By Jennifer Moore
January 31, 2005

	Iraís Molina, right, jumps out of a University of Georgia pasture Monday, while Saraí Hernandez, left, and Felipe Gutiérrez look for a cleaner way out of the muck. The three Mexican university students are part of an exchange program at UGA and were at the farm to see K.C., a cloned cow, and her calf, Sunshine.

University of Georgia students regularly study in foreign countries as part of their collegiate experience. Now, some students from the Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, Mexico, have the chance to study at UGA. The Mexican university has hosted UGA students and faculty for nearly 10 years in international study-abroad programs, but this is the first time Veracruzana students have studied in Athens.

The group includes 10 students and five professors, who will practice their English skills, research in UGA libraries and learn about American culture during their 19-day stay.

Monday, they visited the university's Animal and Dairy Science Complex and farm, where they learned first-hand about American meat-packing procedures and livestock cloning. It was a unique event for most of the students, whose majors range from economics to linguistics. But it was part of an overall experience that has shown the students the differences between Mexican and American universities and students.

This is the first time journalism student Felipe Gutiérrez has visited the United States, and he said he has noticed how much more fast-paced life is at UGA. Students are "running all the time," he said, and concerned with being punctual, while time is a little more fluid in his native country. "In Mexico, we are more quiet and calm," he said, but Americans are surprisingly friendly and easy to talk to.

During the trip, the students are living in College Park, an apartment complex on Riverbend Road. The accommodations have taught Gutiérrez to be adaptable. "It is a challenge to try to live with people that I have never met before," he said.

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	• U.S. Studies Program for Mexican Students from the Universidad Veracruzana

Jocelyn Ramirez, who has visited the U.S. numerous times, agreed the experience is unique. Living in the apartment, eating in the dining halls and meeting university students and faculty are quite different than a normal vacation, she said.

How American students live is one of the major things the students will learn on the trip, said program coordinator Rosben Olivera. Students have visited an elementary school, which showed them how different the American school system is, Olivera said. They also met with Mexican immigrants at the Oasis Católico Tutoring Program, which Olivera said they found very enriching.

As part of the program, the students will conduct research, attend English classes and hear lectures from various faculty members. The students are hosted by UGA's Office of Public Service and Outreach.