Last night and the plane

My last night ended up being really nice. There is a modern-looking place near Ryan and Kendall’s apartment (they moved back into their apartment by the way) that we had been wanting to go to for awhile. It is in Positos and is the only place we have seen in Montevideo that has valet parking. For my last night we just went there and hung out for awhile. I ate gnoccis at home with Maria so I didn’t eat. Instead I ordered my last drink before I go back to the states, a daquiri. I won’t be 21 for a month after I get back. After dinner at that place I just walked home and was in bed by 1:30. Which was good because I had to be up fairly early the next morning.

It’s more like I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 6 and then for good at about 8. I got up and took a shower since I won’t be able to for the next day or so during my plane rides. Maria sat down and had breakfast with me. I am going to miss the little old lady. She got me an amazing last postre (dessert.) It had cream on the top and dulce de leche in the middle. She sat down and talked to me for a long time. Then I had to run to meet Ryan and Kendall.

This morning there was a 4th of July celebration at the American Ambassador’s house for resident Americans here. It was amazing. His house is gorgeous. It was nice to go to an American function right before I returned home. There is nothing better than seeing the American flag when abroad. Hearing the National Anthem with an American flag when you are thousands of miles away is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. Not only was that wonderful, but one of the men working at the embassy is from Waco and went to Baylor for 2 years! I talked to him for awhile and then he told me that there was a large group of students from ACU in Abilene doing a medical mission trip. He introduced me to them later and I talked to them for awhile. They will only have been here a month when they leave, but it was so ridiculous to have people from po-dung Abilene, Texas, in Montevideo, Uruguay on the last day.

Now I am sitting at the Carrascas airport in Montevideo waiting to leave for Santiago, Chile, and then go only Dallas. It was sad to leave Maria. She made me sit down and eat more before I left and talked to me for a long time. She teared up when I left and gave me plenty of besos before I got in the taxi to leave. The taxi driver told me my Uruguayan Spanish was good. Too bad it won’t help me too much in Texas! I can’t believe I am waiting for a plane to go home. I was just on my own and getting used to it here. I guess that’s life for you. Just when you get comfortable, you are thrown somewhere else. I life is a story of culture shock. Don’t feel bad for me though; it’s self imposed to be sure!

My last day in Montevideo

My last day of Montevideo, Uruguay. It’s hard to believe. I woke up this morning for my last time to watch Dawson’s Creek at 10 a.m. over breakfast. I am hooked to that tv series now. I think I may ask for it as a present for my birthday next month.

The past few days while Jasmine and Jo have been leaving have been long, and at the same time short. Today after breakfast and packing up a little I went to have lunch with my coworkers. Every 29th of the month Uruguayans eat gnoccis. It’s the only day they are allowed to have this pasta. It was potato in the middle. It’s very good. I couldn’t eat all of mine, but my old boss decided to eat any that I had left. It would never fly in the states for a 60 year-old boss to reach over and eat your leftovers. Hilarious.

After lunch we went back to the office and took last pictures. They were all sad to see me go. One of them told me that she had always thought that North Americans were rude, cold and distant until I came along. Hearing that made my entire trip worthwhile. I was sad to tell Florencia and Valentina bye. My boss gave me a letter of completion and said that if I needed a reccomendation I could let him know anytime.
Florencia has a house at Punta del Diablo, my fav place in Uruguay. Like everyone else in this country, they told me to come back in the summer. After seeing them I was really sad and I talked to Maria for awhile. She told me that many of her past tenants have returned and I could do the same. Then she said the same thing about making sure that I come back in the summer. At least I know Valentina is coming to San Antonio at some point so I can come see her. I will still be e-mailing all my coworkers too.

Yesterday I walked around to the stadium where I have seen 2 soccer games. I never knew it before, but it is where the first World Cup game took place. That night I watched the high schoolers from the school put on a Uruguayan play in Spanish and then went home to pack the rest of the night. At least I got most of my packing done.

After lunch with my coworkers I walked along the Rambla (along the beach) with Kendall. It is sad that I will not be so close to the sea very soon. I really cannot believe that I will not be here at the same time tomorrow. It is time that I leave, but at the same time I am sad to go. I will miss the incredibly slow pace of life here and the fact that since it’s winter everyone just sits around. I am glad to not be a white ghost anymore after I tan, but I will miss it here. I will miss it a lot.

Last day of work / Jo's last night

My time here really is drawing near to an end now. Yesterday I had my last day of work and this morning Jo left for Ecuador. Now all I have left from the initial group who was here from Adelante are Ryan and Kendall. And I need to start packing!!

I went into work yesterday after walking around for awhile with Kendall to find the local Harley Davidson store. I was at work for about 30 mintues when my boss, Miguel, came by and said that they were bringing in a new computer to my desk for one of my coworkers to use. I told him that if I was given the e-mail, I could e-mail him my English-Spanish transcription work and it could be my last day at work since I was finished already.

I stuck around while they installed the computer to talk to them and then I had all of my coworkers take a picture with me. They may be chatty cathys and talk and drink mate more than they work, but they are still very friendly people and I intend to stay in touch with them. Valentin has relatives in San Antonio and she promised me that she will e-mail me if she comes to visit. They invited me to have gnoccis on Friday since it will be the 29th of the month (it's a big deal to have gnoccis only on the 29th,) so I will see them one last time. It can be my packing break.

Last night pretty much everyone from the school went out for Jo's last night to Baar Fun Fun. I even talked Walter, one of the sponsors here with the high schoolers, into going. Everyone came...Linda, Walter, Jo, Tito (the cab driver she made friends with here...oh Jo,) Haylee, Igor, Kendall, Ryan, Rachelle and Rafael. Rosanna was there singing like she always does Wednesday night. She is so good! We were there for several hours relaxing and having wine. It's Jo's favorite place to go and she went every Wednesday night so I had to go there with her on her last night.

Afterwards of course she wanted to go to Peoni Pisador, a boliche/bar that is not too far away in Ciudad Vieja. There was a live band there playing salsa and tango music. They even played a couple English songs (even though they'd make of the words-it was hilarious.) Haylee, Walter and I ended up staying out until 4. It was a lot of fun. I actually gave my real number to a guy there. I figured it was one of my last nights out in Montevideo and we had been laughing at each other while we danced for awhile. His name is Nico. He was very complimentary (all the Latin men are.) He asked me to go to the theater Saturday night. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was leaving. Oh my goodness, I'm leaving!!

Stephen, the older businessman here, wanted me to go with him to Punta del Este the other day to go out to the nicest restaurant in Uruguay. I felt really guilty when I heard that he had waited to make plans with me all the night before and the next morning. But this morning I heard that he never came back last night and now I don't feel so bad. There are several creepy men here. Last night Igor got drunk and was hitting on me so terribly that he tried to play footsies. ugh. There's a new older guy here who smokes weed and is usually drunk who apparently enjoys looking at me. Great. It's a blessing and a curse to be a young woman.

I think I am about to go to see a museum with Walter. The high schoolers are leaving for Buenos Aires tomorrow. I just gave one of the sponsors tips. I feel like an old-timer here now telling them where they should go and do here and in South America. It's a good feeling. Tonight the high schoolers are putting on a play. It's the last night I will see them. It all really is coming to an end!

Jasmine leaves

Jasmine is gone!!! Today was sooo sad. It had never hit me that she was leaving until we started walking away from the school to go home from her saying bye to the students and teachers there. I went to work an hour late after having a glass of wine. Neither of us could believe that our 2 months of Uruguay were at an end. At some points it seemed to drag on forever, and then towards the end it went much too fast.

Last night Haylee (new girl with Adelante from Cali,) Stephen (from Austrailia,) Walter (with the high schoolers from Virginia,) Jasmine and later Ryan and Kendall went out to the Radisson (the best hotel here) to hang out for Jasmine's last night. It was really nice. They had a piano bar and Stephen got some champagne for us. We talked about our experiences in Montevideo and what we liked and didn't like. It was really nice. A great last night for my roomie.

Afterwards we walked around in Ciudad Vieja and then went to have hot chocolate and waffles with dulce de leche on 18 de Julio. This morning Jasmine and I took a picture with Maria and after she said her goodbyes she was gone. Stephen wants to take me out somewhere nice before I go, but other than that I am counting down the days. It's just not the same without my roomie!!

