Argentina

Hi! My name is Niels, and I am from Netherlands. In the period between September 2012 and January 2013, I have spent my time in Buenos Aires with Mente Argentina. I went to Buenos Aires to do an Internship Program. Mente Argentina arranged everything and took away a lot of my worries with finding a suitable internship for me. I just had to send my wishes, and they found an internship for me. I was very happy that they found a place for me to live. I chose to live in a shared apartment which was really nice. I lived in Palermo Soho, such a great area! Everything was easy to reach, and it was very safe too!
When I arrived at the airport of Buenos Aires, I was quite nervous. Will they wait for me? Where do I have to go? But as soon as I came through that gate I saw a man waiting for me with a paper with my name on it. He guided me to a taxi that brought me to my apartment. I arrived there, and Jasper from the Mente staff was waiting for me. She gave me the Mente goodies and showed me my room. I was able to ask her everything I needed to know.
The Mente staff is always prepared to help you. For instance, you can always send them an email, text or call them. They are great (and young) people. They don’t just email you when something is wrong; they also send you messages to ask you how you are doing.
They also organize great activities; for example, I have been to a Riverplate and a Boca Juniors game, to La Bomba del Tiempo, Tigre and a lot other activities.
The city of Buenos Aires is amazing. You can do so many things! It’s not just partying, it’s also very cultural. There is something to do for everyone! The city has a lot nice buildings to see and amazing parks to just walk around and relax. You will never get tired of it!
I really loved my time in Buenos Aires, and Mente Argentina contributed to this. They took all my worries away and let me have the time of my life in Buenos Aires. Thank you Mente!!!

Volunteering in Argentina was a life changing experience. I volunteered at an all girls correctional facility in the city of Cordoba. It was beyond a fulfillment to be able to act as the little hope these girls needed to continue on and change their current situation. My job at the placement was to be a friend to the girls, to plan arts an crafts activities, games, talk, and just be there for the girls as a support system that many did not have and hadn't had for quite some time if ever at that. I was told that the placement that I would be working at was one of the most challenging and that certainly made me nervous. However, I found myself to quickly adjust and can say that I made quick friendships with the girls with lots of trust. Even though they didn't really know me they quickly began telling me personal things. The staff at Projects Abroad does a great job of providing welcoming support necessary to get adjusted to a new country. Also, the host families they assign volunteers are very loving, helpful, and caring of all of your needs. I can definitely say that Projects Abroad does a good job of making everyone feel at home. I would recommend Projects Abroad to anyone and especially in Argentina! Such a loving and welcoming place to be! I will most definitely be volunteering with Projects Abroad in the future!

Paid a LOT of money for something that i could have done myself in half the costs. The pictures of the rooms they have to offer are NOT the rooms they actually give you. I was put in an attic room during summer in Argentina with a small fan, a shit bed with bed bugs and a closet that floods when i rains. The other interns i know have a similiar experience. Bed bugs, no air conditioning, and even one guy moved himself to a hotel to get a decent nights sleep!

The value is not worth what you get and i recommend that you save your money and go somewhere else. They take a HUGE commission for an organiser who i have never seen as he is travelling the world on the money i spent to be here. DO NOT USE REAL GAP

My name is Danielle and I was a participant in the Mente Argentina Program this year. I wanted to write and express my pure satisfaction with the Mente program and its staff.

Mente Argentina provided me an experience which I will never be able to forget in this lifetime. I was able to work with teens that lived in the street; an opportunity which provided me insight into what it is I truly want to do for a career. I was also able to take part in seeing El Tigre (one of my new favorite places in the world) as well as make many friends from different regions of the world; Australia, Denmark, and Argentina just to name a few.

Mente Argentina staff completed my experience. I communicated with Kayla on a regular basis before my trip which gave me comfort that I would be taken care of while in a new country. I was then greeted by Patricia on my first day; she gave me a great amount of information that I found to be very helpful during my stay. I met David my first time at the office and he was very pleasant asking me about my trip and what I did back in the United States, plus he was always there if we had issues with our apartment. I also adored Jasper. She was very fun loving, professional, and had great enthusiasm. Lastly, I must give you my 100% recommendation for Andrea. She responded to my emails/calls in a timely fashion, was always pleasant, and truly had my best interest in mind. She was amazing!

I cannot give Mente Argentina program and MA staff enough thanks. I am forever changed by the opportunity which your program provided to me and I am happy to recommend it to others. Please keep up the good work!!

I absolutely loved my program with Road and I wouldn't change anything! I volunteered for 8 weeks and took Spanish at the same time for the first 4. If you have more time than I did, I would highly recommend starting with Spanish classes first and then volunteering. I studied Spanish in high school and college and I had a hard time at the beginning with the Spanish in Argentina. So I definitely recommend spending the time at the beginning to learn Spanish from Argentine teachers.
I adored my Spanish teachers, especially Yanina, and I wish I would have had the money to keep going with the classes. Volunteering was tough at the beginning and not exactly like I thought it would be. I feel like it took a while to get into the groove but once I felt more comfortable with the kids and my Spanish it was an experience I will never forget. I cried on the last day of volunteering when I had to say goodbye to the children.
About housing: I chose the road house and this ended up being the best option for me. I think some of the homestay people felt a bit isolated from the program (the residence people tended to move as one group) and I know a girl who did a shared apartment didn't get along very well with her roommates although I know other people loved their shared apartments. If you want to go out every night and experience that side of Argentina, you should definitely stay in the road house!
The best part of Road was definitely the people that work there. They seriously care about you and how you are doing and they are young and fun. I definitely recommend!!

