tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32872709883566947632024-03-21T10:56:46.953-07:00Un Besito de UruguayAs you may know I am living in Montevideo, Uruguay for 5 months while I attend school down here. This blog is just to keep all my friends and family updated on my life down here and a place to share some pictures. Feel free to leave any comments or questions :DHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-32475070518862114112011-12-06T04:44:00.000-08:002011-12-06T04:45:24.124-08:00Viajando: Buenos Aires, Pinamar, Rocha and beyond!I am not sure how many times I have started writing this post, stopped, forgotten to post etc. Moral of the story: time is flying by faster than I know what to do with it! Instead of deleting what I had written before I left it here below in red, its a decent recap of what had happened until Thanksgiving day...<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Well- 20+ days since my last posting and that is largely due to the big things happening down here in the small country of Uruguay. I have finished my classes, I have two exams left, and less than 4 weeks to cram in as much traveling and adventure as possible. I think I am up for that. Since my last post I have been doing a lot of small travels and catching up on what remained of my days in school. It's hard to believe that it is all coming to an end.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Since my last camping trip I have spent more time in Montevideo, gotten to know a couple beaches, climbed a Uruguayan mountain (aka hill), gone to Argentina and did some beaching there. All in all the last month has been wonderful and moving along very quickly. Almost too quickly for me to stop, smell the flowers, and really appreciate all of the wonderful things happening around me.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8is03C3fCulz8G7x2WbcbcGWAJCr8xXe2NmYEx3ps7X-EdhYns9oXx0PoJbaKqEo5eHEkWPbWzeEth8XioCS-eEwRC7TBbBnoWs8Fne2twul_nKkFjHYJHIQ2nh1J8WaXSsfcukp6PPR/s1600/IMG_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8is03C3fCulz8G7x2WbcbcGWAJCr8xXe2NmYEx3ps7X-EdhYns9oXx0PoJbaKqEo5eHEkWPbWzeEth8XioCS-eEwRC7TBbBnoWs8Fne2twul_nKkFjHYJHIQ2nh1J8WaXSsfcukp6PPR/s320/IMG_0146.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">I got to meet part of Ali's family this past weekend as we traveled to Buenos Aires together for a few days. It was great to return and see more of the city. Her mom was so good to me and her brother was a lot of fun and even stayed out until sunrise one night with us, I was entirely too lucky to have spent a few days getting to know them. After they left for the U.S. Ali and I continued exploring one more night, got caught in a rain storm while out and ran back the entire way soaked and laughing until our stomachs hurt. <i>Warning</i>: laughing and running do not make a good combination. Then the next day we took off on a little adventure of our own which I have to say a little about- it was quite the vacation (or honeymoon as Ali liked to call it).</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTuf9c5OrwiXosS_XqoEoyQvcaAnfmA00Qxxj2YLudKRkH0FD4ptzzVA4GyM3vJFA2MYQ9EGM8j6drIGxHSyVkSuQhiA5dWOpfThQN1pXXp6JUVUREgZaFnvBYVdsJ7SFU3OJDBt6SVI9/s1600/IMG_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTuf9c5OrwiXosS_XqoEoyQvcaAnfmA00Qxxj2YLudKRkH0FD4ptzzVA4GyM3vJFA2MYQ9EGM8j6drIGxHSyVkSuQhiA5dWOpfThQN1pXXp6JUVUREgZaFnvBYVdsJ7SFU3OJDBt6SVI9/s320/IMG_0190.JPG" width="213" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">We traveled about 5 1/2 hours south to the coast of Argentina to Pinamar, a small beach town. When we arrived. It was a small, very tranquil town- at least at this point in time, supposedly it gets pretty busy during the summer- with a wonderful beach! We stayed at a "hostel" that was more of a B&B in some random guys house a 45 min walk from the grocery stores, on some random sand road. But it was nice enough and really our only option; I guess that's just kind of how it goes. One day Ali and I were swimming in the ocean, taking advantage of the massive waves, and not even 2 minutes after we left the water a giant sea-lion washed up on shore EXACTLY where we had been swimming. Neither one of us could believe it. I have never been so close to such an impressive animal before in my life, it was amazing. Don't worry he didn't wash up to far and after a minute or so he easily pushed himself back into the tide- I just couldn't believe it. We were probably swimming within a few feet of it!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"> Other than that we spent a very relaxing couple days- I am so happy to have such a wonderful travel buddy!! Ali and I have basically been on every little adventure together (looking forward to our last one coming up this week) and I wouldn't have it any other way. With only a few minor hitches, a sold out bus, a sketchy neighborhood, and an almost overly friendly taxi ride Ali and I made it back to our terminal in BA to head back to Montevideo.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">The following day- after an early morning exam- it was time to celebrate Thanksgiving, Uruguay style. The meal was complete with: 2 chickens (turkey doesn't exist), garlic mashed potatoes, twice baked sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. After about 5 1/2 hours of cooking Ali and I sat down to enjoy our feast with my entire host family. Each person went around and said what they were thankful for, in the end it was a wonderful dinner. I was really excited to be able to share this part of my culture and family tradition with my new family I have created here. Everyone left the table entirely too full and sleepy- typical after meal food coma. Although I missed my family a lot that day, I was glad I was in such wonderful company. It made it much easier to be so far away from home being able to share something so special with everyone here.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_nhePe3wBZG7gAEMwSMpJriCu9UjtSz18rg3tHWrDgJHWm2ydg6H1OHHGP2vCIISWQv1lKd4F35SPqz8yVUKSnQ43o2m8I73vqLcRA6rIRTiwg-Lrp_eMSPpMy4MJ59378EJ0U6btsV/s1600/118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr_nhePe3wBZG7gAEMwSMpJriCu9UjtSz18rg3tHWrDgJHWm2ydg6H1OHHGP2vCIISWQv1lKd4F35SPqz8yVUKSnQ43o2m8I73vqLcRA6rIRTiwg-Lrp_eMSPpMy4MJ59378EJ0U6btsV/s320/118.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyLOAQRDb9TDZX6akUkag5kBIJ15hN0uH-Ytpa0EDQTYC1EVRgqgztRw_kEYSi8ZkOlICKzdXUkDo4TmoqBdfBRbbvtPtfgIwqxpChn63n7q3JuSdpr6J0oE4SNcQQ7G7bWfhYZPKl_4e/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyLOAQRDb9TDZX6akUkag5kBIJ15hN0uH-Ytpa0EDQTYC1EVRgqgztRw_kEYSi8ZkOlICKzdXUkDo4TmoqBdfBRbbvtPtfgIwqxpChn63n7q3JuSdpr6J0oE4SNcQQ7G7bWfhYZPKl_4e/s320/022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Now what has happened since all of that? I have officially finished with school- exams and all. Done. and the day I finished exams I took off on my 6 day beach hoping trip to celebrate the beginning of my Uruguayan summer which brought me to today- the 5th of December. So how were the beaches? Amazing.. Let's see if I can put this trip into words: or better yet, pictures!<br />
Ali and I took off for the beaches on November 29th after I finished my exams and around 8pm that night we arrived in a tiny, basically deserted beach town called <a href="http://maps.google.com.uy/maps?hl=es&tab=wl" target="_blank">La Paloma</a>. (For those who don't know all of the words in a different color underlined like this one are link you can click on!) Tiny and deserted and a lot of what we would see in our journey and it was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately- or maybe not- our first two nights brought rain and high winds which led us to stay in a hostel instead of camp like we had intended. There were met a woman from Argentina with whom we ended up spending a good amount of time. We cooked dinner together and ended up inviting a guy from South Africa to join us. After dinner we spent about 2 hours at the table chatting about the world, life, whatever topic presented itself.<br />
I have really come to love hostels and the community they bring. Even though in many cases you may never encounter the same person twice, what a feeling it is to enjoy a cooked meal with two strangers swapping points of view and talking about the world. I absolutely love it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1YsVvafMKFpowPlEKpNbPtk7frowXNrThXBXccueYjkFItOHRHIsCEh0ErdooX1Bd3tujm9ENqf2BUA4_wk-UCwsfBEXV3jfmlm4odxzOq5e68yt15sb2GioVW56dMebXRMVRZZlN5oP/s1600/071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1YsVvafMKFpowPlEKpNbPtk7frowXNrThXBXccueYjkFItOHRHIsCEh0ErdooX1Bd3tujm9ENqf2BUA4_wk-UCwsfBEXV3jfmlm4odxzOq5e68yt15sb2GioVW56dMebXRMVRZZlN5oP/s320/071.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Pedrera: Little Mermaid Style!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Also when the rain took a break for an hour or two, we took the chance to climb the light tower. It was windy on the ground and it was basically like sky diving on top- we spent a good chunk of time running in circles at the top. Oh the little things in life :)<br />
Luckily the weather cleared up and we had sunny skies to accompany us on our next journey. We took off walking down the road towards <a href="http://maps.google.com.uy/maps?hl=es&biw=1280&bih=709&q=La%20Pedrera%2C%20UY&gbv=2&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=0l0l0l2641l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il" target="_blank">La Pedrera</a>- a place we were told to at least stop. And stop we did, for an amazing view of the ocean with the most beautiful waves I have ever seen. Oh and and excellent ice cream shop! Other than that there wasn't a whole lot to be seen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8mtlNkO7FSYZlU36-87m97Yd16Ww4zfqFlxnrK_i9JR285tl5gtujhm3uFQ9StnjHHQa2y2mRiYelHULqm2eC5_BrOqgJ2jLIBceGfHJ6uB0fkZYLpgwuarTXAlEFAlTwJfH6P5QLvzbg/s1600/102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8mtlNkO7FSYZlU36-87m97Yd16Ww4zfqFlxnrK_i9JR285tl5gtujhm3uFQ9StnjHHQa2y2mRiYelHULqm2eC5_BrOqgJ2jLIBceGfHJ6uB0fkZYLpgwuarTXAlEFAlTwJfH6P5QLvzbg/s320/102.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haciendo dedo...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So on we went, haciendo dedo to <a href="http://www.google.com.uy/imgres?q=cabo+polonio+uruguay&hl=es-419&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=-yQycZ44Zb0z0M:&imgrefurl=http://www.balneariolapaloma.com/actividades/cabopolonio_comollegar.htm&docid=LmxnlvEfDz-22M&imgurl=http://www.balneariolapaloma.com/imagenes/actividades/polonio_comollegar.jpg&w=300&h=326&ei=IzDdTsn3OYPqgAfg2NX2Aw&zoom=1" target="_blank">Cabo Polonio</a>. When we arrived and got out of this African Safari looking vehicle, our two friend were waiting for us to enter the small village on the beach- oh yeah did I forget to mention the only way to get there is on a giant sand dune truck? Yeah, well Cabo Polonio doesn't really have electricity, running water, or anything like that. Not because they can't have it, but that's the way I want it and frankly I am glad because I absolutely loved my experience there. The first night we walked down the beach a little ways and pitched a tent between two sand dunes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTtBiKR2aT2dUGWfdO8-Uf7uHGKFFwpuwKH-qfGvA0KOPcEi9sXAN6jjR93_q7z1N61NjtEthoNMRJ3oRvI4Hzh-xZWGwzahkHcQE8lGM6PQZ4BWA8Dhu-q0dT7L9CNOyF2-fclUuTm3J/s1600/215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTtBiKR2aT2dUGWfdO8-Uf7uHGKFFwpuwKH-qfGvA0KOPcEi9sXAN6jjR93_q7z1N61NjtEthoNMRJ3oRvI4Hzh-xZWGwzahkHcQE8lGM6PQZ4BWA8Dhu-q0dT7L9CNOyF2-fclUuTm3J/s320/215.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aurore, Me, Ali, Laura</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There is nothing like falling asleep and waking up to NOTHING but the breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the shore. and by that I mean falling asleep, waking up, falling asleep, waking up (repeat until sunrise). We put 4 people in a tent big enough for 2-3 (oh yeah that had 1 broken pole), it was cold that night and one person didn't have a sleeping bag, let's just say we improvised. It may have been kind of chilly, maybe even a little uncomfortable, but its a night I will never forget- the night spent between the sand dunes of Cabo Polonio with three absolutely amazing girls!<br />
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The next day we decided to stay at one of the local hostels so we didn't have tote all of our things around. We explored this little village and I saw one of the most amazing sights. SEA LIONS EVERYWHERE! I had heard about La Isla de los Lobos (The island of the sea lions) but I never could have imagined it. Not only was there an entire island off the coast, but standing on the beach you could see them swimming all along the shore. They were also all over the rocks, sun bathing, playing, yelling? Not sure if that's the right word- it was just so cool!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPp1co4tIAQnxW-BLzeow5xh-rah8PduVhrUzrz8ro4PADh-u8SlTIY9hMmRH7FdTFzkSBYvZic_s30Ud_P67yOt8uUHOrR0o3WmzmSA55F2svZ5p3-2mPjYkic20Bk7AfNg4fEtil4nqo/s1600/260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPp1co4tIAQnxW-BLzeow5xh-rah8PduVhrUzrz8ro4PADh-u8SlTIY9hMmRH7FdTFzkSBYvZic_s30Ud_P67yOt8uUHOrR0o3WmzmSA55F2svZ5p3-2mPjYkic20Bk7AfNg4fEtil4nqo/s320/260.JPG" width="320" /></a> I was awake for the sunrise and the sunset that day- it's hard to fathom all of the feelings and thoughts that I tried to process in the serenity that accompanied the time spent at the beach. I doubled over laughing, rolled down a sand dune, cried for the people and loved ones lost (missing my puppy dog, rest in peace Fierry- wonderful part of the family), cried of pure joy for all of the blessings in my life, and relished in the beauty of nature. I sound like an emotional wreck huh? Well I don't feel like one and I often appreciate the time to sit and just let it all come to me like that. For me its part of the journey, an extremely important part.<br />
When our time in Cabo was done and after we had said good-bye to Laura (who's has already gone back to Nicaragua) we headed to our final stop: <a href="http://maps.google.com.uy/maps?hl=es&q=Punta+del+Diablo,+Rocha,+UY&tab=wl" target="_blank">Punta del Diablo</a>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyAHD1ayCdXWSFDyomY97rM1C9c3laxqZR-zccgK1wLQrD-Ej9yMpK2Qae_2era8sk6UoY5Ccfeq6FunWi3ixZyVNUE7k6FcJHHZj57PER_xblmOZM54EMXHn7VprjrgNFOTjkr52rIB-/s1600/403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyAHD1ayCdXWSFDyomY97rM1C9c3laxqZR-zccgK1wLQrD-Ej9yMpK2Qae_2era8sk6UoY5Ccfeq6FunWi3ixZyVNUE7k6FcJHHZj57PER_xblmOZM54EMXHn7VprjrgNFOTjkr52rIB-/s320/403.JPG" width="320" /></a>Punta del Diablo had the most people of any of our places we stopped, but I would be crazy to say that it was anywhere near busy. Like the other towns, most places were still closed and the only people around were the few that actually live there. We arrived without any plans, considering camping again, but then an owner from one of the hostels driving around the company golf cart/ truck offered us a ride to the new hostel they had just opened up. We almost immediately decided to stay in the little bungalow looking rooms, out door bar, an abundance of hammocks, and a ping-pong table for $u 300 pesos a night (or about $15 US dollars). After dropping our stuff we hopped on a bus for a short ride to the national park just a little further up the coast: Santa Teresa Fortaleza. We walked through the park, which is surprisingly long, to get to the old military fort on the one edge. The walk through the park was beautiful0 full of trees, wildlife aka cows, and even a little playground we took full advantage of.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xdl_SQHxjSiK3XanxIhoWJPebKeydh7Ww8H1uDvAI82gwBSVtm7Pt9XxBhECl282Np-rXtAMgomkSxtdWqiHLIW7VIWj_iDojt6Ul65juvta-A5sM0mllYqRY_xt3Rd73Yw9rqdglL2n/s1600/336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xdl_SQHxjSiK3XanxIhoWJPebKeydh7Ww8H1uDvAI82gwBSVtm7Pt9XxBhECl282Np-rXtAMgomkSxtdWqiHLIW7VIWj_iDojt6Ul65juvta-A5sM0mllYqRY_xt3Rd73Yw9rqdglL2n/s320/336.JPG" width="320" /></a>When we finally arrived at the fort it was situated high on a hill. We entered and walked around this 360 degree view of the land surrounding us- to one side we could see the coastline/ ocean in the distance at the back end of a forest, there were rolling hills, pastures, a giant lake: it was beautiful.<br />
The next day was lazy beach bum day. We packed up and headed to the beach with all of our things to spend the day there until the bus came a little after 7pm that night. I can sum up this day pretty quickly: sun, waves, wind, sand, Frisbee, reading. That is really all there was too it. Oh. and we finished it off with giant ice cream cones of course!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXniPajUo51_bUHoGGzahZzTlrpwq8xShLEXzM0DTTh8e-0oEizgTffncP1gD1AejDeuTTQiclNyQ69_WuiO344Noh2jv_xk8SXbh2b4rlLpxf31YL_Z4JnNrN1ZOUIvEKVuJALKVXhRQ8/s1600/416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXniPajUo51_bUHoGGzahZzTlrpwq8xShLEXzM0DTTh8e-0oEizgTffncP1gD1AejDeuTTQiclNyQ69_WuiO344Noh2jv_xk8SXbh2b4rlLpxf31YL_Z4JnNrN1ZOUIvEKVuJALKVXhRQ8/s320/416.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It was the ultimate last day to the trip. When I got home I was dirty, sandy, tired, but I was very happy!<br />
Now I have time to catch up on things here in Montevideo- laundry, this blog, talking to family, etc and try to fill up the days this week with random little adventures until Matt makes his journey to South America. Less than one week now and I absolutely can't wait for Sunday evening! I'll try to update you, but looking at the upcoming events- I will probably do my wrap up/ next and possibly final post once I have made it back to good ol' WI.<br />
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Besos<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yD-JpR-95dmOfL4kEMQlXlDr88Sc9lKCrn0wQUuJOrgTzh5Mnvi_5uJLC8Qcp6vNO2Kf-lAzKPCAThRrpyA4Ngd7v3yyVZA-JFz4Jd1yJrPn3Qq85tlEVwv8g7E-hrS_WUb-PgwTtizG/s1600/298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yD-JpR-95dmOfL4kEMQlXlDr88Sc9lKCrn0wQUuJOrgTzh5Mnvi_5uJLC8Qcp6vNO2Kf-lAzKPCAThRrpyA4Ngd7v3yyVZA-JFz4Jd1yJrPn3Qq85tlEVwv8g7E-hrS_WUb-PgwTtizG/s320/298.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-6561351723682199972011-11-04T10:55:00.000-07:002011-11-04T10:55:03.019-07:00Campamento ArtigasWhat an exciting week it has been! I got to spend 4 more days camping this past week and it was absolutely fantastic. This time I didn't spend days on horseback, instead I got to be a child and essentially go to "summer camp." I am taking a techniques and activities of camping class that essentially prepares people to be leaders/ run summer camps (or similar things) for kids. Believe it or not this 4 days of camping was actually part of my second exam grade!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8a3MboOagFku-GwWeI8Q2xVLSglgUcck4RemaC-3rLNyQpoC8y5-U5GAq4_jNNQbS8GdY14NLbmfe3Q-6o_SfvCgd52LTnzyC0yzbNchY0L2wEPx3mdpZoMETUTWKwVjFXkw0_JE6Rj2/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8a3MboOagFku-GwWeI8Q2xVLSglgUcck4RemaC-3rLNyQpoC8y5-U5GAq4_jNNQbS8GdY14NLbmfe3Q-6o_SfvCgd52LTnzyC0yzbNchY0L2wEPx3mdpZoMETUTWKwVjFXkw0_JE6Rj2/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a> Before going we were divided into groups and each group was assigned an activity to plan according to a certain theme- then we spent the entire weekend playing the games/ taking part in the activities everyone else had planned.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winners of the Greek Olympics!<br />
