Study Report: Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Eoin Cooke
Study Programme
As a student of European Languages and Cultures, I attended BUAP’s Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. The courses that I took were from the faculty’s Lingüística y Literatura degree programme. Due to confusion over credit equivalence, I started with six courses but ended up with three from BUAP as well as RUG’s online one.
The courses I continued with were Lexicología, Gramática Historica and Terminología.
Finding appropriate courses was a bit of a struggle. You have to remember that the three courses taken as part of your profile at RUG mightn’t necessarily be enough to keep up with students in their third or fourth year of a linguistics/literature/politics- specific degree. Additionally, the teachers will have a big impact on how you cope with your courses. For example, the teacher of a course I dropped proudly stated that students “always fail my courses” on the first day. Others were more
approachable and provided support for non-native students.
I would advise students who are used to RUG’s system to be prepared for quite a different attitude in BUAP. There is no online platform like Nestor, so the amount of communication will depend entirely on the teacher in question. Some will send regular emails to a class list and others will be quite difficult to contact. The apparent lack of organisation and structure can be disorientating at first, but you get used to it after a few weeks.
Language
Mexican Spanish is one of the nicest and easiest-to-understand varieties. As you will find in every Hispanic country, some people will speak at an incomprehensible speed. There is also a considerable amount of slang but while this might limit your comprehension of overheard conversations on the street, it won’t have any impact on your studies or interactions with students or professors.
Finance
The cost of living is lower in Mexico than in most European countries, but you will pay for things you might take for granted in Europe. Paying for transport (you’ll probably take a lot of taxis), gas cylinders and bottled water adds up, but you’ll still spend less than you would in Europe. Large supermarket chains are
disproportionately expensive - you’re better off eating from markets, small grocery shops, street vendors and in restaurants.
Preparation
Contacting the correct people from the university before you arrive can be difficult. It seems that there are quite frequent changes of staff and that their website isn’t always up to date. Once you are there and you know where the offices are and the
functions of the various buildings it becomes much easier. As with the teachers mentioned above, the possibility of contact with university staff varies greatly depending on the individual.
Housing
I found my place through a RUG student who had previously studied at BUAP. If you study near the centre, you will probably have to get a similar sort of place. A lot of the housing opportunities in this area involve living with the property’s owner, and his/her family. However, if you study in a faculty nearer to Cholula there are several large houses aimed at international students that you can find via siseñor.com.
Culture
Food, music and family play central roles in Mexican culture. Mexican people are very proud of their food and eager to get you to try it. It’s usually delicious but not everything will agree with you, especially at the beginning. Make sure to bring medication (imodium, oral rehydration tablets, vitamins etc.). Almost every weekend in Mexico involves some sort of festival or celebration, where it’s something local or national. Being there for the first academic semester will allow you to experience both Independence Day and Día de los Muertos.
Free Time
Depending on how many courses you take, your free time can range from almost nothing to what you might have experienced in RUG. Most courses are held on either a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday basis, so there’s a good chance you’ll have a three-day weekend. There will always be assignments and
recommended reading but, assuming you have a manageable number of courses, structuring your week will allow you time to do some of the things mentioned in the previous and following sections.
Travelling
Puebla is a good base from which you can visit several different cities. Mexico City, various beaches, the mountains of Toluca, the valleys of Guanajuato and the memorable city of Oaxaca can all be reached by travelling for five or fewer hours.
Starting and finishing much earlier than European universities will give you an opportunity to explore some of these before you return.
Other
There were two earthquakes during my exchange, the second of which had its epicentre in the state of Puebla. This had not been a common occurrence during the last thirty years but two in eleven days means that it is something to take into
consideration. Like all places, the city of Puebla has its good and bad spots but both my faculty and house were close to the centre and in my experience this area
seemed relatively safe. If you have any questions, feel free to get in contact with me via eoincooke91@gmail.com.
