Angela Ugorets's Internship Experience in Buenos Aires

I volunteered at a hospital here at Hospital de Clínicas, and I worked in pediatrics, and I played with kids and helped them with any other needs, or their parents. I had a really great supervisor who helped answer any questions I had, but while I was there I also got to interview a lot of parents, kids, doctors, nurses, and learn about the healthcare system here, which was really interesting to compare it to the United States, because their healthcare systems are really different. So that really helped me get a more worldly view of how medicine is practiced in other countries, and I'm applying to medical school, so that really helped me for my interviews and writing, because I have all this great experience of what the healthcare system is like here and how hospitals function and the pros and cons of the two systems. I really enjoyed being in Buenos Aires. There are a lot of fun things to do for people my age, a lot of great nightlife. There's bars and clubs, but there's also nice restaurants. There's a lot of great touristy spots. I really recommend going to the Recoleta Cemetery and the San Telmo Market, which is on Sundays. If you get a chance, go to Uruguay. It's really close by, really cheap. There's a lot of cool things you can see there, so it's cool to get another stamp on your passport. Try to go to the interior of Argentina so you can see gaucho life and riding horses. Go see a polo game. See a soccer game, or at least tour the soccer stadium. That was really cool. It's really big here. The food here is amazing. Try everything new, because it's all really good. All the pastries, called facturas, they're really cheap. I highly recommend it. Also the parrillas with all the different kinds of meats, and they're really cheap and so delicious. You can't get anything like that in the United States. I went to a great restaurant called Siga la Vaca in Puerto Madero. You should definitely go there and check it out. All you can eat meat and salad and wine. It's great wine here too. Try all the different kinds, because it's really cheap and made local in Argentina. Mente Argentina did a great job of organizing events so I could meet other participants, which really changed my program, because even when we weren't at Mente events, I still hung out with the friends I made there. If you get the chance, go with Mente Argentina to Spanglish. It's a great chance to meet locals. You speak for five minutes in Spanish and five minutes in English, and then you switch tables and meet new people. It was a great way to not only meet locals but also I met English speakers from around the world. If you get the chance to meet locals and hang out with them again, I highly recommend that. They're really cool. They could show you the best parts of town. But you make a lot of great friends through Mente Argentina too that you can hang out with. The best part of Mente was the people I met through it, both the participants and the staff. They're really supportive. They're there whenever you need them. If you need help organizing a trip that isn't on the calendar, just let them know and they'll help you do it. If you get the chance, go on the graffiti tour. You learn so much about the street art scene of Buenos Aires, and it gives you a whole new appreciation of street art and graffiti, and Mente helps organize all that for you, so it's free, and it is an excellent tour, probably one of my favorites here. And then my Spanish improved. I definitely picked up more of the local slang and the pronunciation that they use here, which is different from other countries of South America. But I do wish I took a Spanish class, because I think that a lot of Argentinians know English and they prefer to speak to me in English when they hear I'm an English speaker, because they like to get their practice too. So I don't think I got as much exposure to it as I thought I would, so maybe taking a Spanish class would have helped me. But I still think I improved, and a lot of people complimented me that my Spanish was pretty good. So that made me feel good. I should say about my roommates. I lived in a shared apartment, and it was a great idea. I have amazing roommates from all around the world, all over Europe. It has been a great way to make friends. And my apartment was really nice, and I lived near other Mente participants, so we could meet up to go out beforehand. And it was a great meeting spot for all of us, especially some students who were living with a host family, so they didn't want to invite people there. So it was really great to have a shared apartment. I had the freedom to invite some friends over here, and it was a great location. The owner of the apartment was really nice. If I have advice for incoming Mente participants: every day do something new, do something exciting. If it's raining, go to a museum. Go to the horse racing track. Try something new. Don't stay in, because you're in Buenos Aires and you want to experience and enjoy an amazing new city.