(there was a game including Frisbee-<br />
I think my team had an unfair advantage! hehe)</td></tr>
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Sure- their idea of camping and my idea of camping are slightly different, but hey it was still a nice vacation! We stayed the first 2 nights in cabins and the 3rd night a little further away from camp in a tent, but really that wasn't the most important part of everything that happened.<br />
This was a wonderful weekend for really making some strong connections- not just with the people I was with, but for the first time I got to experience a strong connection with Uruguay. I don't know how to explain it, I just feel like I was adjusting, then once I felt adjusted things just started going so quickly, time was passing, then finally this weekend I had time to sit and process it all while surrounded by an amazing group of newly created friends as we watched the sunset on the beach. I don't think I could have asked for a more ideal time for it to happen because I know that those connections will make the rest of my trip that much more special.<br />
I almost feel like I am going through the process of separation now and it's wonderful at giving me mixed feelings. I feel like when I try to write about my mixed feelings of my time coming to and end, I just tend to ramble a lot. It's probably hard to follow, but welcome to the workings of my brain :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zipline</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I also never used to take this much time to reflect on the happenings of life- honestly I probably would have said it isn't necessary to do so often. That is one thing that I have learned- its so good to be able to take some time to reflect on things flying by in life, makes it much easier to appreciate the small things and take nothing for granted. I have not only been processing the happenings in Uruguay, but what got me here and what made the the person I am today that's crazy enough to leave home and make this solo journey to a foreign country for five months. Sure- its fun, there's new people, and traveling, but its also very difficult and it takes a special kind of person to go through this process and succeed at doing so. I am proud to say I consider myself very "successful" for lack of a better word.<br />
So- only 6 weeks and 5 days remain of this amazing journey. I hate to see it coming to an end because I still have so much I would like to accomplish and I hate the thought of saying good-bye to some of the amazing people I have met along the way. Yet at the same time when I think about it, I'm not really sad because even if we don't ever cross paths again the people that I have met- and that I will continue spending time with for the next 6 weeks- made this experience everything I could have hoped for (or better) and I will always remember that.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XvDmsc472ndNl4Rrj1oh5ERXpKo1MUkelj1m5duffK3Hhp3rehq26cjOxeGb5TRzotVc4uwkOC_FiaCXlOWdA8m-JJG2-UVDMKERqzqTl-fW1VAJqpuD4FfmojlN7QNKlxL8Xoar4U1Y/s1600/308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XvDmsc472ndNl4Rrj1oh5ERXpKo1MUkelj1m5duffK3Hhp3rehq26cjOxeGb5TRzotVc4uwkOC_FiaCXlOWdA8m-JJG2-UVDMKERqzqTl-fW1VAJqpuD4FfmojlN7QNKlxL8Xoar4U1Y/s320/308.JPG" width="320" /></a>Anyway I want to share something that came to me- I sometimes write little phrases or poems when the words happen to grace me with their presence. While I was sitting there watching the sunset I felt kind of lonely, missing people, but stronger than ever and this is what I wrote:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;">Feeling lonely doesn't make you weak, on the contrary, it makes you stronger.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;">But strength is the person whose has the <i>courage</i> to face the world alone<br />
yet still opens their <i>heart</i> to the support of other along the way.</span><br />
And I think that's where I'll end for today- a little food for thought.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GV7oR1eazHaxJOkwPMtlHQ5Xdc1ajKX_uDbByKETLnqHdMCa44tt2Dya4F8vDUiZ6a4Q7jm1iIxY6SiOCX0RgSZxbeT_DNAXNoaUCHiuZ2J6iAGvhOkmpxR098yRJXtDvG-MwrxLSIim/s1600/371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GV7oR1eazHaxJOkwPMtlHQ5Xdc1ajKX_uDbByKETLnqHdMCa44tt2Dya4F8vDUiZ6a4Q7jm1iIxY6SiOCX0RgSZxbeT_DNAXNoaUCHiuZ2J6iAGvhOkmpxR098yRJXtDvG-MwrxLSIim/s320/371.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Un BesoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-62639046411571014632011-10-27T18:31:00.000-07:002011-10-27T18:31:26.683-07:00La Redota<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here it goes- the two week power through again... Just kidding! I mean I know I haven't updated in 2 weeks, but that really doesn't matter all that much. I am however going to share the important things that have happened starting with the coolest. Or maybe the less cool so I can end with a bang.. I guess you'll never know which order they are in!</span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(I am sorry in advance for the size of this post hehe but its going to be a lengthy one)</span></i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLxUy4jsaz5lt7W76Xs6pJkohLK3zz6BC40QfGyhge3CuXqPIRQb7b7GNImo3lgjhngwpApeo-QNn9UhO4DIkiWyn6kEjFpPezFKWwTfpnjQNVyHMVb15DPaLvGnCthL5XXrS67r-4mm3/s1600/DSC01381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLxUy4jsaz5lt7W76Xs6pJkohLK3zz6BC40QfGyhge3CuXqPIRQb7b7GNImo3lgjhngwpApeo-QNn9UhO4DIkiWyn6kEjFpPezFKWwTfpnjQNVyHMVb15DPaLvGnCthL5XXrS67r-4mm3/s320/DSC01381.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Two weekends ago I fled the country of Uruguay and headed across the river to the booming city of Buenos Aires. Two things motivated this trip- 1: I had to leave Uruguay within 90 days of arriving because I didn't get a visa to come here, 2: why not!? I mean its Buenos Aires and its only a 2 hour bus ride and a 3 hour ferry ride away, not many people can make that claim. I went with a group of 5 (1 Nica-or Nicaraguan, 1 French madam, and 3 US citizens). I am not sure exactly what we were thinking, but we booked our departure for about 2am!? So on Thursday night we were off to Buenos Aires and we arrived at a bright and early 8am.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'll have to admit I wasn't really sure what to expect since my only comparison to a South American city was Montevideo. They aren't really anything alike, but I am glad I went there without any expectations at all. Sometimes no expectations makes things easier to enjoy in my opinion.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our first experience in Buenos Aires: getting robbed by the taxi drivers. We didn't really know it at the time, but they charged us a 3-4 times more than what our ride should have cost and they definitely the long way around. What should have cost us about 15 pesos cost us 50 pesos. Lesson 1- we are no longer in Montevideo, and tourism is much more popular therefore, tourist sharks are much more popular. This was a lesson and an annoyance for much of the weekend. Buenos Aires was a gorgeous city (as far as the beauty of cities go, most of you know I prefer things that don't include cement, steal, or car horns haha). I think that is what I loved about the area so much- yes Buenos Aires is a HUGE city, much bigger than Montevideo, but many times I felt as if it were smaller because there is space to breathe there. The entire city isn't compacted into an area of 30 city blocks, it is spread out, and they have many wonderful parks/ gardens where people can go enjoy the little pieces of nature the city has preserved.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Even though we didn't sleep really at all Thursday night we took full advantage of our early arrival on Friday morning! Of course we visited the touristy areas of town because that is generally where there are interesting things to see. We started off the day at La Boca was one of the first areas of Buenos Aires colonized and (if I am not mistaken in my information). The houses are all very brightly colored and Tango is on every street corner. This was also the first experience we had in a very touristy area- there were many outdoor restaurants and the people stand in the streets practically grabbing your arm and seating you as you walk by.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Personally I was fairly annoyed by this, also I heard more English spoken in 2 days there by street vendors and people trying to get me to buy things than I have heard in my 3 months in Montevideo. The funniest part was we had two people with us who don't really even speak English and by the end of the weekend we were all claiming we were French and didn't speak English- that really confused them! It really made me appreciate the not-so-touristy aspect of Montevideo. I may stick out as a foreigner here, but at least I don't have people trying to cater to me and speak English to me 24/7- that would have made for a long 5 months for me personally. I love the fact that I am forced to use my Spanish in public it has really pushed me to get better.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGI8vkrefclg14nIYEt_mCfUvo5bZNp4Y2dFcA-d4oWaM8HDvRodZ_6BbI-3ml2aMXIraZY2FsJoIyrBejK_HkkqAevzE_T1FXw-kGPevUjLSVbJ9skIqKeQKj3t5pFrl3X_TaXvtIYRZ/s1600/DSC01534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGI8vkrefclg14nIYEt_mCfUvo5bZNp4Y2dFcA-d4oWaM8HDvRodZ_6BbI-3ml2aMXIraZY2FsJoIyrBejK_HkkqAevzE_T1FXw-kGPevUjLSVbJ9skIqKeQKj3t5pFrl3X_TaXvtIYRZ/s320/DSC01534.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway- enough about that rant. The other places we visited included- Casa Rosada, Plaza de Mayo, Obelisco, Cemeterio Recoleta, and various plazas/ parks. The previously named are all fairly famous "must see" destinations for people who make their way to Buenos Aires. I really enjoyed getting to know a different city in South America. I was semi-astounded by the differences- especially considering they are right across the river from each other. There were certain aspects I loved about Buenos Aires (parks, open space, and clean streets!!) but there were other aspects that really made me appreciate my choice in Uruguay!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The look of PURE happiness!!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just a quick insert before I get on to big even #2- I finally went to a Tango lesson! I don't have too much to report on, unfortunately it wasn't quite what I expected. I really enjoyed the experience and it was cool to take part in something so important here. I got to dance with a couple people (just the basics, nothing too crazy) and the instructors were very adamant and focused on form and posture with all of the participants! It was pretty hard work, but I really enjoyed it. My feet, however, took a beating- I didn't walk around my house enough to break in my new dance shoes and after 1 1/2 hours of dancing that became extremely apparent (an painful).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBPQVrTQWUOH1EEFxKT8POajM68sIvmsEIoZwJFIWveF4cSu1Ep82eRziS5dC5wx6RO-QqrQ9Yo2ofwnzCIB_27jVph-tUat999iNrbkZjCa779mWvG3W8gPIzQWDmcKM2wgv-MT_YKp1/s1600/101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBPQVrTQWUOH1EEFxKT8POajM68sIvmsEIoZwJFIWveF4cSu1Ep82eRziS5dC5wx6RO-QqrQ9Yo2ofwnzCIB_27jVph-tUat999iNrbkZjCa779mWvG3W8gPIzQWDmcKM2wgv-MT_YKp1/s320/101.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Onto big event #2-<b> La Redota</b>. This is something I have been waiting for since one of my first weeks in Uruguay when my host family mentioned it to me. It is kind of hard to explain, but is basically a representation of the journey that occurred when Artigas fled Montevideo and the citizens left all of their belongings and followed him. It is a way of holding on to their history and maintaining it as a huge part of their culture today. I think that had a lot to do with why I loved the experience so much.Oh and if I haven't already previously mentioned this journey is made on horseback through the countryside.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZW2_VsnZQYj7_U5w4KtDyAS9_ESat7Ev9A3c60ouf1-3CrYALOn_bM5AWvtFqmTdqSab8L5C1Cbi0FdWNvBWDW3WM-XrhqaRQrVs30G1-4Buc0xNQ4gs3wwO-nS7nwGpUPgQIqp3DdaU/s1600/130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZW2_VsnZQYj7_U5w4KtDyAS9_ESat7Ev9A3c60ouf1-3CrYALOn_bM5AWvtFqmTdqSab8L5C1Cbi0FdWNvBWDW3WM-XrhqaRQrVs30G1-4Buc0xNQ4gs3wwO-nS7nwGpUPgQIqp3DdaU/s320/130.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My host family had talked a lot about how difficult and trying these couple days would be. At times I almost felt like they were trying to talk me out of it, but the more they said the more interested I became: something challenging, I've never done before, camping, gauchos, mate- not something I could ever pass up! I love to challenge myself in different ways and so long before they were convinced I wanted to go I had already made up my mind- I was going on La Redota in Uruguay!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvL_UmMQyTOTUEu8jn53Uq-9OkcUITvXm5aw0DY1-LrIcur4giP8UZ0NoDyRdvytxSd4Dm-oOnKK0R7lKcaR8hlKVSITyx-t5PYfQZyxpbQlDSUWqeVamnRrmHw-e9YPYqfpkCaryEUvS/s1600/220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvL_UmMQyTOTUEu8jn53Uq-9OkcUITvXm5aw0DY1-LrIcur4giP8UZ0NoDyRdvytxSd4Dm-oOnKK0R7lKcaR8hlKVSITyx-t5PYfQZyxpbQlDSUWqeVamnRrmHw-e9YPYqfpkCaryEUvS/s320/220.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> There is such an amazing sense of pride in so many people I have met and this weekend was the icing on that cake. The slogan of the weekend was "Arriba la Patria" I wish I had a good translation of what that signifies- I think the best thing I can think of is "long live the country" but that just doesn't give the feeling of it justice.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We started off the weekend in San Jose with a "parade" of sorts to signify the start of the journey. Not only were there about 250 on horseback starting, but there were hundreds of people lined up along the streets to see us off.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9QRAfPVzVi9kXVAY2D3QjaxaPeTohhFXALWhjHBeHbZdobWNFrhHscc3I40inEqfRCgvQUmceptKoDz-gYbdBuLnyo8_9dyz05IvSGUtNrKEZsv_et361ikKMBSPqxJmCBRlqzTxACvR/s1600/164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9QRAfPVzVi9kXVAY2D3QjaxaPeTohhFXALWhjHBeHbZdobWNFrhHscc3I40inEqfRCgvQUmceptKoDz-gYbdBuLnyo8_9dyz05IvSGUtNrKEZsv_et361ikKMBSPqxJmCBRlqzTxACvR/s320/164.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This journey was a lot for me, but first off it was a crash course in "how to ride a horse for 2 days without killing yourself" something I wish I could have taken lessons in before we left! I have ridden horses a couple times, but it was always such short distances/ amounts of times that form never really mattered. Well 3 hours into this trip and I already new- it was either learn how to ride the animal properly or don't make it out alive. So I watched, I listened, and I took every piece of advice I could to get it down. I think finally toward the middle of the second day I had it down more or less and thank goodness because my body was feeling the effects if the previous day!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our crew of horses<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first night at camp was memorable just due to the nature of it- nothing crazy happened, but sometimes I forgot that here I was in 2011, if I hadn't known better I would have sworn I went back in time. The military had set up large military tents for people to sleep in, others were in their own personal tents, cooking fresh meat over the fires, drinking mate, playing guitar and "singing" around the fire. I say "singing" because the type of music I heard was more a spoken story accompanied by the guitar. That is actually what I fell asleep to that night and it just felt right to have the night end that way</span>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My horsey for the weekend</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I saw as I stepped out that morning</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We awoke bright and early the next day and I heard the sounds of the horses much closer than I remembered them being and for good reason- when I stepped out of the tent we were surrounded on all sides by horses. People had already brought them in from the fields and were getting them ready for the days ride. We took off from camp, after our breakfast of Chorizos, around 7:30am and rode until sometime after 12. I don't know exact times it is all kind of relative. Day 2 I was feeling much more comfortable with riding and I was even able to get up to a gallop a few times (for very <i>very</i> short periods of time) instead of just trotting- a lot harder on the body. I had to put a lot of energy into focusing on the beautiful landscape we were riding through; it was much easier to think about how sore my body was becoming and how tired I was getting. Once I finally took my mind off that, the view of the country side never ceased to amazing me. Uruguay is an absolutely beautiful country! After a couple hour break for lunch (and a nap face down in the grass) and a couple more hours of riding, we finally arrived at our destination for the day: Ismael de Cortinas. I have to say I was very thankful to be able get off the horse, but it took a few minutes before I was able to actually walk (and a little bit of stretching out the hips).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the meat on the grill...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> My host family decided that enough was enough and they were ready to head back to Montevideo- I was a little relieved to hear their decision because I am not sure I could have taken another 5-6 hours riding again the next day. I could hardly lift my arms and I walked like an 80 year old for a good day and half following. But the soreness I felt was just trivial compared to everything I was able to experience and take away from those two days. First of all I got to take part in a truly Uruguayan culture experience that represent their history, a history that they still know and hold close to them. I also got to make better relationships with people in my family and see parts of Uruguay that many will never get to know. I also did something challenging and gained a new respect for people who spend their days atop a horse- its much more difficult than they make it look! I am so glad I took full advantage of this, it is an experience I will never forget. Oh- and it really made me want horses of my own someday, they are magnificent creatures!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is actually a 13 day journey from San Jose to Paysandu which is something like 300km or 186 miles. And as hard as it might be to believe- there are people who are doing the trip in it's entirety. I think two days was just about perfect for me.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing off the weekend<br />
