I wanted to get away from Wellington for a while. Having lived in the region my whole life, I’d started to feel that—at least for the time being—it just wasn’t quite doing it for me. Still having time left in my studies, exchange was the perfect option. I knew I wanted to go somewhere different to Aotearoa. A Mexican friend was staying at my flat at the time, and she suggested the Mexican university, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec). Five months of getting to know Mexico and many great international friends later, I’m sure I had a pretty darn good time.

Living with a host family while on exchange

Following three flights and a bus ride, I arrived in the chaotic Terminal de Autobuses Querétaro, barely speaking a word of Spanish. All I knew was I was meeting my new host-mother at this bus station. I wasn’t sure exactly where to meet her and had no sim card in my phone to contact her with. After several minutes she appeared. Moments like this, early on, were some of the strangest and scariest, being in a brand-new place and not knowing the language and all.

I lived very near the historical centre of the city of Santiago de Querétaro. Historical centres are commonplace in Mexican cities, boasting beautiful Spanish architecture, art galleries, museums, and some of the best restaurants in town. The one in Querétaro is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

If you are interested in getting to know the local culture, what it’s like to live with a local family, and especially if you are interested in learning the local language, I would absolutely recommend choosing to live with a host-family should the option be available to you. Throughout my exchange I was able to learn a lot of Spanish, speaking about basic things with my host-family every day. Through this, as well as taking a bit of my own time every day to learn vocabulary online, I was able to gain a great foothold on the basics of the language, and I can now more or less navigate the day-to-day in a Spanish-speaking country without problem. Whilst living with other exchange students looked like fun, most just spoke their mother-tongue or English most of the time, and it would have been far more difficult to learn Spanish.

Campus life, travel, and new experiences

Arriving at your host-university you are put in a position where it's super easy to meet new people from all over the world. In my case, as I’m sure is the case for most exchanges, there are many orientation events, and everyone is more or less in the same boat. My international relations classes at Tec were really great—interactive, lots of group work, and a friendly, caring and funny professor. I was able to take a trip to Colombia with my class as well—a highlight of my exchange.

The week-long Spring break provided a great opportunity to travel the country with friends. The southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas are musts—Oaxaca with its vibrant local gastronomy (try tamales and tlayudas) and the beautiful beach town of Puerto Escondido (not too touristy), and Chiapas with its breathtaking natural beauty, boasting kilometer-high cliffs, rainforest, rivers, monkeys, crocodiles, bats, Mayan pyramids, and the magical village of San Cristóbal de las Casas. There was much to see around Querétaro too, so plenty to do on weekends —see a Mexican wrestling match, go partying, visit Querétaro’s amazing Sierra Gorda, hop over to the insanely huge Mexico City, and the equally insane pyramids of the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan.

An unforgettable experience

Exchange was a great way to ease into living in a new country. It is reassuring to have the support of both your home- and host-university should you ever need anything. Studying overseas provides a structure for your day-to-day, while still leaving plenty of time to explore your host-country and the countries nearby. You aren’t just thrown into a brand-new place and culture, given that you have many other exchange students around—you can learn about your host-country together. 10/10, would recommend.