My Home-Stay Experience: From Terrified to Incredibly Grateful
At First, I Was Nervous About Being Assigned a Home Stay
Ringing the doorbell on my rainy first day in Buenos Aires, I was terrified to meet my host mom. We’d exchanged one email each, and from her minimal response to my cheery introduction and extensive questions, I thought she was going to be terrible, cold, and unfriendly.
In the End I Came to Love it
Ultimately, the relationship Marta and I built slowly over the semester is the relationship I will most treasure from my experience abroad. Her calm, honest, no-nonsense demeanor eventually felt nurturing and supportive for
How IFSA Helped
Part of what made this home stay experience, in contrast to my au pair experience, so excellent was the way IFSA sets up the host family relationship. You fill out a questionnaire with living preferences so they can find a good match. The families are all screened by program staff in person to ensure some basic things (example: are they comfortable hosting a queer student?). Many families have hosted students in the past and received good reviews.