Today we made our first trip to Austral University, Pilar campus. First we had two different lectures that were both about Austral and some of the history behind the teaching hospital and how it runs. In our third lecture we learned more about Austral’s business model and their aims for improvement. During the day we also ate in one of the school’s cafeteria’s and then took a walk around the Pilar campus.

        Throughout the day I observed some similarities and differences between Austral and The University of Pittsburgh. For one, the cafeteria was very different than our dining halls. It was more of a traditional style versus buffet where you are given 2-3 options of a main meal that is then handed to you, and you are able to pick out a fruit, drink, and desert yourself. I also observed that it really is true, empanadas are everywhere! It is similar to our dining in the way that you are not only restricted to one option, but different because of the serving style. It was very apparent that it was a university as you could see students everywhere with notebooks open studying together like you would on Pitt’s campus. Overall, the school is much smaller than Pitt’s and it seems like everyone is very familiar with each other, kind of similar to how it seems in Sennott Square. Our campus has a much more city feel whereas Austral feels more closed off and private. Although Pitt is surrounded by UPMC, the school isn’t nearly as affiliated with their medical program as the University at Austral seems to be.

Another thing that I noticed is how much of a bigger deal it is to have a university such as Austral in Argentina whereas in the US it would appear completely normal to have a large university. Factors for this are mainly Argentina’s economy fluctuations and how difficult these fluctuations can make it to build and establish new institutions. It was explained to us by a member of the Austral staff that something as simple as making more sidewalks in the parks we walked through can take a very long time. The price of a project is much more expensive in the end than in the beginning, so having enough money for it in the beginning doesn’t mean that there is enough for the end price. As time goes on, the value of the Argentine peso decreases even more, causing projects to have to pause and gather more funds so that they are able to finish it. This is very different from Pitt; just recently they very quickly made a new crosswalk on Forbes in front of the quad and David Lawrence. It made me realize that we are privileged to have such a relatively stable economy compared to other parts of the world like Argentina.