Rachel in South America

Here comes Carnaval.... Montevideano Style

2010-02-13T19:51:00.001-08:00

I realize that it has been a very long time since I've updated--Basically, last semester got very, very crazy and then I went home for a month to the U.S., where I got to see all you lovely people. Then, I came back. What's been going on since then?

I spent the first three days getting over jet lag and getting to know my new house-mate for January and February. His name is Edmund, he goes by Eddie, and he's English. I then headed over to my friend Gabi's for a week and a half in Malvin, and then to a small resort beach called Cuchilla Alta.

Cuchilla Alta has some of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen....soft sand, water that deepens quickly so that it is perfect for swimming, and hot, constant sun. I spent a glorious eight days reading on the beach, getting a tan, and playing cards with my Uruguayan friends and Eddie.

For me, one of the most memorable moments was when Mauricio (He goes to my university and is dating my friend Gabi), read his hand-written short story aloud to use. I got lost after the first five minutes, but I couldn't help but think...How lucky am I? I feel like I've been introduced and accepted into a whole new world with these friendship here.

I also taught Noe, Gabi, and Xime (pronouced Hee-may) the card game Spades. They really liked it. We played for hours--Gabi and I a team, Xime and Noe the other--and Gabi and I lost! I also learned two Uruguayan games with their type of cards (called Spanish cards)-- La escoba de 15 and something that reminded me an awful lot of Five Crowns.

When I got back from Cuchilla Alta, I moved permanently into my old house in the neighborhood Pocitos. I just finished unpacking a few minutes ago! I've also had the time to reconnect with my friend Vicky, with whom I had dinner tonight, to finalize all the details about my upcoming internship at the International Office at the Universidad de Montevideo, and to put the finishing touches on the course created by myself, the director of International Relations, and my sociology professor from last semester.

I've got approximately 3 weeks left until the semester and I can't believe I'm saying this....but I'm ready for school to start. I can't wait to meet all of the new students and to have some routine!!

Tomorrow I'm going to go meet with Montevideo's group of ex-pats. Evidently they have a meeting every week to unite all of the foreigners and to offer support as they transition from living in the U.S. to living abroad. I'm going to ask advice about teaching English and to see if I can find housing options for some of the new exchange students.

Monday also brings Carnaval, Latin America's unique brand of Marti Gras. It's something very particular to Latin America and I can't wait to experience it!

What a Saturday Indeed!

2009-11-07T05:42:00.001-08:00

To start, a few points of business:

First Point Of Business (F.B.O.P,): My Uruguayan time is now three hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time. Because I live in the Southern Hemisphere, and all of you live in the Northern Hemisphere and Daylight Savings Time has been applied in both hemispheres but in the opposite direction. So until Daylight Savings time is un-applied in both hemispheres, I am now THREE hours ahead instead of ONE. It makes it a little more difficult to communicate.

Second Point of Business (S.B.O.P.): My flight home to North Carolina is December 21st. I think I am leaving on the 18th of January to start my big trip through South America. I want to see all sorts of people in this time. So start thinking/communicating about when you want to get together! It's not so far away, and it will really help with occasional waves of homesickness!

and now about Uruguay & Iguazu Falls:
I woke up this morning after a long, rainy night to clear skies and a ton of homework to do! I decided to get some homework accomplished, so I took the 9 am bus to school. And what completely made my day about this auspiscious beginning? The rocking 80s music on the bus. As I stepped off the bus into fresh just-finished-thunderstorming air, I heard the song "Baby Hold On" by Eddie Money start. I can't think of a better way to begin the day.

I went to one of the biggest waterfalls in the world last weekend, and the world's longest, Iguazu Falls. I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, but below are some of the best picture from Liz's (my roommate here). We had a 23 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to get there--after the 4ish hour trip from Montevideo. We got there on Saturday morning, just in time to meet up with Liz's friend Isa (from Germany) and go to Brazil!. The huge platform in the picture is from the Brazilian side of Iguazu. Then, on Sunday, we went to the Argentina side and explored all of the trails. The Argentinian side is much bigger and with more trails, but I personally prefered the Brazilian side.

We came back that night for a full moon tour, offered every month during the full moon...which happened to take 20 minutes path of metal walkways over the river. At night. With wet, slippery walkways. Made of grates in which you could see through to the rushing river below. Needless to say, I was freaking out the entire walk there & back during the full moon tour. The path itself invoked my fear of heights & bridges, but I kept having to look down through the river in order catch myself when I slipped, repeatedly & to prevent myself from falling on the wet metal walkway. The result, though, was spectacular: watching the waterfall with just the light of the full moon to illuminate it. The picture above is the best view on the Argentinian side and where we watched the waterfall under the full moon.

On Monday, we explored the (small) town of Puerto Iguazu and started our journey home. I arrived safe & sound to Montevideo at 7 pm Tuesday night.

Experiences like this fulfill why I wanted to study abroad, but now my homework is absolutely unavoidable...

Finally, an update!

2009-10-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry about being so absent lately; the month of October is always so, so crazy!

I'm thinking in short, effective sentences lately because I have been out-of-my-mind busy. For this, you get a list of what's been going on:

1) I went to Piriapolis, Uruguay--its a very small, quite town by the beach. The weekend I went, it definitely wasn't quiet! There was a car race--but not with sports cars---with VW bugs.

2) I had three parical exams--2 written completely in Spanish and one with all of the material in Spanish, but I was allowed to write in English. I passed them all--including philosophy, but just barely!

3) I went to Buenos Aires last weekend. I needed to renew my tourtist visa for Uruguay, so I made a quick border run. It was an adventurous trip!

I went on a Thursday, and the boat from Colonia, Uruguay to Buenos Aires broke in the Colonia harbour! I had to wait five hours for the next boat, and so I got to tour Colonia, the first Portuguese-founded town in Uruguay. I spent the weekend walking around Buenos Aires and hanging out with the people in the hostel. It is rae to find a very good vibe at a hostel, but this hostel had it! I came home late Tuesday night. I'll try to make at post about Piriapolis and Buenos Aires some time in the future.

4) My birthday party was last night! This definitely needs its own post, but I'm going to wait for the pictures to write it. I invited a huge crowd of people over to my house here in Uruguay. It was about 7 Uruguayans and 25 foreigners? It was fantastic! I stayed up until 6 this morning....which (still) was only 6 or so hours ago. the cake, seriously, was the most delicious I've ever had...chocolate with dulce de leche a dash of whiskey!

5) I'm having *another* birthday on my actual birthday. I'm cooking a full-out Southern meal for my housenates and a few friends, I can't afford for more to come over.

6) Today are the Uruguayan elections. I'll be glad when the election season is over! If a party gets 50 percent of more, they win. If not, there is another election. I'm personally hoping someone will just win already--all of the election talk is really annoying!

7 a) Coming up: this weekend is a trip to Iguazu Falls, something that is supposed to absolutely amazing. They are the longest falls in the world, and are in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
7 b) Also coming up....2 fifteen page papers completely written in Spanish. I'm so nervous,but I have been working very hard to read the source material. Now, I have to finish reading the source material and actually write the papers in Spanish, and I am very worried. However, I know I'll get it done, some way or the other

And let's not forget.......our 21st birthday is TOMORROW! Here's to one great year, and to another one to follow.