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires was amazing. Even though it is about 7 times as large as Montevideo, there wasn’t any dog crap on the sidewalks and the air was incredibly clean. It was also very European. For me it was a cross between New York City and Rome. There are Italian restaurants everywhere. It made me miss Europe.

We left for BA via Buquebus at 7 a.m. Friday. We had to take a 2 ½ hour bus to Colonia and then took an hour ferry to BA. We all slept the entire time. We purchased a package at Buquebus that included a hotel stay with transporation to and from the hotel. It was a pretty nice hotel with four beds. They had advertised that they spoke English, but of course they didn’t. They were still super nice so we can’t complain.

After checking in we just walked around BA. We saw the Obelisk which is the landmark of the city in the center of their main street. Then we walked to Plaza Mayo where the Pink Palace (their government building,) cabildo and main cathedral are. We also walked along the port and eventually went to eat at Friday’s which is near the green Mother’s Bridge (which reminded me of the millennium bridge in London.) It was nice to all sit down and eat American food together. However, we all had shakes and they didn’t end up making us feel too well. Kendall was really sick by the end.

We went to the Buquebus headquarters 3 times to try to find Norma (the woman who works at the Spanish school here) to ask here where the cheap places were to buy Puma, Polo, etc. She works at immigration at the Buquebus port, but we never did find Norma. We did go to a huge mall there (where I ate Chinese-it was a big deal.)

Saturday morning we got up early to go on a 3 hour city tour. It was a pretty nice tour. We went to see La Boca where there are colorful buildings and old tango bars, we went to Plaza Mayo again, went to La Recoleta, and through several neighborhoods. Jasmine and I got off at Recoleta to go to the huge cemetery that is there. She is a crazy independent New Yorker and would just walk off so we ended up splitting up because I wanted to go in the old Spanish church. The cemetery was stunning. The Recoleta cemetery is where all the rich of BA are buried in huge houses. Many of the graves have plants growing inside of them. I got lost in the cemetery, but eventually I found Evita Peron’s grave. Apparently her being buried there is extremely controversial because she was not rich or of one of the famous BA surnames.

Eventually I ran into Jasmine in the cemetery and we walked to see the solar flower. It is one of the signatures of BA in addition to the Obelisk. It was designed by an Argentine architect. It is a huge steel flower with petals that is solar powered and opens up during the day and closes at night. Jasmine went off again and we ended up walking all around the flower. New Yorkers; they’re crazy. Or maybe I’m just a Southern Belle. Stephen from the school here always calls me “princess.” All I know is that I would have never just walked off on my own if I was with someone else…I just don’t get it. They did say this program was 50% Cultural immersion.

After walking around in Recoleta we walked to meet Ryan and Kendall at the Zoo at another end of the city. We walked for what seemed like forever. They have a subway system in BA, but it doesn’t go to some parts of the city like Recoleta. Line A of the subway is actually the oldest in South America and the carts were wooden and looked like they really were from the late 1800s.

Jasmine and I couldn’t find Ryan and Kendall when we got there so we decided to go inside since we had walked all that way. The zoo was incredible. They had all sorts of animals. It was kind of annoying that you had to pay extra to see the aquarium, rainforest, etc, but I’m glad I went in all the same. There were animals just walking around everywhere. I have never seen so many peacocks, and never seen so many chased. The S. American kids were hilarious chasing animals and feeding any animals that were fenced. I felt sorry for some of the animals. We went into the aquarium and I wanted to cry. They had about 4 penguins and their habitat smelled bad and was much too warm. They looked so miserable, especially comparing it to the penguins in South America. The polar bear was completely out. I think they had drugged it. It was a ghetto, but still an amazing zoo. I had lost Jasmine at some point and found her when it started to get incredibly cold.

We went to eat at Hard Rock Café that night. I always went to Hard Rock with my friends while we were touring Europe when we could find it, so it was wonderful to go to one. It was nice to hear rock music that wasn’t in Spanish too. Jasmine got a migraine so we didn’t end up going out, but BA had ended up being more expensive that I had thought so I was fine with it.

We walked around for a couple hours the next day after having a long breakfast at the hotel. Everyone followed my lead in eating bread with dulce de leche and kept going back for more. It’s so good! We walked back around the Obelisk and the large mall to find souvenirs and then went back to the hotel to be taken back to the port to go back to Montevideo.

We did NOT want to go back to Montevideo where the air is dirty, there’s dog crap and trash everywhere, and people think it’s too cold to go out (although I can’t really blame them-winter has definitely arrived.)

On the bus from Colonia there was a guy from Florida dissing the states to a guy from Brazil in English so Kendall said something to him and his response was, “well I hate Bush and I hope he’s assassinated.” Wow. Buenos Aires had Argentinian flags flying all over the city. Most countries in Europe were the same way and had a lot of national pride. I know most Americans are disappointed with Bush, but I think we don’t have enough national pride. I am going to buy an American flag when I get back.

Today is Jasmine’s last day here. This morning she packed while I worked on writing for the blog and catching up on my journal. I can’t believe she is leaving tomorrow! Maria pretty much told me that I did something to her hot water bottle that she sometimes gives me on cold nights. I hadn’t used it last week so I have no idea where it could be. Jasmine said she just switched some around and she is probably just trying to get me to buy her a new one. I don’t know. Oh Maria!

Latin Men

Latin men, like Italian men, are usually depicted as wildly romantic tall, dark and handsome types. When I studied abroad in Florence I couldn’t wait to get away from the greasy and skinny Italian men. For the majority, they were not cute at all and instead of being suave they were creepy and would either yell at you, stalk you for a couple blocks or grab you if you resembled a female. I made the same kind of discoveries with Latin men.

I have been out with my friends from the school a few times to go to the boliches or just out on the town. I’ve seen and met several locals. On the whole Latin men here in Montevideo are better looking than the men in Italy. They aren’t all dark, tall and handsome though. A lot of them look so American or European that I’m tempted to talk to them in English. *Note the picture of one of the bolder locals*

I’m not interested in meeting a guy in a different country. I’ve only really talked to one guy, Alan, who works at a pharmacy in Pocitos. He’s nice and knows a little English. We just text every now and then half in Spanish and half in English every now and then, but I’m not planning on meeting up with him before I leave. He looks incredibly American in the first place.

If any girls do come here looking for a Latin Lover, Buenos Aires has the more aggressive men. Montevideo is a great deal more conservative than its neighbor and the guys here a lot more timid. It’s a huge deal for them to walk up to you. They usually try talking to you if you are walking past by pulling you away from the group you’re with. I’ve only had a couple guys come up to me and ask me for a drink. It simply isn’t done in Montevideo very often. However, in Buenos Aires there is a huge European influence that continues in the men. They act very Italian and will come up to you and grab you. So if you want a Latin Lover, head to Buenos Aires.

Enough of Latin men. Yesterday morning I walked to Ciudad Vieja to buy the rest of the souvenirs I needed. It was a nice, long walk there, but on the way back it started pouring rain. By the time I got home I was completely soaked. It was great. Then I went to work for the first time this week. Florencia randomly told me that I had an interview at the Spanish school at 6:30, when I usually get off work. Fernando (the Adelante director here) works doing PR kind of stuff where I work and picked me up at 6:30. He explained to me something completely different than what happened.

He interview was random and happened much later than they said (of course.) Kendall was at work, but they wanted Ryan, Jasmine and I to sit down with all the people from my work (they publish several prestigious magazines here) for an article. Miguel, my 70-year-old creepy boss, walked into Jo’s room where Jasmine was straightening her hair twice to get her to come down. Old men are so creepy here. Rodrigo, a local who’s about my age, had a friend over that kept stalking me around the school. It was such a hilarious experience. Eventually they got us all in a room and Florencia asked us questions about why we came here, what we thought of the people, etc. Then they took pictures of us (I looked like a drowned rat from walking in the rain earlier, mind you) and the interview was over. It was so strange.