with the sunset and Mate!<br />
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</span>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-42860559966258696072011-10-13T14:45:00.000-07:002011-10-13T14:45:39.867-07:00Helados, Bodegas, y BicicletasHola a todos!<br />
Wow. Time is surely flying by! I can't believe another week has already passed since my last post and I have another amazing weekend to tell you about! On Friday Uruguay played Bolivia in Montevideo. This is the team I saw win the Copa de America my first week here so of course I took full advantage of my opportunity to watch them live. Although it rained all day and we watched the game soaking wet, it was worth it! Uruguay won the game 4-2 and I learned a thing or two more about soccer. By the end of it all I have it all I think I'll have a pretty good grasp on it :)<br />
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This weekend Ali and I took a "girl's weekend" which was really an impromptu "LETS FIND SOMEWHERE TO GO" weekend. The ultimate decision: Colonia del Sacramento.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7 different kinds of oranges/mandarins<br />
from one fruit stand!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So far this might be my favorite place in Uruguay, although each place for me has been very distinct and I have enjoyed every place I have visited. They have all been wonderful, there was just something about the atmosphere and feeling I got when I was walking the streets there. Hard to describe but it was calming; made me feel really good about all of the things I have done thus far and made me look forward to what is yet to come. I know that probably doesn't do it justice, but somethings just can't be explained very well in words- ya just had to be there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ThNjJL6GXzEMbC6JFq8v_TkpcTU8sROHaP4DIH9MQDHNvYFD-qfHyj-cGAB65GHNq5NsiPt_ssG4-ljkofNKRRtN1I3R3iqVjaTj9lbdip0bAgGyfWIjRPcg54nzzsjLD4RcBAl4evJo/s1600/DSC_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ThNjJL6GXzEMbC6JFq8v_TkpcTU8sROHaP4DIH9MQDHNvYFD-qfHyj-cGAB65GHNq5NsiPt_ssG4-ljkofNKRRtN1I3R3iqVjaTj9lbdip0bAgGyfWIjRPcg54nzzsjLD4RcBAl4evJo/s320/DSC_0301.JPG" width="214" /></a>How to sum up Colonia? It is a small town about 2 1/2 hours up the west coast of Uruguay right across the river from Buenos Aires. It is the only place in South America (outside of Brasil) that was founded by the Portuguese-so I was informed this weekend- and it still has a big historical feel to it. There is a historic district where all of the streets are still the old cobblestone, they have old ruins, and the historic buildings. It's pretty much what I like to call- a postcard city- every street corner looks like it belongs on a postcard. With Spring in the air, all of the trees and flowers were in full bloom and the sun was shining most of the weekend. It was wonderful.<br />
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Saturday we found ourselves a beautiful little restaurant and sat outside. One thing I would come to love about Colonia: the food. It was a fairly cheap meal but sooo yummy! and we were even able to enjoy another cup of Medio y Medio. We had heard a lot about the little shops around Colonia so we just spent the afternoon exploring and the best find we had all weekend (in my opinion at least) was an Artesan ice cream shop. AHHH. not good for an ice cream addict. It was excellent and I had to restrain myself from buying a second- I just decided to go back on Sunday and get 3 flavors instead of two <b>:</b>D<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2L_mehQBWFh7UD_-zeCukkeGzSKUfHskgHMfoIquJNqcUBdgtN_rbbtaoRjOZ1nzix_n6xUUqMiQEdD39SHOvolnRM_8ADWyh_0VPQAVMAsEzMJl6EXPygQWwylpJWind7P7hHqTRhdM/s1600/DSC_0258+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2L_mehQBWFh7UD_-zeCukkeGzSKUfHskgHMfoIquJNqcUBdgtN_rbbtaoRjOZ1nzix_n6xUUqMiQEdD39SHOvolnRM_8ADWyh_0VPQAVMAsEzMJl6EXPygQWwylpJWind7P7hHqTRhdM/s320/DSC_0258+-+Copy.JPG" width="214" /></a>Sunday we had plans to bike around because renting bikes and exploring the outskirts of the town (there was a bodega-winery- we really wanted to see) that way is very popular, but the weather didn't want to cooperate. Well.. wait.. it didn't want to cooperate when we were sitting outside with our bikes- as soon as we gave up the idea of biking and proceeded on foot it cleared up and was beautiful the rest of the day. n the hostel we met someone from Ohio that was on his first vacation since he joined the Peace corp over a year ago. He has been living in Paraguay since last September and it was extremely interesting to hear about his work there! We ended up throwing around throwing a Frisbee for awhile and enjoyed dinner at a restaurant on the waterfront to watch the sunset with a nice bottle of wine.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sItF3rUtRPZrhrWoYNO82TgMNtd2PAWyYkGo8tM1zkJdgwOohVWbPVcAA5pV0nIenwBtblgniPH3HDrE2rdM35htORQHujWS9yJvPTFSIVQ4sl8WFJgbXiENgWElVZWVjxYOZ1f-yIZy/s1600/DSC_0305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sItF3rUtRPZrhrWoYNO82TgMNtd2PAWyYkGo8tM1zkJdgwOohVWbPVcAA5pV0nIenwBtblgniPH3HDrE2rdM35htORQHujWS9yJvPTFSIVQ4sl8WFJgbXiENgWElVZWVjxYOZ1f-yIZy/s320/DSC_0305.JPG" width="320" /></a> I just can't help but think about how crazy the whole situation was- there we were in a tiny town in Uruguay, met and befriended someone from Ohio who was living in Paraguay... and we are living in Montevideo. Sometimes the things I do or see here just seem so surreal, I find myself wondering "did that really just happen?" quite often. I mean there I was eating dinner with Ali, who I could swear I have known for <i>years</i> when in reality it has only been about 3 months, talking with someone we had basically just met as if we had already known each other. Or sometimes it just randomly hits me- I'm in Uruguay. I'm in URUGUAY! It's such a blessing to have all of these opportunities and to meet so many wonderful people.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43pyu_fxefQfxkg5cgN4wEYAOGKJgnDCAL9gXTDBwuS8sivPyfvzZ3yQ_d2Yxt-c61CkiIrl8mZvrhxXaEBbxhevb4wtDhoNr4dL_qTUkbQw1ApTLeOyLtlrp-3nRlQUYmKJUeNZ4l_wX/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43pyu_fxefQfxkg5cgN4wEYAOGKJgnDCAL9gXTDBwuS8sivPyfvzZ3yQ_d2Yxt-c61CkiIrl8mZvrhxXaEBbxhevb4wtDhoNr4dL_qTUkbQw1ApTLeOyLtlrp-3nRlQUYmKJUeNZ4l_wX/s320/DSC_0351.JPG" width="214" /></a>Anyway Monday we made it our ultimate GOAL to get on those bikes and go to the winery regardless of the weather. Lucky it was nice out- unfortunately our hostel only have one bike left. So we went in search of others. Now the bikes that we had seen people riding and that were at our hostel were GT or Trek- very high quality. So when we asked someone where we could rent a bike they pointed in the right direction... well kind of. We showed up to this tiny whole in the wall place and when the guy was getting one of the bikes off the chain fell off twice, and Ali's bike ended up not really having breaks, and anyone could hear me coming from a mile away. But there we were on our bikes pedaling down the highway 4 miles to the winery!<br />
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It was WELL worth the bike struggles because we came up to this small little winery that was a 4th generation operation with only the 8 siblings running it. We got a free tour/ wine tasting and the wine was wonderful. It was my first wine tasting as well! Since they don't mass produce the wine and it is only sold right there to people to come for tours, etc it was very inexpensive and Ali and I both got a bottle. She got Tannat- the wine of Uruguay and I chose a Rosado (a little more sweet instead of super dry).<br />
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</div>Then off we went to catch our bus and head back in Montevideo. What a weekend.<br />
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Un BesoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-7342773303001525992011-10-04T19:01:00.000-07:002011-10-07T19:44:39.128-07:002 semanas y Carmelo I don't know who's keeping track- but this weekend officially marked my 1/2 point in my stay here in Montevideo and I can hardly believe it. I feel like just a few weeks ago I was writing about how hard it was to adjust and how December seemed so far away.. now it's right around the corner! I can't believe the things I have learned since I have been here- and we are not just talking the language and books. So far I have had such a wonderful growing experience, granted I haven't enjoyed every step of the way, but I appreciate all of the lessons I have learned. I have started making a list of all of the things Montevideo/ living in Uruguay has taught me. I will save that post for later on this week possibly when I don't have quite as much to write. I feel like two medium length posts are better then one GIANT. So for now.. I know it has been forever since I have written and I am going to spare you all of the details I usually include or I would bore everyone immensely so here is a recap on what I have done in the last few weeks... Just as a heads up- this will probably be exploding with pictures :) I have been on a picture taking spreeeee!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUDMmCN5RQnCqHoQycBgEMbam7dFE1D3tvFitezSJvPftcxbvKWVU-P3WiOEUt4ab6Sl-_wXUsc6Bj51vmww4WWOeNVwVafVJVeA8uf_yvBEMhKcfncGhrytWFNkU_zHcgFjbVtce_g1f/s1600/296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUDMmCN5RQnCqHoQycBgEMbam7dFE1D3tvFitezSJvPftcxbvKWVU-P3WiOEUt4ab6Sl-_wXUsc6Bj51vmww4WWOeNVwVafVJVeA8uf_yvBEMhKcfncGhrytWFNkU_zHcgFjbVtce_g1f/s320/296.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KYOpkoBlDvsAiPqnOGAOaM3n_zURacPHyfcev1jSTOXXc323kvgEdr0Ugm0dhiyXa4txkB_zpA2o7mkATKW15WKoSUiYaCtS3A36pMURTl3kt2PX812469rru43XOjRx5R0RsG-NRJEB/s1600/382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KYOpkoBlDvsAiPqnOGAOaM3n_zURacPHyfcev1jSTOXXc323kvgEdr0Ugm0dhiyXa4txkB_zpA2o7mkATKW15WKoSUiYaCtS3A36pMURTl3kt2PX812469rru43XOjRx5R0RsG-NRJEB/s320/382.JPG" width="214" /></a>Well first and foremost Spring has officially started down here! Flowers are blooming, trees have leaves, and the sun bares it's face much more frequently. I have even found myself walking around in shorts and a tank-top a few days! It has been wonderful because I am much more motivated to spend time outside just walking around and exploring a bit more. Its helpful when its above 60 degrees and sunny!! I have spent some time sitting on La Rambla looking out at the ocean/sea/river whatever you want to call it and just enjoying company with friends and my family here. It is a wonderful place to take in some sun, drink mate, and really just enjoy the day. I also walked almost the entirety of Ciudad Vieja with Ali one day. Ciudad Vieja is the oldest part of the city with many street vendors and a place called El Mercado del Puerto that is essentially and giant garage filled with different food vendors. I hadn't eaten there yet so we decided to make a day trip of it. We bought hand made hats from a lady making them in the street and continued on to eat some wonderful food and we tried Medio y Medio. It was so good! Medio y Medio is 1/2 white wine and 1/2 champagne- don't knock it till you try it- quite tasty!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoFmdXBXPajaCtVTAGXbywJLghTZKA0Is9JNjuU1vhdBA8e9uHNEoT02RyG_BWiqczEx0vWrsHbCVfaWF45ZmSSh0aha0VqAHB_GPFMbyvfrmVQdARoH7H9T5GMQhqA7jOVfHR7nhmVFt/s1600/323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoFmdXBXPajaCtVTAGXbywJLghTZKA0Is9JNjuU1vhdBA8e9uHNEoT02RyG_BWiqczEx0vWrsHbCVfaWF45ZmSSh0aha0VqAHB_GPFMbyvfrmVQdARoH7H9T5GMQhqA7jOVfHR7nhmVFt/s320/323.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK0hmpHLfliSKtQ4SwE8hoR4gNm0Htc75CrRFe_DA2UBdv3vAzDLeYDpKWiGoGgc-1hlzY_GOBiLyKy9hLRxvLAO2IRFQV_parshjxsDsMt9F-ShQEzsc4OUHULVxmAEqsqZjv3sslh4x/s1600/326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK0hmpHLfliSKtQ4SwE8hoR4gNm0Htc75CrRFe_DA2UBdv3vAzDLeYDpKWiGoGgc-1hlzY_GOBiLyKy9hLRxvLAO2IRFQV_parshjxsDsMt9F-ShQEzsc4OUHULVxmAEqsqZjv3sslh4x/s320/326.JPG" width="214" /></a>I have also learned how to bake homemade Alfahores, another baking skill to perfect when I return. Depending on how things go they might even make it in the running for the Christmas cookie baking, but we will have to see about that. They have a lot of trial and error to go before they are just right- and I may be lacking in the Dulce de Leche department.... That is going to be unfortunate. It truly is a staple down here, if all else fails put dulce de leche on it! That should be a slogan here. I was thinking about learning how to make that as well, but apparently it takes hours to do and no one here seems motivated to take the time when they can walk 5 minutes away to the store and have their pick. I guess that is another battle for another day. <br />
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Another thing I got the opportunity to do was go to Lagomar where Ali lives and see what is like to live in the "suburbs" of Montevideo. It is a decent bus ride to her house I will say that for sure, its nothing like me hopping on the 15 minute city line to my house. Really nothing about where she lives is similar to where I am- the are really polar opposites. Lets compare: her neighborhood is quiet with very little traffic, I live in the middle of the commercial center of the city; she's in a 2-story house with a backyard and 3 dogs, I live on the 8th floor of an apartment building; The Rambla is about 1/2 a block away from her house with a wonderful beach. the Rambla is about 10 blocks from me with an awesome view but no beach. I think you get the picture- both places have a ton of pros and cons for sure. As much as I would like to say "I wish I would have ended up some where like that" I can't say it with confidence because the amount of time she has to put into planning her day around going home/ coming into the city would have made it very easy for me to isolate myself from the happenings on Montevideo. I now understand the effort she puts in to participating in things and I must say I am impressed. Oh also, she lives in a GREAT spot to see the sunrise which we took advantage of when I stayed. It was beautiful!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMjrzoD10h3mIVkosCYd0ckTwK4paykgheToKtHMe3obO41GSPsr_bbDoF0nJgNKKpxxLyX_G4PjB2CFOMYHVKqqYO6QLK4qaY8o_fkTB7ftIYx_o0B0BAT46UYDwjk2JiNWbCFnMJvZo/s1600/DSC_1013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMjrzoD10h3mIVkosCYd0ckTwK4paykgheToKtHMe3obO41GSPsr_bbDoF0nJgNKKpxxLyX_G4PjB2CFOMYHVKqqYO6QLK4qaY8o_fkTB7ftIYx_o0B0BAT46UYDwjk2JiNWbCFnMJvZo/s320/DSC_1013.JPG" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4mQXhRN0eUYC8sfANdxrAVL_ov9ZsPqEA9o1bUp2UL3D_zeM-Xjb4ELcj2pP07gtTvxYxIuwRXc_2DdAFkAhFZY5MkYo0m07lZCm-PPmcZpWSM2odHs9igesTTPRKeHYdVVaILduy2Jw/s1600/DSC_0076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4mQXhRN0eUYC8sfANdxrAVL_ov9ZsPqEA9o1bUp2UL3D_zeM-Xjb4ELcj2pP07gtTvxYxIuwRXc_2DdAFkAhFZY5MkYo0m07lZCm-PPmcZpWSM2odHs9igesTTPRKeHYdVVaILduy2Jw/s320/DSC_0076.JPG" width="320" /></a>The big trip I took since my last post was this last weekend to Carmelo with Kelsey to visit her family (a different part) and what an experience! Carmelo is a little over 3 hours up the coast from Montevideo where the Rio de Plata and Rio Uruguay meet. It is a pretty small town, but Buenos Aires is easily accessible from their little port so it attracts a decent amount on tourism in the summer. We arrived in the later evening on Friday, ate dinner, and got our butts kick in Chinese Checkers by Kelsey's grandma. On Saturday we spent the day at el campo (literally means the country). Her family has land and a farm that has been in the family for many generations. They have horses, sheep, cows, and huge wheat fields. I am so glad I got to go after Spring made it's appearance because everything was flowering and <i>green</i>. The area is truly magnificent. Kelsey overcame her lifetime fear of horses and we spent a good couple hours just trotting around the area taking in the sights and smells. The fresh country air was so crisp and had the aroma of all the plants blooming, a person can't really ask for anything more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsL0JVrM6mrpyI8UqJNBZSZ6Z1NHuA3z8pzThyphenhyphenYFOb36xXbLHED1yGGnRZCJFUwKQW6fCU5ftm99hWvA6fSx0JSGdsZw5yKT-UQVaEO4Ci2XeFIv-FgNOgya1TLllNv7NhghjlLL7Ol9D/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpsL0JVrM6mrpyI8UqJNBZSZ6Z1NHuA3z8pzThyphenhyphenYFOb36xXbLHED1yGGnRZCJFUwKQW6fCU5ftm99hWvA6fSx0JSGdsZw5yKT-UQVaEO4Ci2XeFIv-FgNOgya1TLllNv7NhghjlLL7Ol9D/s320/DSC_0023.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original staircase</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Then there was lunch. Oh lunch in the country. I know I have talked about asado a lot and raved about how good it is, but really I was just naive. I had really country made asado this weekend and it blew my mind- anything I previously said was the best has now been overruled. I don't think I will get any better than the food I had for lunch that day. The asado was grilled to perfection, we had salad with the lettuce we had just cut out of the garden, fresh cheese, Coca-cola.. followed by homemade dulce de membrillo with more cheese... a lunch to be remembered that is for sure! Sorry to anyone who hasn't eaten before reading this post- my mouth is watering just thinking about it!<br />
After that we took a walk back into the wooded area, over two streams, to the location where Kelsey's great-great grandfathers house once stood. The only thing remaining now is the original stone staircase. We ventured around, did some exploring, and just kind of took it all in. It's hard to fathom how truly "in the middle of nowhere" he lived because the area now isn't close to anything at all... I can't imagine what it was like then. Kelsey then had her first time at driving stick-shift. But wait. This was no ordinary first time- she was in the middle of a pasture surrounded by <b>cows</b>, lucky for her the only things she could hit moved before any accidents took place!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbGGr60c95ov2mewmIxkHSRrgKQiDTLFqT6rLTk18QSYz3tH0f9ovuB54SVLi65ObDE8G1YmRiNHOM6N0XapgOrgk4oBwa_4dK6aNiME4JmBlO8ieF5txElKMC43tXHfOI821des7eehu/s1600/DSC_0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbGGr60c95ov2mewmIxkHSRrgKQiDTLFqT6rLTk18QSYz3tH0f9ovuB54SVLi65ObDE8G1YmRiNHOM6N0XapgOrgk4oBwa_4dK6aNiME4JmBlO8ieF5txElKMC43tXHfOI821des7eehu/s320/DSC_0064.JPG" width="214" /></a>A little after sunset we headed back into Carmelo, I learned a new card game called Escoba, and had a very tranquil evening. Sunday Kelsey and I spent the day walking around Carmelo getting to know the area a little better. I ended up buying a t-shirt that a guy hand paints scenes onto- mine has the Uruguay flag and a candombe drum that says Carmelo Uruguay on it. I was pretty excited about that. OH. and we went to a park that had an awesome slide, it looked like so much fun. Unfortunately there were tons of kids on it so I didn't get to try it out. Maybe next time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H7X5a3hJc8-4f2zYjMgn5xzezwko8iOXAZN2GKU6C4dLJ5tUnOZEUHd2UcNupn_1EYKBYaDltxKStvOn71b_5r5I2ZrxdmZ9V1ZbhTUKcLytj5ms7UBoZWihusCRJf2EQ7fWDDQa3qfR/s1600/DSC_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H7X5a3hJc8-4f2zYjMgn5xzezwko8iOXAZN2GKU6C4dLJ5tUnOZEUHd2UcNupn_1EYKBYaDltxKStvOn71b_5r5I2ZrxdmZ9V1ZbhTUKcLytj5ms7UBoZWihusCRJf2EQ7fWDDQa3qfR/s320/DSC_0149.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AWESOME SLIDE!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>That basically sums up the last weekend and my last two weeks here (besides the boring school things)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuiauUIbnIDOt-T7hG8Ova7OGLOWvSZtviUetAxYx786NiZL8v3YyYxTPfT4fop5gKL_l2hatZY9PDxg1fuK8esydgNPwqzgg9n0Y0-qGy_UimIhk2kYy5yRDyInXozx8s95An5YzbNxae/s1600/DSC_0002+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuiauUIbnIDOt-T7hG8Ova7OGLOWvSZtviUetAxYx786NiZL8v3YyYxTPfT4fop5gKL_l2hatZY9PDxg1fuK8esydgNPwqzgg9n0Y0-qGy_UimIhk2kYy5yRDyInXozx8s95An5YzbNxae/s320/DSC_0002+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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WAIT I forgot one thing- I gave my first (and hopefully only) presentation in my Psychology of Religion class this past week.<br />