An American Day for Americans not in America

2009-10-02T08:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, after my first exam, Amanda and I decided to take the rest of the day off. It was an ugly, rainy, cold day, and I woke up not being able to find my raincoat. To add to it, this week has been a weird week. Liz (my roommate here) and I equate the feeling to how Wednesday feels every week. On Wednesday, you're exactly halfway through, and so you've lost the optimism of the beginning but aren't quite ready to enjoy the last bit. I'm basically halfway through my first semester here. So right now, it feels like Wednesday, all this week. The horrible weather hasn't helped either.

As a solution, Amanda and I went to the independent movie theater and watch Happy-Go-Lucky. It's a British movie, not American, but we chose it because was in English. We also shared popcorn and drinks. I don't buy drinks and popcorn when I'm in the U.S., but we wanted to have the experience of going to the movie.

Then, we went to the French fry place. It has hot, fresh, crispy French fries with varieties of dipping sauces. My favorite is pesto mayo; it makes me think of BUNS's absolutely delicious dipping sauces in Chapel Hill. The Uruguayan restaurant is modeled off a U.S. restaurant in which the owner worked while traveling.

We closed the day by searching through bookshops for English-language novels. I ended up buying The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Amazon link) and The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman. I linked the books, for anyone who is interested in what they are. There was a significant mark-up from U.S. prices, but they were priced well for Uruguay. I need new books to read! I've read all of the ones I brought with me from home, and I've found that it is the one way I have to make myself feel better than I can do by myself and always, always works.

Amanda and I also reveled in the fact that we could talk about ourselves as Americans. Here, in Uruguay, we have to call ourselves United-States-an (estadounidense) or North American (norteamericana). This part of South America is sensitive to the fact that they are a part of the Americas, too, and it is rude to call yourself "American" here.

Part of a study abroad experience is learning about yourself, your moods, and how to self-correct them. In general, I'm a happy person and I love being here. When I do have an off day, taking a break from the culture here lets me be rejuvenated for the next day. Today, the weather is good, and I am leaving in a half an hour to buy tickets Piroapolis, Uruguay for Saturday and Buenos Aires for my birthday. Now all that's in between me and those tickets is lunch and a shower.

Late Post: Día del Patrimonio

2009-10-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

My last post left you with the assurance I'd update about the Día del Patriomontio. I still haven't retrieved all the pictures from Amanda's camera yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some from her album. Día del Patrimonio last for two days, and it is Patriotism Day. Patriotism Day feels like July 4th in the U.S., but it isn't Independence Day. Their Independence Day is August 25th--and the night before the Night of Nostalgia. Look here for my post about that from August.

Amanda (from Montana), Neele (from Germany), and I took the bus around four last Saturday to start the adventure off. We took the bus into the center, and we knew immediately when were getting close, because the amount of people started to pick up. We got off the bus and made our way to Plaza Independencia. It's marked with a stature and urn of José Gervasio Artigas.

While we were waiting for our Uruguayan friends, who told us to be strictly on time, we watched a street parade of candombe. Candombe is something that is uniquely Uruguayan--it evolved from the mixing of an immigrant urban population and african dance, just like the tango, but its not the tango. Candome is solely percussion, with 3 unique drumlines creating one camdombe beat. What impressed me most about this parade was how these girls were dancing in bikinis, and they weren't skinny. They were normal.

There were also people of all ages dancing. Check out those costumes!

We then met our Uruguayan friends and our Peruvian friends (who were now one and a half hours late) to walk through the Old City and the outdoor market. Amanda caught this moment with the little girl; it was absolutely precious to see her expression of wonder at all of the textures and shapes!

Curious girl at the market/Colorful wares at the market.

We also spent some time exploring the city, because again, typical of Uruguyans, we arrived just in time for everything to close. But there's no use in being upset about it! We're in Uruguay!

The National Bank closing/Me posing senior-portrait-style against a nearby wall

People were still in a party mood, even if everything was closed, so we made our way to the Port section of Montevideo for some coffee. On the way, we saw a woman hanging a political party's flag out the winder. Elections are coming up on the 25th of October, just in time for my birthday.

After coffee and a pizza (the best I've had yet, with crispy, flakey crust with fresh basil and tomatoes), we wandered back through the city and found a huge jar of dulce de leche! Dulce de leche is the universal sweet. It's most similar to caramel, but tastes different. They eat on everything here: toast, cake, sweets, fruits, etc.

Amanda and I with the huge jar of dulce de leche!

After that we headed home, hung out for a little bit, and then I went to a birthday party that night. It ended up being a good, long day. Since then, I've basically been in study mode. I had my first midterm in Spanish yesterday. It ended up being okay. I knew the material, but I don't know if I expressed it sufficiently in Spanish. I guess we'll see when I get the grade back!

Día UM & Día del Patriamonio.

2009-09-25T13:11:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready to start off a very fun weekend! This weekend is Día del Patriamonio. I don't know why, but the Patriotism Day actually last two days. How weird is that! All of the museums, governmental buildings, and public service buildings are open. I want to see the President's House and the port, two places which are normally crowded and you have to pay.

This past Wednesday was Universidad of Montevideo Day. The school threw a part for its students--I didn't stay for very long, but I managed two eat two hotdogs and a beer. Yes, they had cerveza (beer) at a conservative, Opus Dei Catholic University function. They also had a mechanical bull. Knowing how clumsy I am, I specifically did not ride it, but Amanda did! She's kinda obligated to, because she's from Montana : ).

Last night I went to my friend Noe's birthday party. She's Uruguayan and a third year undergraduate student in Medicine. Hear, the graduate and undergraduate schools are the same, so they combine them into one carrer path. I then spent the night at my friend Gaby's. I had so much fun! It was a real sleep over, including talking until 3 in the morning and making pancakes. She had a recipe for "North American Pancakes" and didn't know how to make it, so we used her recipe and my expertise to cook up some delicious pancakes. It made me miss our apartment's/friends' tradition of making delicious pancakes. There was one element missing, though: syrup! They just don't have it here. But since we made chocolate chunk pancakes, it was plenty sweet enough.

Tonight I am again going out with my Uruguayan friend. It's an Arab dance class/club, tonight, for Noe's birthday celebration--without parents this time.

This week has been a week of ups & downs. I got really down on Tuesday night, but I started Northhanger Abbey by Jane Austen to feel better. Things got pregoressively better throughout the week, and I've closed it with a bang! I went to a birthday party, had a sleep over, and absolutely aced my phonetics lesson today--I said every sound correctly, including the 'err's.

I've decided....

2009-09-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I'm going to Buenos Aires, Argentina for my 21st birthday present to myself and to leave the country to re-new my visa. I'm either going my Megan, an Uruguayan friend, or by myself for the weekend October 16-19th...I'm buying the tickets this week.

I'm excited! It's another country, a new place. What a great way to end my 20th year! I've also heard that there is a huge bookstore. It's called Librería Ateneo (below). I can't wait!

