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.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
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...
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
-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!
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!
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