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I was nervous to speak in front of an entire class of native speakers, but they were supportive of my efforts and overall it was a good experience.<br />
I shouldn't have anymore problems with presentations in English from here on out right?<br />
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Un Beso<br />
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</div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-60665411252956166962011-09-22T19:28:00.000-07:002011-09-22T19:30:59.385-07:00Un pedazo de paraíso: Salto!I feel like I am always just re-capping my weekends, but in reality that's when all the good things happen! School is the same old same old.. so on to what I did last weekend!<br />
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I went to <a href="http://www.uruguayfishingguides.com/images/salto-map.jpg">SALTO</a> this weekend which was about a 6 hour bus ride up the coast from Montevideo. It is located on the Uruguay river which happens to be the border between Argentina and Uruguay.<br />
Our bus departed from Montevideo at 6:30am Friday morning, but since I decided to stay Kelsey's (and forget my bus ticket at home) we had to leave at 5:30am to get there on time. Not a whole lot of sleeping occurred Thursday night since we decided this 3-day weekend was our "Spring Break Re-Take." All of the other schools here are on Spring Break this week and for some reason we don't get the week off- so we made our own Spring Break! Although we didn't have a week to spend traveling our weekend in Salto was an amazing way to spend our impromptu Spring Break Re-Take!<br />
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After a 6 hour bus ride filled with sleeping, picture taking, and Cosmopolitan Magazine we found ourselves in the small town outside of Salto called Dayman which is where we rented a small house for the weekend. We were met by Kelsey's uncle and while we waited for the rest of the group who took a different bus we went to see the "termas" -hot springs- that the area is known for. I don't know about you, but in my mind I was picturing rocks, pools, maybe a river? Something very natural looking, but that was not what I found. They have actually channeled the hot springs into pools for people to enjoy. I wasn't sure how to feel about it at first, a little disappointed that there wasn't more of a natural feel to it, but I was happy to be traveling and seeing something new. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3OADvkOzeGe0_qoKv66NS2OoQNOclm3LPT-xZMj7MThPyT3ePtz0mf507ubIC6u7BN6PDdyNumdsdxwEmbJLtmJlmPDtuZOtyhCM4pwxzhL3xwtSku46jlYcqTLqgxv2srZ0xLAC9YwY/s1600/191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3OADvkOzeGe0_qoKv66NS2OoQNOclm3LPT-xZMj7MThPyT3ePtz0mf507ubIC6u7BN6PDdyNumdsdxwEmbJLtmJlmPDtuZOtyhCM4pwxzhL3xwtSku46jlYcqTLqgxv2srZ0xLAC9YwY/s320/191.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
After walking around a bit we decided to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant. The weather there was amazing so we decided to eat outside. I ordered asado al tiro- best food you can find in Uruguay. It is type of beef ribs that is grilled on a parilla with the bones, fat, everything still in tact. It was <i>DELICIOUS</i>. Almost too delicious to really describe in words.<br />
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When we went to the house we were staying at it was like we had our own little getaway, a wonderful break from city life. We had a long <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;">GREEN</span> front yard with trees! We joked as we walked up to the house "what is this green stuff- is that grass?" As if we had almost forgot what a yard looks like! Then the fun commenced: I finally introduced the world of frisbee to a few people! It became and obsession for the weekend and I was more than happy to feed that addiction! I threw for hours this weekend and it was wonderful! It really made me miss my team and I want more than anything to play an actual game now, but until then I'll just be perfecting my throws and teaching others! Later that night we headed into the actual city of Salto which is just a short bus ride away to visit Kelsey's cousins house and have some pizza! (I think by the end of this 5 months I won't even be able to look a pizza!) We walked down the mains strip of the city which was fairly deserted and quiet, much different from the main road that runs in front of my house in Montevideo. We made our way to and for the first time in my life I saw Argentina! Salto is on the Uruguay River which at this point is the border between Uruguay and Argentina. I didn't cross this time, but on my next trip to Salto (I intend on going at least on more time) I will be sure to adventure that way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhWRhcUo4RX7oXZz4vCcMhlINoJKAMCGter93jKb-pT-GjIu3v5YsbQC2Ny0VSp-FRKmuOHEg8XFhG2AOL-a5NLgq_I95uOx7jHScFKPScUUmbD07T7hJ_BtxC0RlvMuKLCGupmJuYFgd/s1600/243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhWRhcUo4RX7oXZz4vCcMhlINoJKAMCGter93jKb-pT-GjIu3v5YsbQC2Ny0VSp-FRKmuOHEg8XFhG2AOL-a5NLgq_I95uOx7jHScFKPScUUmbD07T7hJ_BtxC0RlvMuKLCGupmJuYFgd/s320/243.JPG" width="214" /></a>We called it an early night that night. The next morning I woke up early- much earlier than anyone else was going to! I laid in bed listening to the birds singing and decided to take sometime to go outside and enjoy the peacefulness of the morning. I don't think I have ever appreciated seeing dew in the grass and the freshness of the morning so much- I know I don't live in the country generally, but every morning when I leave my house in Montevideo I am surrounded by cars, pavement, and buildings. Something about this has just given me a new love and appreciated for the little things like dew on the grass in the morning and the sounds of the birds. Ali woke up shortly after and when we were getting ready to head to the hot springs and little shops everyone else was just getting out of bed!<br />
Ali and I wanted to spend as much time as possible in the warm therapeutic water so off we went! The water was heavenly. There were multiple different pools- some were bathwater warm, others were hot tub warm. It was a wonderful day for it because it was slightly overcast and cooler making the water feel even more amazing. I'm not sure how I would feel about being there on a super hot day- hot water and hot weather don't seem to go together very well....<br />
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Later everyone re-united at El Rancho. We threw around the Frisbee and bit more, played poker, and had some awesome conversation. I couldn't help but feel the love of good company the entire weekend, we had such an amazing group! It was a great weekend for improving my Spanish as well! I felt so welcomed by all of Kelsey's family, it really made the journey even better for me. It was like I found another family here in Uruguay!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnjntZDPnJdCtykwzTm3C2nbW9H-vu_QD9oc0k5ltPYcERB45UlXNBvoKiQBKkSZgDSlFwboPVOdsCU4OrSvFNLE3U-NWyiRyawuUZOyI-ynZBOdKDaX3gff-TJ6TQEDD-DAs_cFycS2U/s1600/312586_204653636266957_100001669667204_492283_701897550_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnjntZDPnJdCtykwzTm3C2nbW9H-vu_QD9oc0k5ltPYcERB45UlXNBvoKiQBKkSZgDSlFwboPVOdsCU4OrSvFNLE3U-NWyiRyawuUZOyI-ynZBOdKDaX3gff-TJ6TQEDD-DAs_cFycS2U/s320/312586_204653636266957_100001669667204_492283_701897550_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew at the bar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We ended up going out that night in Salto- 9 people in the bed of the truck and a 10 minute ride later- we arrived at a half outdoor bar. It was a lot of fun, we had a big group and danced the night... and the morning away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T5NxQ4cbF_9x71_HiEb-VhTCUuixFSFgJq_Zl3W41Bgpu2IZgNp_l73U2ro1LEpdQSyyYwoflbsWz1m7T6f6dOsyWxEY0NkAdB5V1l4uOdMRI6tM5ZhwDgqxWJCFwb_0PR88AfQQ9QXg/s1600/sleepy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T5NxQ4cbF_9x71_HiEb-VhTCUuixFSFgJq_Zl3W41Bgpu2IZgNp_l73U2ro1LEpdQSyyYwoflbsWz1m7T6f6dOsyWxEY0NkAdB5V1l4uOdMRI6tM5ZhwDgqxWJCFwb_0PR88AfQQ9QXg/s320/sleepy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hammocks are wonderful inventions!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Saturday was <i style="font-weight: bold;">beautiful and sunny</i> all day! We spent most of the day at Kelsey's cousins hanging out, lounging in hammocks, and eating more delicious food. This time they made us chorizos- by far the best chorizo I have ever had. I also finally saw the entire process of grilling that makes meat here so delicious. First of all- they never EVER put wood that is still burning under the meat. The wood burns off to the side and as the coals go white and fall off the wood they put them under the meat. It takes a while to cook things, but it is well worth it. The chorizo had that nice crunchy skin on the outside and the inside was super juicy and flavorful- absolutely wonderful. The sun combined with good food and good company made for an enjoyable- and exhausting day. (Especially after only about 4 1/2 hours of sleep!) And people wonder how in the world I could fall asleep in this position (reference to the photo <----).<br />
Later in the afternoon we headed for Dayman to go back to the hot springs one more time before we had to leave for Montevideo. I decided that hot springs at night is the way to go. The area was illuminated with green lights, the temperature had gone down enough for the water to give off a beautiful steam, and it was very peaceful. It was a wonderful way to spend the last of our time in the area. Before we left Totu kept telling me how much he loved throwing with me and how much he wanted to learn more about frisbee. He told me multiple times he would love a disc from my team when I returned so I decided I would give him the Frisbee I had with me. He was so excited he wanted a picture to make the gifting official! It made me so happy to share something so wonderful. Watch out: Ultimate Frisbee in Uruguay could be the next big thing!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pqrbAaU5GdlpjEDyjAKpawTk0IajSDHSYs06_CNhwqmxRy0HbNhxrLCgQZgHXAfhQrANj52miCVfRpmoI2f4lswPWNYqfEG5tWVjJCPCKwCtbBtohBeICoahrE7SgbZZYAxHHStdmwCZ/s1600/gifts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pqrbAaU5GdlpjEDyjAKpawTk0IajSDHSYs06_CNhwqmxRy0HbNhxrLCgQZgHXAfhQrANj52miCVfRpmoI2f4lswPWNYqfEG5tWVjJCPCKwCtbBtohBeICoahrE7SgbZZYAxHHStdmwCZ/s320/gifts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We made our exit from Salto at 11:30pm Sunday night and arrived in Montevideo around 5:15am. Still catching up on sleep, but a weekend well worth it!Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-48094806930262283622011-09-14T06:01:00.000-07:002011-09-22T18:04:32.005-07:00Un Techo Para Mi País<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">Well here is goes... the recap of my weekend with "Un Techo Para Mi Pais" It took me a few days to get this done because I had my first two exams today and since I didn't study at all over the weekend I had to get past those first! Hopefully they went well :)</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you want to see or read more about the program I worked with you can look at this link: <a href="http://www.untechoparamipais.org/english/pagina-principal/where-we-work/uruguay/">UTPMP</a> This weekend started off Friday night when all of the students participating met up at a stadium- about 700 or so students in all. We were divided into multiple groups, most of which stayed in Montevideo and a few went a little ways outside of the city to Paysandú. Within Montevideo the students broke up into nine different schools. We stayed overnight at our designated schools which were close to the neighborhood we were going to work in. I asked to be in a specific school along with Sam and Ali; we went to school 9 which is where Maggie (the girl that presented this opportunity to me) was going to be. It couldn't have worked out any better. Once we arrived we all got together outside in the courtyard and we were given a piece of paper. On one side we put our name and on the other side we put an ability that we have- I put "I know English." They were then placed on a wall with only the ability showing the 12 group leaders chose the groups based on the abilities each person wrote. Sam, Ali, and I were all in different groups which was actually kind of cool- we all had the same home base but during the day we got to spend time with different people and get to know more people. So Friday night we were assigned our groups, we chatted and did activities until after 1am. Once we were finally able to go to bed we were informed we would be getting up at 6:45am the next morning! So much for a good night's sleep before a long day of work.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">Saturday morning we were woken up by a loud boom box sounding in the courtyard and the leaders coming into the classrooms yelling "Buen Día!" We changed, ate some breakfast, and off we went to meet the family and start the building process. Coincidentally enough the neighborhood I worked in was very close to the school I work at every Monday; it gave me a different appreciation for the work I do with the kids. I don't think there was anything that could have prepared me for the conditions of the area I was working in- sure I have driven past in the bus and I have seen pictures of areas in a similar state, but to work in the neighborhood changes everything.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">We were building a house for Magali, her significant other Jose, and his kids. I didn't learn until later in the day that she is only 19- I thought she was at least 25! I was absolutely shocked to hear that she was younger than me... It took a little while for that fact to settle in. We spent all of Saturday preparing the base of the house. We had to dig 18 holes about as deep as my arm is long to put the posts in. This took the entire day- about 8am to 6pm and at the end of the day we hadn't quite finished. For lunch the families in the neighborhood collaborated and made one big lunch for all of the groups working in the small area, in total four houses were built in this area. It was wonderful and so nice of them to make such a big meal for us all. They made guisa, very similar to types of stews, with rice, lentils, chicken, and some vegetables. Part of me found it hard to really enjoy the meal especially when the families didn't join us to eat- they left it all for the volunteers.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">It felt good to be doing some manual labor, but at the end of the day I was tired- and very dirty. Back to the school we went for the reflections about the day and group discussions. It was another late night and by 11pm I was ready for bed!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">Sunday morning we woke up in much the same fashion as the morning before and headed off to finish the house!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">I should clarify what a house in this situation actually signifies- I don't have pictures because I wasn't sure that bringing my camera was such a good idea, but if you click<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.elacontecer.com.uy/imagenes_noticia/7265_Un%20techo%20para%20mi%20pais%201.JPG">HERE</a> it will give you a general idea of what we built. This isn't a picture of my group or any group from this past weekend, but it is generally the same. A one room refuge for the family- no bathroom, no kitchen, etc- very simple, but much better living conditions than they previously had.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">Sunday- even though we started off the day with a little bit of pressure to get moving, turned out to be a wonderful and successful day! We got to work right away when we got there, determined to finish the posts and get them all leveled within the hour."Nivel!" (means level) became the word of the day as we went one by one to all of the post leveling them over, and over, oh and over again haha Once that was done with we started on with the floor. The panels for the floor and walls had been made the day before and were delivered on site which made this part of the process much quicker. We assembled the floor and the walls within a couple hours and ate lunch as our small group within the walls of Magali's new house- she was so excited! The roof was a "corrugated iron roof" and assembling that took a little more time. Once we had everything assembled we closed the door and decorated with streamers, balloons, and all signed the "title" to Magali's new house. We put up a ribbon across the door so they got to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially designate the house as theirs! It was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces when they cut the ribbon and walked into their complete safe haven for the first time. Afterward Jose cut the ribbon into pieces and gave part of it to all of the members of the group- it was very touching.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">I wish I had pictures to show you all right now but I have to wait to get them from other people that were working, I'm not sure how long that will take. Once I have access to them I promise I will share them with you!