Jazz on Sunday!

2009-09-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

I've got perhaps by busiest week thus far ahead of me this week: 2 essays, 1 mid-term exam, and a birthday party to go to on Thursday night. At least I started the week off in a great way: Liz and I went to Tartamudo, a club that plays jazz every Sunday night. It was the second time I had gone, but this time, there were more instruments: drums, keyboard, electric bass, trombone, and saxophone. They also had a guest for a couple of songs: the vibraphone! Since I played percussion and the vibraphone during high school, I was so excited to listen to jazz featuring the vibraphone. We got home a little before two—definitely a great way to start the week.

This week is a week of vacation for elementary schools, but not for the university. We don't have a traditional spring break—we just end a week early. I guess we will see which one is better at the end of the semester : ).

I'm buying tickets for Buenos Aires on Thursday. I'm so excited; it will be another country to add to my list!

Punta del Este: La arena & los atardeceres (Sand & Sunsets)

2009-09-19T08:07:00.001-07:00

A group of exchange students went to stay at my host family’s host in Punta del Este. We left early, at 9 am, and got to the house after 12. The trip was about 2 hours, but it took longer part because we got lost on the way to the house from the bus stop. We ended up getting rescued by a German lady who now lives in Punta del Este; she hauled us from in front of her house all the way to the house we were staying in the back of her pick-up truck.

Julia, Sara, Amanda and Alex in the back of the truck. What an adventure!

After this slow start, we walked the 30+ minute walk to the beach. Punta del Este is the ritzy resort in South America—people fly from all over South America as well as Europe to vacation here. But when we got to the beach, we were startled by how empty it was. All of the high-rise apartment buildings were empty, and we were the only people within in sight on the beach.

The beach was deserted! All of the very expensive buildings were completely vacant.

After a walk down the beach to the center of town, we stopped for some pizza and hamburgers in one of the few restaurants open. Amanda’s host-dad here, Alejandro, is a DJ on the weekends in Punta del Este and he met up with us there. Alejandro and his friend took us in their pick-up truck all around Punta del Este—a comprehensive tour. We saw both sides of Punta del Este, the smaller, less touristy towns, the sea lions at the harbor, and then we watched the sunset from a gorgeous villa called Casapueblo.

Miguel & Alejandro: Look at the view through the glass!

Sea lions at the harbour!

The sunset at Casapueblo.

The sunset from the balcony of Casapueblo

We also went to the bolinche (bar with music & dancing) that Alejandro was the DJ for that night. The food there was literally the best food I’ve had in Uruguay. Absolutely delicious!

Sara and I at the bolinche

On Sunday, we went for another walk on the beach, but this time on the fresh-water side. We had a lot of fun taking action shots!

Sara (and me, through her sunglasses on the beach)

Neele and Julia from Germany: mid-Matrix shot (It´s a movie reference)

Then, Amanda and I stayed out to watch one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in my life. We were the only ones on the beach and we watched the sun set slowly in the sky while listening to the waves lap against the sand.

My shadow on the sand. How beautiful is that light!

The sunset in progress/ The water just after the sunset finished

We came back Monday morning in time for class in the afternoon. It was a great way to get away from Montevideo and see some place new, as well as breathe some clean, fresh sea air. It is experiences like these that affirm my decision to Study Abroad.

Chau from Montevideo!

Philosophy & Phonetics

2009-09-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

I just spent a brutal day hammering away at Philosophy of Latin American Thinking and my Spanish class.

First, Philosophy of Latin American Thinking. This is a history courses on philosophy--which translates to a philosophy class about different topics throughout time. It's my favorite class at UM--the subject material is fascinating, I have a very knowledgeable professor, and the class is small enough that I can participate. However, this wonderful professor is the type of professor who expects a lot of his students. He is the type of professor that demands respect both by your behavior in class, but also by how much you invest yourself in the work. The more work you do (at whatever the level you start), the better. This also means he has reallllly high expectations. Did I mention that I have him for two classes? It's exhausting to do that much work.

I really wish I was taking this course in English, because I would be at the sufficient level to excel. For now, I have to expect that I can do sufficiently in this class, even if I don't excel. What I appreciate most about his classes, more than anything, is that a tough teacher on interesting topics (History of Latin American Thinking and Latin American Culture) encourages yet forces me to grow at a very, very rapid rate, even if the process is stressful.

My other big event today was my first individual Spanish class. Neele (my friend from Germany) and I switched to individual classes on Fridays to address our individual needs. My biggest problem right now is my pronunciation--my mouth is structured for speaking English only. I spent a full hour pronouncing all the words and sounds I have problems with in Spanish. I was a bit embarrassed--I felt like I was five and had a speaking disorder--but I know that today's session really helped.

To achieve the sounds I need, I had to change how I held my mouth, where I put my tongue, how I controlled air while I was speaking, everything. The good thing was that by the end of the hour, I was able to get much, much closer to a correct "err" sound. The "err" sound in Spanish is a rolling r, like in carro (car) or perro (dog). It's extremely difficult and to get even close, I had to first learn correctly even to say "r" as in caro (expensive) or pero (but). It also took me a good ten minutes to pronouce the "l" correctly even once, and a while (but not as long) for words with o, u, and ou. The goal is to improve my accent so that people can understand me better, and maybe, hopefully, get rid of my very strong American accent.

Needless to say, I was satisfied with my lesson buy very glad when it was over. Even as I type now, my mouth aches. I am so glad that I only have one individual lesson a week! : )

I leave tomorrow morning at 9 for Punta del Este, one of the most famous beaches in Uruguay and in all of South America. My family here has a family house there that is co-owned among the extended family. I'm told it's going to be lovely, albeit cold. But it's almost midnight, so I'm going to go pack! I get back Monday, so don't worry if I don't reply to anything--I'm prolly sitting on a beach : )

Week 6 & Tristan Naranja Feria.

2009-09-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

I just finished week 6 in Montevideo, Uruguay! After the lovely weather all last week, it finally settled down a miserable week of rain. Just as I went to bed last Sunday night, the rain started pattering on the tin roof of the casita. Then it started to pour. : )

It rained practically all week—the storms here are fun, because they are gusts of rain and wind. Using an umbrella is useful, but only if you master the trick of keeping your umbrella in the direction of the wind. If not, your umbrella blows the other way, and you end up with a bowl that catches rain rather than shields from the rain. The winds are so strong, though, that you just aim your umbrella in the direction of the wind and wait for the next gust to blow your umbrella the right way.

This set the mood the rest of the week: I slept a lot, did a lot of homework, and in general, had a slow week.

The main issue that dominated the week (for me) was my friend's drama with housing. It's been really hard for her to adjust, and so she's thinking about returning after only a semester. She's had a really hard time so far; it just hasn't been very fun so far. If she does decide to go home after a semester, I'll be really disappointed, but I'm still convinced that my decision is correct. When I got here, I was so surprised that only a few people stay for a full year. In all of the four schools, I know of only 4 people who are staying the whole year. That's not a big number.

