First Week

I've been pretty busy so far this semester and my spanish class hasn't even started yet!  I have been trying to use that time to remember what I may have forgotten.  I'm definitely ready to start Spanish class though.  I've been practicing a lot on my own and with people and have learned a lot and picked up some more but mostly I've been trying to remember stuff and trying to figure out the accent here.  We've also been busy with various activities.

Last Sunday we went to church next door and then after several of the youth from that church came over for lunch.  That was a great experience because we got to practice conversation and get to make some friends.  I talked to this 6 year old girl for a while.  She was cute but very hyper and a bit sassy too.  I had a lot of fun that day.  We started classes Monday and they're pretty good.  I'm taking a photography class which so far has been really interesting,  a class on Latin American ministry which I think is going to be very personally challenging but rewarding, and a class on Latin America.  We had gone out as a group and been shown parts of the city before but we got to see more Tuesday when we went on a bus tour of the city.  We got to go to the main cemetery, see the port, go onto the cerro "hill" and get a cool view of the city, see the neighborhoods where the current and last president live, go to a museum and see Uruguayan art, and go to a Japanese garden.  It was really cool and informative.  Wednesday we went to Pocitos beach after class and also went Friday.  It was really windy and a bit chilly Friday though.  Thursday we were going to go to the Carnaval parade and we were there and ready and just as it was about to start it began to pour so we waited it out in an ice cream shop then went home.  But they rescheduled it to Friday and we got to go then.  Uruguay has the longest carnaval season  in the world starting with a crazy long parade.  It started at 8:45 and we left at midnight and it wasn't close to being over.  We only saw about half of the acts.  The kids run wild during carnaval.  They run in the streets and spray silly string on the people in the parade and one of the main things they do is lie down when people are carrying banners and let the banners pass over them.  It's pretty entertaining to watch them play around.  But they also mess up your pictures a bit...

Saturday, yesterday, we went to a popular beach resort in Uruguay, Punta del Este.  This is where a lot of the Uruguayans, Brazilians, and Argentines, go on vacation.  We just went for a day trip but being a saturday during summer it was pretty crowded.  We hung out on the beach, played in the water a bit (but it was very cold) and read a lot.  We might go back when school starts back up so that there will be less people there.  It might be a bit nicer though colder.

Today we went to church in a different part of the city.  We went to a smaller church about a 15 minute bus ride away.  It's where our cook Raquel goes to church.  The people there were really nice.

I don't know if I've mentioned it but Raquel and Mariella are the sweet ladies who cook for us during the week and they can cook that's for sure.  They've made empanadas, chivitos, milanesa, and other fantastic local food for us.  We had a Brazilian dish too but I can't remember what it was called.  It was good though.  The local food here is very good.  Better than English food.  Still kinda bland and they don't like hot and spicy stuff here but it's still really good.  And they're really sweet ladies!

This week should be exciting!  I start Spanish classes (so we'll see how that goes, they're going to be a challenge but challenges are good).  We're going to have a Candombe workshop.  I'll explain that when I know more.  Basically dancing, drums,  etc.  And I think we're going to have a party this weekend.  So I'm excited!  I absolutely love it here in Uruguay and love it more and more every day.  I've got a great group of fellow study abroaders and we've grown closer and it's been great to get to know them.  The people here in Uruguay are great too.  They're very friendly.  Not to say that the British aren't but the Uruguayans are more friendly and more willing to become your friend.  I mean I love the British but the Uruguayans are easier to talk to.  Well other than the whole language barrier thing.  We will sometimes go into a store and people just start talking to us wanting to know where we're fun and why we're in Uruguay and if we like it, etc.  Plus the program here encourages intercultural interaction more than in Oxford but it's also set up so it is easier to have that.

View of Montevideo

 kids lying on the street during carnaval

Carnaval 2013

 Punta del Este

I feel like I haven't been very diligent about posting here and pictures on facebook but I really haven't been here that long, though it feels like I have.  I will try to be more diligent. So here are some pictures.

Estoy en Uruguay

I'm in Uruguay!  Crazy, I know.  But great!  I got here Thursday afternoon but I've been busy.  The last few days here have been pretty cool!!!  There are 7 of us studying abroad (so about 20 less than last semester), but it means that we're going to get really close.  Last semester I got close to people but I didn't get to know everyone really well.  I will this semester.  We've been hanging out all together quite a lot these last few days.  We've had orientation and have all been together during that as well as touring the city a bit, eating together, and going to the beach together.  I think it's a great group of people and I'm excited to spend my semester with these people.

