Un Techo Para Mi País

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 :)

If you want to see or read more about the program I worked with you can look at this link: UTPMP 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.

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.

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.

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!

Sunday morning we woke up in much the same fashion as the morning before and headed off to finish the house!

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 HERE 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.

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.

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!

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 http://www.treehugger.com/shanty-towns.JPG 

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.

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!

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!

The pictures I promised! I don't have too many, but I wanted to share them anyway :)

The group of students at the school

"NIVEL"- "LEVEL"

The "front yard"

Their previous house

Official property owners

Competencia de "Barman"

Hello all,
Shall we recap the last week of this Uruguayan adventure? I think so!
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 :)

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 Espejitos 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..

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- suggestions welcome! 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.

Didn't take long for them to disappear!

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.
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!

The drink Ali bought!

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

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 Flare.

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!

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: http://www.untechoparamipais.org/english/
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!


Un Beso

Haciendo el dedo en Minas!

It was quite the adventure in Minas this weekend!

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.

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!

The crew

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.

 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!
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 :)
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.

The outdoor church we came across
while walking

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.

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.

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!


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 :)

Un Beso

Peñarol!

Just a quick post before I head out for the weekend because I am sure my next one will be quite long...

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. 

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 BLACK and YELLOW= 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 SOL girls.. I was thinking of you today :) 

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.

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 Peñarol if I with to remain a member of this household, so there you have it. :D

Beso 

Cuba vs URUGUAY!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The back patio of the school.

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

Beso

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

Feliz Cumple

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.
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.
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.

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 :)

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!
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.
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.
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 :)

Un beso

Ñoquis 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: 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 :)
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!


Wednesday night there was a gathering of Latin 

Singers in carnival costumes

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. Candombe 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

the group of Argentinians as the night progressed and it was a good time :)

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 Ñoquis would fit into, just fast forward to about 25 seconds and it will alll make sense!
Last night (Friday) I went to Festival Tango.. pictures and recap to follow soon!

The AMAZING package my parents sent me :)
The Reese's were a hit and I enjoyed my first bowl of Cheerios this morning!

Besos

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!!

Aire Libre

How to sum up this last week?
Well, I went and tried out all of the classes I was interested and at the beginning of week two I have finally

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.

A glimpse of the countryside

 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!?

View into backyard

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 Punta del Este 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 
vacation home turned out to be a beautiful house
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 bridge there and if you drive fast enough its almost like a rollercoaster :)
    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!
And now I begin week two of classes: ready, set, learn!

Un beso

Waffles 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.
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.

The view of Montevideo right outside the restaurant

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

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.
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.



Un Beso