…3 hours later : )

I just returned from Tristan Naranja, the biggest feria in Montevideo. It has everything that one could imagine! Every weekend, there are streets after streets of people selling everything under the sun. Ella (one of the girls in my house) and I got off at the omnibus into a crowd of people. There was a street of people selling pets—I saw puppies, mice, rabbits, Alaskan huskies, and even tartantulas. We turned the corner into a row of fruit, of clothing, of trinkets andbooks—everything imaginable.

While we walked down, we heard a band of candombe players. The sound got louder and louder—they were walking towards us! It was just the sounds of drums, but so catchy!

When I got tired of the press of people, I slipped inside a bookstore. The moment I stepped in the door, I was immediately assulte dby a vas ion of books and lights. That sounds so cheesy, but it is true. Above, there was a window in the ceiling, but the light was filtered by hanging plants. The store was multi-level, and in the distance, a few feet above me, was a man sitting and measuring books. It looked like he was repairing them, and he had a big stack of think, old books with leather covers sitting on his table. As I looked around, I saw shelf after shelf of books—on rickety wooden bookcases, with rickety wooden ladders nailed to the posts so that you could reach the books on the higher shelves. When I walked back, I had to climb some stairs, and there was niche, hidden from everything full of more books! I swear, it was heaven on earth. I've got to go back sometime.

I'm meeting my friend in 5 minutes, so I better go, but I would say that this week has been a week of both ups and downs. I'm currently enjoying the up part : ).

New observation & slang

2009-09-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

Lately, I've been amazed at how life in two distinct places could be so similar and yet so different. For instance:

- Political Bands: They have political bands! The election is coming up in October and so, recently, I have been seeing a big bus with LaCalle/Larrañaga on the side. A big, huge, green bus with music pouring out REALLY LOUD. You can hear it from blocks away, playing kumbia music.

Other things:
- I learned the word for cheesy. "Cheesy" in the U.S. is used for things that are just too much, too perfect to believe. We were watching the Sex in the City movie and both Laura and I felt the same way: it was cheesy. But in, Spanish, they use a french word: cursi.
- This weekend, I had a really informative discussion. We talked about those words that people use reflexively without thinking and that have often lost their meaning. In English, we use words like: like, so, I mean, umm, well. In Spanish, they have these words, too. They are called muletiyas, or "little crutches"

Many people use words such as "tipo", which means "type", but they use in Spanish as "around, more or less" when referring to time.
       example: I'm going to the store "tipo" 6.
The other very common word is "Vos", pronounced like "Voe". It means "you", but people use it everywhere in the sentence without meaning "you". If you understand these words as their actually meanings, you get lost in the setence. It's extremely hard as to understand as a non-native Spanish speaker.
       example: I'm going to the store, vos, and then I'm going to school, vos, and vos, I don't know what else. It's used like 'well' or 'like'

There is also very common slang that still has meaning. There are three that really come to mind.
1) Add the prefix "re" to words. A really common usage is "rebueno" with a really strong, rolling, err. It means a lot or very.
      example: This food is rrrreeebueno. (This food is very, very, very good).
2) "Ta" is a derivative of "Está bien". It means "It is well" or "It is fine" or "It is good". This is used when it actually means that, but it is also used reflexively to mean "well" or that I've finished the point I was making.
      example: You're going to the store? "Ta". I don't have to. (You're going to the store? Great. I don't have to.)
3) "Bárbero" means delicious, great, or awesome. It come from the word "barbaric" because when the Spanish conqusitadors saw Latin Americans, they called then barbaric. Now, Latin Americans put a positive spin on it by "barbaric" meaning awesome. It's an inversion of meaning. "Bárbero" also has an accompanying hand gesture of sticking your index finger and your thumb out, putting it over your mouth. It makes a check shape over your lip, like a moustache with the handles pointing up.
     example: You're sitting in a concert but its too loud to talk to the person next to you. The person gestures, asking do you like the concert, by pointing at the band. You nod and do the "bárbaro" gesture. This means yep, you think the band is fantastic.

In my next blog, I'm going to talk about the storm we had yesterday and about the Spain/Latin American relationship. Both are really interesting...

GADQEV (Gracias a Dios que es viernes)

2009-08-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

I don´t know if that is the correct way to say Thank God It´s Friday, but it is my best attempt. After a super fun Monday night, I´ve spent the rest of the week coughing and sniffling. I did learn a new word in Spanish, though: resfrio with an accent over the I, but I´m typing using the Spanish keyboard and don´t know how to add accents.

Today I had lunch with my friend Gaby. Gaby´s my type of girl: I would want to be friends with her whether I met her in the U.S. or here. She´s studying to be a translator here and is working on German and English. She´s really good about speaking Spanish with me, though. I´m going to help her out by studying English with her once a week, in return for all of the help she has given me. It´s going to be a weekly ritual: I help her with English for a while and then we go out to lunch and speak Spanish.

My friend Amanda from Montana has had a traumatizing week: She decided to move houses and just moved, the same day, without a place to go. She´s staying with me tonight and stayed with Neele (from Germany) yesterday. But good news! She found a place through Laura, the lady I live with. I so lucked out on this family: They are just good people and I am extremely comfortable around them.

Read about Amanda´s awful day yesterday at her blog. It´s so horrible that it is actually quite funny. That´s why I had to put the link.

Plans for tonight: Absolutely nothing. And that´s a good thing.

La Noche de la Nostalgia = Head Cold for Rachel

2009-08-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here alone of my bed drinking tea with honey and sniffling all day. It seems that making new friends the Uruguayan way (aka: staying out until 6:30 morning in the middle of winter) gives you a head cold. I've found that sometimes I need 'English siestas': time spent thinking, dreaming, and planning, time spent reading travel blogs and planning what's coming up, and also time spent catching up with family and friends. Family and friends keep me motivated and then I can use this time to plan cool things, which then I will later (hopefully) do. I'm working on a photography project, planning a trip to Buenos Aires, and finding an internship/funding for the Uruguayan summer.

Today is the one month anniversary of my arrival here: August 25, 2009. It's also Uruguay's Independence Day. Last night was a huge Uruguayan holiday: The Night of Nostalgia. It's a holiday created about 30 years ago and that involved EVERYONE, including people in their 60s or older, going out and listening to oldies music and dancing.

I went out with my new Uruguayan friends: Vicky, Noelia, Sylvana, and Valentina. We went to a concert of Los Auténticos Decadentes. The concert was in an outdoor park named The Prado. Evidently, it is a famous barrio (neighborhood) in Montevideo. In a classic usage of time in Uruguay, we got there for the last 30 minutes because we spent an hour waiting for the ómnibus. Wasting time isn't worth being frustrated over—because although I may have a head cold today, I spent an hour talking with four Uruguayan girls in Spanish.

After the concert ended about 2, we spent the rest of night dancing in one of the two dance floors in the concert hall. One floor played Kumbia while the other played English-language music. There seems to be two general trends in music tastes here. First, anything related to Kumbia or with a Kumbia beat; I've heard songs by Beyonce or Sean Paul remixed to have a Kumbia beat. The second trend is English-language music produced in the 70s and early 80s. The music played ranges from Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin to Madonna to Foreigner & Boston to the techno 80s songs in same genre of Whip It! If it is in English and has a cheesy techno or hard rock feel, Uruguayans will like it.

