While I do not have any experience in service-based learning programs in another country, I do have a experience as a traveler and resident of a Latin American country for an extended period of time. During my LSA in Buenos Aires, there were a number of times where I was a tourist. First, it was a unique experience arriving in the Buenos Aires airport for the first time because I did not feel like a tourist since I was going to be living and studying in the city for ten weeks, but at the same time, everything felt completely foreign. During the beginning of the program, I certainly felt like a tourist as I became accustomed to the city through the help of the Dartmouth program. We had a number of bus and site seeing tours that felt very similar to tours I have been on in the past during vacations or other forms of tourism. I felt the all-familiar feeling of being in the Dartmouth "bubble". Only this time it was 6000 miles from home in a foreign country.
As the program went on, the feeling of being a tourist lessoned on a day-to-day basis as I became accustomed to the city and fell into a routine. Nevertheless, I still had other tourist experiences during my time there. The program had a 10 day break built in where we had the chance to travel Argentina. Although we stayed in backpacking hostels, my friends and I still engaged in very tourist-oriented activities. One experience with a tourist guide was particularly memorable. We were in the Patagonia region of Argentina and he had lived in the town, El Calafate, we were spending a few days in his entire life. He spoke of the tourist industry in the area with a positive attitude and spoke of the positive impact that tourism had on the community. The area has incredible landscapes and breathtaking views of nature and he made the point that tourism wasn't encroaching on all of that beauty, simply giving more people access to it at the benefit of the individuals in the area.
Lastly, the LSA had a number of "cultural excursions" built into the program. They were a lot of fun and I certainly gained a greater appreciation of the culture through these excursions, but they were very traditional tourist activities most of the time. That being said, I still believe in the value of these excursions. Obviously the Dartmouth program thought they were important enough to include and I certainly feel like they had an overall positive impact on every student's experience.