Corrientes - Education and Overview

by Kelly Talbert

At the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste

April 30 - I met the Rector (our version of the President) of the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Oscar Vicente Valdes (photo), as well as the Secretary General (basically, the second in command), Orlando Maccio.

We discussed that perhaps our meeting might be a first small step to a goodwill agreement in which their institution would be able to host a University of Oregon student for an exchange, with housing and meals paid. UNNE has 70 undergraduate programs, so it's quite comprehensive. I'm not in a position to make such promises on behalf of the University, but I will certainly take this message home to the appropriate parties.

Additionally, my host Hector has mentioned the possibility that I will meet with a small group of prospective international students, who are adept in English and are considering going abroad for undergraduate degrees. Let's see if I can sway any of them to be Ducks, ha ha....

In Santo Tome (our next stop), I hope to meet with some administrators at the private university. Because public universities are free in Argentina, the act of "recruitment" is not the same. However, a private university would certainly handle things differently, since they charge tuition, so I'll be interested to see what that looks like. This private university also has a good mix of Argentine and Brazilian students, since we are so close to the border with Brazil (today at lunch I could see Brazil on the other side of the river, in fact!). I am learning so much so far, it has been amazing.

We are in our second week in Corrientes, I have been continually impressed with the hospitality and organization required to carry out activities, housing, meals, etc. for our group of ladies!

In Corrientes, I stayed with Hector Azeves, president of the Rotary Club Corrientes (and former GSE team leader), and his wonderful family.

Hector and Claudia Azeves

Corrientes is not only the capital of the state, but it plays an important role in the commercial trade on the Parana River (which is huge!), and was strategically located as a battleground for independence against Spain the 19th century.

It's a bustling little city, and it was enlightening to hear how economic and political diffulties have affected basic services...for instance, the police have been on strike for the last two weeks there, and they periodically shut down the critical bridge between Corrientes and its neighbor city, Resistencia, as a sign of protest against their low wages.

Despite all that, the Rotarians have such a love of life and were eager to entertain us with local chamame music and dance, teach us tango and how to make a local snack called chipa. I was quite nervous to do my first presentation, but I think we all did really well and everyone was very forgiving of any grammatical errors I made!

More to come later....