Here is the press coverage about the concert I went to. Unfortunately, it is in Spanish, so most of ya'll can't read it. (http://www.elpais.com.uy/090822/pespec-437243/espectaculos/una-noche-para-desempolvar-nostalgia)

I left early at 6 in the morning. When I left, more than 500 people were still in the park dancing. The dance floors were so crowded that it was impossible to do anything more than sway back and forth and shake your hips—a little. Too much hip movement would involve knocking down the people next to you. That was on the English floor; it was even more crowded on the Kumbia floor. Rafa, Laura's 27 year old son who lives here, came back this afternoon at 1. Most people left around 8 or 9 in the morning.

What's coming up? School, private lessons in Spanish, and finding a place to volunteer. I'll let ya'll know how that is coming later on in the week.

Spanish & Dancing, Dancing, & more Dancing.

2009-08-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Whew! It has been a very crazy week.

The highlights:
1) I started private Spanish lessons with my friend Neele from Germany. There are going to be exactly what I need to keep pushing myself to learn Spanish better, fill in gaps in my vocabulary and grammar tenses, and to get this grammar ingrained in my head. I don't plan on taking them the entire time I'm here, but I do need them so that I can build a cohesive understanding of Spanish. I was really excited after the first lesson because I learned a lot of new words and our teacher had already prepared a lesson that was perfectly suited to our needs.

2) Thursday! Anja, a "citizen of the world" had a party for her friends and all of the exchange students. I met some very cool people. I say she's a citizen of the world because she was born in Venezuela, then moved to Spain, then lived in Miami for 10 years, and in Uruguay for the last 6, two of which have been in Montevideo. Technically, she's an American citizen (she has an American passport), but that girl's been everywhere. Very cool person to meet--someone who has both flawless English and Spanish.

3) The weekend! On Friday, I went out with my new Uruguayan friend, Gaby. Gaby just turned 22--I went to her birthday party last weekend and had a blast! It was a smaller group than last time, with just Gaby and Noelia, who I met last time, and a new girl, Victoria (Vicky). Vicky and I get along fabulously!In general, I haven't been very impressed with the dancing here. People are very stiff--they just sway and move their torsos. But these girls can dance! They were the best I've seen yet. It's the best time I've had while going out the entire time I've been here.

We also spent a while talking about diversity in the U.S. and Uruguay, and about how people divide themselves and identify themselves. It was a sort of serious coversation, but good conversation. We also talked about music. A lot of people listen to American music, but not recent stuff. I'm talking about Guns n Roses, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Foreigner, and the list goes on... It's so funny to hear a random really bad 80s song playing on the bus, in the school cafe, in the grocery store...

Last night the exchange students decided to go to a concert by La Hermana Menor. They're the type of band I wouldn't mind listening to on my computer in the background, but I thought they were too slow to sit down and listen to a concert. The concert was in La Ciudad Vieja, so Neele, Amanda and I decided to try and find a place to dance.

We were wandering around, trying to find a place, when we saw this place without a line, and so we tried to get in. We walked up to the bouncer and asked 'Podemos entrar?' (Can we enter?) and there was some kind of hold up, so we kept on asking. The bouncer nodded and let us through but then a lady stopped us and asked if our names were on this list she ahd in front of her. But then a guy behind us walked up to the lady and started gesturing, slipped into the club, and came back a few minutes later. We still had no idea what was going on but we finally got in...only to realize that we had been let in for free to the VIP section of a gay-friendly club. We got escorted to the second floor of the club...the VIP section. I guess what happened was that the guy behind us heard our accents, saw that we were foreigners, and then convicnced the owners to let us in. We didn't stay for long because Neele was searching for electronica music, but man, that was one strange experience. What's the chance that would happen to me in the U.S?

We closed the night by dancing until 6:30 in the morning (Yes, this morning) to electronica. Not my kind of music in the slightest, but again, the people knew we were foreigners and were flirting with us. I guess this time they could tell by our dancing? Electronica is Neele's favorite type of dance music and I can tell why--she looked super cool dancing. All the guys kept telling Neele "you are the most beautiful person I've met", "you are the love of my life" and "your boyfriend is in Germany, give me you number". I finally went to bed at 7:15 inthe morning.

All in all, I'm having a blast on the weekends and I've had almost nothing to do for class. I keep waiting for class to get harder, but there simply aren't that many assignments. Don't worry, all of you parental figures--I'm making sure to do my homework and reading every day. And besides, every time I go out, I spend the entire time speaking only Spanish to REAL LIVE Uruguayans!

Tomorrow night is the Night of Nostalgia, a day of huge parties for all of Uruguay. Tuesday is Uruguay's independence day, and so in Uruguayan style, people party from very early in the morning until morning. I'm going to a live Kumbia band (For only 12 dollars!) with Gaby and a big group of her friends. Wish me luck--my feet may fall off from dancing every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and now Monday :). At least I know that its awesome exercise!

Un domingo perfecto (A Perfect Sunday)

2009-08-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was really, really good. It marks my fourth Sunday in Montevideo.

The weather was horrible! It was dark, raining, and really windy for a good part of the part. I spent Sunday morning (because I came in so late Saturday night) at Amanda's and when I really needed to get home, I decided to brave the storm in my sundress and with a borrowed umbrella. I tried calling a taxi, but it seemed that everyone had the same idea: It's cold, and rainy, and I don't want to cook lunch: Let's call a taxi! I ended up hailing a taxi in the street about halfway through my normally 5-10 minute walk from Amanda's to home. He was a lovely man; he helped me navigate getting my umbrella in the taxi and teased me about my inappropriate attire for the weather.

I spent some time in the afternoon catching up on Skype calls and attempting homework. The Skype calls were fantastic, but the homework attempts were not as successful. When I got bored, I pulled out my camera and experimented. Here are my three favorite pictures.

First, the kitchen door heading out to my casita:

Second, the patio after the storm looking across to the door of my casita:
And third, looking through a hallway to the kitchen where Ella, my house mate and Laura, my mamá uruguaya, are cooking a traditional Slovakian meal for dinner.

Here is the link to the rest of the pictures. (MeMaw, to view, click on the underlined words in the previous sentence. Click on the small picture to go to the bigger picture and either click Next or the picture to look at the next picture. To go back, click Previous near the top right corner of the picture. Hope that helps!)

I enjoyed the dinner so much that I forgot to take a picture! We had beef cooked in a delicious yellow stew poured over hommade Slovakian dumplings and accmompanied by a glass of red wine. It was a great meal because all of the flavors blended very well, not to mention that it was something I had never tried before.

Later that night, Liz (my roommate in the casita) and I went to a jazz concert about a forty minute walk from our house. The rule in Latin America is that everything starts late, and this was true for last night as well. We got there at 10 or so, but the jazz session didn't start until 11. While we were waiting for the band, the club played the Blues Brothers from House of Blues in Mytle Beach on a projection screen! When the music finally started playing, it was awesome.