So here is a recap of the last few days.  Wednesday afternoon we drove to Dallas and got on a plan to Santiago that night.  We got to Santiago the next morning and then had a layover and took another plane to Montevideo. We arrived and our program directors greeted us at the airport, and got a bus to take us around the city a bit and then to our Casa.  We got into our rooms, took showers, and then went out to eat at Mercado de la Abundancia. We also saw some of the stuff for sale.  We ate at about 8 and that is early for Uruguayans.  We're trying to get use to eating on Uruguayan time which is hard when in the States I usually eat around 5 or 6.  Here we eat around 9 which is still pretty early.  Ten to Midnight is more typical but that's bedtime for me.

Any who...the next day we got up and had breakfast and went on a scavenger hunt around so we could find stuff and see where things are.  We went around Tres Cruces (the bus stop), and 18 de Julio which is a nearby street.  Later we had orientation and went to get groceries and all had dinner together and it was South African style curry and it was really good.  Apparently you put bananas and pineapples and stuff in it which i thought was weird at first but it was really good.  I very much enjoyed it.

Earlier today we went to Ciudad Vieja, and Punta Carretas (a mall) and they showed us around there.  We saw some cool buildings, the ashes of José Artigas, who is the national hero of Uruguay, the Teatro Solis, and stuff like that.  We also went to a couple Ferias. After that we went out to eat and then went to a beach!  We went to Pocitos and I thought since it was a Saturday that it would be crowded because earlier when we passed by Pocitos it was, but it was nice.  The weather was good and there weren't many people so we laid in the sand and then played in the water.  Later we went back to Casa, cleaned up, and went to go get food for dinner.  And then later we cooked and ate together.  It was great!

Like I said earlier, there are only 7 of us, which is crazy but I really like it.  We can all go out somewhere and don't overwhelm any restaurants (well at least not too badly).  I'm really excited to get to know everyone better and I feel like we are already getting closer and getting to know each other and we're getting closer.

Tomorrow we have church with the congregation next door and a few things but Monday we start classes.  I'm kinda ready to get on a schedule but at the same time today we were at the beach talking about how nice it was go not have homework so we could stay at the beach for ages and it wouldn't be a problem because we didn't have any thing to get back to.  But classes I guess are important for study abroad...haha!  Well I'm excited!  This semester is going to be great and I can't wait to see what all I get to experience and how I'll grow.

Month in the States

So I've been back in the States for just over a month and now I'm preparing to go to Montevideo, Uruguay.  I'm back and school and it's been great to see my old friends and see my Oxford buddies around campus!  It's been good seeing those people but I know I'm going to miss them terribly.  Some of my close friends are studying abroad too but in different places.  It's been good to see people and meet people I'll be spending the rest of my semester.

I'm really excited about going to Montevideo!!! Nervous but still excited!  It's a bit more intimidating than Oxford because it is going to be so different and the food and culture is going to be a bit more drastically different.

So everyone knows about England but a lot of people ask more questions about Uruguay.  The truth is I don't know a lot either.  I know that It is in South America and that the people are really calm and relaxed.  It'll be interesting actually living there and really seeing it.  I hope to work on my Spanish which will be hard living with Americans but I've been told that I should get involved with the youth at a local church and meet people and practice and get out and talk with Uruguayans and make friends.  Which will be hard for me but I hope I will actually do it and get the most out of my time so I can actually maybe be conversational in Spanish by the end of it.  

I'm really excited about getting to know the people on my trip better.  Which by the way we are a group with a grand total of 7 students.  Yupp there are just 7.  So a very, very small group and we will be living very close and spending a lot of time with each other.  We might get our own rooms though which might be nice for getting homework done.  I am really looking forward to it and hope that we can all be good friends in our small little group and get to know each other really well.  There were people in Oxford that I wished I could have gotten the chance to know better but it was hard even though we weren't all that big of a group.  So hopefully that seems good.  I haven't really gotten to talk to anyone but the two other girls seem nice and I know one of the other guys from previously classes.  

Speaking of Oxford it kinda just feels like a dream at this point.  It doesn't seem like I was actually there sometimes if that makes sense.  But I miss it and want to go back.  I'm a bit jealous of the people going this semester because I know they're going to see and do some many wonderful things and get to go to some of my favorite places.  Ali's, On the Hoof, G&D's, Primark etc. 

This month is the states has been good.  Not as restful as I would have liked and not super eventful but good.  I got to work and when I wasn't working I sometimes got to hang out with some of my best friends from back home and that was great to see them and get to spend time with them.  It was weird being back in the states after not being there for even just 4 months.  It must be crazy for people to return for the first time after a year or even years of being abroad.  But it was good to be back and seeing people.  It was sad to leave them and now sad to leave my college friends but I'm ready to move to this next chapter of my life and to experience Uruguay.  

Well I don't know what else to say for now.  I leave Wednesday and will get to Uruguay Thursday so I'm looking forward to being there and sleeping on a real bed (I'm crashing on the floor of my friends' dorm room right now.  At this point I'm just ready to be there and to see what God has in store for these next few months.