That is true to a certain extent, don’t get me wrong, but there are a lot of people here who have dietary restrictions and are just fine.
JM: Yeah, I have dietary restrictions and I have been able to find options. For the purpose of time, we should wrap up. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview.
KD: Yes, of course. Happy to do it.
Have questions for Kate? Reach out to her at kjdillon@umich.edu.
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