Universidad de las Americas - Puebla

Mexico is a great country full of so many contrasts. Puebla has a large Spanish influence so it is beautiful architecturally and quite conservative. The university is in Cholula, which is close to Puebla. It is a small town dominated by the university. It has a lost of history and culture as well. Beware of Moctezuma's Revenge, it is not fun (especially when you have to spend a day with a drip in your arm for rehydration) Cultural differences are huge and the longer your stay the more you realise there is so much more to learn. ie put your loo paper in the bin not the toilet, being a vegetarian is pretty hard- specify every possible type of flesh you do not want in your meal when you order ie I want a meal without pork without beef without chicken without fish, or the juice of any of these..., when you are told manana expect whatever to happen later not nescessarily tomorrow, and 8pm usually means 10pm if you want to meet people. Most of all ENJOY and do not get to phased by everything, the culture is different but brilliant and colourful.

Allow yourself at least a few months after your courses end to travel further afield in Mexico as it's a massive country. Try to make it to Guatemala if you can as it's like Mexico in a lot of ways, but cheaper and less touristy.

I can't recomend UDLA and Mexico highly enough. Only one negative, be very careful indeed in Mexico City. Places to visit, Monte Alban which is just outside Oaxaca was the best, Teotihucan, Palenque, snorkeling/ scuba diving in Cozumel, the Cervatinos festival in Guanajuato was one of the best weekends in my life, Puerto Escondido, the view at the top of Tore Latinoamerica in Mexico City, the Canon del Sumidero to name a few.

There's lots of help available to international students; I think UDLA is a good university to choose if you have never been abroad for an extended period before. However, it is claustrophobic - with its amazing grounds and facilities UDLA doesn't give you a real idea of what Mexico, or even Puebla, is like. I would recommend doing some travelling at weekends and trying to make as many Mexican friends as possible, if you want to get the most out of your time in this fantastic country.

Travel as much as you can. There are far to many things to see but the travel guide from Lonely Planet is very helpful for individual trips. In addition there is a travy agency on campus and during the semester several trips can be book through the uni. So you don´t have to take care of hotel reservations, tour guide, etc..