Yesterday was so random. After walking around in the rain, having a random interview at the school and whatever else, Jasmine had randomly texted me that I was going to go with her and Stephen to dinner at the one Mexican restaurant in Montevideo. So we randomly went to the restaurant at 9 and Kendall and Ryan met us later. Stephen covered Jasmine and I. He wants to take me to the piano bar at the Radisson, the best hotel here, sometime. He’s an older businessman from Australia and is here investing in hotels and businesses here. While we were at the restaurant he wanted to talk business with me. He is currently looking into investing in El Corte, the restaurant where Bush ate when he visited. He told me that he wants me to go home to school and then come back to Montevideo over the Christmas break with marketing ideas for a restaurant to implement. He is so random. He told me he would pay me to come back, pay for housing, etc. Australians are ambitious and crazy.

Today we have an appointment at the American embassy at 2:30. There is an international ballet gala at Teatro Solis and I tried to get tickets yesterday, but they were out of tickets. There is another performance the last night I am here by a modern youth dance company from the Netherlands so hopefully I can go then. Jasmine leaves Tuesday so I may go with her one last time to the tango thing tonight.

Tomorrow morning Jasmine, Ryan, Kendall and I are leaving on a bus at 7 a.m. for Buenos Aires. I am sooo excited to see it! I have been reading a Lonely Planet book about everything there is to see. It is supposed to be very European, which is wonderful for me. I miss Europe more than I had thought. Apparently this weekend is the celebration of a famous tango singer in Buenos Aires so the city is supposed to be full of tango celebrations and pilgrimages to his grave. I will also be able to see Evita Peron’s grave, which is very controversial. I will give more information after I have seen it!

Uruguay Roadtrip!

Yesterday I had another fabulous day. We were all in pain from the super-long horback ride the day before, but it did not stop us from driving all over the plains of Uruguay.

Jo had rented a car (thank goodness she knows how to drive a stick shift. Apparently that's all they have in S. America.) I didn't decide that I was going with her and Jasmine until about 11 the night before. Jasmine told me that Jo wanted to leave at 7 a.m.

I was incredibly tired, of course, when we left on the trip. I haven't been up that early since my 8 o'clocks this last semester. It was worth it when we got to watch the sun rise over la rambla e la playa (beach) en Montevideo. We were in the car literally all day. We drove through about 4 departments (kind of like states) and had to pay tolls at each border.

Uruguay has everything as far as nature goes: thermal pools in Salto (in the North,) sand dunes (saw it,) beaches (everywhere and beautiful,) marshes (saw it,) palm trees (the cows graze surrounded by them-that was strange,) hills, waterfalls (saw it,) and more. Gauchos are one of the main past-times and symbols of Uruguay. The meat here is amazing, especially when they cook it asado (barbecue) style. I am from Texas, but the meat here just can't be beat. I can understand how for some locals, all they seem to ever eat is meat.

On our journey we followed the rambla (road along the beach) to Punta del Este and then onto Rocha. Once you leave Montevideo Uruguay is just a bunch of land and cows, with a few gauchos thrown in here and there. Most of the cities along the coast are fishing villages that live without electricity, running water, etc. My favorite place during the trip was Punta del Diablo. It was a small beach village with all sorts of wildly colored houses on the beach. It was small and quaint, but still amazing since the beach was right there and beautiful.

We went and ate at some random hotel restaurant we passed by since we were in the middle of nowhere. After that we decided to go to a waterfall. We had to drive 10 km on the worst roads I've ever seen on steep inclines (and I've been to Africa where the roads are terrible.) It was getting dark so we feared about getting back from the waterfalls, but seeing the sunset from the top of the hills made the journey worth it.

The waterfall was pretty at the end, but it was also pretty small. After that it was really dark so we started to head back. They don't believe in signs that help with directions so we got lost in a couple towns, but we got back at about 9.

Most people back home would have been bored with such a road trip, but it was nice to get out of the city (again, since I did horseback riding too.) The countryside actually looked a lot like the Texas countryside with all the cows (except for the palm trees, that was just weird.) I miss my car and driving to the lake house. Yeah, I'm a hick.

Today is a national holiday. It's the anniversary of a past president's death (Artigas.) The president came out to make a speech at 11 in Plaza Independencia. I'm not sure if I have work today since I didn't go yesterday, but I would guess that I don't due to the holiday. The high schoolers are here now. There is also a guy my age who has an internship doing campaign work in Buenos Aires after he goes to the school here for awhile. He's from Houston and is fluent in Russian and wanted to work on his Spanish since he's from Texas. Sounds familiar. The high schoolers are from Virginia. The people you meet when you are abroad never cease to amaze me. I'm going to go enjoy my holiday. Hasta luego!

Horseback Riding!!!

Today we (everyone with Adelante: Jasmine, Jo, Kendall, Ryan, Haylee, Rachelle and I) went horseback riding in Canelones, an hour and a half car ride outside of Montevideo. Let me say now that it was AMAZING and I never want to go horseback riding in the states again because I won't be able to gallop along the beach.

Jo took 4 of us in her rented car. We left at 9 and when we got there we were astounded. They had every kind of farm animal you could imagine and they were just walking around. They had a turkey, peacock, tons of horses (they raise thoroughbreds and racing horses,) cows, hogs, alpacas, etc. It was huge. It was really really nice to get outside of the city. The people that run the place heard that I was from Texas and asked me if I felt like I was home. I totally did. If only they had some country music on...

I had no idea that the actual horseback ride would be so long or that it would lead to the beach. The ride ended up being about 4 hours long!! I am incredibly sore now. Most of the time the horses didn't walk, but trotted. Painful. I kind of know how to ride and that helped a little as we went through the forest trotting. My horse even made a jump over a puddle!

The best part was when we went to the beach. They warned us ahead of time to hold the reigns tightly or the horses would want to run. Too bad we all galloped and had horse races by the time we were done on the beach. Even Jasmine, who was riding a horse for the first time, was galloping along. In fact, she wanted the horse to go faster when we were going back.

I didn't want it to end, but my body said otherwise and they had asado, or barbecue, for us. They made chorizo (sausage) and carne (steak) for us on the grill. It was pretty good. We all just sat around and talked for awhile. I really did feel like I was at some barbecue place in Texas, just with Spanish. The people that ran the place are somehow connected with the school and it was darling to watch their entire family (about 3 generations there) talk and play and laugh together. Of the the girls (about 12) had on cowboy boots, which cracked me up.

Today was amazing and we all greatly enjoyed it. I just called my dad since it's Father's Day. My family is so crazy. Right now my mom is at an airport in Michigan after my cousin's wedding waiting for her delayed flight to take off again. Then one of my sisters (Rachel, 16) is in Chicago on a 10-day mission trip with the church youth choir. My dad, sister (Faith, 13,) and two brothers went to the lake yesterday, but I feel better since they were rained out. Isn't that awful?! My sister Courtney (19) is deciding right now where she wants to go to school next semester while she works like a crazy person at Chili's back home. Oh family!

Yesterday we (Kendall, Jasmine, Ryan and I) tried to get tickets for a Globetrotters game last night. It ended up being sold out. We went to Punta Carretas shopping to go to Buquebus (the main travel agency here) to get tickets for Buenos Aires and were then sent to Tres Cruces (the main bus center/shopping) to go to the other store's location. Keep in mind that we had gone out at La Cite the night before and hadn't gotten home until about 5 a.m. We were all dead the entire day. But (after waiting an hour in line) we finally got our tickets to go to Buenos Aires!!! We will be leaving early Friday morning, staying at a commercial hotel (which seems rather nice,) and then coming back Sunday evening. We are all very excited!! It was a little pricy at $120 US, but I would have hated going home without going to Buenos Aires, especially with it so close. So the day ended on a positive note...and today was AMAZING!!! I have two more weeks here and I intend on enjoying every second of it.

Making the best of things

If nothing else, I have learned how to make the best of circumstances that seem bleak and endless while I have been abroad here in Montevideo. It began when I got sick and was stuck in bed for a week without anyone from home to reassure me.

It continued when I started going to work. When people here, and abroad in general, learn that you are from the United States of America, you become a target. They are constantly surrounded in our culture and they seem to like finding weaknesses when they meet us. I work in a room with four other women. The women here are very passive agressive and sometimes rude. I have heard them talking about me several times. Just about how I stay on my computer (God forbid I actually work) while they chat and drink mate. They are so lazy here! Or you could look at it as Americans are workaholics, which is also pretty true.

