Adelante lied to us about most parts of the program. For example, they listed that the local program director was fluent in English. He is maybe an intermediate speaker. There is a beginner Spanish participant here and she can't ask a simple question about a heater. In addition, they insured us that we had several activities included in our tuition, but we only have 2 activities and any other we would like to do require an additional fee. These are only two things of many that we signed a contract for that is simply not true.
It gets worse. The headquarters in California e-mailed us to see how we were doing. I finally e-mailed a reply a week late saying very concisely of my distresses. The e-mail I received in reply was an eight-paragraph essay (as opposed to my one-paragraph e-mail) that was extremely defensive, but most importantly very condescending and rude. It was VERY unprofessional. I was flabbergasted. Kendall and Jasmine have sent similar e-mails. They have received similar responses. I wrote back yesterday copying and pasting examples of their blatant lies. It is too the point that Ryan's mom is looking at the law aspects of the situation. I just got done making revisions to their pre-orientation packet to send back to them. It has been a terrible situation. For future reference,
Do not use Adelante under any circumstances. I would recommend the
school here any day, but not Adelante.
Other than that, we have two new students from the states, Paul and Ian, who are nice guys. They are both around my age. It's kind of strange to see guys studying abroad. When I was in Italy it was mostly girls as well. This is the last week of our classes! I met my internship director yesterday. They are mostly a magazing publisher it seems and work is only 2 blocks away from where I live. I will be working 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. I enjoy the school, but I think I will learn a great deal of Spanish working and using it. Wish me luck!
1 comment:
I never trust those study abroad services. When I studied in Germany and Italy, on both occasions I contacted the schools directly to enroll. It was more difficult but saved money and headaches.
There are a couple weekly meetings in UY for expats. One on Thursdays and the other on Sundays.
Check these great UY specific forums for more information:
http://www.uruguaydreaming.com/
http://www.sociedadsouthron.net/forums/
Best of luck with your internship. I look forward to hearing how it progresses.
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