So, we're back home in Montevideo, and Spring is in the air! The tree-lined lanes are green now, and the city is becoming more beautiful! Tonight we made Thai fried rice and Panda Express style orange chicken (although we had to make up the secret recipe Orange Chicken Sauce)!
More importantly, we're back safely from the trinational area of Iguassu Falls! We visited both sides of the Falls themselves, and then ventured into Ciudad del Este, Paraguay!
Friday, October 10th, we left at 3pm on our own private bus! We met Andreas and his son Mauricio who were our guides, as well as our two drivers. We spent all night driving, and arrived in Brazil the next afternoon, crossing Argentina to get there. I roomed at the Hotel Carima with Brandon and Earl.
Saturday we had a free day and spent it looking around our massive hotel and then taking a bus to downtown Foz do Iguassu, Brazil. We had Brazilian food for the first time, and went to a supermarket that had a band to serenade anyone entering. Our first impressions of the country were that it is a lot louder and hotter than Uruguay. We actually were in a more jungle like environment, which is what a lot of people's first impressions of Uruguay was! Brazilian food is rice and black beans, sausage, a lot of beef and steaks, ribs, and a fruits! Watermelon for desert. We had Guarana (a drink) which is a soft drink made from the Guarana fruit that is really popular in Paraguay and that part of Brazil and Argentina. It is named after the Guarani who inhabited the area when the Spanish and Portuguese came.
Sunday we toured the Brazilian side of the falls, walking about a mile to the largest part of the Falls. As our Brazilian guide put it, "the Argentines have all the falls, and the Brazilian's have the view". The falls are more than just a waterfall. On a good day, there are approx. 250 independent waterfalls! The largest actual waterfall is la Garganta del Diablo, or The Throat of the Devil, on the Brazilian side. Before actually entering the falls, we went to an exotic bird park near by. The bird park afforded us the opportunity to walk through the cages and on some occasions touch or be attacked by the birds! After lunch, 10 of us took a jungle tour/raft ride up to the falls themselves! We took a jeep ride/tour of the jungle for about a mile and then walked the last 600 meters to the riverfront where we boarded a huge rubber raft. The crew gunned the engine, and we went against the flow of the river up to one of the lesser falls, not the Devil's Throat, and got soaked! We raced around, took some pictures with Earl's waterproof camera, and had a blast. That night, Sunday, we had worship in our group leader's room.
Monday we went to the Argentine side of the falls and walked untold miles seeing all of the falls. The last leg of our journey was a long train ride to walk another kilometer to the Garganta del Diablo. On the Argentine side there is a platform next to the falls so you can stand looking into the Devil's Throat, it is awe inspiring. While on the train some British girls sat down next to me and Kelly in our little train car. I had decided to wear my Argentine soccer jersey (I'm developing quite a collection of jerseys!) and sat alone next to a large group of Argentines wearing the same jersey to try and infiltrate their group. Kelly sat next to me so I wouldn't be alone, but that meant that the British girls sat in the open seats. The three of them made me feel a lot better about my accent because Spanish through a British accent is awful!! They had just spent a week in Rio de Janeiro and were going to visit Paraguay, Argentina, and then Bolivia and Peru during their 9 WEEK TRIP to South America! I'm kinda jealous even for the opportunities I get.
Tuesday we went to Paraguay for a day trip! We crossed the border but didn't get our passport's stamped because you have to travel 20km inland for that :-( The reason for this is that Ciudad del Este generates half the economy of the country. You heard me right, half of Paraguay's economy is generated in Ciudad del Este. The reason for this is that huge numbers of Brazilian and Argentines pour across for the tax free goods offered and to barter for extremely great prices on everyday items up to electronics! We went to the Itaipu Dam, which generates the most electrical power of any dam in existence (until the 3 Rivers Dam in China is completed), and it does this while flooding the least possible area. It dams up the Paraná river that meets the Iguassu river to mark the border of the three countries. After that they dropped us off to go shopping in the area, and for 3 hours we wandered around some pretty shady markets. I bought some knock-off aviators, two soccer jerseys, and a few other things for less than $20USD. The currency in Paraguay is the Guarani, which is approximately 4500 to $1.