I have laughed off the idle gossip in the past. Yesterday was actually a really good day with them. I asked them about the media here and we ended up talking about what we do when we go out and common slang in our countries. They even shared mate with me and I had coffee and lemon cream pie with them. I had been praying about the awkwardness in the office and I felt my prayers were answered.

However, today was a different story. I think they forget that I can understand them. They were talking about how they always buy the milk to put in the coffee and that I should pay too. I've had coffee with them twice and usually politely refuse so I can be home on time. Of course I understood what they were saying and when they sat down I got out 10 pesos and gave it to the girl sitting nearest me and said it was for the milk, I didn't know they had to pay for it, and that I would not be having coffee today. She took the money from me silently and quickly pocketed it. I suppose women are petty no matter where you go. All I can do is pray for them. They need something (or someone) to talk about at work, and as an American I can't avoid the constant attention. As an American abroad, you just have to know how to deal with it.

I have most definately learned how to stand up for myself while I have been here. This is only one instance. I have also still been e-mailing Adelante because they have still not done anything with all our complaints. I would have never sent such harsh and thoroughly analyzed e-mails in the past. Furthermore, I have had to stand up to a guy who is here for two weeks between the completion of his medical school and residency. He has said rude or distasteful things about women, to me and to other people. Back home I would have turned a deaf ear or just given him a cold look, but here I have been bold and griped him out.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that I have had to constantly stand up for myself, but now I can only hope and pray that it turns out to be a good thing and I can keep it under control. Studying abroad in a place that hardly any people speak your language stretches you far enough, but all the extra rude sentiments that go along with being an American abroad doesn't help too much. Especially being an American woman because they all think we're crazy nymphos from the movies they watch on cable TV. You really do have to know how to deal with animosity before going abroad as an American, but after you decide not to care it's great.

On a more positive note, things with Maria are getting better and she has been very kind to me. Kendall and Ryan moved into the school so I have been able to see more of them, which has been nice. I can't believe I only have a few more days left before I leave!

Here is a picture of 3 of my closest friends from Baylor with my mom when we stayed at my house to go on our roadtrip to San Diego, California, for Spring Break.

My Dear Doctor

Here is a funny story:
I had to get a penicillin shot in my butt when I was sick from the doctor that Jasmine shadows. Apparently after he looked at my throat and he and Jasmine were outside waiting for me to get changed he told her I was cute. She told me in the car on the way to get my shot. Great, I know.

So when he finally had the huge shot ready (massive needle with a lot of liquid, it was so amazingly painful) I had to unzip my pants, etc. up on an examination table for him to give me the shot. I made Jasmine stay in the room with me because it was awkward knowing the doctor thought I was cute and he was giving me a shot on my bare bottom. It hurt like heck and I had to lie there for awhile before I could get up, but then Jasmine and I caught a cab to go home.

When we were in the cab she got a text from the doctor and started to laugh uncontrollably. She wouldn't tell me why, only that it was from the doctor. Today she told me why. Apparently he texted her that he was about to have a heart attack from giving me the shot because he thought I was so attractive. Then he texted her that he was only human, etc. Yeah, awkward. So Jasmine told me all this today and that he said hi to me and I may be seeing him soon. Yeah. Story of my awkward life. At least it's worth a good laugh for everyone else.

Going out again

Since we didn't end up going to Buenos Aires we went out this weekend instead. Norma, the woman who lives here at the school, told me that she knew the owner of El Tigre, one of the local Uruguayan restaurants near here. At first we were going to go eat in Ciudad Vieja, but when she told me that I worked it out so we would all go to El Tigre and got Norma to call. We reserved a table for 15.

Ryan and I both took off work (we are the only ones who have steady everyday jobs) on Friday to go to the American embassy. We were so excited to go. We had heard that they are very nice if you are an American citizen and show you around the place and have American food (peanut m&ms, etc.) Not so. At first we just took pictures by the American embassy sign. A guard came and told us we couldn't take pictures, but when we showed him our passports he said it was okay. We were excited to finally be treated well because we were foreigners.

It went downhill from there. Kendall had e-mailed people at the embassy for a tour and they had replied that they would work something out. However, when we got there the lady at the front desk knew little English and had us talk to someone inside on an outside telephone. Apparently the woman who usually does tours was in Colonia and had been for the past week. We had to be escorted if we went inside and the woman at the front did not even attempt to set us up with an escort. Thus four American citizens were turned away from their own embassy. We were astonished and apalled. I just sent an e-mail to them of my disproval at how we were treated. Showing our passports should have been enough to get us inside. That is how it should be and it was how it was when I was abroad in Europe. Oh Uruguayans.

Pretty much everyone from the school went to eat and it was a lot of fun. There is a new student taking classes at the school who will be here for literally two weeks. He just finished medical school and will be starting his residency. That's just crazy in my opinion. There are two new girls who also came abroad with Adelante, Haylee from California and Rachelle from Georgia. I hope they know what theye are getting into!

We got done eating at about midnight and most of us went to the W Lounge in Parque Rodo to go dancing. When we first got there it was completely dead. Since Jasmine and I were going to the feria early the next morning we left around 5 a.m. By then it was completely packed. The place is really fun on Friday nights, but they totally start playing the same music over and over. They love Gwen Stefani and Fergie here and they play a lot of our oldies as well. They get really excited when they play Grease. It is so funny that people abroad never like Americans because they dislike Bush so much, but they are obsessed with our our culture (music, news, celebrities, etc.) It's so ironic.

Yesterday Ryan, Kendall, Jasmine and I went to Mercado del Puerto to go souvenir shopping and to just look around. It is a very old building and reminded me a lot of Florence's central market. It is filled with all types of restaurants and they all give you free medio y medio, the official alcoholic drink of Uruguay (mate being the non-alcoholic.) It is half champagne and half white wine. It was very good. The woman who taught with Liz's boyfriend at the tango place actually worked as a seater at the restaurant we ended up going to, it was hilarious to see her. I ordered pumpkin ravioli in seafood sauce, something I would have ordered in Florence, and it was amazing. I did a lot of souvenir shopping at Mercado del Puerto...it was painful but fun.

At about midnight we met Liz at a new bar. She had reserved a table for nine and we got to meet a bunch of her friends. Two of them especially knew a lot of English and wanted to practice their English. They were actually very good and had been to the states several times. Apparently there is a British and American place for teaching English here. The American is larger and sets up students to go abroad. One of the guys started talking to me about how people disliked Americans and how he thought it was wrong since they have never been there. I told him that Americans do the same thing with other countries. We think we're the best, and that's just as bad. It's not until you travel and really experience a place that you have any right to say anything negative about it. It is so frustrating to hear people talk badly about another culture that they know nothing of. It is what traveling cures.

After staying at the bar for awhile we went to another place where they played Argentenian music to dance and Jasmine and I left at about 5 a.m. Today we have taken it easy. I e-mailed both the embassy and Adelante. We are all sending another round of e-mails to Adelante to remind them that we are still not happy with our situation now that we are all doing our internships. My e-mail was not as politically correct as my past e-mail, but I do not think any of our e-mails will be anymore.

Soccer with a second wind

I went to my job for the entire week this week. It is not at all what I expected. My boss handed me a tape that was in both English and Spanish from a British man talking about advertising and he told me to listen to it and transcribe into both languages. Like any internship, it is basically just busy work. However, I am able to get online so I chat with people online and research some way to get to Buenos Aires.

I had booked a hostel a few days ago to stay in Buenos Aires this weekend. We didn't think that getting there would be a big deal. There are ferries run by buquebus that constantly run. We went onto the website and it said the trips would be about 190 pesos for the fastest boat they have that runs from straight from Montevideo to Buenos Aires in about 3 hours. However, it was in Argentinian pesos and ended up amounting to about 60 American dollars one-way. Ridiculous. By the time we figured out a slower/cheaper way of getting there (7 hour trip by bus and ferry from Colonia at $80 roundtrip,) it was too late.

