Just to catch you up...

This weekend was great! Friday night, Claire, Abi, Monika, and I went to Carrasco (the ritzy part of town) to have dinner. We ate at this wonderful German restaurant and I'm not kidding when I say, I had the best pork chop ever...haha, it could be the fact that I haven't had pork in a while, but it was delicious! Then, Saturday evening we all went to this Arab/belly dancing show that was amazing. I was definitely impressed!

On Sunday, Maddy and I met up in Ciudad Vieja to go to Iglesia Matriz, the oldest church and building in Uruguay. We attended mass and it got interesting toward the end. Maddy told me that since neither of us were Catholic we couldn't take communion but we could be blessed by the priest. She just said that we needed to cross our arms over our chests and he would know that we weren't Catholic and would only give us a blessing. Well, easier said than done. He just looked at me like I was crazy when I did it and practically shoved the bread into Maddy mouth before she could get away. After, I think she felt a little bad for taking it, lol. So we obviously stood out as the two foreigners who had no clue what to do haha! Then, we headed to the market in Parque Rodo (neighborhood where I live) and tried to go souvenir/gift shopping, but didn't have too much luck.

So, this week is exam week. I had my Spanish exam on Monday, my Uruguayan Literature oral exam today, and another oral exam in Pensamiento on Friday. Let me tell you, taking an oral exam in a language you only halfway know is horrible! But, I'm almost done, yay! Going to Teatro Solis tonight to see a modern dance performace and then its study time tomorrow, boo. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, though. This weekend I'm heading to Punta del Este beach with all the girls, about 15 of us in all. Then on Monday, I'm heading to on a 15 days South American adventure. First, we are going to see the largest waterfalls in the world at Iguazu, Argentina (the picture above). Then, we are heading on into Brazil to visit the cities of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. Finally, we are wrapping up the trip with a stay on the island of Florianopolis, Brazil. I can't wait!!!

A little good with a little bad

So, today was wonderful right up until the point when I was almost mugged, haha. Today, a whole crew of us girls met up at the "Mercado del Puerto (Port Market)" to have a birthday lunch for Elsa (another exchange student from California). It was a delicious meal followed by a saxophone accompanied rendition of "Feliz Cumpleanos." The day was beautiful and so the short walk to get the bus would've been pleasant had we not have been followed by a couple of trouble makers. They started asking for money and we told them we didn't have any (total lie, Cat had just withdrew a month's worth of rent from the ATM). Then one of them told the other to circle to the other side, but I think the one was scared and backed off a bit. The other boy however, grabbed my purse and tried to run off with it. It was a good thing he was an amateur and I'm a tough cookie. I held on to my bag and although it now has a broken strap, the boys were easily scared off and didn't get anything. It was broad daylight with tons of people around, though! I was shocked! Oh well, no harm done. I'm definitely signing up for a self defense class when I get home though. When it happened I didn't even yell, I just kinda stood in shock and held on tight. Next time, I'll be prepared with some karate moves or tai chi tricks, or just some pepperspray would've been nice. And to think...I told Cat when we first arrived that I wanted to buy some pepperspray and she laughed and said I was paranoid...ha what now Cat?

The picture was taken earlier but is kinda where the attempted mugging took place, lol.

Bueno muy bueno

So, this past weekend was Halloween and for us in Uruguay that meant a crazy blend of nationalities and really fun costumes. Maddy, Catherine, and I decided to go in a Carnaval theme since we will probably never get the chance again! Thus, with various colors of eye shadow, feather masks, and bright clothing, we pulled off the Carnaval look pretty well. At the Halloween party, there were gauchos, "dead" people, rockers, gangsters, hippies, and various other costumes. Every party is really fun though when you consider the blend of people there: German, Austrian, British, Danish, American, Mexican, Spanish, French, am I forgeting anyone....oh yeah and Icelandic (can't forget Inga)!

The rest of the weekend was spent studying for my spanish and literature exams with trips to the beach thrown in every now and then. Its soooo hot here now. It went from freezing to super hot like that! It was probably about 90 today. Lately I've been getting pretty fed up with the bus, so Cat and I walked the 2 miles to school today. Its not so bad and its way better than being squashed on the bus and feeling like you're in a sauna.

Anyway, my spanish test went good (don't know about lit yet)....got a bueno muy bueno. Haha, yeah, the grading system here is a litter confusing here, but that translates to about a "B." The levels are ridiculous, they go; deficiente, regular, bueno, bueno muy bueno, muy bueno, y sobresaliente. Yeah, a little silly if you ask me and thats not even all of the levels, those are just the main ones.

Got a spanish presentation coming up and lots of exams...but only 1 week of class and 1 week of exams left! 37 days left in Uruguay!!!