Wednesday was our free day, and most of us took the opportunity to go see an actual Guarani village. The Guarani still exist, there were too many and they were to hard to get to to be exterminated or enslaved. A guide took us through the jungle to his village showing us medicinal plants, traps, fruits, etc. The village itself reminded me of my time in Peru. They all wear "western" clothing, but many live in wood, brick, and thatch buildings.
We spent the rest of our free day at the hotel, we played soccer with some Chileans, but not against them, we would have been destroyed! That night we went to a Samba show which was all in Portuguese and Spanish, but we got the gist of it. They had portion of the dance on every country or area of Latin America. The Mexican themed portion was a taste of home for us all, they brought out a Mariachi band and we all cheered along! The traveled south through central America and the Caribbean, then to South America, and saved Brazil for last. We don't think another ACU group will go back there though, because the last Brazil act was the Samba from Carnival. They had dancers in real Carnival outfits, and lets just say that racy would be a mild description, hahaha. They were clothed, but not enough by anyone's standards.
The next morning we met up at 8:30 and started traveling home! We stopped and toured the ruins of a Jesuit mission in Argentina and then the home of noted Argentine writer Horacio Quiroga. After traveling through the night, we reached beloved Uruguay, crossing at the town of Salto. We arrived in the afternoon, and have been enjoying the weekend of resting up. I will post pictures soon, but it's now 2:05am here.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Finally an update
Wow, sorry it has taken so long to update. Since we toured Montevideo we have been to the Japanese Gardens here, we've visited about 10 museums, and Earl had his birthday! We all, all 14 of us and Mrs Walker, knocked on his door at midnight and poured confetti all over everything! For his birthday we had a toga party (ACU appropriate of course) and I went to a club for the first time!!
We went by to see the US embassy and I tried to take a picture innocently just to show. A security guard materialized out of no where and said, "They saw you take a picture." and watched as I deleted it before he could chat with us about whether or not we liked the city! We contented ourselves with a photo next to the statue of George Washington, hahaha. There is a statue for everyone here in Montevideo, all gifts. There is one of Confucius (gifted by China) one of Mahatma Ghandi (gifted by India), George Washington, of course, and then several of national heroes, especially Jose Artigas, THE national hero.
As far as the graffiti, it's mostly really cool. I have some great pictures however of George Bush next to Adolf Hitler, who has his hand on George's shoulder. Baghdad graffiti is also prevalent, but for the most part, no one here is hostile toward Americans, it's generally the opposite.
Two weeks ago we went to an Estancia, or Ranch, about 3 hours away from Montevideo and spent the day there. It was a blast and offered an opportunity to see the other side of Uruguay away from the coast. We ate traditional Uruguayan food, I had pork (which still had skin, fat, and hair on it, blech...), potatoes, and bread. We had the opportunity to ride bikes around the orchards, fields, and to the lagoon, where we canoed. Riding horses was definitely my favorite activity though! It's funny to see their stereotypes when we tell them we're Texans, they were like, well, you shouldn't have any trouble with this!
When we came back, our next big adventure was to Colonia del Sacramento, an old Portuguese town on the southwest coast of Uruguay across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. I'll post pictures of Colonia, but it was a wonderful, quiet, peaceful little cute, coastal town that I would love to visit again. We climbed the fort, the lighthouse, saw the Rio de la Plata, and I came this close *holds fingers about a centimeter apart* to renting a moped!
The Dia del Patrimonio (the Day of the Patriots) is a weekend holiday here in Uruguay that was last weekend, and was a rare cultural event here in Uruguay where they honor a different national figure every year. This year they honored a philosopher and posted the picture of the Uruguayan philosopher talking with Albert Einstein all over town. For the weekend we went to the Legislative Palace and other government and private buildings that are open only on this weekend. The Dia del Patrimonio is a day to honor Uruguay's past and it means that everyone in this quiet little country is acting like tourists, the markets and fairs are in full swing, there are actors and street performers everywhere. All buildings are supposed to be open to the public with the exception of people's homes and businesses, although some business are open for tours.
We went to the beach and studied for the first time because it's Spring here now. There are leaves on the trees, green is sprouting up between the cracks in the sidewalk, and it's getting warmer!
That said, we leave for Brazil in 10 min and I'll update when I get back!