I cancelled the hostel reservations and now we will be here for the weekend. I had no idea that it would be so expensive to get around South America. The main form of transportation are buses, but there are only beaches worth going to in Uruguay and it's cold now. There are mineral springs in the most Northern part of Uruguay (in Salto,) but those busses will be more expensive. To get to Buenos Aires we have to get across the Rio de Plata and obviously that is expensive.

It was sooo much easier to get around in Europe. You just hop on a slow
local train and it's just a few dollars. That's not even mentioning
Ryanair where you can hop on a plane for 15 euros to Ireland (no joke!) It
may have been ghetto, but it got us there. We are not that lucky in South
America.

On a lighter note, yesterday I went to the biggest soccer game of the season here. The players were Firelli and Nacional, two Montevideo teams. Nacional won by one goal. The fans were crazy. We got stuck in a scrimmage before the game outside of the stadium. I have never beene to a sporting event and feared for my life. It was fun though. It's always a cultural experience. After the game Jasmine, Kendall, Ryan and I went to the one Mexican restaurant in Montevideo. It's not Tex-Mex, but the place reminds me of home.

Tomorrow I think we are going to try going to the American embassy, which is supposed to be amazing inside. On Saturday there is apparently a huge feria that we are going to try going to. Between my work, not being able to communicate perfectly and not taking classes and still getting over my sickness I am ready to move on from Montevideo. I think it would have been different if there was a lot to do or somewhere to travel, this town is very sleepy compared to what I am used to in Europe. I think I am just bummed about not going to Buenos Aires this weekend.

llagas and a shot in the cola

I have been in my small South American bed for a week now. I can say without a doubt that it was been the most painful week of my life, emotionally and physically. It is hard to be sick millions of miles away from all your loved ones. It's even more hard when you are stuck in bed and the only one to attend to you speaks another language. Only God pulled me through this last week.

I went to the doctor Monday and he gave me medicine that didn't do anything at all. It turns out that it was only homeopathic medicine that had random things like caffeine in it. The health system here is completely different and a little sketchy, as I learned the hard way. Jasmine has an internship following a doctor around and she asked him to take a look at me. I did not go to work Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and instead stayed in bed in a great deal of endless pain. I was afraid my throat was going to close up and I could eat next to nothing. I just stayed in bed. I literally stayed in bed all day. It was miserable and I wasn't getting any better.

The doctor Jasmine shadows finally came to look at me Thursday night. He looked at my throat for about two seconds and instantly his countenance dropped and he told me to get dressed to go with him to the hospital. That in itself was painful. It got worse. I had to get a penicillin shot in my cola, or butt. The needle was huge and even made Jasmine squirm. It was SOO painful and I am still sore from it. I held Jasmine's hand and she claims I almost broke her hand. He prescribed me amoxicillin and something for fever and I went home.

I was supposed to feel better the next day after the shot, but I didn't feel better at all. I was supposed to go to Colonia Saturday, but I was still miserable and not at all better. I had bought a cell phone randomly on Monday and I think it was the best thing I have done since I have been here. My parents called me every so often to check up on me. After being on strong antibiotics and the shot my family started getting worried about me. I was in such intense pain that it was hard to sleep. I would wake up after a few minutes crying from the pain. My throat looked as awful as ever.

Jasmine left Saturday for Colonia with Ryan and Kendall, and they all had a great time. This left Maria and I alone at her little casa. She gave me water to take my pills and left me alone to attempt to sleep during the day. She gave me soup for lunch sometimes. She actually ate with me during dinner and talked to me about the economic crisis in Montevideo and her kids. It was kind of comic. I tried my best to sit there and pay attention. She even whipped out six photo albums to show pictures from Brazil and Spain. Between feeling horribly sick and not knowing too much Spainsh or wanting to converse in it, I was glad to be having good conversation with Maria. And by conversation I mean sitting there in misery.

If it weren't for my family calling every so often and the occasional texts from Zena I do not think I could have pulled through. I think it made it harder to get better being so far away from my friends and family. I have learned a few things from being so sick abroad. Primarily that I could never survive if I permanently lived far from my loved ones. I physically couldn't take it.

I think I am finally beginning to feel a little better. My throat still looks awful, but I felt safe enough to leave the house to use the internet here at the school. My dad says I had strep pharyngitis, or a very bad case of strep. I came very close to coming home, but I want to see Buenos Aires first. I am about to start planning a trip there for next weekend.

Oh, and if you were wondering about the picture...my dad has been sending me random pictures from my childhood that really make my day. Here is one with me and all the females of the family. Enjoy.

Sick in South America

That's right...I am very sick. Not just a 24 hour bug, allergies or the flu. At first I thought it was strep because I usually get that a couple times a year. Now I am pretty sure it is mono.

I went to the doctor on Tuesday. Kendall was a dear and went around with me. The healthcare system is much different here. I sat down with a receptionist to tell her what was wrong with me and then she called the doctor in. I told him I just needed antibiotics. Apparently he studied medicine in Galveston, Texas. Too bad he could speak next to no English. He perscribed me two random drugs which I walked to pick up at a certain pharmacy. The antibiotic has caffeine in it and the other one who knows. Neither of them are helping me at all.

I randomly got a cell phone after that. It was only 475 pesos (about $20) for a phone without a contract with 200 texts and I don't even know how many minutes.

Yesterday I stayed in bed literally all day. I dozed in and out and felt completeley useless. I now have not been to my internship for two days. Until I know what I have for sure I don't want to be getting other people sick if I can help it.

Last night my mom called me at about 2 a.m. on my cell phone and we talked for about an hour. After that I would wake up every hour or so crying because I was in so much pain. It is awful being so sick in a foreign country! This morning I had Jasmine look at my throat and she thinks I don't have strep. Then I talked to Kendall and thought about it, and I think I have mono. The first sings of being sick I had was having swollen lymph nodes a couple weeks ago. She said my throat looked much worse than strep. Don't worry, I won't go into details...

Most of my friends here are going on a night stayover trip to Colonia Saturday night with La Morocha, the place where we take dance lessons. I will probably just go. I don't want to miss out, even if I am dying. I am not sure if I will go to the place tonight because I need to save up my strength. I am not even sure if I will go to my internship today. All I do know is that the honeymoon stage of my culture shock is over and my health is suffering for it. Pray for my health!

Jasmine's 21st

This past weekend was fun. Jasmine became legal in America in Latin American style.

The Premios de Graffiti were interesting. Let's just say that Spanish and rock do not mix. It was still interesting to hear some of their bands though. Half of them sang in English. Miguel, my boss, picked me up, and I think Maria freaked out when she saw him and didn't know he was my boss. Ha ha. The next day she warned me about old men. At the awards i met Florencia's (my coworker) boyfriend and sat with them. I got home at about 1 or so.

Friday was our last day of Spanish classes. It was kind of sad. I am going to miss playing Situacion Limite with Laticia. I won't miss studying subjunctive with Juan, but I will miss him too. Paula (secretary) put together a kind-of party for us during our last class. They had chips and drinks for us and we took tons of pictures. The Germans are leaving soon, which is sad. They were totally crazy and were always drinking beer or something and going out. Karin is leaving tomorrow to for Colonia and then Argentina. I can't believe the past 3 weeks are already over.

Friday night was crazy. They had a going-away dinner for us. Norma cooked Chavizo, which is basically a burger with cut up ham and cheese, mayonaese (of course, they're obsessed with it,) and random grilled vegetables. Jasmine had a lot to drink. I left for about 30 minutes to talk to my family and by the time I got back everyone was a bit gone. It was funny.

We left the school at about midnight to go out in Ciudad Vieja. I had to go get some money out and by the time I got to the Peoni where everyone else was Jasmine wasn't feeling well. We ended up going back home really soon. Ryan carried Jasmine to the cab and he, Kendall, Ian and I took her home. They were so nice and helped me make sure she was okay. Everyone was worried, but she was fine.

Yesterday Jasmine wanted to just lie around since it was cold outside. We went out to eat in Ciudad Vieja at the restaurant where Bush ate when he visited a couple months ago. It was really good. I can say right now that I am going to miss dulce de leche. After dinner Kendall and Ryan went home and I went with Jasmine to Baar Fun Fun to meet up with Jo, Karin and Stephen. There were several singers who sang tango music. After being there for a few hours Jo, Karin, Jasmine and I headed to the Cite bar. The line was way to long so we went to the place across the way and stayed for a couple hours.