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now that I have gotten through the gritty details of what we did physically- I want to share a little bit about how I was feeling and what I was seeing throughout all of this because that is what made this whole experience even more special for me. The level of poverty in this area was almost indescribable and nothing like I have ever seen before. The area I walked into looked similar to this </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/shanty-towns.JPG">http://www.treehugger.com/shanty-towns.JPG</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">This is not Montevideo nor the neighborhood I just want to give you a little bit of an idea of what I saw since I don't have pictures to go with this post. We were greeted by the families, children- lots of children, dogs, horses, cats, and even roosters. All had free reign over the area; there was virtually no boundary among the houses it was almost like one big family. That is one of the first thing I noticed- everyone knew everyone, I could hardly tell whose house was whose or whose kids were whose because it was all so integrated. The kids were an entirely different subject- as many of you know I have a special place in my heart for children, it is kind of a passion of mine to work with them, I love kids! I want to say what I saw regarding the kids broke my heart because it did to see them living in such circumstances, but despite it all they appeared happy and it was very moving. Just like any other small children- running around, creating mischief, getting dirty, and bothering all of the adults. Granted their playground was the area surrounding their houses (full of garbage on a level that I can't even explain) and their idea of toys were rocks, pieces or wood, or any other random artifact they could find- yet they occupied their time, played games, laughed, and didn't seem to have a care in the world. They also thought it was awesome to help us dig the giant holes for the poles- it was disheartening and heart-warming all at the same time, an experience I really can't explain in words.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">When we finished building the house I felt so accomplished and satisfied with what we had just spent the weekend. After all we had just finished a house for someone in 2 days! But then I took and step back and looked at what we just built- a small one bedroom refuge made of two-by-fours, plywood, and a tin roof- and that was about to be someone's home. Maybe the best house they have ever lived in or will ever live in and that fact right there hit me like a ton of bricks. I am not trying to downplay what we did, it was life-changing for them, but it is hard to grasp the idea of someone living in such poverty then seeing people on TV complaining about how 24 million dollars a year to play a sport isn't enough. In all honesty it makes me sick to my stomach. It is hard to put into words all of the things I saw and felt the past weekend. All in all it was a very eye-opening and rewarding experience. I am blessed to have had the chance to take part in it all!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Courier; font-size: 13.5pt;">I know this is long and I appreciate you taking the time to read it all- this was a very special and unforgettable experience for me and I am glad I could share it with you!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i>The pictures I promised! I don't have too many, but I wanted to share them anyway :)</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9qyMTjUsGjo-_BWopNjYiPVtEzUhnHz6PaGinuW21vSmC5xTkUazZX3Q6s8tBc8xefcBOidCtazZbobWhNKhvKQ0WT04J0TNga_Ixnqc_jj-sNqZL4tMZD9ajzKav0w7VtU2Kn8k7Q4P/s1600/UTPMP21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9qyMTjUsGjo-_BWopNjYiPVtEzUhnHz6PaGinuW21vSmC5xTkUazZX3Q6s8tBc8xefcBOidCtazZbobWhNKhvKQ0WT04J0TNga_Ixnqc_jj-sNqZL4tMZD9ajzKav0w7VtU2Kn8k7Q4P/s400/UTPMP21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The group of students at the school</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"NIVEL"- "LEVEL"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "front yard"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Their previous house</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhyphenhyphenWLt5h1bc5vWFZbUFZ11TQedJoAWGcrxx8GvXk_XfEbops2lpWfSnmA7jB2BvM_fic_xbVSbPXVZHHkXc_U9PE08AU0NncpF8KJ0aXvwC7YehUntEJ5FH4MaLlLiL_rPhr9WpKERF5H/s1600/UTPMP27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJiVuBO-1VIm9UGDpAM-uVKi2WJPXBa-tc27S496H9y9Gq3eePYtX4RLmCorgYlyuvdazNCKolENlccSmpI9s2Z83UzYWjG3ZQKSYceOyTWeGYK4kjUgpea9t1A5LPej8sQ3B6B6Q0dkx/s1600/UTPMP29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJiVuBO-1VIm9UGDpAM-uVKi2WJPXBa-tc27S496H9y9Gq3eePYtX4RLmCorgYlyuvdazNCKolENlccSmpI9s2Z83UzYWjG3ZQKSYceOyTWeGYK4kjUgpea9t1A5LPej8sQ3B6B6Q0dkx/s320/UTPMP29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official property owners</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i></i></span></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-6045214947086425462011-09-07T07:01:00.000-07:002011-09-07T07:01:46.396-07:00Competencia de "Barman"Hello all,<br />
Shall we recap the last week of this Uruguayan adventure? I think so!<br />
I have had two more days with the kids at the school since I last wrote and so far everything is going really well. We are only there for an hour and in my opinion that is not nearly enough time! Each day we have to do something semi-small because of the time restriction, but slowly but surely wins the race. We started with the alphabet by making giant bubble letters, letting the kids color them in, and then they wrote an English word that started with their letter, and drew a picture of their word. Now we have the alphabet with all of the English words hanging in their classroom, they also sing the Alphabet Song with us before every class. As a review/ introduction to something new this week we broke the (approximately 30 kids) into four groups. Two groups were playing memory with the alphabet, the other two were working on parts of the body. For memory we had a letter and a picture to go with it; the trick was they had to know how to say what the picture was in English. I was working with one of those groups and of course I went through the process with them helping them out with names, but they were having a blast and getting really into it! It was cute to see some of the words they came up with and their pronunciation- absolutely adorable. My favorite example was A. The matching picture, as you can probably guess, was an apple and each time they flipped it over they would immediately yell "manzana" which is correct in Spanish. When I would ask how to say it in English they would think for a few seconds and then someone would get super excited and say "ah-play." Got me every time. I love the learning process :)<br />
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The weather here, for the most part, has been steadily getting better. I have spent a lot more time walking; I walk home from school a lot now instead of taking the bus and it is about a 40 minute walk. I haven't gotten sick of it yet though because about 25 minutes is down the main street and every time I am walking I seem to see/ find something different. The other day I decided to stop into one of the bakeries or "confiteria" to buy myself a snack. I know one thing I am going to miss is the abundance of fresh baked goods- their pastries and such here are delicious. Kelsey, Ali, and I also spent one evening walking around a little- they bought some <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRp_IhWmh2B5pp0qZoJydX8F9px2SQ5O1GORqxgODKn1pMWC4PSW5D_Rh7kYRyIEtcXw6iKaU2QjhgYsAjREp59AdaVoZdyg5-WB9e3sxXHD9pIdgdPN3A-ExTKKnBzLi3XZUISv3FLDu/s320/espejitoslintz.jpg">Espejitos</a> and I settled from some ice cream. That was only the 5th time I have eaten ice cream since I got here, less than once a week! Uruguay just might be breaking my ice cream addiction.. but then again.. maybe not..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNAM1einrl3LNaNVOr_o89H6NFpVspd1pSL0ICwsTJgf72UwUXfiwaUsaoRp7jXg08TWDNuSYbTKCDUZ10ktuYNoGdqhEGZ_OJHCvuNxBKrbMNhKkuLG-1bYUKDHbApuOuMgecv0kzKLi/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNAM1einrl3LNaNVOr_o89H6NFpVspd1pSL0ICwsTJgf72UwUXfiwaUsaoRp7jXg08TWDNuSYbTKCDUZ10ktuYNoGdqhEGZ_OJHCvuNxBKrbMNhKkuLG-1bYUKDHbApuOuMgecv0kzKLi/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a>On Thursday last week I decided I would make dinner for the family. I couldn't seem to come up with a very "typical" American meal- that isn't burgers and fries- so I just decided to make something semi easy that I like a lot: Stir Fry! It felt awesome to cook again, except when I took on the project I didn't realize I would be cooking for the entire family (grandma, grandpa, and cousin included!). I didn't mind at all of course, I love baking and cooking. I spent a good four hours in the kitchen between the main dish and dessert I had a lot to get done. I made the dessert first which was Snickerdoodle cookies, I figured since the first round went over so well I would try something new. Then I started on the Stir Fry- all of the veggies and meat were fresh so my host mom helped me get everything all cut up and started. Then I was off and running- I had to cook everything in two parts because I didn't have a pot big enough for all of it at once. In the end it turned out to be a great meal every one really liked the food, but more importantly they devoured the cookies once again. Lu, Caro, and Juan said they prefer the ones with Chocolate, but every one else seemed to prefer the "cinnamon cookies." I have started thinking about what I want to make next time- <i><u>suggestions welcome</u></i>! I love cooking/ baking- something about food that just brings people together to enjoy a meal, especially one that I took the time to cook, just puts a smile on my face.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DbKhAAuhY0THbXv2ahndLeRxHBCVZEib9PBgoxxpQ_Pz9HZzvn1YCNL3CHtdkIOhSjvLgDr3w1wZBq4bOv25h3Zb9VPdkhYvLbZzPoBN-DT71A1MCswqtY0JR-OiRBAA7ZhvtX7tHXYi/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DbKhAAuhY0THbXv2ahndLeRxHBCVZEib9PBgoxxpQ_Pz9HZzvn1YCNL3CHtdkIOhSjvLgDr3w1wZBq4bOv25h3Zb9VPdkhYvLbZzPoBN-DT71A1MCswqtY0JR-OiRBAA7ZhvtX7tHXYi/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Didn't take long for them to disappear!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The past weekend was much more calm and uneventful than the last one I wrote about, but I rather enjoyed myself. Kelsey, Ali, and I spent quite a bit of time together this weekend. Friday night the three of us went for a walk down to the beach have a look, I decided to walk barefoot and stick my feet in the water. The water was suuuper cold, but it kind of felt good. We went out for dinner and had AWESOME dessert. I had a chocolate mint cake, Kelsey had a chocolate cake (one of the best desserts I have ever tried), and Ali had some kind of strawberry tort. After that we decided we would be making another visit there someday for dessert alone! It was also Javier's (another exchange student from Guatemala) birthday, so they had a little get-together at his place. We hung out, played some cards, I failed at playing ping-pong, and I made it home just after 2am.<br />
On Saturday, it was very windy with a few rain showers, but we braved the weather and spent some time walking around one of the Ferias that I have mentioned previously. Then a few of us spent sometime down by the sea-ocean-river, whatever you want to call it. I enjoyed the little bit of "fresh" air like always. Saturday night we made our way to another friends apartment, it was essentially the same with the exception that we weren't celebrating. Aurore (from France) has her own apartment close to the school with an awesome view of the city! Kelsey and I left pretty early to have a Bachelorette night- she is currently working on getting me hooked on the show haha What we ended up doing was about a 1/2 hour workout, eating some food, and watching 1 episode of the Bachelorette. I would say it was a night well spent!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXMAq-wI0ET1J8Q5LUKgjF3nl7WM4QCsUw-P9TnakdaCOy3PKX_h9QB2CuI12F_IFCZSZJeLyDOFcFwsJYYVj6OZGDqnb9ry26sIeNhqH6sa8NEWEPWAGu4WLQCQo8_glHc0eAegwABr3/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXMAq-wI0ET1J8Q5LUKgjF3nl7WM4QCsUw-P9TnakdaCOy3PKX_h9QB2CuI12F_IFCZSZJeLyDOFcFwsJYYVj6OZGDqnb9ry26sIeNhqH6sa8NEWEPWAGu4WLQCQo8_glHc0eAegwABr3/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The drink Ali bought!</td></tr>
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Now- onto what the title of the Blog is referencing. The national Barman Competition was here in Montevideo the past few days and a few of us went to check it out. Now you may be wondering how we heard about it and what prompted us to go? Well Kelsey's cousin is currently training to be a professional Barman and he competed in the Amateur round. I supposed I should spell out what a Barman Competition involves- I sure didn't know before I went. Part of the competition is just making drink, with a certain time restriction. For the professional level they have a certain amount of<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkjP1PNMbB8LUfPggOx8nQE2VE9UppjPbpPgtYb6GqLgjABk_pOf7mY5bnpa5cw1N007XIVVzMp7Fp3GYLlGzsy0d_-axTOiBKhEmE_QDtVpmE-UGcjhcVSUKSd0041I7gI3cCXzRnNmZ/s1600/119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwkjP1PNMbB8LUfPggOx8nQE2VE9UppjPbpPgtYb6GqLgjABk_pOf7mY5bnpa5cw1N007XIVVzMp7Fp3GYLlGzsy0d_-axTOiBKhEmE_QDtVpmE-UGcjhcVSUKSd0041I7gI3cCXzRnNmZ/s320/119.JPG" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMl6oaFTaoX6qN1nv_TxGUQdGCCxtoAcjgWht1lm4ie4GLCr0StapYwOg5Ats9n1Y4GjGJnuAvfFBWG1mlh4GNcyVPEEeSJvNWJ0SgszoufSlWMOv1QDmxNLngtPLvFUqk7UHFdsRFuFd/s1600/117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMl6oaFTaoX6qN1nv_TxGUQdGCCxtoAcjgWht1lm4ie4GLCr0StapYwOg5Ats9n1Y4GjGJnuAvfFBWG1mlh4GNcyVPEEeSJvNWJ0SgszoufSlWMOv1QDmxNLngtPLvFUqk7UHFdsRFuFd/s320/117.JPG" width="214" /></a>time to make the garnish for their drink out of fruits, vegetables, etc Then they have to actually make the drinks afterward. One or two of the drinks go to the judges and they auction off the others to the audience. Ali ended getting two drinks and an Encyclopedia of Cocktails- in her words "You only live once!" We all got shared/ tried the drink and it was absolutely amazing. It was a kiwi-apple-mint type cocktail and of course it was very well made. The second part of the competition, the real reason we all went, was for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Flare</b></span>.<br />
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Flare is the part of the competition where the competitors are not only making a drink, but juggling the cups and bottles in the process. This blew my mind! The first three to go were good, but the 4th guy was the 5x world champion. He is from Uruguay and I have never seen anything like the show he put on! It was flawless- one of my friends has a video of the entire routine. I am going to try to get it and put it up because it is nearly impossible to describe. It was amazing!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Well.. I think that about sums it up! Hopefully after this weekend I will have another amazing post to write you all. Ali and I are volunteering for "Un Techo Para Mi Pais" which works on building homes for the homeless and less fortunate. Check out this website if you want to read a little more about the organization: <a href="http://www.untechoparamipais.org/english/">http://www.untechoparamipais.org/english/</a><br />
It is an all weekend event. I can't wait to be a part of something that makes such a difference in people's lives!<br />
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Un BesoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-30760835086427418862011-08-28T19:14:00.000-07:002011-08-28T19:14:04.985-07:00Haciendo el dedo en Minas!It was quite the adventure in Minas this weekend!<br />
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On Friday morning our bus was scheduled to leave around 9:45am so we were meeting around 9:30am.I didn't get on the bus by my house with very much spare time and I decided to stay on the bus for one extra stop, just for fun, and I strolled into the terminal 9:42am. The driver loaded my bag and we were on the road as soon as I took my seat- close call! Once the bus got rolling I tried reading for awhile but soon enough I was sleeping and I sleep majority of the two hour ride, which made the trip go much faster. We arrived in the bus terminal and shortly after we were greeted by our friend Rodrigo who actually grew up in Minas and decided to take us under his wing as our guide for the weekend. We walked down the street a little ways to the "hostel" he thought would be good for us to stay in, but it turned out to be more of a Hotel with more commodities and a higher price than we were really looking to pay. Back the bus terminal we headed to the tourism/ visitor center to see if they could suggest something else. We got information, maps, and ideas of things to do for the weekend and headed to hostel #2 to see what they had to offer. It was a nice place and much cheaper, so we crammed all 5 of us in the 4 person room and managed to get another bed in there and made that our cozy little home for the weekend.<br />
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Oh and I should probably mention the five people I spent the weekend with: Rachel (North Carolina), Sam (Kansas), Eva (Austria), Zuzanna (Czech Republic), and our guide Rodrigo (Uruguay). It was an awesome mix of people and it forced us all to only speak in our 1 common language all weekend: Spanish!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpepc97DHhMvSCyZ5IFfUu_coy7gpaRE7XLlJRnufRWAnu06gJe3mfGmZh24tzz6RQVvO5FwLLJZeCspyVvUd8jPvmLoo7L15TieXEarI1XnYD1ALQWZcp32Vkwb0wG2HItkB8OnXrnnEu/s1600/078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpepc97DHhMvSCyZ5IFfUu_coy7gpaRE7XLlJRnufRWAnu06gJe3mfGmZh24tzz6RQVvO5FwLLJZeCspyVvUd8jPvmLoo7L15TieXEarI1XnYD1ALQWZcp32Vkwb0wG2HItkB8OnXrnnEu/s320/078.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRNzcvQ7f00DOK6rpGJfng_ot61Xh46HvFDXlgJU2y8wDcmyvgePXWlr_Wllw2UI9qz8MCBJ6gupfj10cEs4RLkicgM0ckVbfXhOFfpfi95GiUSRcRHSeXAtkTQmAk1GV6wpsvMzHnVXQ/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRNzcvQ7f00DOK6rpGJfng_ot61Xh46HvFDXlgJU2y8wDcmyvgePXWlr_Wllw2UI9qz8MCBJ6gupfj10cEs4RLkicgM0ckVbfXhOFfpfi95GiUSRcRHSeXAtkTQmAk1GV6wpsvMzHnVXQ/s320/019.JPG" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSQXS_CYQUWTc1gOlTWwm93g9Gb121YWHS43FBFFPDr_WgEm5fpk4pmO8hh7D8hJKNDj6CCBWx0ZAZY89Q1GrFUKCfVTR9xPKfvzNqOffdhU0lguCvPmbywCnHxAFO3qdaAZw7kyxrbOY/s1600/099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSQXS_CYQUWTc1gOlTWwm93g9Gb121YWHS43FBFFPDr_WgEm5fpk4pmO8hh7D8hJKNDj6CCBWx0ZAZY89Q1GrFUKCfVTR9xPKfvzNqOffdhU0lguCvPmbywCnHxAFO3qdaAZw7kyxrbOY/s320/099.JPG" width="214" /></a>Once we were settled we started out on our first journey to Cerro Arequita. Cerro translated means hill or basically an elevated point, but not a mountain. That is the best way I can explain it I think. It was a very relaxing and beautiful place.<br />