We went by to see the US embassy and I tried to take a picture innocently just to show. A security guard materialized out of no where and said, "They saw you take a picture." and watched as I deleted it before he could chat with us about whether or not we liked the city! We contented ourselves with a photo next to the statue of George Washington, hahaha. There is a statue for everyone here in Montevideo, all gifts. There is one of Confucius (gifted by China) one of Mahatma Ghandi (gifted by India), George Washington, of course, and then several of national heroes, especially Jose Artigas, THE national hero.
As far as the graffiti, it's mostly really cool. I have some great pictures however of George Bush next to Adolf Hitler, who has his hand on George's shoulder. Baghdad graffiti is also prevalent, but for the most part, no one here is hostile toward Americans, it's generally the opposite.
Two weeks ago we went to an Estancia, or Ranch, about 3 hours away from Montevideo and spent the day there. It was a blast and offered an opportunity to see the other side of Uruguay away from the coast. We ate traditional Uruguayan food, I had pork (which still had skin, fat, and hair on it, blech...), potatoes, and bread. We had the opportunity to ride bikes around the orchards, fields, and to the lagoon, where we canoed. Riding horses was definitely my favorite activity though! It's funny to see their stereotypes when we tell them we're Texans, they were like, well, you shouldn't have any trouble with this!
When we came back, our next big adventure was to Colonia del Sacramento, an old Portuguese town on the southwest coast of Uruguay across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. I'll post pictures of Colonia, but it was a wonderful, quiet, peaceful little cute, coastal town that I would love to visit again. We climbed the fort, the lighthouse, saw the Rio de la Plata, and I came this close *holds fingers about a centimeter apart* to renting a moped!
The Dia del Patrimonio (the Day of the Patriots) is a weekend holiday here in Uruguay that was last weekend, and was a rare cultural event here in Uruguay where they honor a different national figure every year. This year they honored a philosopher and posted the picture of the Uruguayan philosopher talking with Albert Einstein all over town. For the weekend we went to the Legislative Palace and other government and private buildings that are open only on this weekend. The Dia del Patrimonio is a day to honor Uruguay's past and it means that everyone in this quiet little country is acting like tourists, the markets and fairs are in full swing, there are actors and street performers everywhere. All buildings are supposed to be open to the public with the exception of people's homes and businesses, although some business are open for tours.
We went to the beach and studied for the first time because it's Spring here now. There are leaves on the trees, green is sprouting up between the cracks in the sidewalk, and it's getting warmer!
That said, we leave for Brazil in 10 min and I'll update when I get back!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Montevideo vs Buenos Aires
Today we took a guided bus tour of Montevideo to compare to our guided tour of Buenos Aires. Our conclusion is that everything that Montevideo has going for it is bigger, better, and flashier in Buenos Aires. Everything except the Chivito (the Uruguayan hamburger) of course! We toured the old city, some of the major parks and historic sights, we saw a few of the old cemeteries containing graves dating to the 1500s and up to WWII. Our tour took most of the day and a few of us ended it by walking down to a local "feria" (a fair type set up) so I could look for soccer jerseys and some other stuff. On our way home we stoped at a little cafe for Empanadas and watched about 20min of a soccer game. That's how life has gone here in South America most of the time, with only essays to interrupt that flow of time. We also submitted our fall break travel ideas to a travel agent here so she could come up with approximate costs for the trips.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Class Schedule and update...
This is my class schedule and it's not too shabby. For my Latin America and the Arts class we usually visit a museum or historic site and have to write a 500 word essay sometime before the next Wednesday. For Latin American Studies we have had to do different projects. Before going to Buenos Aires we all picked a research project out of a hat and wrote a 400 paper on it to get acquainted with the basics of the city and the country, past and present, before we went there.
Spanish is 8 - 10 hours a week and that about sums it all up. For class, sometimes our homework assignment is to go out and have a conversation with a local about something. This week I have to find out how Uruguayans feel about Argentineans and Brazilians, so we'll see how that goes. My Bible class is not on this schedule because it will only be for the month of October (as of right now). It is a short course because the professor who was supposed to teach it stayed home to be with his wife who was diagnosed with cancer 10 days before we left. That class will be online and will be split in half by our trip to Brazil which has been rescheduled for October 10th - 19th I believe... Anyway, this is my schedule, today we went to an English language teaching institute that is associated with the United States. They teach English and classes on American culture, history, etc and they are looking for volunteers to teach their conversation clubs and to be interviewed for classes, so I think I'm going to volunteer there. The clubs are once a week for one hour so the commitment isn't exactly severe. I am rather proficient in English if I do say so myself and I believe my middle school report card with all my demerits for talking in class would serve to validate this.
