Cuba vs URUGUAY!

I had my first session at the school with the little kids and I have a feeling the upcoming weeks/ months are going to be an absolute blessing with them! They were kind of quiet at first, a little shy, but once we got things rolling I could tell that in reality they are not a shy bunch. They all have so much energy and are so eager to learn things.The first day wasn't anything too complicated: made name tags, introduced some simple English words, then introduced ourselves. When we were talking about the United States there wasn't a sound to be heard in the classroom beside our voices, its refreshing to see people so intrigued about something. Afterward, the only two questions that got asked were about how much snow there is where we lived, they were quite shocked to hear that where I live we have snow higher than cars! It was a lot of fun, next week we start the Alphabet!

One thing I did not know was even semi-popular here was Basketball, but I was able to go to a double-header on Monday night. The first game was Argentina vs Venezuela. There were hardly any people for that game, when we first got there the stadium was almost empty. As the Uruguay game began more people filed in, but it was no where near full. You will notice that even though we are inside I am still wearing my jacket, there was not any heat in the building. Some of the players from Cuba and Venezuela were wearing spandex, long sleeves, or very high tube socks while playing to keep warm and majority of them put on a jacket if there weren't on the court. 

Lucia even ended up putting on an extra pair of socks in the middle of the game! Driving by the building I never would have known it was a stadium, but apparently they have other things there as well. Lucia told me that sometimes they have various shows, such as Snow White on Ice or something similar that will come. It was a very different experience for sports and as always the game was intense! 

The game went back and forth the entire time and with just over a minute left in the game it was tied. Uruguay fell behind two points, then they were ahead

by 1 point with 11 seconds left in the game and managed to maintain the lead for the win with a final score of 67-65. It was no where near NBA status, but I rather enjoyed it. During the Argentina v Venezuela game the buzzer on the backboard went off before time had actually run out and both teams coaches started yelling (one of them was actually cursing them out in English?). They ended up having to put 2.5 seconds back on the clock, but they couldn't just put that in, they had to rewind the clock from 15 mins and the guy running it missed it twice. I was laughing, but the players and coaches didn't seem to think it funny for some reason... The game finally ended a little after 11:00pm and I headed straight home for bed because I had my long day on Tuesday again. Luckily I wasn't quite as exhausted last night as I was the Tuesday before. 

Tuesday night I was talking with someone and I found a place about 3 blocks from my house that has Salsa, Jazz, and Tango classes. I might splurge on some dance shoes for myself and take some serious classes! The classes are not very expensive and it is very convenient that it is so close.

Tonight is Noche de Nostalgia- and it is just what is says Night of Nostalgia! All of the bars have a theme or era of music: 70's, 80's, 90's and everyone.. EVERYONE goes out! It is really geared for those "older" folks who don't get to hear music from their era very often in the bars. Then tomorrow is what has been deemed "National Hangover Day" (as suggested by someone). Just kidding. But in reality, nothing is open on Thursday and no one has school because August 25th is Uruguay's day of Independence from Brazil. Which means that my weekend officially started at 3:45pm today!
This weekend I am going on a grand adventure with some friends, we bought our tickets to a little place called Minas today and we are going to spend the weekend exploring the area. It is about a 2 hour bus ride from Montevideo, I am excited to get out of the city again and see a new part of the country! These little weekend trips are one of the things I have been looking forward to the most. City life is nice, but I want to really get to know the country and life in the interior is much different from city life. I will try to get some good pictures and give a nice recap when I return :)

The back patio of the school.

I hope all is well there and that everyone's families are safe and sound with everything going on up there!

Beso

The picture ---> is the only picture I have of the Uni so far, my camera died during photography. I will be taking more in the upcoming weeks so you all can see where I go to school! The Lego mural is actually the backside of a parking garage :)