The band was just a trombone, piano, drums, and an electric bass, very simple, but very good. I recognized several songs throughout the night. We left early, at 15 minutes to 1, but I really enjoyed the whole experience. The atmosphere was great, the club was cute, and it had a perfect number of people--not too many and not too few.

As I sit here now, it's mediodia (midday) and I've got to study, shower, eat, and go to class--and who know which of those is the most important.

Ups & Downs

2009-08-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

This week by far has been the hardest in Montevideo.

I had problems with my schedule, with had me stressed out immensely. Speaking and comprehending that much Spanish in a singular period was a bit difficult.

I also got a bout of homesickness earlier today. I talked to my Mom and she attended my friend Katie McCall's wedding--which is the intersection of my home church and university church families. My pastor from church officiated and if I had been there, I could have introduced all of my church friends to my family and to my home church family. But I wasn't...

My mechanism for coping seems to be craving familiar food...in particular, some good ole Southern Comfort food. I kept thinking about tea and Ranch dressing with fried chicken for hours today!

My house-mate had a terrific solution: Cook a southern meal to share with my house tomorrow! I'm planning fried chicken, mac and cheese, and green beans. I already made sweet tea, and so we have everything to comfort a Southern (even though she didn't know it) girl.

But there were also some huge highs. Tonight I'm going out with my friend Amanda to meet with two Uruguayan friends. Yesterday, I was asking all of the names of vegetables in the cantina, and two girls invited me to sit with them while I ate. It turns out that they are in my class I just signed up for in Friday! I texted Gabriella--aka Gaby--and she invited me out with them! this is great for Amanda and I, because as the only year-long exchange students, it is vital that we have some Uruguayan friends.

And guess what the most exciting part was! When workng out the details, Gaby called me. And I answered. In Spanish. Without mistakes. With a smoooooooth goodbye. Twice.

That is a huge accomplishment. (*Super success! says Amanda) It almost gets rid of the homesickness. Talking about home and cooking tomorrow should do the rest.

Hope ya'll are having fun in NC or elsewhere without me, 'cause I'm trying to do the same.

Scheduling Frustrations

2009-08-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

I will never complain about scheduling hassles at a big public university like mine again. Or at least, I´ll try not to.The cons of going to a big, public university surrounding scheduling classes have to do always want to take classes but not being able to because they are full. At least if you don't get the class you want, you can find something to get credit for.

Here, I have a similarly frustrating problem. I just received an email (on Day 4 of class) that my Spanish class has been canceled due to a too-small class size. This is frustrating because 1) the website promoted such a Spanish class and 2) I need the credit. I need to take Spanish grammar here, or I may not be able to complete my Spanish minor.

What to do now? Well, I've all but completed my International Studies major. I have 1 class left to take, and that class cannot be taken here. I've also got 2, read that TWO art or music or drama classes to take and guess what? None are being offered! Or at least, I can't get in to the 1 photography class offered. Next major: Anthropology! There is a class called Anthropology here, but it is the philosophy of man fighting his dark, human nature. Not something I could get credit for! Not a class I could handle! So, I'm left with trying to transfer a Sociology class aaaaaaand I still need another, yet to be determined class that will count for either Music or Anthropology or Spanish--language, literatura, lingusitics, culture. Why in the world is this so hard to find in a SPANISH-SPEAKING COUNTRY?

THAT...my dears, is the down-side to going to a itty-bitty private university more than halfway down the globe.

P.S. Oh, did I mention everything is in Spanish here? : )

P.P. S. Oooh! And that the Univeristy is part of Opus Dei sect of Catholicism? (Like Angels & Demons) Super, super, super conservative...

Reflection...

2009-08-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm sitting here typing on the table in the casita (little house behind the bigger main house) I share with Liz. I ate lunch at my computer, checked my email, and caught up a little on the news.

I also went to this site. It's a gallery of the winner of an annual photo contest at UNC sponsored by the Center for Global Initiatives. As I went through the pictures and read their stories, I was struck by how life in two places, far across the globe, can be so different yet so similar. I was particularly struck by the last photo, a photo of a boy who was upset and got mad at his teacher. Behaviors and reactions like these are everywhere!

(MeMaw, to look at the photos, click at the underlined words "this site". Then click on the little photos you see to make each one larger. To read the stories, put the mouse arrow on the screen over the picture without clicking on it. To see more photos, click the little yellow arrow at bottom of the block of pictures right next to 1/2. This will take you to the second page of photos. To go back to the first page, click the yellow arrow at the top of the block of photos.)

When I looked at these photos, it reminded me of a recent experience. I am in this strange city 5162.4 miles away from Chapel Hill and 4956.7 miles away from Wilmington--and some things are completely the same. I was running on the Rambla yesterday and I saw a group of four old men sitting together. Two were on a park bench and two were in plastic fold up chairs. The were laughing with wheezy laughs and gesturing with their hands.

There was another moment today, when I was walking home from school. There were two girls who looked to be around 8 or younger. One of them ran out of the house and the other one was a few seconds behind her and closed the door. The second girl yelled to the first 'Para, Para' (Stop, Stop, meaning Wait, Wait) . The first girl ran to the edge of the street corner and then waited for her friend. Once they were together, they grabbed hands, checked the street for cars, and ran across the street.

I was stuck by the fact that these moments of life happen anywhere and everywhere. You see old men sitting in groups talking anywhere, and holding hands while crossing the street is ingrained in kids by their parents. These moments are both strange--they happened in Spanish--yet aching familiar, as if I was comfortably home in N.C. It's these little moments that make me feel at home here and yet homesick at the same time. Life is the same everywhere: It happens. : These familiar-but-different moments make me feel as I have a place here and a place at home. I'm missing ya'll, but I'm enjoying 'here' while it lasts.

First Day of School

2009-08-10T18:54:00.001-07:00

Today was a very slow day, but noteworthy. It was my first day of school! To come: A cheesy picture of my first day of school!

I only had one class--at 5:40 tonight until 7:20 at night. It's called History of the Americas. The course focuses on key points through the twentieth century, but we're starting with unit on the U.S. It's about the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. History is one of my favorite subjects, so I'm glad that we began with something I know. It will give me more time to settle in before covering new material.

Tomorrow is two more classes: Latin American Culture and Sociology of Organizations. These courses seem perfect for me!

I also ran on the Rambla, the main boulevard that runs along Montevideo. What a beautiful place to run! (or run/walk). This photo looks across to the exact place I ran this morning.

Link to pictures

2009-08-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to see all of my photos thus far in Montevideo.

MeMaw, these instructions are for you. When you go to the page with the entry, click on the underlined word "Here" to see the photos. It will take you to a new page called Facebook. Then click on the first photo on the left. To go to the next picture, either click on the picture or click "Next" on the top right of the picture. To go back, click "Previous".

My school

2009-08-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've got some more free time today, so I thought I'd upload pictures of my school so that you can see what I've up to.

First, the entrance to the main building. Yes, it really is one of three buildings and it is has one story.In the next photo you can see the two building that make up most of the Universidad de Montevideo campus. All of the departments other than Humanities and Engineering are within this (small) complex.Here is the Humanities Building--This is where my Spanish for Foreigners class was and where I will be taking the majority of my classes.