Spanish is 8 - 10 hours a week and that about sums it all up. For class, sometimes our homework assignment is to go out and have a conversation with a local about something. This week I have to find out how Uruguayans feel about Argentineans and Brazilians, so we'll see how that goes. My Bible class is not on this schedule because it will only be for the month of October (as of right now). It is a short course because the professor who was supposed to teach it stayed home to be with his wife who was diagnosed with cancer 10 days before we left. That class will be online and will be split in half by our trip to Brazil which has been rescheduled for October 10th - 19th I believe... Anyway, this is my schedule, today we went to an English language teaching institute that is associated with the United States. They teach English and classes on American culture, history, etc and they are looking for volunteers to teach their conversation clubs and to be interviewed for classes, so I think I'm going to volunteer there. The clubs are once a week for one hour so the commitment isn't exactly severe. I am rather proficient in English if I do say so myself and I believe my middle school report card with all my demerits for talking in class would serve to validate this.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Buenos Aires and Soccer
So I'm back home and it's 12:05 here in Montevideo and "i like go far places BA". Thank you Aaron for that. Anyway, so much has happened since I last updated I'll just work backwards.
This last weekend we went to Buenos Aires and there is really not way to accurately describe the city as a whole but I'll try. We got there Thursday night and rode by bus to our hotel, the Posta Carretas. We took a charter-style bus from Montevideo to Colonia del Sacramento and then a ferry to Buenos Aires. We got dinner and went to bed and woke up early for our guided tour of Buenos Aires! Our tour finished at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and was followed by free time. For our free time, me, Earl, Arianna, and Jade walked back from the mall across the length of Buenos Aires. It was exciting and we got a good look at the city, but it took an hour and a half to make it to the hotel! We took a brief nap and went to see a Tango show displaying the history and evolution of Tango in Argentina and the world and it was outstanding!!
Curfew was 2am, and Cindy, Jessica, Abby, Tanner, Aaron, and I still wanted to stay out and see the city and we were looking for something cool to do and one of the hotel workers directed us to an Irish Pub in Buenos Aires! We looked really cool when we ordered a round of Cokes for the table, lol! We enjoyed live music that was half the best of the 70s-90s and half spanish music.
The next morning we went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Fine Art Museum) for our Latin American Art and Culture class and stayed there until we went to lunch. As a side note, some of the best Italian food I've eaten was in Buenos Aires. We got a change of clothes and went and spent the rest of the evening with a local youth group and went to their Saturday night Bible Study to meet some local Porteños (people from Buenos Aires). We traveled by Subte (subway) all the way across the city. We finished the night by playing soccer with them at a local rec center. We divided up the teams with some Americans and Argentines mixed together so it wouldn't be too lopsided... we all slept well that night. The next morning we again took el Subte to the Church for church and met the 60 study abroad students from Pepperdine University in California and spent the rest of the day with with until 6:30 when we left, caught the bus at Colonia del Sacramento, and rode the bus back to Montevideo. It's weird now because when we get here it feels like home.
Before we left we went to a World Cup Qualifier soccer game, Uruguay vs Ecuador and it was AMAZING!!! I posted the pictures, and they show crowd shot, but it was nothing short of incredible when we all walked out onto the stands and saw the field for the first time surrounded by 50,000 Uruguayans out to support their team. They ended up tying, 0-0 which was depressing, but the whole experience was exciting and completely worth it.
This last weekend we went to Buenos Aires and there is really not way to accurately describe the city as a whole but I'll try. We got there Thursday night and rode by bus to our hotel, the Posta Carretas. We took a charter-style bus from Montevideo to Colonia del Sacramento and then a ferry to Buenos Aires. We got dinner and went to bed and woke up early for our guided tour of Buenos Aires! Our tour finished at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires and was followed by free time. For our free time, me, Earl, Arianna, and Jade walked back from the mall across the length of Buenos Aires. It was exciting and we got a good look at the city, but it took an hour and a half to make it to the hotel! We took a brief nap and went to see a Tango show displaying the history and evolution of Tango in Argentina and the world and it was outstanding!!
