Study program: International Business Administration (IBA) ​ Exchange semester: Spring Semester (Peru) ​ Fall Academic year: 2018-2019 ​ Host University: Universidad del Pacífico ​ Country: Peru ​ I. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL The university I spent one semester abroad is called Universidad del Pacifico, also known as UP in Lima. The university is relatively small and there are about 200 exchange students every semester. The university is located in the district of Jesus Maria, a residential district for middle class peruvians located next to the districts of Miraflores, San Isidro and Lince. UP is a relatively new university with a modern look to it, also it is a very prestigious one. As you will see this is an university solely for the upper class of Lima. There are security guards anywhere and it is impossible to access university without proper identification of your student card. The campus is basically a small outdoor square in the middle of the building where students sell and promote things during the day. There are multiple buildings in which you might find yourself, to eat or to study. Every building has a restaurant where you can eat ‘relatively’ cheap for around €2/3 during the morning, afternoon or evening. Especially the salad bar in the business building is recommended for their huge portions and rooftop view of the city. The main difference between Tilburg and Lima is that in Lima attendance in classes is ​ ‘mandatory’. In other words, your participation grade will sometimes count for as much as 50% ​ or your final grade. You can miss some classes, but make sure to be there most of the time because it's an easy way to pass your course. II. Since university in Peru is not challenging compared to what we are used to in Tilburg, you will find yourself with lots of time to enjoy the city of Lima. Especially if you can manage to cram your courses in a couple days (which i recommend) you will have more opportunities to make little travels of 3 or 4 days outside of Lima. However also in Lima there is a lot to do. The city of Lima houses 11 million people and it is massive. The traffic is a complete nightmare with traffic jams literally any hour of the day, therefore I strongly recommend to live at walking distance of university in order to avoid spending hours every morning in public transport. Even though my courses started at 11:30 the earliest, it is also possible to have courses that start at 7:30AM. The most popular districts are Miraflores and Barranco. In Miraflores you can find most of the tourist and its located on the coast. Here you can surf, get good food, party or just walk along the long park which is on top of the cliffs. Barranco is the more artsy area where you can find lots of graffiti, nice seafood restaurants and colonial architecture. Also here you can walk down to the beach and catch some waves after or before class. You can rent equipment at one of the local surf shops which will cost you only €5 for the whole day. Furthermore, there are lots of musea, bars, monuments, etc. to visit in Lima. The city is so huge, after half a year I barely scratched the surface of what there is to see. II. PRACTICAL INFORMATION Information before you left The first information I received from UP was in June. This includes information on course selection and Visa application and procedure. Don’t rely on the university to guide you step by step. Make sure to already have your courses ready so you can enroll for them as soon as it opens, because there are only around 30 spots per class available. I got some information so late that I was already travelling before I could enroll. Luckily everybody gets assigned a local ‘buddy’ which is a Peruvian student that helps you and basically becomes your friend/guide and mentor for your time in Lima. In my case she enrolled me for all the courses I had chosen because at the opening of enrollment I was in Colombia without WiFi. Visa procedure This is a tricky part since you don’t need a student VISA to enter Peru. I told customs I was a ‘tourist’ so I now have 10 stamps of entering and leaving Peru. Don’t do this because I have had major troubles with this at international borders. However for me it was the only solution because the VISA application is so slow, by the time I could pick up my VISA at the embassy in Amsterdam I had already landed in Peru. What I recommend is to just enter the country as a tourist, then go to the International Relations office at UP and ask for a student VISA. You give them your passport and 1 week later you have a tourist VISA (FOR FREE!). During your time at UP you will also receive many emails about that, so you won't miss it. Orientation/Introduction activities There was an official introduction/welcome week organised by BBUP with is the budy team of UP. First of all you get to meet all your buddies, get a welcome by the dean and get an emergency explanation in terms of safety earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. This is the first week of August. You will be put in a groups whatsapp with all the buddies who organize massive parties and take you to clubs on a daily basis. Somebody opens up their house for pre-drinks and afterwards you all go out. Also you go on activities like; sightseeing of the city, ceviche cooking class and surfing lessons. This is a great way to get to know people and in the end the group of buddies and exchange students was incredibly close. Also during the year the travel faculty of the BBUP group organizes multiple trips (which are cheap) to diverse locations in Peru from trekking in the mountain to partying at the beaches and surfing. All in all there is a lot of support for incoming exchange students and everybody gets taken care of and included in what's going on. Housing During my stay in Lima I have lived in 3 locations. The first house I arrived was ‘casa Yllika’ which is a house of 14 exchange students that all study at UP. It was a great place to get to know people for your first months. The owner arranged that somebody picked me up from the airport and drove me to the house (the second and third time she forgot to call a taxi and left me stranded). After living there for 2 months, me and 2 other roommates of Casa Yllika moved to an apartment next to university. It had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 private terraces a huge swimming pool and a gym. The reason for moving was that for me personally 14 people was just too crowded for a small house with a small room. If you live in Peru longer and you speak Spanish you get to meet people and later on can make some good deals. Because for the apartment I paid just as much as for the very small room in Casa Yllika. Expect to pay around $300-400 a month for an apartment a month. For Peruvian standard this is very very expensive, but as you live in the capital it is decent. Furthermore, if you live in the high end districts of San Isidro and Miraflores expect to pay a couple hundred a month more. Living Costs As mentioned in the section above the monthly rent is usually about $300-400. I did not receive a grant from tilburg university or any financial aid whatsoever because I had problems with the enrollment at UvT. For me the average cost per month is probably around $1000-$1500, also because I went travelling nearly every other week. In Lima eating out is cheap (like cheaper than to buy the products and cook) so expect to eat out every day at least once. My preferred place is Chifa, which is classical Chinese/Peruvian cuisine. You eat a 3 course meal for €2. This will save you money in the long-term. I financed my exchange from my student loan which I have put on maximum since the moment I started university. I did this so I would have enough money to travel during my Exchange. You will spend a lot of money on transport. The busses are cheap so its negligible however, in my case, I ended up sometimes taking 5 to 10 Uber’s or street taxis a day going to various places in Lima. With every half an hour ride costing €3 it will add up in the end. Books are not used at UP so you will have no cost from the university itself, in fact I did not even have to buy a pen during the semester so spend literally nothing on university expenses. Academic Calendar The academic calendar, holidays and other events can be found here: http://www.up.edu.pe/en/international/study-at-up/student-exchange-programs/SiteAssets/Pagin as/requirements-costs/Calendario%20Acad%C3%A9mico%202018%20-%20Ingl%C3%A9s.pdf The International Office Yes, there is an International Relations Office which helps incoming students and regularly sends messages to you via email. Also it is responsible for all the events that are organised at university. There is someone in charge of the office but apparently the job is so demanding that everybody quits after 2 months so I have seen 3 persons so far.