Karin talked to the cab driver on the way home and it costed twice as much as usual. We have learned the hard way not to talk to the drivers so they don't know you're a foreigner. It's really frustrating. We got home around 5 a.m.

Today Jasmine and I walked around the Sunday feria at Parque Rodo, which is just a few minutes away from us. I got about 5 turtlenecks and a jacket for under $50. They were turtlenecks here a lot and I am glad to finally have some to layer with and for work. I am set now. Now I have to do some research on going to Buenos Aires. Next weekend we may go with the tango place that we usually go to on Thursday to Colonia. We will see. We only have 4 weekends left so we have to plan it out soon!

Rock

As I have mentioned before, my Spanish is most certainly not the best in the world. I am still very much an intermediate from not having studied Spanish for at least two years before coming to Montevideo.

When I met my boss the other day, he said something about Thursday, but he only said a couple sentences and he speaks so quickly that I couldn't tell what he was saying. Today I received a call from him here at the school while I was in class. After some time on the phone I figured out that I am going to "Graffiti" tonight. I had no idea what that was when I hung up the phone. All I knew was that I was not going to be able to go with the huge group that is going tonight to dance and the place we went to last week. I was totally bummed.

Then I looked up the information on "Graffiti" online. It is the national Uruguayan rock awards!! So I am definetely not as bummed as I was at all. I get to go to an invitation-only event with my work. Not only that, but I get to hear some Uruguayan rock bands. (That has GOT to be interesting.) I am really excited! They pick me up outside of my house at 9 p.m. Wish me luck.

Other than that, only the Adelante stuff is going on. They have not tried to appease us except to change a couple wordings in their information (unsatisfactorily I might add) and add one more activity to the one activity that we were given (to make it plural like the contract says I suppose.) Some say we could press suit for all the lies and breach of contract that have taken place, but I wish they would just be more professional about the situation.

Tomorrow is our last day at the school...it is hard to believe that it has been three weeks already. Well, maybe it's not THAT hard to believe. The teachers here at the school are amazing and I hope they continue to receive more students. We have a farewell dinner tomorrow night. We will probably go out tomorrow night for Jasmine's 21st birthday too. She has us planning it all, so hopefully I can do okay with that. I know she likes TGI Friday's and I think there is one in the Montevideo Shopping Mall...

Frustrated

Yes, frustrated is all I feel right now. It's not for any truly personal reason (that was last week,) but because it is on account of Adelante, the program that I came abroad with.

Adelante lied to us about most parts of the program. For example, they listed that the local program director was fluent in English. He is maybe an intermediate speaker. There is a beginner Spanish participant here and she can't ask a simple question about a heater. In addition, they insured us that we had several activities included in our tuition, but we only have 2 activities and any other we would like to do require an additional fee. These are only two things of many that we signed a contract for that is simply not true.

It gets worse. The headquarters in California e-mailed us to see how we were doing. I finally e-mailed a reply a week late saying very concisely of my distresses. The e-mail I received in reply was an eight-paragraph essay (as opposed to my one-paragraph e-mail) that was extremely defensive, but most importantly very condescending and rude. It was VERY unprofessional. I was flabbergasted. Kendall and Jasmine have sent similar e-mails. They have received similar responses. I wrote back yesterday copying and pasting examples of their blatant lies. It is too the point that Ryan's mom is looking at the law aspects of the situation. I just got done making revisions to their pre-orientation packet to send back to them. It has been a terrible situation. For future reference,

Do not use Adelante under any circumstances. I would recommend the
school here any day, but not Adelante.

Other than that, we have two new students from the states, Paul and Ian, who are nice guys. They are both around my age. It's kind of strange to see guys studying abroad. When I was in Italy it was mostly girls as well. This is the last week of our classes! I met my internship director yesterday. They are mostly a magazing publisher it seems and work is only 2 blocks away from where I live. I will be working 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. I enjoy the school, but I think I will learn a great deal of Spanish working and using it. Wish me luck!

Tango

The tango was born in Argentina, right across the Rio de Plata from Montevideo. There are so many places to learn tango it is ridiculous. Liz is a girl that stayed with Maria (our house mom) two years ago when she did our program for two months. She went back home to Montana for four months and then came back to Montevideo, where she has been for 1 1/2 years. She is dating a guy that teaches tango. Thursday night we went to a place where you pay 60 pesos for several hours of class. They teach salsa, then "rock and roll" (swing,) and then tango. The salsa and rock and roll were easy because of my ballet background, but tango was quite another story.

I had several guys ask me to dance even though I told them all it was my first time. I caught on as quickly as I could, but it is a very strict and sensual dance wherin you HAVE to know what you are doing. We ended up staying there much longer than we had anticipated. We tried grappa miel, one of Uruguay's national drinks, which is made from miel, or honey. We also met Liz's boyfriend, who gave Jasmine and I tango lessons today.

Friday Jasmine slept through the first half of classes and a new teacher taught us. After class Laticia took us on a tour of Ciudad Vieja and told us about some of the arcitecture and history of Montevideo. It was originally a Spanish establishment/port.

That night we went out like the Uruguayans do for the first time. Karin, Kendyll, Ryan, Jasmine and I went out together. We went to a place in Parque Rodo called the W Lounge. It was crazy. It did not open until 1 a.m. so we got there at about 1:30. The place was really cool. There were 4 different rooms with different music in each and televisions, lights, and smoke everywhere. There were people absolutely everywhere. No matter where you stood there was someone trying to push past you. It was a lot of fun, but very intense, very latin. I left at about 5, but most people do not leave until about 6 or 7 in the morning.

Today Jasmine and I slept in until about 3 p.m. It was great. Then we went to tango lessons wiht Liz's boyfriend. By the end of the hour, he told us that we had learned the equivalent of four lessons in one. I am really excited about learning it!

Tomorrow a bunch of us are going to an expat meeting with other English speakers. There is a new student here from Australia who I think is coming too. Austrailians are the best traveled people of any other country. When I was traveling around Europe I ran into more Austrailians than any other people. Apparently the real estate here is really cheap so Stephen (the guy from Australia) is going to be here for about 3 months investing in renovating some apartments or a hotel. It is amazing, the people you meet when you are abroad!

Soccer and Sing

The past few days have been interesting. Monday literally all of the Spanish school at Herradura went to a meal where they prepared every kind of meat you can imagine. I do not even know all that I ate. Cow pancreas, sausage seasoned with sweet blood and another with salty blood, I tried it all. It was interesting.

Tuesday Jasmine and I went to the Punto Carretas shopping mall and i bought another pair of jeans since I only brought 3. I wish I had known that Montevideo fashion was so lax. People just don't care here about how they look and they wear jeans all the time. Women don't wear skirts, which is what I brought a lot of for my internship. I'm not in Italy anymore.

Yesday was random and crazy. After class literally all the spanish class students went on a three-hour bus tour of Montevideo. I am very glad that I went. We went all over the city and got to take pictures of the congress bulding, modern telecommunications building, went on the hill in carrascas to take picture of the port, and more.

On the tour we randomly met a guy named Lawrence who is from Seattle and was only going to be there for a night. He grew up in L.A. Beverly Hills and went to school with stars' kids. He travels all over the world for "business" and will stay in one place only for a couple nights before moving on. He then returns to the places that he likes. He claims that he doesn't have much money, but it was obvious that he does when he pulled out a black American Express card...which you are only personally invited to have and must have A LOT of money to keep. So he is pretty much loaded even though he insisted he was broke and from the "poor part" of Beverly Hills because his parents were from Costa Rica, which he visits about 7 times a year.

Liar.

Lawrence told us during the city tour that he was going to a soccer game between Brazil and Uruguay that night. We randomly decided to go. Jasmine, Ryan, Kendell and I randomly went to the game with him...he bought the tickets. It was freezing, but it was a good experience. Like Europeans, South Americans are crazy about soccer and there were all sorts of fights. They patted us down going inside for knives. The police were everywhere, it was kind of funny. They had fireworks like it was the Fourth of July. We sat on the Brazil side and they never once stopped singing.