Curfew was 2am, and Cindy, Jessica, Abby, Tanner, Aaron, and I still wanted to stay out and see the city and we were looking for something cool to do and one of the hotel workers directed us to an Irish Pub in Buenos Aires! We looked really cool when we ordered a round of Cokes for the table, lol! We enjoyed live music that was half the best of the 70s-90s and half spanish music.
The next morning we went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Fine Art Museum) for our Latin American Art and Culture class and stayed there until we went to lunch. As a side note, some of the best Italian food I've eaten was in Buenos Aires. We got a change of clothes and went and spent the rest of the evening with a local youth group and went to their Saturday night Bible Study to meet some local Porteños (people from Buenos Aires). We traveled by Subte (subway) all the way across the city. We finished the night by playing soccer with them at a local rec center. We divided up the teams with some Americans and Argentines mixed together so it wouldn't be too lopsided... we all slept well that night. The next morning we again took el Subte to the Church for church and met the 60 study abroad students from Pepperdine University in California and spent the rest of the day with with until 6:30 when we left, caught the bus at Colonia del Sacramento, and rode the bus back to Montevideo. It's weird now because when we get here it feels like home.
Before we left we went to a World Cup Qualifier soccer game, Uruguay vs Ecuador and it was AMAZING!!! I posted the pictures, and they show crowd shot, but it was nothing short of incredible when we all walked out onto the stands and saw the field for the first time surrounded by 50,000 Uruguayans out to support their team. They ended up tying, 0-0 which was depressing, but the whole experience was exciting and completely worth it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
PICTURES!
I finally posted pictures, go to: www.jordanrlowe.shutterfly.com, there are a lot of good ones! :-D
Monday, September 1, 2008
School Starts
Since my last entry, Jade has given me my Korean name: Tagunse Sutajanghee (that's purely phonetic) which means "Petite Bird and He Who Talks Alot" which should tell you about how chatty I am... that should come as no surprise to anyone. Most of the food has been great, bland, but good food. Prices of things are very different here, transportation and food are cheaper, but regular goods run the whole gambit of cheap and expensive with anything made in Uruguay being wonderfully cheap and everything imported being more expensive than in the United States (in most cases). An example is that in one day I spent $.60 on bus fair across town, $4 on lunch, and then $17 on the 1st Harry Potter book in Spanish...
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to La Chana church for the first time. We share the building with them, so the walk was not far. We went with the Walkers, our sort of parents away from home, and greeted everyone in the small church. One Uruguayan custom I forgot to list earlier is that they really do greet everyone with a kiss. The custom is to press your right cheeks together and make the kissing sound without really kissing them. EVERYONE does it when they meet friends, guys and girls, guys and guys... everyone. The worship was fine because I can read the Spanish, but I found myself building a headache during the sermon and hiding behind the pew in front of me when he asked students to answer a question because I didn't even know he was asking one until he said, "¿Estudiantes?" and started looking around. The youth group is small, but they invited us to one of their favorite past-times: walking La Rambla. La Rambla is the winding road along the coast that in some places is a side-walk and, in others, a boardwalk. It runs along the coast from the Old City to somewhere outside Montevideo and we walked probably 15 min to get there and we walked for probably 30 min on La Rambla itself. When the sun started setting we took some great pictues and then got off the beaches because night isn't the best time to be there. We went to Punta Carretas, an upscale mall, and had dinner and, even though I promised myself I wouldn't, I ate BurgerKing... ahhhhh! I know, but hear me out: we agreed to pay for the Uruguayan's dinners because they had spent all day with us and were infinately patient as we tried to converse, and they wanted McDonalds and BurgerKing because that's a pretty good meal here! It's more middle class here and the price is like you just ran a currency converter from dollars to pesos ($1USD=$20UYU). We rode the bus back, and I think we covered maybe 10miles on foot easy.
