"Cuerna Host Fam As" wrote in message
news:4ae903ca.0309190946.7d274ae4@posting.google.com...
> We are looking for people that have had a homestay arranged
> by any Spanish school in Cuernavaca, Mexico or anywhere in
> Latin America and think that the system of paying room and
> board to the school and not directly to the family is unfair.
What part of the arrangement seems unfair to you? It seems to me that both
renting directly to a tenant and renting through a school have their
advantages. If you rent through a school, obvious both the student and the
family lose out on a little bit of money which goes to the school, but
things are easier, the school can match families with students and neither
have to look through classified ads, etc.
From a student's perspective, I think at times it can be beneficial to pay a
little bit more money and rent through a school. I stayed with a family in
Guanajuato for three weeks a couple years ago while I studied at a school
there. I paid for my accomodations through the school. For the first three
or four days of my stay, I would get asked at least twice a day by teachers
if everything was alright and I'm sure that had I said no, they would have
moved me to another family as soon as possible. Packing up and trying
another place can be a lot more discouraging if you have to go looking
through classified ads and posters around town for vacancies.
The last week I was in Gto, the family was renting another of their rooms
directly to an Australian. One day she told me it seemed to her that the
family was trying to rip her off. A propane tank had run empty while she was
in the shower one day and she was told that she would have to pay for the
tank to be refilled since the propane ran out during _her_ shower. When she
pointed out to them that she was one of four people having showers and that
she would probably be gone before the refill ran out, it was decided she
should only pay a fraction of the cost.
> Many families here in Cuernavaca think so and we are
> planning to start a Host Families Association to make
> it a fair deal to both the student and the families.Your
> feedback, opinions, suggestions and experiences will
> be greatly appreciated.
A Host Family Association? That, at least to me, seems like you would be
replacing one middle man for another, no?
Anyway, I really am interested to hear what complaints families from
Cuernavaca have about these arrangements, so please do write again.
Richard
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