After the game we met Jo and Karin at Bar Fun Fun. It is where most famous people go when they visit Montevideo. It was a really cool place. There was a singer, Rosanna, who was singing songs like Norah Jones, but in Spanish. It was really good. Of course Lawrence paid for all of our food and drinks, which there were nine of us. Oh goodness. Tonight I am going to learn tango! Wish me luck.

The Culture of Uruguay

I thought I would take a moment to explain a few things about the culture of Uruguay to make it easier to understand the activities I am doing, just to know, etc...

Night Life

The night life is a lot like it is in Europe. I studied abroad in Florence last semester and it is very similar to that. It is the main form of social interaction for the younger community. Many popular night places do not even open until 2 a.m. and most people do not leave the clubs (called boliches) until about 6 or 7 a.m. This is NOTHING like the nightlife in the states. It is abnormal not to go out like they do late at night and they are not shady in any way. This is a hard concept to grasp if you have never experienced this part of the culture in Europe or Latin America.

Mate

Mate is the official drink of Uruguay and Argentina. It is basically a very, very strong tea. Almost evey local we see has a thermos of hot water and a gourd with the mate mix in it. The mate mix is basically an herb that has been cut up and it has a LOT of caffiene. They usually have it in the mornings and at night as a pick-me-up. They pour the hot water in the gourd and it is ready to go. There is one person who pours the mate and passes it to each person. After that person finishes it, they pass it back to the "mater master" (for lack of a better word) and they pour more water into the gourd for the next person. It is a communal thing. They drink the mate through a bombilla, or a special straw. The straw is made with metal and sometimes ornately decorated with gold. At the end of the straw are little holes, it is not open like normal straws. I think the mate tastes a lot like Earl Grey personally, but that's just me. Apparently if a guy puts sugar in your mate when he is "mate master" it means he likes you, and if he puts salt in it, he doesn't.

Food

The most important food here is asado, or barbecue. The main meat is beef, they put it in absolutelyl everything! For asado they will cook the meat all day...it is amazing! They have bread for breakfast like they do in Europe. The baked goods are very good. The food here is very, very bland, but the sweets are very, very sweet. Fine with me.

Parts of the city

Ciudad Vieja is where all the night life and important parts of the city are (Teatro Solis, plaza independencia, port, etc.) Pocitos is the more upper-end part of the city. Parque Rodo is where I live and it is mainly residential.

Places to see

Teatro Solis (they have free tours every Wednesday,) plaza independencia and the urns under the city, the main port, the streets of boliches in ciudad vieja at night, punto carretas shopping mall (it looks like a mall in the states,) parque rodo, and I am sure I will add more.

Cold

No matter what temperature it is outside, everyone seems to wear heavy coats in the fall and winter here. It has been very cold some days and they do not use heating here except for gas stoves because it is so expensive. Of course I get cold very easily so I freeze a lot. It may not acutally be very cold outside, but the cold they have is bone-chilling.

Religion

The majority of the people here associate with the Roman Catholic church. However, they view it more as their heritage then their religion. The older generations seem to be religious (Maria has several crosses in her room,) but most do not attend church or practice it. In fact, one of my teachers does not even believe in God. As for me, I have been searching for an English church, but it is an ongoing search. The only one I have found is on the other side of the city.

Family

Family is important to uruguayans like it is to the Italians. They are very close to each other. Maria talks to her two daughters for hours on end every day. Kids do not move out of the house until they are about 28. They are not very independent. It is hard to find jobs here, especially in Montevideo. There are 3 million people livinng in Uruguay, and about a third live in Montevideo. Many people move to Spain (where one of Maria's daughters live,) Argentina or Mexico.

Random things

-There are horse carriages everywhere in Montevideo. Cute, huh? NO. They are only used to cart trash around. How romantic.
-The f*** you gesture in American sign language means "I don't know" here. It takes some getting used to

I hope this has given you some insight into the culture here. We learn a little more about it every day and it is very interesting. Just don't think that I am so crazy American when I say that I went out to bars, because the connotations here are completely different than any connotations surrounding them in America. It is a different culture, after all!

Punto del Este

Today we went to Punto del Este, the most fashionable beach in South America.

Last night we went out with Jo, Karen, and the couple from Chicago, Ryan and Kendell, came too. We didn't stay too long. There seemed to only be younger people out. Apparently out kind of crowd only goes out during the weekdays. We went to eat at around 11 and didn't finish until about 2. We didn't stay too long since we had to be up for the trip today at 8 a.m. Plus I had to hide from Ashley. The most eventful things were Jasmine getting stopped for not having an id/looking under 21 and some random guy asking if I wanted a drink. Which I refused. Yeah, fun night, right.

So we had to be at the company at 8 a.m. Jasmine, me and the couple from Chicago were the only ones that went. Of course they were running late. We didn't leave until 30 minutes later. We were so tired. The bus was nice. The guide talked in Spanish and would translate a few sentences into English. Thank goodness I could understand the Spanish, even his English was terrible.

You cannot come to Uruguay without knowing any Spanish. No one knows
English.

We went through several coastal towns that were gorgeous. We went to the town of San Antonio's patronage. Punto del Este was beautiful. I could see why all the rich and famous go there, even if it was freezing.

All the houses have a nameplate with the name its owners gave it instead of street numbers. There were some very interesting names. I saw Tejas Azul and Tejas Verde. People here love Texas.

In the beach there is what looks like a hand coming out of the sand that is very famous. It signifies South America rising from its economic crisis. There is an anchor in another place that marks the line between the Rio de Plata and the Ocean. We left after eating at Johnny Walker and then left to go home. Maria made us empanadas that are waiting for us back at home.

Speaking of Maria (our house mom.) She is a total punk. She is only hosting us for the money. She told Jasmine not to tell the school she was leaving early because she wouldn't be paid on the very first day she met her. That is ridiculous. The other day we had used her phone to make a 30 second phone call to Karen at the school. We asked to use it again yesterday and she went off on Jasmine. She told her that it wasn't included and was really rude about it.

In addition, the other day she made us asado (their form of barbecue.) It was absolutely amazing by the way. But it was totally ruined when she came and chewed Jasmine out for eating ribs with her hands. I mean, it would have been maybe okay if she had just said something gently and dropped it, but she was extremely rude and condescending about it. I still like her.

I think she is just old and set in her ways and can't help looking down on those who are different from her. I will be praying for her.

Today Jasmine and I got to know Kendell and Ryan better and hopefully we will be seeing more of them. Neither of them know too much Spanish and Uruguay is not English-friendly so it's nice to help them out.

First time going out/British navy

Last night Jasmine, Jo (the other girl who is in our advanced Spanish class) and Karen (who is taking classes here) and I all went out in Ciudad Vieja. Ciudad Vieja (old city) is where all the life is in Montevideo. It was boliches (clubs) and bars and tango places there. Most of the places don't open until 2 a.m. and they dance until about 6 or 7. It's a little different than the states...

Jasmine and I met Jo and Karen at the school (where they are living) at about 10:30 to leave. There weren't many people there at all. It is a 40 minute walk from here so we took a cab. When we got there we walked around a little but it was dead. We went and got drinks at a place they (Jo and Karen) had been the night before. Eventually we went into a bar across they way that had a bunch of gringos in it just because a lot of people were there.

After we had been inside for awhile a random Scottish-sounding guy came up to me. All the people there spoke English. They were all with the British royal navy and are here for five nights while their ship is painted for an anniversary or something. They are ending the end of their three month trip.

Jo and Karen are older (in their 30s) and were off somewhere talking. Jasmine kept checking on me every now and then. An officer named Ashley came up to me and started talking to me and ended up following me around until I finally left the area at 4 a.m. He introduced me to all his friends. However, his friends also hit on me and at one point I was completely surrounded by them. It was so funny. I felt like the girl in top gun. At least they were very nice. I had no idea that Brits liked corona so much.

Any time I tell people that I am from Texas they get really excited. Everyone asks about the cowboy hats, etc. It happened last summer at Georgetown and in Italy. Hollywood has ruined us. They all talk about George Bush being from Texas too.

