Sol Education Abroad: Study Abroad in Argentina

Raul is the Director there and he welcomes you in as if you were family. Argentina is his home and he proudly shows you all the best spots. He even invited us into his home for New Years, during which we were able to see fireworks coming out of almost every yard in view! What a great experience. Plus being immersed helps your Spanish improve immensely.

Other things to note:
-My house mom was wonderful and we are still in touch 5 years later.
-The people I studied abroad with opened up my mind to the world and a few of us just reunited in Austin 5 years later!
-Beautiful country, amazing people, just an overall wonderful experience!

Living in Buenos Aires, Argentina was amazing! Incredible night life, and beautiful diverse parts of the city to explore during the day. I had an awesome host mom, who made the best dinners (gained about 10 pounds, but empanadas are worth it).
My program director, Rual, was not overly helpful. He always posted information last minute with sketchy details. He didn't help people find tutors when struggling in class. Overall disorganized and unhelpful. But Sol education abroad is awesome. Every time I called the office in Texas they took their time to answer me fully and ensure I was all set. The program also had a ton of cultural activities set up for us in Buenos Aires and excursions to great places around the country.

I had one of the greatest days of food, friends and fun in Buenos Aires while traveling with Sol Education Abroad. It started with a morning stroll to a café and a bus ride to school. After a couple classes a few friends and I made the short 15 minute walk to El Barrio Chino (Chinatown) of the Belgrano neighborhood. We spent hours checking out all the cool shops and finished it out with a nice big plate of fresh Chinese food that is some of the best I have ever had due to the high quality of argentine beef used.
Before returning home that day I had a short afternoon study session at a café. After a small dinner and some down time comes the best part of the day. A group of mixed American/Argentine friends got together to have an amazing steak dinner complete with empanadas, wine and sides to share for amazingly cheap, about $15 American per person. As night falls the city really comes alive.
Around 9-10 at night the restaurants start to fill up and all of the bars and clubs prepare themselves. In Argentina nightlife starts at 11 at the earliest. After the amazing dinner our group spent a couple hours chatting and drinking at a bar before heading to the dance club. In Buenos Aires it is customary for college aged people to stay out until the sun comes up which is exactly what we did.
I have never been so content in my whole life going to sleep the next morning around 7am. Still tasting the fantastic steak and exhausted from a night of dancing and laughing left me perfectly poised to drift off to the most restful sleep possible.

key points

The academics of this program were most definitely intensive, we covered more in a day than I would have in a month at school back home, the teachers were there to help, as long as you asked in spanish! :)
My program leader had all of us program his number into our phones immediately when we arrived, and could be at any place at any time if a student needed help. If there was a smaller issue a quick text away was a quick and helpful answer.
I LOVED! my homestay! I will admit at first I wanted my own place when I saw it was an option, I have everyone to thank for not letting me do that! My house mother was the nicest woman ive ever met and was there for me and my three roommates at any given time. Yes, that even means getting spoon fed chicken noodle soup on a sick day off school! The house was in a great location and incredibly comfortable. A home away from home.
I am the pickiest eater of them all, so a 5 star sounds impossible but the food blew my tastebuds away! the home meals, the resturants/local food, and yes even the school food. I never once went a day not feeling completely stuffed.
After living in any city for a month you start to feel integrated, I knew my way around subways and buses and the major neighborhoods of the city by the time I was done! No help necessary. The language barrier was the only reason I couldn't quite ever feel too welcomed. Besides that I now feel as I wouldnt mind living there as a local one day and I could talk about the culture for hours, as it is so different from my own.
One day I felt very sick, feverish and just too weak to get to school. Without even having to notify my housemother who spoke no english, she realized I was not well and kept me in bed all day giving me proper medications after asking if I was allergic to anything. We made the good call to wait until the end of the day to head to the doctor and lucky for me whatever I was given helped enough and I was good to go by the next day with no doctor needed, and my program director and parents were already notified of my illness before I even got the chance to do it myself.
I almost never felt unsafe. I had a safe wonderful trip but the only thing to watch out for was pickpocketers, a couple kids on the trip had items taken in common public places without noticing for a while.
They more than prepared me, the only thing they did not do was tell me how to not be so excited! Not a bad thing at all :)

My gap year daughter's Spanish markedly improved during her one-month class. She was in a very safe neighborhood, and her host, Teresa, was very gracious. There were lots of fun activities planned for the weekends to keep her occupied. Two days before she was due to come home, Calbuco erupted, and her flight on Delta was cancelled. I had to scramble to find her another flight, but was able to get her a flight on the same day she was supposed to leave on Aerolineas. I had great communication with Raul in Buenos Aires, who verified that the Aerolineas flight was leaving as scheduled, got her to the airport safely, and even helped get her packed-to-the-gills suitcase closed.

I enjoyed my time in Buenos Aires. On arriving, I was met by Raul and escorted to my homestay. Most of the problems arose from things not controlled by Sol, they really did try their best. Would do again.

I spent an incredible semester studying abroad in Buenos Aires through SOL Education Abroad. My time abroad was certainly the greatest adventure of my life thus far and I know that SOL played a huge role in shaping such a positive, life-changing experience. Not only is SOL the most cost-effective program that offers the most cultural activities, it also provides fantastic personal attention and care that you can't get with any other group. The director Raul is truly one of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He really cares about all of the students, provides constant support, and ensures that your time in Buenos Aires will be very special. I promise that you will love your time in Argentina with SOL- I could not recommend this program more whole heartedly! Truly the best experience of my life thus far.

While my daughter was studying in B.A. I had the opportunity to visit her there and had a wonderful time. I was able to meet her adviser, Raul, and host Mom, as well as some of her classmates / friends. It was wonderful for me to see her using her Spanish language first hand. She was not only my interpreter, but my financial adviser for this trip as I have no Spanish training or knowledge of Paso use. I would recommend it for other parents as this will give you something in common to remember as they grow and move on in life, that experience / connection you will have is priceless.
I also had good communication with SOL itself as any time I called the main office I was welcomed to talk / ask questions without feeling rushed.
All of the staff were wonderful to deal with and compassionate (to me) for having a student leave home for this type of adventure (for the first time)......
Thanks for understanding it from a parents point of view.