One thing I am loving is the sense of community. There are only 15 of us and that means that either all, or half of everyone goes everywhere together. We have only one fluent Spanish speaker, and that means that EVERYONE gets to try and buy/barter/communicate everywhere we go. Sunday night is Worship night with just the Study Abroad kids, we sang together, and got our schedules for today, Monday el Primero de Septiembre and it is absolutely the most wonderful schedule I have ever had! I'll post a picture on my Flickr account, but today I had 4 hours of Spanish class: 2 hours of instruction by our Uruguay professor who is amazing and crazy, her name is Amelia; and 2 hours of language lab by another Uruguay mother/daughter team. I'm just starting to get a grasp on what Soccer really means to the other 90% of humanity because there is a World Cup Qualifier coming up in a week and we are getting tickets!!
As a side note, the dialect is funny... really funny... the "ll" is usually pronounced with a soft "y" sound like in "yard". Here it is pronounced "j" as in "jump", only the letter "y" is also the same way. Because of this they are not Uruguayans, but Uruguajans (that's phonetic) and you don't go to the beach or playa, you go to the plaja. In the same way, a bombilla is pronounced a bombija. It's wierd.
PS I didn't get a flickr account in the end because they wouldn't hold all my pictures, I got a shutterfly account and I'll put the link here shortly.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to La Chana church for the first time. We share the building with them, so the walk was not far. We went with the Walkers, our sort of parents away from home, and greeted everyone in the small church. One Uruguayan custom I forgot to list earlier is that they really do greet everyone with a kiss. The custom is to press your right cheeks together and make the kissing sound without really kissing them. EVERYONE does it when they meet friends, guys and girls, guys and guys... everyone. The worship was fine because I can read the Spanish, but I found myself building a headache during the sermon and hiding behind the pew in front of me when he asked students to answer a question because I didn't even know he was asking one until he said, "¿Estudiantes?" and started looking around. The youth group is small, but they invited us to one of their favorite past-times: walking La Rambla. La Rambla is the winding road along the coast that in some places is a side-walk and, in others, a boardwalk. It runs along the coast from the Old City to somewhere outside Montevideo and we walked probably 15 min to get there and we walked for probably 30 min on La Rambla itself. When the sun started setting we took some great pictues and then got off the beaches because night isn't the best time to be there. We went to Punta Carretas, an upscale mall, and had dinner and, even though I promised myself I wouldn't, I ate BurgerKing... ahhhhh! I know, but hear me out: we agreed to pay for the Uruguayan's dinners because they had spent all day with us and were infinately patient as we tried to converse, and they wanted McDonalds and BurgerKing because that's a pretty good meal here! It's more middle class here and the price is like you just ran a currency converter from dollars to pesos ($1USD=$20UYU). We rode the bus back, and I think we covered maybe 10miles on foot easy.
One thing I am loving is the sense of community. There are only 15 of us and that means that either all, or half of everyone goes everywhere together. We have only one fluent Spanish speaker, and that means that EVERYONE gets to try and buy/barter/communicate everywhere we go. Sunday night is Worship night with just the Study Abroad kids, we sang together, and got our schedules for today, Monday el Primero de Septiembre and it is absolutely the most wonderful schedule I have ever had! I'll post a picture on my Flickr account, but today I had 4 hours of Spanish class: 2 hours of instruction by our Uruguay professor who is amazing and crazy, her name is Amelia; and 2 hours of language lab by another Uruguay mother/daughter team. I'm just starting to get a grasp on what Soccer really means to the other 90% of humanity because there is a World Cup Qualifier coming up in a week and we are getting tickets!!
As a side note, the dialect is funny... really funny... the "ll" is usually pronounced with a soft "y" sound like in "yard". Here it is pronounced "j" as in "jump", only the letter "y" is also the same way. Because of this they are not Uruguayans, but Uruguajans (that's phonetic) and you don't go to the beach or playa, you go to the plaja. In the same way, a bombilla is pronounced a bombija. It's wierd.
PS I didn't get a flickr account in the end because they wouldn't hold all my pictures, I got a shutterfly account and I'll put the link here shortly.
Friday, August 29, 2008
07/27 - 07/29
So, this is my first blog and I'm already behind... 3 days behind...
