The end

Wow! I can't believe that my semester abroad is coming to an end. Its a bittersweet goodbye really. I've made so many friends here in Uruguay that it is going to be hard to leave, but I also can't wait to get home to my friends and family in Tennessee. All good things must come to an end I guess and I'm so excited to get back home for the holidays. The transition from nice, beach weather to cold, winter weather is going to be hard, but I'll endure it I hope!

Actually, one thing I've missed the most while being down here in South America are the Christmas festivities. The people, in general, here don't seem to celebrate it as much and its hard to image it being Christmas time with the hot weather. I can't wait to get back to the Christmas celebration! Alright, well my flight heads out tomorrow evening and I'll be back in the states Monday morning. Happy Holidays everyone and I can't wait to see you all!

15 days of non-stop travel!

Whew, these last 2 weeks have been crazy! I finished up with finals the end of November and since November 24th I have been traveling through parts of South America. I am traveling with a small group of girl friends and we started off in Iguazu Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The falls are located on the border of Brazil and Argentina and are truly awe inspiring. While there we went zip lining through the rainforest, rock climbing, rapeling, and took a boat tour to Paraguay. I had a blast.

From there we crossed into Brazil and headed for Rio de Janeiro. The city famous for the Christ the Redeemer statue, rainforests, and Copacabana beach (the picture above). We spent a couple days there laying out on the beach and shopping. Also, we took a train ride up the side of Sugar Loaf mountain and got to see an amazing view of the city and the ocean.

Paraty, Brazil was our next stop. Paraty was a little beach town and old colonial port. I loved the quaint little houses, shops, and restaurants. In Paraty, we took a horseback ride through the rainforest. For some of the girls, it was their first experience riding a horse and this, for me, may have been the best part haha! The trail took us through small villages and finally ended up at a waterfall. The following day some of the girls needed a break from the rough horseback ride, so we took a wonderful schooner boat tour. It took us to 4 deserted and private islands. It was so beautiful. Margaurite and I also ventured out on a kayaking one day. For some reason we just could not get the hang of the two person kayak. I am blaming the current. After a lot of aimless circling around in the ocean and a little embarrassement, we decided to cut kayaking short and spent the rest of the day reading on the beach.

Now, we are in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the last leg of the trip. Yesterday we went to the Museo del Arte de Sao Paulo and to a hippie fair. Today, we spent wondering around the shopping neighborhood of Vila Madelena and eating lunch in the Japanese neighborhood.

Today, we are boarding the 40 hour bus back to Montevideo. We stopped at a bookstore today though and supplied ourselves with lots of novels and hopefully there will be movies on the bus...otherwise, its gonna be a long ride! Only 6 more days until I leave for the states! I will try to update at least once more....chao!