That's all there is to the school--very small!

The end of the second week

2009-08-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while--this week has been crazy, with both good parts and bad.

One major event that dominated my week was my decision to switch houses. I loved many things about the living situation--the ladies opened themselves up to me and help me tremendously the first week. However, I still didn't feel comfortable. During a conversation with a friend, Liz, she offered to ask if I could have the other bed available at her house. So now, as I sit writing, I'm in a NEW house. It is much closer to school, has more space, and is full of lovely people.

Laura and Eduardo rent out the rooms in their house for exchange students. Their house is much more than just a place to live. They are lively, fun, understanding people with great personalities. It's a great house to learn Spanish in--Laura is a Spanish teacher and Eduardo is a professor at the public univerisity, Universidad de la Republica. I am sharing a casita (a little house behind the main house, separated by a small terrace).

On Wednesday, the Spanish for Foreigners class went on a tour of Teatro Solis. It's Montevideo's premiere and oldest theater. It was a very beautiful building--with old seats stretched 8 stories high in the theater.Here's the best picture of the entrance way. I'll add the link for more pictures on Facebook later.

Thursday was the first day of orientation for all of the exchange students at Universidad de Montevideo. We started by having lunch together and a round of introductions. The exchange students at Universidad de Montevideo are very small group, probably only 12 or so. We concluded the day with a van tour of Montevideo. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures. It was more fun getting in & out of van and trying to communicate with all of these people with different accents than actually taking the tour, so ya'll aren't missing much.

Friday was a very dry orientation to the school, but it had a lot of useful information about the school part of the exchange. Arturo, a exchange student in the department of engineering, came back to my house with me after orientation. He needed to use the computer to look for apartments. He's from Spain, has a great personality, and is helping my Spanish by pointing out when I mess up. It's very helpful because he lets me mess up first and THEN corrects me. He also doesn't try to speak English. Very often, as soon as a person hears my accent, they try to practice their English with me. : (

Around 11 the other exchange students in the house (all of which go to Universidad Catolica) invited people over. One of the best parts of the night was doing tongue-twisters in English and Spanish. I taught them one (How would a woodchuck chuck wood if a woodchuck could wood) and the taught me one (El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramon Ramierez se lo ha cortado). It's super difficult to say because we don't have the 'Err' sound (Rolling Rs) in English.

Saturday was also fun--a different group of exchange students came over for awhile and we headed out to a bolinche at about 2 in the morning. It was a cross-cultural exchange in dancing. Some moves are unverisal--the fish, driving, peace sign across the eyes, etc. Others are more country-specific: Amanda from Montana and I taught them the disco and the sprinkler while they taught us something that pantomined planting seeds. So funny! It was also super fun to see all of the different dance styles. In America, its about the hips, and you don't much your feet much. The Spaniards didn't move their hips at all, only their shoulders. Santiago (He's Peruvian) swayed and bounced his shoulders. And the two girls from Germany used more choppy movements. We left the club at 5:30 in the morning and I didn't get home until 6. What was the craziest part about it? We left early. I had a blast!

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Wish me luck!

The End of the First Week.

2009-08-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today marks the start of my second week in Montevideo, Uruguay. I've got one more week of the Spanish Intensive Course for Foreigners, as well as orientation this Thursday and Friday.

Friday night was a blast! After our first week of class, stuffed with grammar and Spanish practice, the curso intensivo students decided to go out for a night on the town! There's five of us, but only four will actually attended the Universidad de Montevideo. Max (who is also from UNC), will go to the private Jewish university.

There are three private universities in Montevideo: 2 Catholic (Universidad de Montevideo and Universidad Católica) and the 1 Jewish (Universidad ORT). All of these school are extremely small because the public university in Montevideo, Universidad de la República, is free for all Uruguayos. Universidad Católica has a huge exchange program of more than 50 students. All of foreigners from the other exchange programs got invited to a house party thrown by one of the exchange students from Católica.

The nightlife here starts LATE, but the four of us were ancy, so we decided to pass the time until the house party by going to a bar. It was really fun--the bartender was super nice and we had a good time laughing and talking. Since anyone here can drink and those over eighteen can buy alcohol, we came in, sat down at the bar, asked for drinks, and got them--without being carded.

Raven, Alex, Amanda and I at Ballantine's

We got to the house party at about 11:30--on the early side, but a signifcant number of people we already there. There were about 25 or so people packed into two small rooms. I met some very cool people, including two or so Germans, a person from Denmark, and an Argentinian professional (I think) soccer player! There were a lot of people from the U.S. and several Uruguayos showed up. It was a good mix of people. Amanda and I left early at about 2:30. Like I said before, night life starts late and goes very early the morning. I think Amanda and I were the first people to leave.

We got up the next morning and went out for a late breakfast. There's a place near Amanda that has hamburgers and fries for less than 5 dollars. Food here is expensive! It's difficult to eat cheap and even the food in grocery stores in rather expensive.

On the way, we took this picture:Amanda and I will be forever linked to Montevideo!

For Saturday night, Amanda and I went to see the foreign film The Edge of Heaven. It's in a mix of mainly German, but also Turkish and English--and we watched it with Spanish subtitles. Talk about cross-cultural expression! It won a lot of awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. It's about six people and their interconnecting stories--a plot structure very similar to Crash. Very slow, interesting, and sad (at parts).

Now it's midday Sunday and I'm off to do many things--go to the feria, do some homework, and then head to bed early before starting my second week in Montevideo!

(P.S. These are Amanda's pictures, not mine. : ) ).

A Day in Montevideo

2009-07-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

Alex, Amanda and I just had the best afternoon walking around Montevideo. They called me around 3, and we had to watch a television program for school. Then we went to a couple of second-hand stores and then I took then to a librería (a book shop) that I had discovered when I was walking home from school. It´s about four blocks away from my house here and is divine.

It´s called El Narrador (The Narrator) and is this tiny shop squeezed into a fairly busy street. I had gone in earlier and had a wonderful time talking with the owner about a book to buy--he pointed me to a young adult book written by a known author, Roy Berocay, in collaboration with two historians. I got El país de las cercanías, a history of Uruguay written for teens. It´s perfect for me because allows me to know more about Uruguay while reading at my level.

I took Amanda and Alex back there in ther afternoon. We spent more an hour chatting with the owner. He was a Literatura major at our university, la Universidad de Montevideo. We talked about the different works he had of Borges, including some rare books and how they realted to Borges´life. We also talked of Federico García Lorca, Julio Cortazar and more. We also asked him for good restuarants that Uruguayans actually eat at--not the most pretty, but with good food. He dscribed then all and found them on a map for us. The same for places for tango, for coffee, etc. We talked for so long that he brought us out coffee and we drank two cups. They were these really cute, tiny blue ceramic cup and the platters had drawings of cats and dogs. Very cute.

... And all of this was in Spanish. Stuff like this is the best part of Study Abroad. Now, Alex, Amanda and I are going to go to the Mexican place he recommended. He said is not much like real Mexican food, but it is supposed to be a good and authentic (if only for the fact that real urugayos eat here).

