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.