True, the translation of “la universidad” from Spanish to
English IS university. Linguistically they conjure the same idea, but socially
and fundamentally, they are different. Imagine yourself, on campus, strolling
about the quad discussing politics and last night’s party at Delt. After class,
you’ll walk back to your dorm and have a snack at the caf before you start in
on your mountain of homework. Are you imagining this? Yes? Ok now just throw
that out the window. In Argentina, being a university student is quite
different than it is back home. While many of us have part time jobs, usually
working for the bookstore or a university operation, many Porteño students have a
completely separate life. Going to college is a part time thing for most
students, as they need to work while they attend school too. In addition, they might have dorms, but this isn’t a
typical situation and only a small percentage of students actually live in
them. Most students continue to live with their families because despite what
nasty things you have to say about your apartment and landlord, those look like
options from the heavens compared to getting real estate here. Even if it’s
just an apartment...The campus doesn’t include acres of rolling hills, picnic
benches and Greek row—it’s high rises that might be scattered in a neighborhood,
or throughout the city. You don’t wake up 5 minutes before class and show up in
your sweats—you’ll probably have to take the Subte or a colectivo or do a fair
distance of walking. While there is some sense of camaraderie amongst students
about their school and studies, it’s not the kind you see at your university’s
homecoming game. It’s totally different. This is what I’ve gathered from my
daily observations as well as talking to some native students and my host
family. But school hasn’t officially started (I’m in an intensive month of
Spanish before school starts) so maybe it will seem even more different when I
begin…
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