Peanut Butter and a Great Day

Oh, today has been great! First of all, today is one day before Daniel arrives, which makes it an awesome day! I can't sit still I'm so excited! It started off with a good workout this morning. Then, Laura came over and we worked on literature. For lunch, Susanna had baked some really good steak and also had a delicious casserole to go with it.

Next, since it is a sunny day out, I walked down the Rambla to the Post Office. They tried to deliver a package to me last week, but no one was home. So today I went to pick it up. My cousin, Sabrina sent me a wonderful little package filled with goodies. I was so happy. Peanut butter was my favorite item, but there was also Burt's Bees lip balm, fruit snacks, and a thoughtful little letter. So, needless to say, I had a totally great afternoon snack of bread topped with bananna and peanut butter. Afterward, I checked my facebook and someone responded to my marketplace listing for an old textbook I have. Cha ching! yay! And now, I'm listening to some Nickle Creek and about to start studying.

The day couldn't have gone any better. Looking forward to a fabulous two weeks with Daniel!

Embarrassing Moment of the Day

During my time here in Uruguay, I have decided that I can't go a day without getting thoroughly embarrassed. Yes, my days are filled broken Spanish senteces, a blushed face, nervous laughs, and nods. Whenever, I don't understand something that is what usually happens. Furthermore, I typically have one truyly embarrassing moment per day. I have come to accept this fact and am trying to deal with it.

So, today my embarrassing moment happened while taking the bus home from school. I was walking with Claire to my bus stop and right when I arrived, I saw it about to pass. So, I flagged the bus down and to my amazement it stopped. My lucky day, right? Yeah, so happy and smiling I look for my change. Oh what, I don't have any? Must have a small bill? Haha, no that would be too easy! I only had 500 pesos (which is the equivalent to $25 dollars) and everyone knows that you don't pay with anymore than a 100 peso bill at most. Yeah, so I had to stand there while the whole bus full of people watched and the conductor fished out all the money he had to give me. Needless to say, he was angry and I was really embarrassed. The picture below is of Maddy and I during happier times on the bus system. It was taken in Buenos Aires during a day of sight seeing. I guess with the good, comes the bad!

Oh well, just another day in Uruguay. A couple of weeks ago my Spanish instructor told us to write a paper about, "costumbres" in our country. So, assuming that "costumbre" meant costume in English, I wrote about the poodle skirt style of the 1950s and proceeded to present my paper orally in class. Come to find out costumbre means custom not costume. The word for costume is "traje." So yeah, some people were in tears after my presentation from laughing so hard and yet again, I was completely embarrassed. Who knew?

El Prado

So yesterday my Uruguayan Literature class took a field trip to, "El Prado" which is an annual fair that displays the culture, products, animals, and people of rural Uruguay. It definitely reminded me of the fair back home. There were vendors, cotton candy stands, rides, and lots of food. In the center arena they had a livestock auction taking place and all around the arena there were various lifestock buildings that showcases the animals of interior Uruguay. Beautiful horses, cute little goats, enormous bulls, and lots more. It was really fun! So a group of us spent the day walking around enjoying the atmosphere and buying things here and there.

One thing that stands out when you come to Uruguay (or Argentina) is the amount of people drinking mate. Half, no joke, of the people you see are carrying around a thermos and mate. Mate is a herb that when added with hot water makes a type of drink. I really don't know how to describe it. People carry it around and drink it from a bombilla (straw like thing). They are addicted to it here! There are signs on the bus that say, "No toma mate (No drinking mate)" because of the necessity to limit the drink on buses for safety hazards (like if the bus suddenly stopped and you had a metal straw in your mouth). There are many traditions about mate and drinking it is part of the culture down here. But anyways, enough description. Google it if you want! I tried mate the other day and really disliked it. It almost burns your mouth its so hot and the taste is very bitter. They say you get used to it after a while, I dunno though. I have my doubts!

3 more days until Daniel arrives! Yay! I'm using this weekend to study and get ahead a little before he arrives. Catherine has left for Mendoza for the entire next week and Anna (my host sister) is away as well. So right now its just Susanna and I. The picture is of her and I on my birthday. She had made me a cake and little card (their on the table). Alright, this blog is starting to be a distraction. . . back to studying!

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed...

So, today I was rudely awoken by the sound of construction outside. Drilling and hammering is the harsh reality I wake up to just about every morning. The picture below is of my room (after a nice little tidying up). Catherine occupies the other half. It leads out into a courtyard which is shared by the four other apartments in the complex. Right beside our apartment they are renovating a multi-level apartment complex so it always seems noisy. One morning, Catherine even woke up thinking that the house was being bombed haha! So yeah, needless to say, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed!

So, anyway I met my community service group about midday to head to Don Basco School. However, the usual bus we took did not take us to the usual location. Instead it stopped, basically in the middle of nowhere and everyone got off.

The place was eye opening. I felt like we were in one of those commercials where the guy is walking along with a child in his arms asking you to donate just 60 cents a day for the child to eat. RJ described it well when he said it was like New Orleans after Katrina, trash everywhere, houses near collapsing, shanties, and a bleak terrain with not many trees. We definitely got a look at a different side of Montevideo.

We really didn't know what else to do, so we got on the bus again once it started up and headed back into Montevideo. So I was really aggravated at not being able to see the children who were probably waiting on our arrival and also at the fact that we had ridden about an hour and a half on the bus by this point.

