So as I previously mentioned, our ticket out of Buenos Aires for our spring break, aside from hundreds of pesos for 22-hour bus rides, was taking our midterms. I was "lucky" and only had three midterms; a Spanish test, a Cultural Icons take-home essay, and my Arte Argentino test at Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, one of the two Argentine universities I am currently taking classes at. The classes I am taking here translate as "Pass/Fail" back at GW, so as long as I pass the class I get credit for it in some fashion. However, the question now is what defines "passing."
I'm not saying that I've completely thrown all attempts of an education out the window while living here. In fact, I'm quite enjoying some of my courses. "Íconos Culturales como mercancías globales" is essentially a combination of Argentine history and Sociology. We're studying the most important figures and traditions of Argentina that make up the state's national identity, such as the image of the "gaucho" or Argentine cowboy, tango, Evita/Eva Perón, etc. While I find the readings fascinating (and also difficult as they are all in Spanish), the class itself only meets once a week for 3 hours straight, which is brutal under any circumstances. My Spanish class is sometimes an excellent use of two hours when we review colloquial phrases or elements of Argentine culture, but rather a bore when spent reviewing where to place accent marks. Both of these classes are through my study abroad program, so I suppose I can't expect too much variation in class from the teachers.
My tango class, which I am taking at Instituto Universitario Nacional del Arte, has been cancelled for the past month due to strikes. Unlike UMSA, IUNA is a public university, and the public universities here are notorious for constantly going on strike. When I asked a fellow tango student during our first resumed class why there had been strikes, she told me "all the strikes go back to money." The public schools in Argentina have very limited funding, as evident from the quality of the buildings the schools are housed in. Despite the fact that many students and professors are protesting against the state and the schools it provides, they continue to hold classes in parks or on the sidewalks outside of the buildings. To me, it proves how dedicated the students in Buenos Aires are to their education, that they will both fight for better conditions while at the same time continuing their rigorous studies.
And when I say rigorous, I mean it. The art history class I am taking at UMSA is HORRIFYING. I accredit my terror to the speed at which our professor speaks, the amount of prior knowledge our fellow students have regarding the subject, and the lack of handicap that we as international students receive in the classroom. The expectations the school and professor have for us are exactly the same as for the Argentine students. While it is refreshing to not be treated as a completely incompetent Spanish speaker, it is also a huge blow to what I thought was my fairly solid grip on the language.
For a little background information, the Argentine education system is quite different from the U.S. version. Students attend primary school until they are about 11 or 12, then move on to secondary school, which is essentially middle and high school. After about their third year, students must chose a "track" of classes to follow for the rest of their time in secondary school. Each track is specific to a certain area of studies, such as "computers," "architecture," "graphic arts," etc. Essentially students here chose their major when they are 15 years old. After they graduate from secondary school, they continue on to university, which is usually still in the same city they went to primary and secondary school in, as they will continue to live with their parents throughout their time at university, and well after. The concept of a "college campus" is an absolutely delicious idea to the 14 and 15 year olds I work with when I volunteer in English classrooms at one of these secondary schools for my English Teaching Internship - a life without their parents seems so foreign, and this is why all the college-themed US movies they see are even more ridiculous than they appear to us.
Anyways, despite feeling quite inadequate in the university, I was reassured somewhat when I received my midterm grade - a wonderful, fabulous, outstanding FIVE. No, that's not a 5 out of 100. And no, that's also not a 5 out of 5. That's a 5 out of 10, which is the standard grading scale in Argentine schools, meaning it's a passing grade, but not outstanding. Personally, I think what constitutes a "good grade" varies from university to university, but I have heard that anywhere from a 7 to a 5 as being the "average" grade, and that very very rarely do students receive an 8, even more rarely a 9, and never a 10. Moreover, having heard from fellow IES students who are taking classes at Argentine universities, I am one of a handful to have passed, so I have to be thankful for that at least. The question now is whether or not a passing grade in Argentine standards will also count as a passing grade when transferred back to GW...
But I can't be too preoccupied by this thought right now, as all I can think about is that Cory and Dennis will be visiting in a week!
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