Hi, my name is Ari Getzlaf and I am a first year arts student at UBC. I am from Portland, Oregon in the United States. So far I am loving UBC in all aspects – my courses are great, the campus is beautiful, and I have met many friendly and genuine people both on residence and in classes. My Spanish is okay, I have taken it for six years, though I am eager to spend a semester abroad in a Spanish-speaking country as I want to become fluent in the language. The only (geographically) Latin American country I have been to  is Mexico, though I have been there six times, the longest period of time being for one month in Guanajuato. I am very excited to be a part of Latin American Studies 100, and I hope to major either in international relations or in Latin American studies.