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It had a little bit of everything: when we first started off it was an open grassy hill, then we passed under a tree and into a clearing which was actually the beginning of an Ombu (the tree I am sitting in) forest. We walked along through the forested area for awhile, climbing higher and higher, until we finally emerged on a flat grassy/ rocky area on top of the cerro with an excellent view. On the other ridge of the cerro we were accompanied by cows, they were a fair distance away, but it was kind of crazy to see them up there as well. I should have known, the entire way up were were careful where we stepped!<br />
On top of the cerro we walked around, took in the view, took in some SUN, and found a place to eat our lunches we packed. After looking around, soaking up the view, and basking in the silence we began our decent to walk through the countryside a little bit. We knew of a place that was about 1km (.6 miles) from the cerro that we wanted to check out, got there, and we were told we would have to pay to enter and with only about 45mins of sunlight left we decided that it wasn't worth it and headed back where we had come from. Then Rodrigo told us of a camping area that was about the same distance away and after hopping 3 fences, walking through a pasture past some grazing cows, and through some trees we came upon the camping area just as the sun was setting. The sky was a brilliant pink-orange color and we walked around and waited for our taxi to come get us. While waiting I managed to make friends with a very friendly country-dog, he was a little dirty but I just could resist those puppy dog eyes he gave me when he rolled over on his back and begged for his belly to be rubbed :)<br />
That night we ate at the Ombu restaurant in Minas and I had my first Chivito complete with: steak, ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, and mayo. It was a cultural experience in itself- I see them advertised everywhere and they are very common but this was my first. Conclusion= may not be very healthy but it was delicious! This was followed by us all going back to the room and sharing 2 Liters of Dulce de Leche ice cream and playing a new card game Rodrigo taught us.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAV8pPLjIQ_Dc25Cp0lfJsqT5SyxmYnxqRMrCrRtbsHtW5fVhprtCOvkXzjDdy2ZmfXY2_PPuuqyfOSglM_2gPPgElVHqERdhNa-78NLXYDkM5sVM-TXCVrMZxMgRhrlTYKEPZBcTgcEA/s1600/139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAV8pPLjIQ_Dc25Cp0lfJsqT5SyxmYnxqRMrCrRtbsHtW5fVhprtCOvkXzjDdy2ZmfXY2_PPuuqyfOSglM_2gPPgElVHqERdhNa-78NLXYDkM5sVM-TXCVrMZxMgRhrlTYKEPZBcTgcEA/s320/139.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outdoor church we came across<br />
while walking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Saturday morning we woke up and first glance outside we knew it wasn't as warm because it was a VERY windy day and mostly overcast, but we had plans to go to Villa Serana and so we headed to the bus stop to get our ticket. Rodrigo decided not to go because it might rain and he was sore from the previous day so off we went without our guide. Villa Serana is about 21 Km (13 miles) from Minas= about a 20 minute bus ride. When we got off at our stop we had another 5 Km (3 miles) walk on the gravel-dirt-grass roads into the area we wanted to see. Even though it was windy, the weather wasn't bad and the view as we were walking was wonderful once again. We finally arrived at one of the to-see destination which included a small lake, a damn, and a park area where we decided to eat under the trees because it had started to sprinkle. We took our time eating just waiting for the rain to pass, but little did we know the weather was only preparing to get worse as we sat there chatting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtnVn6wpRzWI1LMaiTYPnXeMN09RSihONJ1Z-n7d15OqBObzM_XOZTObuaHm44Hhev8wVI6QpSvGOkMg7QMOeCwFfdx-Pn5rlpJq_YHRG45IMaZFy4zvxzjruv4HgyXNEcxOkKRTiHO00/s1600/152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtnVn6wpRzWI1LMaiTYPnXeMN09RSihONJ1Z-n7d15OqBObzM_XOZTObuaHm44Hhev8wVI6QpSvGOkMg7QMOeCwFfdx-Pn5rlpJq_YHRG45IMaZFy4zvxzjruv4HgyXNEcxOkKRTiHO00/s320/152.JPG" width="214" /></a>When we finally decided to leave the rain was coming down steady and we were trying to prepare ourselves as much as we could for the 1 1/2 hour back to the bus stop. About 20 minutes into our walk and soaking wet we heard a car approaching from behind and Zuzanna had decided enough was a enough "hace el dedo" we were going to hitch-hike to our stop. Low and behold it worked and the 5 of us sat in the bed of a truck as we got a ride from a family gracious enough to pick us up. Once at the stop there was a small concrete wall with a roof that blocked some wind and most of the rain, but we were already soaked. Shortly after laughing about what had just happened we checked the time and realized we had almost 2 hours until the bus came and it was time to make a decision: freeze for the longest 2 hours or what would seem like the longest 2 hours ever OR try our luck again at hitching a ride back to Minas. Well you guessed it, we waited and watched 3.. 4 cars pass without looking twice. Then to our surprise another truck type vehicle stopped and again we climbed in the back for a long ride back to Minas. The rain was coming down accompanied by thunder and occasional lightening but we couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Here we were in the back of a truck in the pouring rain, freezing our butts off, and there was nothing we could do about it.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBDt1COPssEOJ9bG3h8OuXF7X83zh4klUgGfF_0jroPtpWzW-iS9nCNUJqiBOtRmgfiltOR-H7PkNti4kguj4jib5DSzdqBF2Xugf8sD7bDws7AqrFl95sc-BILxYM_5nTrWOwLLXtFez/s1600/172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBDt1COPssEOJ9bG3h8OuXF7X83zh4klUgGfF_0jroPtpWzW-iS9nCNUJqiBOtRmgfiltOR-H7PkNti4kguj4jib5DSzdqBF2Xugf8sD7bDws7AqrFl95sc-BILxYM_5nTrWOwLLXtFez/s320/172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB9QjPn8x9gmFc5Fc5A8NwLsJVHb-9KDpWi5bWn935ws01J0R6zZSbDP7mCNVjzJS8-SlU9LGePYTL50vO8UgBfQ-fUPQ4rhEF0d_AZwnCjy_3B9A51VqUXLj1pJjW80Ekxd_zpULMi7n/s1600/169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB9QjPn8x9gmFc5Fc5A8NwLsJVHb-9KDpWi5bWn935ws01J0R6zZSbDP7mCNVjzJS8-SlU9LGePYTL50vO8UgBfQ-fUPQ4rhEF0d_AZwnCjy_3B9A51VqUXLj1pJjW80Ekxd_zpULMi7n/s320/169.JPG" width="320" /></a>Once we got back to the hostel dripping wet and cold, we made clothes hangers out of anything that had a handle, corner, edge, etc in order to hang up all of our clothes. We opened the window, cranked the heat, left our door open, and turned on the fan in hopes of 1) drying our clothes 2) avoiding turning our room into a musty smelly sauna in the process. It was more or less a success. We spent the rest of the night lounging around the room under blankets, watching movies, and eating. It was a good way to finish off the day!<br />
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Today, Rachel and I spent the morning at a little sweets store while the others decided to walk around a little more. We had had enough walking for one weekend and we spent our time playing rummy and waiting for the next bus to arrive. All in all I would have to say that was a weekend well spent :)<br />
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Un Beso<br />
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Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-39555822774266809882011-08-25T14:55:00.000-07:002011-08-25T14:55:18.033-07:00Peñarol!Just a quick post before I head out for the weekend because I am sure my next one will be quite long...<br />
<div>I went to my first EVER (I know I am lame, but in case Tracie or Jess ever try to tell you otherwise- I do know what the World Cup is...) soccer game today with Lucia and Carolina. </div><div>I do not have any pictures to add to this blog because, well soccer games are not the best places to have a camera. It was two teams for Uruguay and I was told I am cheering for the team in <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">BLACK</span></b> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><b>YELLOW</b></span>= Peñarol. I didn't know all of the rules, well really any of the rules, of soccer but I think I understood most of the game. This was not a big game at all, not even important enough to know the name of the other team, but of course the Peñarol side of the stadium was very full. The energy coming from the stadium was amazing, really made me miss playing sports! Huge shout out to my <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;">SOL</span></b> girls.. I was thinking of you today :) </div><div>I have a new, what is the right word? Respect? Fascination? with soccer after today. First off, the players on the field literally run, not jog, but sprint for 45 minutes straight- incredible! I mean I knew this before, but watching it in person just makes it so much different. Second, they are more than willing to take a ball that is kicked at them straight to the head.. I didn't realize how often that actually occurred in a game. Not to mention when there is a penalty kick? maybe? they line up, hook arms, wait for the guy to kick the ball and JUMP into to the air hoping to... stop it with their face. That. I couldn't believe, very valiant on their part.</div><div>Anyway it was a very new and exciting experience. I cannot wait to go to a game of more importance... perhaps Nacional vs Peñarol?? = The two biggest teams in Uruguay by far.. you are either for Nacional or Peñarol.. nothing else. And I have been told my <3 must lie with <i>Peñarol</i> if I with to remain a member of this household, so there you have it. :D</div><div><br />
</div><div>Beso </div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-72565086483495655882011-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:002011-08-24T15:36:27.706-07:00Cuba 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 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Alphabet!</b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM7pVkqj0U1ljnRT60BFGHnT6Dv3g0U_nlsxp6woT-ljIiNkJLuhJhfbVU-wCF0rkFbcwhBDj2EL7mRC8E35K9Q3QRrOXLAsvKD7bweCilMCM7M18YZ8z2IQYGOOUvl2fP8KVEgLMRpiF/s1600/196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM7pVkqj0U1ljnRT60BFGHnT6Dv3g0U_nlsxp6woT-ljIiNkJLuhJhfbVU-wCF0rkFbcwhBDj2EL7mRC8E35K9Q3QRrOXLAsvKD7bweCilMCM7M18YZ8z2IQYGOOUvl2fP8KVEgLMRpiF/s320/196.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>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. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitx6pvB29mIMc4HmbsLModWwGm8OygnS10TZfcdWSSm0LD5ZDYBB3PQJV6TqLUVB0ehB6ocEsVa8wzAorIKBxbgrp1112wHi2ye0jddVkNQ6hTAO2Govg_KBQ4uX10BaSbVwxQ-CfqYKJI/s1600/188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitx6pvB29mIMc4HmbsLModWwGm8OygnS10TZfcdWSSm0LD5ZDYBB3PQJV6TqLUVB0ehB6ocEsVa8wzAorIKBxbgrp1112wHi2ye0jddVkNQ6hTAO2Govg_KBQ4uX10BaSbVwxQ-CfqYKJI/s320/188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div>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! <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1xyeNBWAOI7aW-kNtBsi6ELWaI4Hhefe0pazd1sSgOLakGNM9nHXVsui2LSyjM85nAWjvCj9gSgA1D81y9d-P8k21wWhHLy2NZk62ifyooik2OyEcFJdZ4drapjrBlwSHTgwi494h-iM/s1600/177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1xyeNBWAOI7aW-kNtBsi6ELWaI4Hhefe0pazd1sSgOLakGNM9nHXVsui2LSyjM85nAWjvCj9gSgA1D81y9d-P8k21wWhHLy2NZk62ifyooik2OyEcFJdZ4drapjrBlwSHTgwi494h-iM/s320/177.JPG" width="320" /></a>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</div><div>by 1 point with 11 seconds left in the game and managed to maintain the lead for the win with a final score of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;"><b><i>67-65</i></b></span>. 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. </div><div>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.</div><div><br />
Tonight is <u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Noche de Nostalgia</span></b></u>- 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!<br />
This weekend I am going on a grand adventure with some friends, we bought our tickets to a little place called <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=es-419&q=Minas,+uruguay+mapa&gs_upl=75203l76662l1l77047l7l6l0l0l0l1l560l2018l1.0.1.3.0.1l6l0&biw=1280&bih=709&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x950aba279a8b1367:0xdfe0b95ee172998,Minas&gl=uy&ei=-WxVTojRKJKugQeB-bhM&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQ8gEwAA">Minas</a> 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 :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PUjMnJ93jSnSlHtbvcUN927U2dPD9CZPeAT3-nJi1pywlVrV1aVdUgGA5kBAZ-Dq6To1fwFQP_LX6OZPE6siYQtBIW98a94kvMagY9lZINGZpegG5bycMk3pLm2bPyf8wP7nx3MZYdOa/s1600/236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PUjMnJ93jSnSlHtbvcUN927U2dPD9CZPeAT3-nJi1pywlVrV1aVdUgGA5kBAZ-Dq6To1fwFQP_LX6OZPE6siYQtBIW98a94kvMagY9lZINGZpegG5bycMk3pLm2bPyf8wP7nx3MZYdOa/s320/236.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back patio of the school.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I hope all is well there and that everyone's families are safe and sound with everything going on up there!<br />
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Beso<br />
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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 :)</div></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-89516433251352018572011-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:002011-08-17T13:30:17.785-07:00Feliz Cumple<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzo3uexte1d6oArEmkyZof_VCftcqh24c6-StnBClkfQXtCVfDzcgthXXNDFLhZYwMd2lvnxohLMxwmrUhJQ5M1j9NbsR-5uzdcpRUWYiiZKJwp1-kaU2QdRmpdgpTz-iBZvzn3k0q9As/s1600/128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzo3uexte1d6oArEmkyZof_VCftcqh24c6-StnBClkfQXtCVfDzcgthXXNDFLhZYwMd2lvnxohLMxwmrUhJQ5M1j9NbsR-5uzdcpRUWYiiZKJwp1-kaU2QdRmpdgpTz-iBZvzn3k0q9As/s320/128.JPG" width="320" /></a>Okay- that recap from Festival Tango I promised. The name is a little deceiving, it wasn't much of a festival and it hardly had anything to do with Tango, but it was a good show. There were 3 "acts" if you will. The first was an Argentine Candombe (kind of like what I saw at the student gathering the other night). The music had a very carnival feel to it, it is hard to explain. It was the kind of music that really just made me want to dance in a very unorganized fashion if that makes anysense. That is kind of what the dancer you see in from was doing. There were two girls dressed in very bright colored carnival clothes with bright make-up. There was dancing and confetti being thrown while the Candombe continued their rhythm.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrfRTm7D38hEQ8LLTJKX94x8QIIwx0aLUJTZB8JoaEEVfYfG8iBQyPZSgoQ-x4tOs_aZAuV06rksqfLdDOu2n9fJu97-kEtkCHKyZuC-r_3J7jbg8offZXmQSkReerQE9Zv7ALaT5LoQL/s1600/140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrfRTm7D38hEQ8LLTJKX94x8QIIwx0aLUJTZB8JoaEEVfYfG8iBQyPZSgoQ-x4tOs_aZAuV06rksqfLdDOu2n9fJu97-kEtkCHKyZuC-r_3J7jbg8offZXmQSkReerQE9Zv7ALaT5LoQL/s320/140.JPG" width="320" /></a>After the Candombe, there was a couple that came out and danced the only Tango I heard or saw in the 2 1/2 hours I spent at the theater. It was was a very traditional version of Tango and different from any of the Tango I have seen. It is hard to describe, especially because I know very little about Tango, but as always it was a very passionate dance. The couple's heads were touching at the forehead and the girl, instead of looking away like I have usually seen, was actually looking down with her face facing his. It was interesting and I have yet to take a Tango class! So that is moving up to the top of my "to-do" list this week. They also danced Milango, those two dances are the two most traditional dances in Uruguay I was told.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLFbsRjgGCIWLP_o8DKURoDompenQGl2OSoI2OcjCl4RukAt-Zj9q4wxX1UXQudE7qqvgggt-8IL4NtGEZxGLsUQlDGfm6mK3NaaD5BX3fqwceqQdomdneFXEyk25AS5pEVwRLNl-MMcy/s1600/136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLFbsRjgGCIWLP_o8DKURoDompenQGl2OSoI2OcjCl4RukAt-Zj9q4wxX1UXQudE7qqvgggt-8IL4NtGEZxGLsUQlDGfm6mK3NaaD5BX3fqwceqQdomdneFXEyk25AS5pEVwRLNl-MMcy/s320/136.JPG" width="320" /></a>The last of the acts was probably my favorite. I am not sure exactly what kind of music it was, but the band consisted of a piano, cello, drums, marimba, and an accordion. The piano player was an 81 year old man and he was astounding. I don't think I have ever seen a piano played like that before. I don't have a video of it, unfortunately I do not have a camera that takes video, but his playing was heavenly. It was indescribable really... his hands and fingers were moving so fast they were essentially nothing but a blur for most of the songs.<br />
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On Saturday I went to my first Fería, they have a couple every weekend. They are a street market where artesans or stores come out and sell their products, much like a Farmers Market, but with way less emphasis on food! There are tons of people selling Mates, clothes, hand-made goods, children´s books, and a few fruit/ food stands. I bought a couple things, but I decided I am going to go look around and some of the other Ferías these upcoming weeks. Looks like a great place for unique gifts and Christmas presents! This weekend I had my first Chorizo sandwhich (a very popular food I have found) and now I know why... It was DELICIOUS! I thin I might make a weekly or bi-weekly habit of heading tot he Fería for atleast that :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5vthiNio-z5DcwwJfg00jyUxHZY_23gYTBvq9iAJf8nS3isA4JC6onq7HzEGgrzDZEQlo9oAUWq64kutv867By-lGbgMi36mfqRIEFTKeO9W1R-lQLsMMPEc2Nhmx8wOVGSV3rrKw5l4/s1600/142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5vthiNio-z5DcwwJfg00jyUxHZY_23gYTBvq9iAJf8nS3isA4JC6onq7HzEGgrzDZEQlo9oAUWq64kutv867By-lGbgMi36mfqRIEFTKeO9W1R-lQLsMMPEc2Nhmx8wOVGSV3rrKw5l4/s320/142.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuzCf19Jz_p-_YlI-4_okaGGM8FzJrzLz0JvMyfxtv92toLcDJWInchAqRnixMOiQSpJmHIhXMd_8YnwkrYrbh8x9u3gOi40hIuQDvvFG8DsSio8r7M0QR0xpPlXkT45PfHuG1Iy2G_H5/s1600/154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuzCf19Jz_p-_YlI-4_okaGGM8FzJrzLz0JvMyfxtv92toLcDJWInchAqRnixMOiQSpJmHIhXMd_8YnwkrYrbh8x9u3gOi40hIuQDvvFG8DsSio8r7M0QR0xpPlXkT45PfHuG1Iy2G_H5/s320/154.JPG" width="214" /></a>After the Fería I headed home because it was Andrea's birthday and I told her I would make cookies for the get together she was having. I decided to make chocolate chip cookies per request of Caro and Andrea's brother and they are simple enough that it wouldn't take me very much time. What I didn't realize was that although we take a Chocolate Chip cookie for granted, they are a rare delicacy here. I made a fairly large batch, took me about 1 1/2 hours to finish them... took them about 10 minutes to eat them. I managed to eat a couple, but more than anything it was a lot of fun baking them and it made me extremely happy that everyone liked them so much! I will definitely have to bake cookies more often now. I think next on the list of cookies will be Snickerdoodles .Along with the cookies we had a peach cake, strawberry cake, dulce de leche pastries, various galletas (or small cookies), Coke, and sandwhiches. It was a very enjoyable night and I got to meet a lot more people in the family!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROeIw3PG1PcIMsVN8N2SpxVO8gFq6jG3qoax2ScWywDc3dGonWoqiv58l036z9MFcNwkInsKsvdgAh6J6nkvMWaFVMQ4kg3qd5ClsVnmzN9yvRob685W_QAsm1xhhHIRUOuBvhorCV1TW/s1600/166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROeIw3PG1PcIMsVN8N2SpxVO8gFq6jG3qoax2ScWywDc3dGonWoqiv58l036z9MFcNwkInsKsvdgAh6J6nkvMWaFVMQ4kg3qd5ClsVnmzN9yvRob685W_QAsm1xhhHIRUOuBvhorCV1TW/s320/166.JPG" width="320" /></a>Sunday was spent catching up on sleep and homework. My friend Rachel came over for a bit and enjoyed some leftover cake with me. Then we walked around a little, but almost nothing is open on Sundays around here so she headed for home and I went back to get some more work done.<br />
