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.

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!