So, to sum it up...my day lacked purpose, but I guess its just one of those days. Sorry to whine, but I just need a little sympathy every now and then lol! I hope tomorrow is a better day! My class is taking a field trip so I'm excited! Bonnnie Kate (Daniel's sister) is also visiting me tomorrow in Montevideo. It will be fun showing off the city to someone!

Passing the Days

So, I have been trying to put up a new post for a week now and haven't gotten to it. It's not totally my fault though because the internet here hasn't worked for the past couple of days. Catherine and I whined about it for quite some time before deciding that our complaining really wasn't helping anything, haha. Its just that without a TV here, losing the internet really sucks! I have been trying to read "Orlando" by Virginia Wolfe, but as you can imagine, that is going slowly. So other than reading, planning trips, and talking with our host mom we have little else to do. Its so cold outside that we don't really want to venture out!

However, today I did catch the bus over to Laura's house in Pocitos. We did some studying for Literature class. The readings are so hard because for one, they're in spanish and two, they were written over 100 years ago. So just imagine trying to read Shakespeare in Spanish and maybe, just maybe, you can understand my frustration! Needless to say, it took us about 4 hours to read 20 pages of, "Barranca Abajo" a play about a gaucho's family troubles.

So let's see, oh yeah, about the soccer game last Wednesday. It was fun. Of course, I don't have much to say because of my limited knowledge of the sport or the teams here. Uruguay played against Ecuador, a supposedly worse team. The game ended in a tie, which meant there were a lot of sad Uruguayans in the end. I was happy though; one check off the ole list of things to do in South America.

So, lately I've been feeling a few pangs of homesickness. On facebook there are tons of pictures of Alpha Delta Pi (my sorority) recruitment. Seeing all my friends having fun and experiencing another exciting week of rush is a little sad. Not too much homesickness though. Actually, this Friday Bonnie Kate, Daniel's (my boyfriend's) sister, is coming to visit me in Montevideo. She has been doing an internship in Cordoba, Argentina for the past month and is stopping over in Uruguay before she flies back to the U.S. It's going to be great to see someone from back home...

and in one week, Daniel is coming! He is visiting me from September 24th until October 9th (so 15 days). We have plans to visit Buenos Aires and Colonia, along with a couple other day trips outside Montevideo. I really can't wait!!!

Time just keeps flying by though. Between salsa and tango classes, school work, get togethers with friends --the weeks go by so fast. I'm really excited because this week my literature class is taking a field trip to the annual arts and crafts exhibition. It showcases the works of people from all over Montevideo and the countrysides of Uruguay. I'll let you know how it goes!

Week Seven!

Well, this is my seventh week here! Wow, it seems like time has flown by! It feels like just yesterday I was boarding the plane and wishing everyone goodbye. I feel like I have done so many things in just seven weeks. I've traveled to Buenos Aires and around the city of Montevideo. I've learned to live with a new family, learned so much about the culture here, and learned a lot more Spanish. I've made a ton of new friends along the way, as well.

I still feel like I have a lot to learn about the people and the world down here. Pretty much everyday I am thoroughly shocked over something. You see kids here going though the gargage bins searching for clothes and food. Something that I definitely haven't got used to and hopefully never will. Also, buses crash a lot here and just the other day one hit a lady and she died. Completely shocked when I heard that! It feels like a completely different world down here than I'm used to in rural Tennessee. This experience, like my time in Costa Rica, is eye opening. It makes me realize just how blessed I am . . .

Anyway, I am getting excited because in two weeks exactly Daniel is coming to visit me. This was a kinda spur of the moment plan, but it all worked out and he is headed down here on September 23rd through October 8th. I can't wait for him to experience life down here and see what he thinks of it all.

Well, thats all for now. Tomorrow a bunch of us exchange students are headed to the big soccer game between Uruguay and Ecuador (man I miss football)! I'll let you know how that goes. . .

By the way in this pic are some of us girls: Amy, Laura, Abby, me, Maddy, Catherine, and Claire.

#1 Woo hoo!

Yay! So I finally have set up a blog . . .after only six weeks here, haha! I hope to keep in contact with you all as much as possible and this blog is a great way to do just that. I will try to write as much as possible, but I will tell you that I have already started to act like the Latin Americans. Procrastination and tardiness is definitely one of there short falls.

So, as you all know I am studying in Montevideo, Uruguay for the fall semester. Just to fill you in, I am living with a host family which consists of a mother, Susanna and her daughter, Anna. Susanna is a free lance architect, while Anna studies graphic design. I also live (and share a room) with Catherine, another exchange student. She's from England and studies French and Spanish.

Catherine and I attend the Universidad Catolica. UCU is a small, private university which offers special classes only for exchange students. I am taking Spanish Language, Uruguayan Literature, and History of Latin America and Uruguay. All of my classes are conducted completely in spanish. This can be tough at times, but is only challenging me to work harder.

I also participate in a community service class. Each week I go to the outskirts of Montevideo and work with a group of preschool children. I, along with a group of three other exchange students, come up with educational and fun projects for these children to participate in. This is a poorer neighboorhood and the children definitely need our help. They have the sweetest hearts and just need that extra boost to help them suceed.

So for the past six weeks I have been attending classes, getting to know the area, and meeting new people from all over the world. My classes are with students from everywhere: Germany, Austria, Iceland, Spain, Denmark, Mexico . . .you name it and they're here! It makes for very interesting times! Oh yeah, and a group of us went to Buenos Aires, Argentina a couple weeks ago so I will be putting up pictures of that soon.

Well, I guess that fills you in on the basics. I would love to hear back from you all via email or letters. Like I said, keep checking in as I will be updating every so often with pics and posts!

Chao!