When I first became interested in going abroad, Projects Abroad's website let me choose from dozens of locations and placements. As soon as I chose Argentina's Care and Spanish program an Argentinean Project's Abroad representative got in touch with me, answering all of my questions and concerns about my upcoming trip. On the plane on the way to my placement, I met up with other Project Abroad volunteers and when we landed, I was taken straight to my new home to meet the family I was staying with. They were incredibly kind and welcoming, even though there was a language barrier, I felt like I fit right in. The next day we had an introduction day with all of the volunteers. Projects Abroad showed us around the city, teaching us to use the bus system and find our way to the mall and banks and other places we would need to go, so that we could find them on our own when we would have free time. The next day we started Spanish lessons and our placements. At my placement, I worked in an orphanage with young kids who needed people to play with them when they came home from school. During my time there, I got so attached to those little kids, it was so hard to leave them at the end of my two weeks. It was so rewarding to work there, I did it for every smile and every laugh. Once we had the opportunity to take them to the arcade in the mall and McDonalds. They get so few outings like that, so they were all smiles that day.
I think what I was most surprised about during my trip was how much independence we had. Any time we weren't in Spanish class, in our placement, our at one of our social events, we could do anything we wanted, meet our friends at the mall downtown, go out to dinner, take a tango class. I loved this trip so much, I made amazing friends that I still keep in touch with, improved my Spanish, got an Argentinean family, and made fantastic memories. I would definitely recommend Projects Abroad to everyone.

Although this might sound cliche, my experience in Argentina has been amazing.
Through Mente Argentina, I had been able to delve into the rich argentine culture as well as meeting and forming lasting relationships not only with porteños and extranjeros but also with my classmates, housemates, and professors.
Mente provided and encouraged me to participate in activities and events that I could never have even thought of doing. My favorite events were La Bomba and the Tigre Excursion. I absolutely loved the mixture of contemporary and traditional music as well as the audience dancing along with the music! Also, Tigre was a great activity because I not only got to go sight seeing, but also spend time and speak with others who were sharing the same experiences.
Because the principal reason for going to Argentina was to study castellano, I went to the Spanish school five times a week and had the opportunity to study with students from a myriad of countries. Classes were amazingly fun especially because of the engaging professors and due to the variety of perspectives that students brought into the classroom.
Last but not least, the residency that I stayed in really helped me feel as if I were at home. My most favorite memories are when we would all help in making different latin american dishes and when everyone in the house would go out for a casual round of drinks at Sugar.
Honestly, every day was an adventure or filled with a surprise when I was with my new family.

I will really never forget the great memories and experiences that I have had in Argentina! Thank you very much Mente Argentina!!

Life changing experience

Change your thoughts and you will change your world. I would encourage anyone to study abroad especially in an intensive language program. I learned that education isn't only about books and recitation--it's about what you learn through hands-on experiences and communicating cross-culturally with others. Go out there and DO IT!

Hello, i'm Ben and i went to argentina this summer with Projects abroad. I was part of a "two week special" medicine program, but this company offers much longer trips as well. My program consisted of daily visits to different hospitals located in the city and in the suburbs of Cordoba; as well as spanish lessons in the afternoon. In the morning, we would be sent in small groups to hospitals in which we could follow doctors during their daily routines. We had the opportunity to shadow all different types of doctors as well as seeing surgeries. I experienced so many new and exciting things in the program.
I was very anxious about being alone in a completely new country before the program started, but once i got there i felt fine right away. The staff is very helpful and active, and they have been in touch with me the entire time. It was never an issue to contact someone if i had an question or a problem. I meet very nice people there as well, and made great friends. The program did a great job in balancing work and lessons with outings, activities and socials between the volunteers. during my stay we took part in bowling nights, a tango lesson, visits of the country and zip lining.
The spanish lessons were very helpful as well, and the immersion in a new country and culture really helped me improve my spanish as well as discover a different culture. Being in the program and living in a host family really enables you to get a feel of the Argentinian lifestyle and to experience the country in a completely different way that you would as a tourist.
Projects Abroad was very professional and provides a great overall experience. I strongly recommend this program to anyone interested in having this kind of experience.

I went to Cordoba, Argentina this past summer on a “two-week special” trip with Projects Abroad. More specifically it was a Care and Spanish trip, which means we volunteered with youth there in the afternoons while taking classes in the mornings. It was an absolutely amazing opportunity. I got to meet so many new people (people from all over the world came together to volunteer there), do so many new and fun things, experience a new culture, and volunteer my time for those less fortunate than myself. It was truly eye opening, as international travel always is.
Projects Abroad did a great job balancing education, experience, social events, and immersion. They orchestrated great “socials” which were nights where all of the volunteers met up to enjoy time together doing something specific to Argentina or the city itself. For our trip we got to have an asado, which is a sort of Argentine barbeque, and we took tango-dancing classes. The classes were also really helpful. There were teachers for all different levels of Spanish (for full immersion or just beginning) and they really care about developing the students’ ability to speak Spanish and speak it well.
I would definitely recommend this organization and country to anyone looking to do something of this sort. I did look into other companies before deciding on Projects Abroad, and though I can’t vouch for those companies, I can assure you Projects Abroad is professional, enjoyable, educational, and an all-around great experience. I don’t even have any complaints about the trip or organization! The only reason I gave the 8 stars for support was because it was a tad difficult getting in contact with the Projects Abroad office in Argentina (not because of them, but simply because of time-zone differences).
If you’re interested in seeing a little bit about the trip in video form, I’ve posted a video I put together to highlight some great parts of this country and trip. Check it out if you’d like!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhOk65XUI2E&feature=g-upl