Some of the sailors were ridiculous. A Scottish guy that was a friend of Ashley's mooned me. Oh, and Ashley had the most hilarious pick up lines. One was "the girl over there (who was Spanish) asked me why I have been talking to you for an hour and still haven't kissed you." As he got more drunk they got worse. But it sure was funny, for me. There was absolutely no way that was going to happen. I started hiding.

After being at that place for awhile we went to a place across the way and danced until 4. We met some local Uruguayans and they were extremely nice. One of the guys is studying public relations like me and speaks Italian as I sort of do. It was just strange to meet a local who is studying the same thing I am.

It was interesting, but it was really fun. Tonight we are going to go eat dinner (they eat at around 10 p.m. here) and then go out and actually stay out like they do. Tomorrow morning we have to be somewhere at 8 a.m. to go to Punta del Este. That will be interesting. Well, class is starting again. I am so tired!

Changing Over

I am crazy for leaving Texas when it is freezing cold here in Montevideo. Maria finally brought in gas heaters for us only the other day. Jasmine and I just sit in her room in the warmth while watching tv or reading. The temperature is only in the 60s, but the wind makes it unbearable to be outside.

Yesterday was an exception to the awful cold. It was bright and sunny outside. Jasmine and I walked all over the place. We went to the large autobus station in Tres Cruces to check out the bus rates (that is how South Americans get around) and the shopping mall. So far we have found two McCafes that look amazing with a great deal of baked goods. Wouldn't have guessed, right? The exchange rate right now is 24 dollars to the Uruguayan peso.

After walking to Tres Cruces (3 crosses,) we walked around Parque Rodo, which is right next to our house. We then went to Playa Ramirez, the beach next to the park. The water is both brown and freezing, but it was still amazing to think that there is a beach so close to us. It is beautiful.

Maria, our mom, we have discovered is very nice, but also into loaning us the house for the money. It is almost hilarious. The first day we were here apparently she told Jasmine not to tell Adelante that she was living a few days early so she would get all her money for the food. Who says that when you first meet someone? The people here are very friendly, but maybe a little too open?

Tonight I think we are going to Ciudad Vieja with a couple of the older students to go out. Ciudad Vieja is where everything happens. We are planning trips to Buenos Aires soon!

Preocupado

Hola,

I have been very busy, and at the same time not busy at all. The culture here is much different than any other place and I feel like I have learned more about it than I knew of Italy after three months.

There are several students taking classes here at the language school right now. There is an older german couple, a college couple from Chicago, my roommate from New York (Jasmine) and Jo who just came from Peru. We had to take a test when we first got here and somehow I am in the intermediate-advanced Spanish class with Jasmine and Jo. They are very advanced. Jo just got back from Peru, so of course she is fluent, and Jasmine grew up in Puerto Rico. It is tough, but at least I am learning. We have classes for 4 hours a day with five minute breaks. It is very intense.

Maria is the name of our mom. She puts out bread for us every morning to eat and then makes supper for us. She always makes very interesting local dishes. The food here is very bland. They have beef in everything.

Yesterday I had mate, their national drink. They drink it from a gourd and use a bombilla, a special straw, to drink it. It tastes like Earl Gray tea. They are obsessed with it. It has more caffiene than coffee. I need some of it for school!

We start class at 9 a.m. and get out at 1. So we have the rest of the day to do whatever. They have our American movies playing constantly on tv. Jasmine and I have watched several movies with Spanish subtitles. The other day we went to a shopping mall. It is painful to walk around too much because it is incredibly cold outside. It was even cold in the house for the longest time until Maria brought in gas heaters.

The men here can be like the Italians, but for the most part they are considerate. As long as they dont see my blue eyes we can usually avoid unwanted attention. The culture in general is very interesting.

This weekend we are going to Punta del Este, a famous beach resort for the rich people of Sudamerica. It should be interesting. Buenos Aires is a 30 minute ferry ride away, so we will go there one weekend as well.

Entonces, necesito practicar mi castellano. The Spanish here is muuch different that in Mexico. Te amo.

Traveling and arriving in Uruguay

I am sooo glad that the past couple days are over!! My traveling was completely smooth, but it is still never fun.

I drove up to Fort Worth to meet my dad and one of my sisters (Rachel) at my grandma´s house. Then my dad and I somehow managed to eat at Red Lobster and then get to the airport on time. There was next to no one at the international side of DFW.

My first flight was to Santiago, Chile. It was an overnight flight and I woke up at least once every hour. American Airlines flights going overseas are not fun. When I got to Santiago I had to wait five hours for my flight to Montevideo. I watched pretty much all the video I have on my Zen(ipod.) Too bad all that I had was Bambi II (don´t ask) and episodes of Daria and the Wonder Years. I hated not being able to get online, but airports charge for that.

The next flight to Montevideo was gorgeous. You could see mountains everywhere you looked. I had to buy a jacket in the Santiago airport because, of course, I got cold. The flight was fast and the LAN South American airline was actually very nice. I think it is up there with AirFrance, which is amazing. On this airline you can pick what movie you want to watch and fast forward, etc, if you would like. The food was amazing too. It was a nice change from American.

When we were boarding the plane I noticed a girl with an American passport. I told her that her bag was cute as we were getting on the plane surrounded by South Americans, but she just said thanks. As we got off the plane I struck up a conversation with her. She goes to University of Penn and her family lives in Uruguay. We talked for the rest of the time through customs, etc, and she has my home number. She said none of her friends are in Uruguay now so we are going to hang out. I was sooo excited to already have a contact who knows her way around Montevideo!!

A very friendly man was at the airport to pick me up and take me to my new home. It was a long drive, but he was very nice. I just realized how limited my Spanish is. The Spanish in Montevideo is different from Mexican Spanish in the first place. It is very confusing and I haven´t studied Spanish for a couple years, but I guess that is why I am here.

The man dropped me off and gave me a friendly kiss and I went in to meet my new ¨family.¨ The owner of the house is a sweet widow who only speaks Spanish. There is also another girl who is living there who is in the program. She goes to University of Penn and seems really nice.

I thought my apartment in Florence was small. It was nothing next to this. I will take pictures soon because it is amazing that we are all fitting into this small apartment. The kitchen is maybe 3 steps deep as is the bathroom...no joke. Fun!

I am really excited to be here. I haven´t had time to really see anything, but I am sure there is plenty of time to do that. I have to take a placement test tonight and be at the school at 9 a.m. tomorrow for an orientation. From driving around and all the people I have met I really like South America and Uruguay. It is very different than any other place I have been, but it´s a good different. I am sure I will really get to see it tomorrow.

I miss you all and I hope you are having a wonderful time back in the states.

But yes, I am here and I am alive!

Countdown: three days

That is right, I have three days until I leave Waco behind for two months to live in Montevideo, Uruguay, for two months. Within those three days I will have an interview for a fall internship, have four finals and say good-bye to friends. I packed like a madwoman for hours yesterday and my room is in shambles (aka boxes.) I only lived in our house for one semester because I studied abroad for last fall semester in Florence, Italy, and saw Europe. It was amazing.

I am going to Uruguay by myself. I do not know anyone else who will be going. I hope to use my time in Uruguay as a learning and growing experience. Although it is hard to leave my family and friends behind, it is only temporary and I know the effects will be endless. I will be living with a widow in a house while I am there. Apparently one other person will be staying in the house with me, but I do not even know their gender at this point. The whole ordeal is just a big scary, exciting adventure.

The first three weeks I am there I will be studying Spanish in classes. The rest of my time there I will be interning at a public relations firm in the city. Talk about intense. It will be fall in Uruguay, which is a little depressing since I will be living eight blocks from the beach, but I most certainly cannot really complain!

It is sort of starting to hit me that I am going to a country very far away in South America now that my room is a disaster zone, but I am still in school mode. I don't think it will fully hit me until I am on the plane leaving Dallas. My dad and sister (Rachel) will be meeting me at the DFW airport to say good-bye. I have my last final on the same day that I fly out. One next oldest sister (Courtney) who goes to TCU came and told me bye today. I cannot believe this is really happening, but I am glad that it is.