Buena noche!

Some observations...

2009-07-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

This is Day 5 of my stay in Montevideo, and Day 3 of Spanish for Foreigners.

In class, we haven't made it that far--we've been doing really easy readings in class, harder ones for homework and the most basic of all basic grammar--present and past tenses. The grammar is all a good and very comprehensive review, albeit a lot boring. Our readings, however, have been relevant to Uruguay--los gauchos, el tango, los indios, etc.

Gauchos have a unique cultural place in Uruguay's history. They're kinda like our cowboys--but unlike our cowboys, they didn't work for ranches and herd cattle. Instead, the cattle were scattered naturally and they roamed around on a horse, eating cattle for meat, using cowhide for clothes, and selling their skins for supplies. Just like our cowboys, the era of the gauchos end when barbed wire fences became common, and the gauchos integrated into ranches or the armed forces. It's one ofthe big cultural references... The U.S. is the land of the founding fathers and expansive land, while Uruguay is itsy bitsy and the land of the gauchos.

Another big cultural thing is the dances with afro-italiano roots: the tango and the candombe. These dances (and others) resulted from the mixture of cultures after a huge immigration wave after the Southern Cone countries recieved independence from Spain. Candombe is the uniquely Uruguayan dance, while the tango is more globalized.

Other random observations:

Electricity is really expensive. This means that no one uses heat, even if they have it installed. It also means turning off the light as you leave a room and not using a light unless you really have to.
Water is only bottled, and if you ask for water in the store, they'll give you Perrier. I bring water from home and in restuarants ask for it 'sin gas'.
I saw a old woman yesterday who looked like Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing. (Look below). She didn't have on green tights, but she did have on a green skirt. And the heels, hair, dark eyeliner and spotty cheeks were dead on.
The cars are crazy! Nobody drives in lanes and only the main roads have stoplights. People will squeeze up as far as possible around at each intersection.So you will have three cars, and then one squeezed in the middle of two, etc. Absolutely crazy. I always look twice before crossing the street. At least the majority of the streets are one way--and I haven't seen an accident yet.

I like Montevideo so far--I can walk home from school, I've got a good place to live, and I have a challenge to learn spanish. Life here will never be totally boring, and that's a good thing.

Mi cuarto

2009-07-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

I had some free time this afternoon so I went ahead and took pictures of my bedroom and the condo. I love my room! It had plenty of space and I love the fact that I don't have a roommate. I also love that the blinds are *fantastic*. They block out the light completely--When I woke up this morning, I couldn't tell if it was morning.

Here is my room from the doorway:

The contents of my room--twin bed, nightable, table, tv, and shelves

And finally, my big, built-in closet! I feel very lucky.

Sonia, my host-mom, took me this morning to la feria--an outdoor market very similar to flea markets, except for much cleaner and crowded. They happen most days of the weeks. We also took trips to the supermarket and bank. Those are my only plans for today, but tomorrow is the start of my language classes at the University.

Bienvenidos a Montevideo!

2009-07-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Hola todos!

I'm here safe and sound in Montevideo and I even have internet. Miami was having terrible storms and so I didn't leave the Raleigh airport until 9 pm-we boarded at 8:40. As we neared Miami, I saw the storm off in the distance. The lightning in the distance actually woke me up becasse it was a change from just black. It was really gorgeous. It was these black and grey clouds swirling in the distance (away from Miami) with perfect streaks of lighting striking occasionally. I wish I could have taken a picture.

Got to Miami at 11 pm exactly and my flight was supposed to leave at 11:05. Turns out they were holding the flight just for me. I raced to the terminal, boarded, and then we took off as soon as my luggage was in and the pre-flight stuff was done. The plane flight was long and the seats fairly small but I actually slept a good 5-6 hours. Then we arrived at Montevideo and there was someone waiting for me. The driver and I chatted in mostly Spanish the way home. I'm actually managing a broken Spanish fairly well. It's misty and cold and nobody turns on the heat because the power bill is too expensive. I mean, really cold. My homestay is in Pocitos, a neighborhood by the beach about 20 minutes away from the airport. We're only one street away from the Rambla, the main/famous boulevard of Montevideo and the beach.

Sonia's friend, Milka met me at the top of the stairs and helped me carry my luggage in. Sonia got home soon after and we set up my computer. That was a hassle--and we did it in mostly Spanish! I spent the afternoon unpacking. I have my own room, table, table, tv and a huge built-in closet. Pretty sweet! It's small but perfectly adequate and I'm so glad to have my own room. It turns out that there are going to be two other students living here. One of them is Max Rose, a guy from UNC who is attending a different Uruguayan university and who also went to NCSSM with me. The other's name is Antonio?

Around late afternoon Sonia's friends came by. First was Johann--21, speaks French, just got back from Spain and works for a global company. He knew a few words in English but was not as good about deciphering my Spanish, but Sonia, her friends Milka and Agatha, Johann and I mangaged to chat. Another friend came about the time that Johann left. She lives only four floors up--Milka and Agatha live less than a block away each. She was funny, but by that time I was so tired that my comprehension trickled away into barely anything. Sonia also made real hot chocolate for welcoming me and for Milka's (64th?) birthday.

I'm settled in and ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow's plans include picking up the toiletries I deemed to heavy to pack and finding pants! I only own one pair but that's not enough in this kind of weather.

Here's to the start of a grand adventure!

Welcome to my Travel Blog...

2009-05-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hello ya'll!

Do you remember when everyone got blogs in about 8th, 9th grade? Well, I still have the blog. Since its still around, and I won't be anymore, I thought the easiest way to chronicle my time abroad would be to, you know, write in it.

By write in it, I meant that I will try to keep this thing active. I keep you updated on my life through the blog, and you keep me updated on UNC through reading it : ). It's really easy to subscribe to Blogger--you can even subscribe to the entries and/or comments without creating a Blogger account. I cross-post everything to my Livejournal. Another option, if you want less frequent updates, would be to wait for my periodic (hopefully monthly) updates I'm planning on sending through the Facebook group. This way, if you don't want regular updates and simply want to know I'm alive, you can have that too.

I'm enrolled as an exchange student at the Universidad de Montevideo in Montevideo, Uruguay for a year. I leave for the pre-session language course on July 24, 2009 and arrive in Montevideo on the 25th. Classes start that Monday on the 27th. I'll have about 2 weeks on intensive language therapy combined with a few 'cultural' visits and then school starts on August 10th. My plane ticket back to the U.S. is in December.

Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay, which borders Argentina and Brazil. Montevideo alone hosts 1.4 million of the 3.4 million Uruguay. Uruguay is tiny, but has a vibrant culture. It has a long ranching history, full of gauchos (Uruguayan cowboys) and beef!, hosts the largest Carnaval in the world, and is known for excessive drinkers of 'mate', a caffeinated beverage that tastes like a cross between green tea and coffee (or so I have heard).

So there's my intro to my blog, the country that will be home home for the next year, and a little bit about my program. I'm so excited for this awesome adventure!

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