The flight was fine, long... like 14 hours long if you count our time in Miami. Our flight to Montevideo was not full so we could spread out a little before we landed on the 28th without much sleep and in a light rain.
We were picked up from the airport by bus and traveled through rainy Montevideo past the ocean. There is no way to accurately describe Montevideo... parts are apartment complexes and parts are Colonial. Brandon (my roommate) described it as modern and colonial style shaken, not stirred. It's huge, but the part that we're in has everything we could need within walking distance or a short bus ride away. The first thing we did was unload our suit cases and meet the staff: Sandra, a helper, Raquel and Mariela our cooks, and Eric and Meg, some youth aids who have spend half their life here in Montevideo and half in the US. After that we split up and went on a scavenger hunt in our immediate area of Montevideo. We are in the Cordon neighborhood, a upper-middle class neighborhood and our address (mailing) is:
CasaACU
2073 Colonia, Montevideo 11000
URUGUAY
We returned to our first long siesta! I have yet to find an ATM that likes my particular taste of Debit Card, and I may just have to go to a bank and make withdrawals against my account from a Cambio, or money-changing/bank building, here in Montevideo. That said, I've been working off of 1400 pesos... like $70 and that goes a heck of alot farther than it does in the states! The first meal we had to buy on our own we bought a bus ticket across the city for 12 pesos ($.60) and then ate really good gourmet pizza at a trendy cafe in a mall. I got 1/4 of a peperoni pizza and a coke for like $4.60!
On the 29th, we went on our 4 hour long walking tour of Montevideo. We had our first bus experience... which was an experience... it's a South American bus... and we saw the old colonial district- the Old City. I went into my first Cathedral, saw the capital building, the nicest hotels, the tallest buildings and by far the nicest. I learned today that a 30min walk means that it's "within walking distance" and "an experience in Uruguayan culture"... both of which are technically true... Raquel and Mariela's food is, as promised, exceptional, excellent, outstanding, beyond good. I'm sorry Mom, but it was better than home cooking... that's just how good it was, it has lived up to it's reputation.
It's late, and I'm going to post pictures of Flickr later (www.flickr.com). I'll update my blog when I do that.
The flight was fine, long... like 14 hours long if you count our time in Miami. Our flight to Montevideo was not full so we could spread out a little before we landed on the 28th without much sleep and in a light rain.
We were picked up from the airport by bus and traveled through rainy Montevideo past the ocean. There is no way to accurately describe Montevideo... parts are apartment complexes and parts are Colonial. Brandon (my roommate) described it as modern and colonial style shaken, not stirred. It's huge, but the part that we're in has everything we could need within walking distance or a short bus ride away. The first thing we did was unload our suit cases and meet the staff: Sandra, a helper, Raquel and Mariela our cooks, and Eric and Meg, some youth aids who have spend half their life here in Montevideo and half in the US. After that we split up and went on a scavenger hunt in our immediate area of Montevideo. We are in the Cordon neighborhood, a upper-middle class neighborhood and our address (mailing) is:
CasaACU
2073 Colonia, Montevideo 11000
URUGUAY
We returned to our first long siesta! I have yet to find an ATM that likes my particular taste of Debit Card, and I may just have to go to a bank and make withdrawals against my account from a Cambio, or money-changing/bank building, here in Montevideo. That said, I've been working off of 1400 pesos... like $70 and that goes a heck of alot farther than it does in the states! The first meal we had to buy on our own we bought a bus ticket across the city for 12 pesos ($.60) and then ate really good gourmet pizza at a trendy cafe in a mall. I got 1/4 of a peperoni pizza and a coke for like $4.60!
On the 29th, we went on our 4 hour long walking tour of Montevideo. We had our first bus experience... which was an experience... it's a South American bus... and we saw the old colonial district- the Old City. I went into my first Cathedral, saw the capital building, the nicest hotels, the tallest buildings and by far the nicest. I learned today that a 30min walk means that it's "within walking distance" and "an experience in Uruguayan culture"... both of which are technically true... Raquel and Mariela's food is, as promised, exceptional, excellent, outstanding, beyond good. I'm sorry Mom, but it was better than home cooking... that's just how good it was, it has lived up to it's reputation.
It's late, and I'm going to post pictures of Flickr later (www.flickr.com). I'll update my blog when I do that.
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