Monday was day one of week 3 of classes and everything is starting full swing! I finally got assigned the service project I have been mentioning. I am going to be working in a school with 8 and 9 year old kids in a very impoverished community helping them with English. I went and saw the classroom and kids with the other students I am working with, they are all adorable and I can't wait to start our first session the coming Monday! Tuesday was my first 13 hour day of the semester, photography and samba both started. All of the people in both were very nice and I think it will be good to spend sometime with people who are interested in similar things as me. I even met 3 girls that are in their 2nd year of school studying social work here; they are in Samba and like to go dancing. Hopefully we will all be getting together to go Salsa dancing or something in the upcoming weeks.<br />
Thanks for reading all the way through.. I know this was a long one! I will try to be better about posting sooner next time :)<br />
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Un beso<br />
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Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-81756476073293370222011-08-13T07:13:00.000-07:002011-08-13T07:13:06.704-07:00Ñoquis on the block (had a bunch of hits)I found this post saved in a draft that I apparently never finished if you care to read what I was thinking two weeks ago about my classes starting: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">02/08/2011 (2nd of August)- Day 1 of "real" classes and I am learning how to write the date :) I was a little confused when I thought my class started on February 8th, 2011. I tried out three classes today. The first of which was Philosophy of Language at 8am. I am not sure if I just wasn't awake enough to take it in or if the class is going to be way over my head. I have never taken a philosophy class, but I have studied language with linguistics and such, so I thought maybe it would be okay? I am starting to take back that decision and I am debating whether or not to stick through it or choose something I will better understand. The second class was art, which actually turned out to be Art History. Meh.. I wasn't all that interested in the professor or the conversations in that class. I have no doubt that Art History can be interesting, but sometimes the teachers can make or break the class for you. Finally I had my Psychology of Religion class, provided that I can keep up with conversations, is going to be the most interesting in my opinion. I am taking that one for sure :)</span><br />
And now back to present time. I have just finished up week two of classes (the weeks are starting to go by more quickly, I feel like I just wrote about my weekend). The final schedule is: Spanish, Uruguayan Culture, Psychology of Religion, History of Uruguay and the Region, and (literally translated) Techniques and Activities of Camping- essentially some form of outdoor education I am hoping. As of right now, I still think Psychology is going to be a very interesting, and difficult class. Enough about classes though, that isn't the only thing going on down here!<br />
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Wednesday night there was a gathering of Latin <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOuioT9k7bcDPdYO5C6rVLZ-2w3hekeFoC1zLNmys5fl0ZtNGXv0HAHLFBxrD4HEtw_BrkcEFQ0ji2Gyw8J1SRSLRIyUS5RKDsx3y3x82taqh7-nYCgZyGY513Sk_I-MwFxP8Tl_3N1HH/s1600/113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOuioT9k7bcDPdYO5C6rVLZ-2w3hekeFoC1zLNmys5fl0ZtNGXv0HAHLFBxrD4HEtw_BrkcEFQ0ji2Gyw8J1SRSLRIyUS5RKDsx3y3x82taqh7-nYCgZyGY513Sk_I-MwFxP8Tl_3N1HH/s320/113.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singers in carnival costumes</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>American students at the plaza across the street from my apartment, so I decided I would go take a look. I met up with other exchange students there and we were surround by music, bands, and dancing! There were various types of bands and music being played, one of which is called Candombe. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umP07EGmGBA">Candombe</a> is a Uruguayan drumline essentially with girls that dance, it was really interesting! Unfortunately they didn't play very long, but we got to hear Cumbia and other music as well. Our group of students took to dancing with</div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfwN1aTCJnEhFm2URwuU01XXqGA9U-7XCaVYHpOjm8cUW_j7EDbug0ENKzmdIRL5RY11RI2wAgPyVRezxSyc90Ux9Yq3QQ6z0b5p3YSrNw1InIOLwhNeBQGNuw3kXiUSyBtyTTJte8D4u/s1600/108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfwN1aTCJnEhFm2URwuU01XXqGA9U-7XCaVYHpOjm8cUW_j7EDbug0ENKzmdIRL5RY11RI2wAgPyVRezxSyc90Ux9Yq3QQ6z0b5p3YSrNw1InIOLwhNeBQGNuw3kXiUSyBtyTTJte8D4u/s320/108.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>the group of Argentinians as the night progressed and it was a good time :)<br />
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Thursday I spent a lot of time at the school after class just sitting around playing card games, talking, and waiting for Kelsey and Ali to get out of class. After school we all walked to Kelsey's house to make dinner talk for awhile. We were greeted at the house by Kelsey's cousin Juan and some mate. We sat around talking for along while and then thought we should probably get to making dinner: Ñoquis (gnocchi), ensalda de espinaca (spinach salad), verduras cocinadas (cooked vegetables), and vino (wine). We made the gnocchi and everything from scratch, it was such an amazingly fresh meal! We bought most of the vegetables from a little stand on our way to her house as well. It felt really good to actually cook something again, I miss being to choose/ make dinner almost every night, that was something I definitely took for granted living in my house last year!Oh, and for those of you who didn't get my title reference here is a link to one, of many songs, we decided the word <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRzgOig9b4">Ñoquis</a> would fit into, just fast forward to about 25 seconds and it will alll make sense!<br />
Last night (Friday) I went to Festival Tango.. pictures and recap to follow soon!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhYOkiN78bV9V93i7neTvVdZooh3tGNepbapbtAhUFe5Lyrx5MCDKO91S_HpDeLdT_t-O8uY-ItHBokXUA-YJSG1SyaXOy07GwgUbzWgOR_fEBVOxXPawORYNYTPhtmVQDQmq4q-Tbb4j/s1600/118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhYOkiN78bV9V93i7neTvVdZooh3tGNepbapbtAhUFe5Lyrx5MCDKO91S_HpDeLdT_t-O8uY-ItHBokXUA-YJSG1SyaXOy07GwgUbzWgOR_fEBVOxXPawORYNYTPhtmVQDQmq4q-Tbb4j/s320/118.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The AMAZING package my parents sent me :)<br />
The Reese's were a hit and I enjoyed my first bowl of Cheerios this morning!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Besos<br />
<br />
P.S. If anyone has any questions or things they would like me to write about PLEASE leave a comment and let me know :) Sometimes I feel like I am just talking to myself when I am writing this Blog and some things that seem so obvious to me, maybe I have not shared with you all, so let me know!!</div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-55403449540931243202011-08-08T19:40:00.000-07:002011-08-08T19:40:39.934-07:00Aire Libre<br />
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"></div><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><br />
How to sum up this last week?<br />
Well, I went and tried out all of the classes I was interested and at the beginning of week two I have finally<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkQxY2IJq2yFiR5z4NdeeU4NORlckst4cbBxhcqzdOpWQq4vAAYQGqxSyNMz94HFt4gCUXctoZ7IPa9qJfuTBcAM9b1mSYQthSlo-c1GWHsyGXgZ20sIWEr44xy24QxJG0ZGWeV1aPX0y/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkQxY2IJq2yFiR5z4NdeeU4NORlckst4cbBxhcqzdOpWQq4vAAYQGqxSyNMz94HFt4gCUXctoZ7IPa9qJfuTBcAM9b1mSYQthSlo-c1GWHsyGXgZ20sIWEr44xy24QxJG0ZGWeV1aPX0y/s320/029.JPG" width="320" /></a>decided! I am not taking one of the classes that I really wanted to, Philosophy of Language, because I think it will be a little too much. I have never taken Philosophy before and the think the theme would be challenging even in English, so the class I am taking to challenge myself this semester is Psychology of Religion. I didn't want to take all easy classes, but I don't want to take so many challenging ones that I miss out on all of the other things I want to do while I am here.The classes that I am taking with the Uruguayan students present a different kind of challenge as well. The content of the readings, although they may take a little longer for me to get through, I have no doubt I will understand them. Where I fear I will fall behind is during in class conversations. I tried my hardest this last week to keep up, but it gets difficult when 2..3..4 people start talking about a topic. It gets especially hard when the person is passionate about their statement, the more they mean what they are saying the faster and louder it gets= much harder for me to keep up! I guess in the end this will be a good thing, but for now it is something I am really going to have to concentrate on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpv_bncKAkAmvYF27zaxChCSNa2MO26Cxc_uIeE17o5fPi84mTra9VmO8xafXZYdLXtC70DU6lgWjbmErSr3hYDmHgwuTXifJqzrie7GSxKGlaxLtz93trn8S7OnSkVh_I7eu0nHeAiDM/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpv_bncKAkAmvYF27zaxChCSNa2MO26Cxc_uIeE17o5fPi84mTra9VmO8xafXZYdLXtC70DU6lgWjbmErSr3hYDmHgwuTXifJqzrie7GSxKGlaxLtz93trn8S7OnSkVh_I7eu0nHeAiDM/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A glimpse of the countryside</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Along with classes I have signed up to do community service here, I am trying to get in on an after-school photography club/ class and samba. Unfortunately they both have limited openings and I am not sure if I got there in time, but I put my name down anyway and I will see what happens. I am also actively researching places I can take Tango lessons! I found once place really close to my apartment, a little expensive, but then again when else am I going to be able to take Tango lessons in one of the Tango capitals of the world!?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWrG4xmHhZYBSk8_jO6BfR3QWzzfK1aZqNagJ_Mx0yuTSweuh8MXRtXyj_pF9VLgrbNfH6swA4lbUjHT1YWzPYhPrLfqWOohD4SGjRBH3A5O47mbOt43R7N6Bx-ux3myDTCGlLEiBToIr/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWrG4xmHhZYBSk8_jO6BfR3QWzzfK1aZqNagJ_Mx0yuTSweuh8MXRtXyj_pF9VLgrbNfH6swA4lbUjHT1YWzPYhPrLfqWOohD4SGjRBH3A5O47mbOt43R7N6Bx-ux3myDTCGlLEiBToIr/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View into backyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Rg5g56poBqTWA4_JgKNzzeLj9Tqft-f-Pd_v_sGEG3plS2Q-683W-beM3hQ6I0ot4WLdWbRRPMsM-clvY6WHJQpfRe8R4jdA3fU5As6Bh2jHXBlrHbINxLEONtckfnfaXSTUhTcRoNYy/s1600/085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Rg5g56poBqTWA4_JgKNzzeLj9Tqft-f-Pd_v_sGEG3plS2Q-683W-beM3hQ6I0ot4WLdWbRRPMsM-clvY6WHJQpfRe8R4jdA3fU5As6Bh2jHXBlrHbINxLEONtckfnfaXSTUhTcRoNYy/s320/085.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">This past weekend I spent time with three friend I made at Uni, Harriet and Imogen are from England and Paul is from Germany. We went to Paul's family's house in </span><a href="http://ur7s.com/assets/fck_images/Punta_del_Este.jpg">Punta del Este</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none;"> to spend sometime away from the city, take in a little aire libre (fresh air) and just relax for the weekend. Punta is basically surrounded by the ocean and right now, since it is winter, there is hardly anyone there. Many of the shops, restaurants, and bars aren't even open right now. As disappointing as that may sound, it was actually awesome to get away from the crowds of people. What we thought was going to be a tiny </span><br />
vacation home turned out to be a beautiful house<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0z-c8QNkUY7f61Gb_rurYlB7hoWWj5fL8kQFoVTbXuBialQO4QvtWgNrByrMLnK0aQUo47BouIcJwaCjCUOt0Pi-XeaLZBqjsEQSgMFRWp1SjEsKpUchN_4N_qggiHeFB-LNr_hXTagXw/s1600/063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0z-c8QNkUY7f61Gb_rurYlB7hoWWj5fL8kQFoVTbXuBialQO4QvtWgNrByrMLnK0aQUo47BouIcJwaCjCUOt0Pi-XeaLZBqjsEQSgMFRWp1SjEsKpUchN_4N_qggiHeFB-LNr_hXTagXw/s320/063.JPG" width="320" /></a>with a spacious back yard and two swimming pools (not that we could use them in the 55 degree weather). We were fortunate enough to see the sun while we were there and we went walking along a few of the beaches. The waves on one side of the island were amazing, there were a lot of people out surfing when we went by! There is also an amazing <a href="http://photos.igougo.com/images/p196049-Punta_del_Este._URUGUAY-Puente_de_la_Barra._Punta_del_Este._URUGUAY.jpg">bridge</a> there and if you drive fast enough its almost like a rollercoaster :)<br />
On Saturday night we managed to find a bar and a club that were open so we went out that might. I mustered up the strength to stay up until a little after 6am.. not as late as some, but its progress. Then on Sunday we spent the say lounging around, reading, watching movies, and eating ice cream. I would say that was a day well spent!<br />
And now I begin week two of classes: ready, set, learn!<br />
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Un besoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-42744124715511354922011-08-01T17:38:00.000-07:002011-08-01T17:38:27.896-07:00Waffles y jugo de naranja!I guess it has been a few days since I updated everyone? Well. Let's recap :) First of all just let me say that its cold here, very cold. I know I am from Wisconsin and I should be used to it BUT I'm not. It has been some where around 7-10 grados (about 45-50 degrees) making leaving the house and wandering the streets somewhat of a daunting task as I severely dislike being cold.<br />
Anyway, this Friday night we had a girls movie night. Me and my two host sisters rented two movies, ate some chocolate, and just hung out for the night. We rented Charlie St. Cloud and Comer, Rezar, Amar (Eat, Pray, Love) and watched them at the house. Even more important though is the fact that I watched TWO movies in a row that lasted until 1am and I stayed awake! Quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiitTrYgL4u1AV1bTR8vfY5Hp4Gnu0GRLWEUH91KNL5_7fub46bof9cgBcjat0Nd7EshbOIhZuP4a1mj6TJmxQRY-b_-JlD9uMoFto4akzpElUNYY_NnOGownXJG28MXIDb53pG6ZEGBtO/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiitTrYgL4u1AV1bTR8vfY5Hp4Gnu0GRLWEUH91KNL5_7fub46bof9cgBcjat0Nd7EshbOIhZuP4a1mj6TJmxQRY-b_-JlD9uMoFto4akzpElUNYY_NnOGownXJG28MXIDb53pG6ZEGBtO/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view of Montevideo right outside the restaurant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On Saturday I went to lunch with most of the family at this nice restaurant that over looked the water. It was extremely windy on Saturday so there were a lot of waves crashing on the shore. I tried a mojito for the first time and it was pretty good. Something that is kind of popular here too is gnocchi which is what I had for lunch. It was decent but I think I prefer other kinds of pasta. Saturday night after dinner I ended up meeting up with two other exchange students and we went out to a club in Pocitos, which is the name of one of the neighborhoods. Pocitos is where most of the students go out because it has a lot of bars and nightclubs. We went to a club called Asia de Cuba which ended up being a discotech. There were fog machines, strobe lights, lazers, and a lot of techno music. Not my favorite kind of music but I liked the atmosphere, it was a very clean club. I am also learning that night life here is, well... a little different. Bar close is around 6-7am. I was told that it is common for people my age to nap around 10pm, go out for dinner maybe around 11pm-12am and then to the bars around 2am to return home between 7am-8am. We shall see about that though.. I don't know if I am cut out for that kind of work :D<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNv2dIN-raWyydnFHCLulXcGD2u26-D4ns6bAH6MkldBGqxK9T5Y1LT7vtKYhsSSlFq9UQoiEwGy0gyOA3dl5yjBQtlwZpvttd0vpm28bekRoXxCB_4H2uzcsAlwZ4B-Qsgwvrdtxs3Hz/s1600/118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNv2dIN-raWyydnFHCLulXcGD2u26-D4ns6bAH6MkldBGqxK9T5Y1LT7vtKYhsSSlFq9UQoiEwGy0gyOA3dl5yjBQtlwZpvttd0vpm28bekRoXxCB_4H2uzcsAlwZ4B-Qsgwvrdtxs3Hz/s320/118.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YXd7x-5n8v1qOW0MmMEHKbTGm5ORx9OfFt0vvegEtWPiDhbjyEabaTktaAMZQvfdgjrxpIJf5kKIWAxRLdI-4lJKbcl5AnuRyBz2q1bcGpgzVKCBvUpdSpMUZ-S_JQOBCO4gEKpVpstp/s1600/119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YXd7x-5n8v1qOW0MmMEHKbTGm5ORx9OfFt0vvegEtWPiDhbjyEabaTktaAMZQvfdgjrxpIJf5kKIWAxRLdI-4lJKbcl5AnuRyBz2q1bcGpgzVKCBvUpdSpMUZ-S_JQOBCO4gEKpVpstp/s320/119.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoZRWMiXUKpD8rRCdNqIQKy-nH2MiGhRVPlGCOEi74aSsCRsejsPA0FY0snEj5dmrZwde31lknjmcmQL8rNMm3eXiYBQqgvhWROQh29ZNceA_dBSPuucEA1P9ryyLzGJw5f_eUUVGtZD5/s1600/125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoZRWMiXUKpD8rRCdNqIQKy-nH2MiGhRVPlGCOEi74aSsCRsejsPA0FY0snEj5dmrZwde31lknjmcmQL8rNMm3eXiYBQqgvhWROQh29ZNceA_dBSPuucEA1P9ryyLzGJw5f_eUUVGtZD5/s320/125.JPG" width="214" /></a>Sunday was a good day of relaxing, I "slept in" until 11am, but I didn't go to sleep until about 4:30am. I went over what my class options were and did some reading. Then early evening Lucia and I made waffles (actually pronounced wah-flays for you English speakers out there) and jugo de naranja or orange juice. It was a lot of fun, even though it took about 1 1/2 hours to make them all one by one. Oh, also we didn't have a waffle maker so even though they look like pancakes.. they're actually waffles. Don't let the pictures fool you :) and as you can tell from one of the pictures after 14 pancakes I became a pro at flipping them without a spatula. No big deal.<br />
Today, Monday, was my first day of class. I only had one, Spanish, which is just with all of the exchange students so it wasn't anything too new. Tomorrow I have my first regular class with all of the students from Uruguay, I am sure that one will be a little more exciting. I also went to the gym today, I think I am going to get a membership there. They have a lot of interesting classes from 7am-10pm so I will have plenty of opportunity to go. Anyway, I think that is all for now.<br />
