Type of housing: With a family

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why? For the first time in the country this is better to live with a family as it is able to give you some information regarding culture and support in critical moments. My housing was perfect as I was leaving in a family house but separatly with others foreigners.So it maintained my independence but I could ask for help sometimes. That was a good balance. If I go back I would choose to live in a apartment but with roomates.

Personal comments:
The conditions of payment are constraining as you have to pay cash on the first days or before arriving. This type of housing requiere a lot of forms and other documents.That is a bad to pass and then you are free. Caution there is a contract so you can't leave the housing program when you want to!

Describe host city: Student life dominates the city

Activities: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal comments:
Downtown Mazatlan, the Altazor Café: cool place to relax, to get a coffee or a beer, the service is good and they have good music. Not to be missed: Bora Bora! It's THE club in Mazatlan, but it's expensive, so it's for once in a while. Isla de la Piedra is close, and it's a good beach with not that many tourism. You have to get there by boat. Of course, there is a lot to see in Mexico. It was my first exchange, but the second, in Taxco is much more typical, more "mexican". Guanajuato, San Miguel, Oaxaca, Cuernavaca, Durango, Tequila, Guadalajara, Isla Mujeres, Tulum, Chichen Itza Puerto Escondido are some of the places you can't miss. Even Guatemala is not too far and the "Lago de Atitlan" is beautiful.

Course recommendations:
This universtity is said as one of the best university in Latin America. It is famous of plenty of homeworks, which as a student studying for a double degree program, I tasted the bitter part. And moreover, the courses could be more diverse.

Personal comments:
I have been here almost 10 months. I have done almost 64 exams, (excluding some suprising exams), around 20 presentations,more than one hunderd homeworks. I do understand that homework and exam are the key for students to solid their new-learned knowedge. However, maybe it would be better that students got time to concentrate on mastering less topic than just doing homeworks for finishing homeworks, doing exmas just for passing exams. Nevertheless, I have to admite that I study rather more courses than that of average students.

Language of instruction: Spanish

Main source of funding:
Government assistance

Other sources of funding:
Personal savings

Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits:
The thing is that, at that time, I was living with my parents, so I didn't have much expenses. But, of course Mexico is cheaper than Canada. If you find your own place to stay, shop at the good places and market, it is cheaper than most places: but you can easily go out every night and spend all the money you had in a month if you're not careful.

Travel, Nightlife: was more expensive than at home.

Overall: was the same price as at home.

Food, Telephone, Housing: was less expensive than at home.

I wish I had known...
That the school was at 40 minutes by bus from town. (Campus Mazatlan) No big deal, but always good to know.

In my opinion:
Most people loved it.