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Un BesoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-13307311812022125382011-07-28T18:22:00.000-07:002011-07-28T18:22:26.368-07:00El Mate!7/27-Well today was an exciting and mood-lifting day! I had my first day of orientation for exchange students this morning and it was amazing to see how many people are going to this University for this semester or the year. There are probably a good 30 or so students and I met people from Guatemala, Colombia, Spain, the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, and of course the United States. It was amazing! I think the coolest thing about it was that regardless of where we are from we our common language is Spanish, talk about throwing in loads of different accents! It was also funny to see people grouping together who share the same first language; for example, people from France were getting together and talking in French and by the end of the day hardly any one was still speaking in Spanish. It is a struggle sometimes to get the point across when talking with people in Spanish, but its exciting at the same time!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaTi8RQvz7jRar-jEG1ZClUrR7u1qxBpdbNgjbIzZeczzHYPZ6AM3XRBdRnPVsXG1xWeiSAU29AMrfrU9vhRLpSu3H8_LTfJhyphenhyphen2SF1D7G4-NJWi-NPniRdfqYPCYpJXtQQnQG_g0vPhrz/s1600/091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaTi8RQvz7jRar-jEG1ZClUrR7u1qxBpdbNgjbIzZeczzHYPZ6AM3XRBdRnPVsXG1xWeiSAU29AMrfrU9vhRLpSu3H8_LTfJhyphenhyphen2SF1D7G4-NJWi-NPniRdfqYPCYpJXtQQnQG_g0vPhrz/s320/091.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BDDnM-k-Jhc9TvbdN_9rpFDy9j-HGVJT8PCnn1YPzhxcU9TIxbzySkFq3gPQbtJhElNStD3w_1FvB_q_c67dexGILeFE94b2vpC7GZxP9P6r_yHgAQmIYrLqssWq8_5jF-uBCcOt7yqc/s1600/097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BDDnM-k-Jhc9TvbdN_9rpFDy9j-HGVJT8PCnn1YPzhxcU9TIxbzySkFq3gPQbtJhElNStD3w_1FvB_q_c67dexGILeFE94b2vpC7GZxP9P6r_yHgAQmIYrLqssWq8_5jF-uBCcOt7yqc/s320/097.JPG" width="320" /></a>Today was filled with Uruguayan foods/ beverages. After orientation a group of us went out to have lunch and I tried Asado for the first time, which essentially delicious grilled meat. I am not sure exactly what it was, but it was good! Then when I got home Lucia and I made MATE! Mate basically has a world and culture of its own here. So there are a few parts (I am stilll learning but these are the basics) and steps to drinking mate. 1) you need a Mate which is the little round/ brown looking cup you see 2) Yerba is the tea that you put inside. you fill the mate almost completely<br />
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full with yerba. 3) Un termo (thermos) is a necessity filled with almost boiling water, some people will take hours to sip on their Mate 4) the silver thing sticking out of the top is a straw/ filter/ spoon looking thing called a bombillo It was definetly very strong and a different tasting drink. I didn't love it, but I would try it again.. I was told its generally not something you like the first time, but gets better with time :)<br />
Then I tried their chocolate milk and this jelly type stuff they put on toast. It was a cultural experience with food this afternoon and quite enjoyable if I do say so myself. I am just glad I walk the 1.8 miles home after school instead of taking el omnibus! ;)<br />
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7/28- Day two of orientation and things are looking up. We got information about choosing classes, which is actually harder than I thought it was going to be. Since I have basically taken all of my general education classes, it is hard to find classes offered here that will really count for anything. Right now I am looking at taking: Spanish Language, Uruguayan Literature, Philosophy of Language, the Phenomenon of Religion, Uruguayan Culture, Art 1, History of Uruguay and this Region, and a Community Service class/ project. I am obviously not going to take all of these, but they are my options for now. I have to make a decision for classes to start on Monday but I can change and drop classes until August 10th!<br />
I still need to figure out the timing of el omnibus... yesterday I got there so early I waited for almost 15 minutes. Today I decided I would go out about 5 mins later and I missed that bus and had to wait about 15 minutes again for the next one. So, tomorrow I will go out somewhere in between those two times or try a different bus!<br />
I am becoming more comfortable getting around now. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I am going with people, or I am going with a destination where I will be meeting people. Its comforting to know that someone is expecting me, even though it probably doesn't make a difference.<br />
Tomorrow I have an exam to test my level of Spanish which will decide what level Spanish class I take, and then starts my first weekend with other students actually around! Exciting times ahead :)<br />
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Un besitoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-5806272039884674982011-07-26T08:50:00.000-07:002011-07-26T08:50:58.010-07:00La Rambla<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIGcZYQrMY3iP2GZaqrVoAB6YV6NaI8poRFAinwdchZKA8Usuz2zIATxre2MatN9E8teh1kExzuZPR9NVkpbznjkPbq84eKrFoWjUV8EAErFc6vvNPTLXw5jNQ-0xX7b5Q8usv65CBi0q/s1600/076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIGcZYQrMY3iP2GZaqrVoAB6YV6NaI8poRFAinwdchZKA8Usuz2zIATxre2MatN9E8teh1kExzuZPR9NVkpbznjkPbq84eKrFoWjUV8EAErFc6vvNPTLXw5jNQ-0xX7b5Q8usv65CBi0q/s320/076.JPG" width="320" /></a>Yesterday I went exploring a little more with Lucia, we went to and walked down La Rambla, the street that runs along the ocean essentially. There are always a lot of people out and about running, walking dogs, sitting, and chatting. I enjoyed getting out in the "fresh" air a little bit and seeing more of the city. We walked down there since it was only about 9 blocks away and let me tell you that pants were a mistake. Since I have gotten here the temperature hasn't been above 60 degrees, when we got down by La Rambla I saw a sign that said it was 23 grados = about 76 degrees and here I was in pants and long sleeves. Luckily there was a nice breeze coming off the water, but I'll be sure to pay more attention to the weather before I make that journey again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvrhSq7X2cG4f-T4-U2pn4sFzuP553s9j02hdm9GFp9zCxffKlyiN8uSxoyxeUkybgZNY_956tpxzY3M3ih0Spr6XVcgWHo99IVMXu_ciQJVSLex0NC4fHCeKj6a14J6kbhA04Yqm6qpY/s1600/079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvrhSq7X2cG4f-T4-U2pn4sFzuP553s9j02hdm9GFp9zCxffKlyiN8uSxoyxeUkybgZNY_956tpxzY3M3ih0Spr6XVcgWHo99IVMXu_ciQJVSLex0NC4fHCeKj6a14J6kbhA04Yqm6qpY/s320/079.JPG" width="214" /></a>My walk down to the beach helped me think a little more about what has made the adjustment harder than I expected and so far this is what I have noticed. I have never lived in a city bigger than Eau Claire which I would say has roughly 50,000 people, however, I live right in with all the college kids and it is what most would consider a college town. I am now living in a city of 1.5 million and I have been afraid to go anywhere alone (I have left the house once by myself so far) and as of right now I haven't met people outside of my host family because school hasn't started. Aside from not constantly being on the go, when I do go places the sounds, sights, smells of the city are somewhat overwhelming.<br />
When I was standing looking out over the water, a pretty sight no doubt, I couldn't help but feel yanked back into city life with the constant honking of horns and revving of car engines. I haven't found a place of tranquility, everything is so fast paced and when I am outside I smell burning gas and car engines.<br />
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This is a little bit of a rant but I hope it gives anyone reading a sense of all the different things I am trying to take in and adjust to, not just the language barrier. I don't mean for it all to sound bad at all, its all new and exciting! I am very happy that I came, this is a wonderful new experience that will test my limits and help me grow as a person. I have not yet been here for a week, which means I just need to give it time.<br />
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Un besitoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-76234333481299897972011-07-24T19:30:00.000-07:002011-07-24T19:30:43.153-07:00URUGUAAAAAY CAMPEOOOON<div class="MsoNormal">Wow. What a day it was, spent a lot of time in the house again, but at least this time I had company! Lu and I walked to the Super to get the stuff we needed for lasagna and I helped/ watch them make that for lunch. Gerardo’s son Martín is here visiting since it was Fathers Day. After every meal we eat something sweet whether it is a dessert or fruit but something, well today it was fruit and the fight for one leftover Ricardito. Pause. Rewind.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRgGLpvyLFY9NdylU-Wag4mW7rzTRHDofLvP-GWrORBUAYvgo2IqFjANo0eTZsdwBvDuiC_db2_2H0XMkvkU4tjjv6ZW_-ZkF-EHNslGioXP9khaQApXn6f7szmMHWGdTcEoftJ28ffVQ/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRgGLpvyLFY9NdylU-Wag4mW7rzTRHDofLvP-GWrORBUAYvgo2IqFjANo0eTZsdwBvDuiC_db2_2H0XMkvkU4tjjv6ZW_-ZkF-EHNslGioXP9khaQApXn6f7szmMHWGdTcEoftJ28ffVQ/s320/029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Last night I tried a new candy or dulce as they are called, Ricarditos. I really don’t know how to explain it at all but the box says meringue covered in chocolate on a wafer. Meringue is almost like the marshmallow gooey stuff you can find in some candy in the U.S. but waaaaay better, I don’t even really like marshmallows, but this was good!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Okay, back to today. After last night there was one lonely Ricardito left and everyone wanted it so we tried picking numbers twice except we realized that my host mom wanted it too and she was choosing the number! So then ripped up a napkin into 6 pieces and wrote “RICARDITO” on one of them and whoever got it won. After we all picked one we opened it up and my host mom of course had it so she proceeded lavish in winnings in front of everyone. It was quite funny if I do say so myself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJOJPAp_tRW21rDhbS5NqhLd1Vo55kNiss1WyGWCXuOHfIu2NgwYMZBaVyVKC4fh_S_ZJN51fGSOmN5McSZKo4EicoIjD_Pc15Wf6eHK9M1DZDhKq9yc1t9U2rX_jYV9_unj9I-cGdinm/s1600/DSC01475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJOJPAp_tRW21rDhbS5NqhLd1Vo55kNiss1WyGWCXuOHfIu2NgwYMZBaVyVKC4fh_S_ZJN51fGSOmN5McSZKo4EicoIjD_Pc15Wf6eHK9M1DZDhKq9yc1t9U2rX_jYV9_unj9I-cGdinm/s320/DSC01475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After lunch people started gathering in the street to watch the big game! I didn’t realize until later that people would be watching the game from the front of the building across the street. Kiddie-corner to the apartment is basically City Hall and they played the game on a screen outside and THOUSANDS of people came to watch. There were fireworks, flaires, car horns, drums, you name it. Lu and I went down to look at the festivities before the game started, but watched with the family (including grandma, grandpa, an aunt, and their cousin). Every time a goal was scored the entire street erupted below us and everytime we went to the little balcony to watch. This was the first soccer game I have ever watched in its entirety and what a first time it was!<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDihlnBIUTkA6GeeXJjCIocuCJMLow2TvIvzK_JOJo61rkUypUyJvlB7MDsBy3DsPhkunuOQTbh1E8PsddWct_sk_eCIHmlMBnMD3414oRKCk8aS7jjqKPkSeWOWFHKYoVsY7Q8P1GCuLI/s1600/063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDihlnBIUTkA6GeeXJjCIocuCJMLow2TvIvzK_JOJo61rkUypUyJvlB7MDsBy3DsPhkunuOQTbh1E8PsddWct_sk_eCIHmlMBnMD3414oRKCk8aS7jjqKPkSeWOWFHKYoVsY7Q8P1GCuLI/s320/063.JPG" width="320" /></a>Uruguay ended up winning the game 3-0 and the streets went craaaaazy! About ½ hour after the game Lu, Caro, Martín, one of their cousins and I went down to the street and people were essentially just screaming and singing songs that apparently are related to Celeste. Again we didn’t stay too long or go too far, but what an experience to be among the crowd. My family thought it was the same in America for football or baseball, but trust me, what we do as fans has no comparison!</div></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-14089447064760405332011-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:002011-07-23T19:43:45.995-07:00Te gusta helado?<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_hTQkAWwTk89XoKUmX1fTJMHlhweNCIw25hYLZt7UltdaMJL9HVOw0xcSZPP8R4xNP4ibTwav6_JVP34W-vgcjNdsD1r2j2bGOcWDQ3r6GpeaanOByV63xyq78bLtreOK0fYz1EcRYjq/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_hTQkAWwTk89XoKUmX1fTJMHlhweNCIw25hYLZt7UltdaMJL9HVOw0xcSZPP8R4xNP4ibTwav6_JVP34W-vgcjNdsD1r2j2bGOcWDQ3r6GpeaanOByV63xyq78bLtreOK0fYz1EcRYjq/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMOW5xB5K6Ig-UYKx-ekCZ-1SmYo7Wf-9qYwgVfFge_yZo4DJ_N_ksSyE0Egd3hAxkAYnBHEAJruE4AtEtX5MhNPUftVv2ge7JbZsaRawn6_CAwdut05ssx-1siKnwM858ocWSrZRGSW0/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMOW5xB5K6Ig-UYKx-ekCZ-1SmYo7Wf-9qYwgVfFge_yZo4DJ_N_ksSyE0Egd3hAxkAYnBHEAJruE4AtEtX5MhNPUftVv2ge7JbZsaRawn6_CAwdut05ssx-1siKnwM858ocWSrZRGSW0/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a>7/22/11- I don’t have very much to relay to everyone, things are kind of slow right now since I haven’t really met anyone outside my host family. I am definitely ready to go to my orientation and meet more people in my situation that will want to go out and explore the city. I think I will feel a little bit better about things once I have that because right not I get little boughts of homesickness and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I am used to having someone I can go do things with all of the time and I am generally in a city where even if I don’t have someone to go places with I am comfortable going by myself and I have not reached that point yet. I did go out for a little while with Carolina down Avenida 18 de Julio which is the street that runs right in front of our apartment. There is a lot of commercial activity on the street, a ton of shops and vendors everywhere. We followed the street to the beginning of Ciudad Vieja, the oldest part of the city, but we turned around there and headed back. I got a few pictures but needless to say this isn’t much of a tourist area and I didn’t want to attract too much attention to myself. I did stop and have my first ice cream cone (helado) I had dulceleche granizado which is essentially sweet milk with chocolate flakes. It was delicious.. then when I got back I realized there is the same ice cream shop directly across the street from the apartment.. I could get used to that :D<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMOW5xB5K6Ig-UYKx-ekCZ-1SmYo7Wf-9qYwgVfFge_yZo4DJ_N_ksSyE0Egd3hAxkAYnBHEAJruE4AtEtX5MhNPUftVv2ge7JbZsaRawn6_CAwdut05ssx-1siKnwM858ocWSrZRGSW0/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDVnN0eP6nNyGZ2mhlhfTnxLwxJsXxEjAruYrOYH9JKdW9vRRJIyK-nKpiFCYrQLc7eVFeKwvjYEHFekw9pCtZsQ5UgHqw47x0ijp0m6LUf_0_Yg9dFjhD9ByPy0nUBs8V7BVihFn4IEE/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDVnN0eP6nNyGZ2mhlhfTnxLwxJsXxEjAruYrOYH9JKdW9vRRJIyK-nKpiFCYrQLc7eVFeKwvjYEHFekw9pCtZsQ5UgHqw47x0ijp0m6LUf_0_Yg9dFjhD9ByPy0nUBs8V7BVihFn4IEE/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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7/23/11- Today was a much busier day for me, I got to see a little bit more of the city and get to know how things work a little more. After breakfast I went with Gerardo to the shopping center because he needed to get a new phone and I ended up finding a little pay as you go Nokia phone for about $60 (including 300 units?) and a Spanish novel! So now I have a phone I can use to get in contact with anyone that I meet here. Then, I came home and relaxed for a bit, read some and waited to go the the Spa with the family. Now don't get too excited... it wasn't the kind of Spa most people would think of it was actually a gym and I did a spin class, very different from the one I did in Texas, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I couldn't help but think of all my SOL girls I sat there cycling to Club can't handle me and Shakira, took everything I had not to hop off my bike and bust a move right there :D The gym was very nice and afterward we spent a little time in the jacuzzi! Then I went to el super (the grocery store) with Andrea to get things for tomorrow and dinner tonight. Tomorrow is Fathers day here and the finals of El Copa de America (HUGE soccer tournament) and Celeste is playing in the finals. I am sure I will have plenty to say after that experience! Ciao for now<br />
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Un beso</div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287270988356694763.post-29616281345843329692011-07-22T08:49:00.000-07:002011-07-22T08:49:54.575-07:00Buen ViajeWell.. I made it!<br />
I flew out on Wednesday night from Chicago and embarked on my first ever 9+ hour flight solo. It was a little nerve racking at first, especially because I was on a direct flight headed to Brazil and everyone around me was speaking only in Portuguese.. which I cannot understand at all. Luckily it was an overnight flight and I was able to sleep majority of the way.. the movies playing really helped with that :)<br />
Once I landed in Brazil I had about 5 hours until my next flight and that had to be the most confusing airport I have ever been in, so once I found where I was supposed to be I found my own little corner of the terminal and sat there. I think the weirdest feeling was being virtually cutoff from everyone, I was sitting in a airport where I couldn't understand anyone, I was unable to use the internet, I had no calling card, no cell phone, and you cannot make collect calls to cell phones apparently, so I read a book and took a nap until it was time to go.<br />
The second flight was only about 2 hours but it seemed so much longer than that! (partially due to the couple who couldn't seem to stop making out for more than 5 minutes the entire flight) Anyway I finally arrived and I was greeted by my host mom (Andrea) and her mother (didn't catch her name). Once we made it home I was greeted by Juan (age 12) and Lucia (age 17) two of the three siblings I will be living with. No one really speaks English, but I am okay with that because it is putting my Spanish to the test... so far, so good. Eventually I met Carolina (age 15) and my host dad Gerardo. Last night and today there isn't much going on just learning the ways of the family and trying to get my bearings straight. I am living on the 8th floor of an apartment building in the middle of it all (El Centro). It is going to be an adjustment to get used to the sounds of the big city right outside my window but I think it will be alright. I don't have to go to school until Wednesday so I have about a week to get things straight. Tonight I will be going out with Carolina to explore the city a little.. an update and pictures to follow!<br />
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Un besoHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05920622498206127663noreply@blogger.com1