Someday...

My dream is to go to Europe (and specifically Norway) sometime in the middle of May.  Like during this time.  I have reasons!

First reason is that the 17th of May is Norwegian Constitution Day (or Norway Day!) and I want to experience it in Oslo.  My dream is to see and be a part of the festivities that occur in Oslo on this day.  They have parades and people have flags waving everywhere and many people dress in traditional clothing.  It just seems really cool and I would love to experience it.  It is a big part of Norwegian culture and national pride.  I've wanted to celebrate for years but here I have no one to celebrate with.  Hopefully someday I can go celebrate with my Norwegian friends!

The second reason is because my favorite competition happens this time of year in Europe!  That would be the Eurovision Song Contest.  People can say what they want about it, Eurovision is great!  There are some really bad songs, but there are some good ones, and it's not just about the music.  Rant over.  Relatively short compared to how much I normally rant about it.  Anywho... Last year I watched the final with a friend.  This year I'm back to watching it on my own since she's busy.  I was introduced in Eurovision after Norway won.  A Norwegian friend told us about it as well as my friend who watches Eurovision with me.  In 2010 I meant to follow it but didn't so officially I started following in 2011.  I love it and think it's great!  Anywho I have a dream to go.  And it normally falls in mid-may (being around the 17th of May.  What a coincidence!  The only problem is it might be difficult to do both.  So maybe Norway will win again soon so I can do both.  I at least want to be in Europe while it's going on.  I want to watch it on a real TV (not just my computer) and with people.  I'm sure it's not as big of a deal as I imagine it to be but I want to experience the Eurovision season in Europe.  It may be a bit weird but it's a dream!

Well I have my list in order of my favorites!  1-39

1. Denmark
2. Norway 
3. Spain
4. Germany
5. Azerbaijan 
6. France 
7. Italy
8. Belgium 
9. Israel 
10. Estonia
11. Ireland
12. Iceland
13. San Marino 
14. The Netherlands
15. Moldova 
16. United Kingdom
17. Serbia 
18. Slovenia
19. Sweden
20. Cyprus 
21. Switzerland
22. Albania
23. Greece 
24. Malta 
25. Russia
26. Latvia
27. Austria 
28. Georgia
29. Armenia
30. Montenegro
31. Croatia
32. Bulgaria 
33. Hungary 
34. Ukraine
35. Lithuania
36. Belarus
37. Finland
38. FYR Macedonia
39. Romania

I came up with it fairly quick but that's my official list for this year!  If anyone reads this a disagrees, get over it.  I'm not even able to vote.  It's just what I like.  Denmark is usually up there on my list.  Back in 2011 I decided to make a tee-shirt (yeah a bit cheesy but still) for my favorite country.  It was Denmark and I'll be wearing it again for the finale! 

Chao

It feels a lot different leaving Uruguay is a lot different than it felt to leave England.  After England I had Uruguay to look forward to.  After this I have Abilene to look forward to.  Another thing is leaving England was okay because I felt like I'll probably go back someday.  I don't feel so certain about Uruguay.  I've loved living here in Uruguay and these 4 months have been incredible, but I feel like when I leave tomorrow morning it's going to be for good.  I could come back someday maybe, but I feel like it's more realistic that I return to England.  At the same time though, I feel like I have done Uruguay.  I've done a lot this semester in the country and in Montevideo so I'm content with leaving and don't feel like I have anything unfinished.  The only reason I would come back is to see the friends I've made here.

Tomorrow I board a plane and return to the States.  I'll be able to communicate with people how I want to.  That's a plus.  But it's just going to be weird.  I'm ready to go though.  A couple weeks ago I didn't feel like I'd be ready, but I am.  I had a great semester, made some great friends, and though I'll miss this experience and my friends I'm ready to be back.  This just has been such a big part of my life, it'll take some readjusting.

The friends I've made here have been incredible.  When I found out there were only going to be 7 of us I honestly thought that this semester could be rather bad.  I mean with having 27 (or whatever the number was last semester) you could escape from some people when you needed a break from them and you didn't spend all day, everyday, with the same 6 people.  When you have class with, eat with, live with, hang out with, travel with, etc... the same few people it can be a bit difficult.  But I wouldn't trade any one of these people here and I'm so glad I've gotten to know each one of them.  We were talking one day and if one of us weren't here it would really be a completely different experience. I absolutely love these people!  I have gotten to know them so well over these last few months and I will miss them terribly over the summer.  I can't wait to see them again in Abilene and we can hang out and talk about our adventures in South America.

My Spanish has improved a lot over this semester and I hope to continue improving it over the summer, especially since I'm taking Advanced Spanish Conversation next semester and I don't feel like I'm ready for that at all!!!

I guess I don't have too much more to say right now.  I've been warned about re-entry adjustment.  It's just going to be weird and I'm going to miss Uruguay and I miss England, but I'll be great to be back in the States.  Thursday morning I will be back in Texas!

Florianópolis, Brasil

This semester our group went on a trip all together for 10 days to Brazil.  We went to Florianópolis, or Floripa, a beautiful town on an island in the state Santa Catarina.  It was a great week being in beautiful Floripa, doing rather crazy things (sand boarding and windsurfing, they're rather crazy for me at least), attempted to speak in portuguese, and eating really good food.   

The Friday we left we got up early and flew from Montevideo to São Paulo to Floripa.  Once getting settled into our hotel near the centro in Floripa, we all went out to eat as a group.  Saturday we went on a bus tour of the island.  They took us around and stopped at a few places along the way including a beach and a sea turtle rescue and research (I think) center.  We road on the top of the double decker bus.  It was bright and sunny and we often had to duck to avoid tree branches and the like.  It was fun but exhausting to be in the sun that long.  Sunday we went to church and got to meet several people.  It's cool to get to go to churches all over the world.  I've done that a lot this year (UK, Norway, Germany, Spain, Uruguay, Argentina, and now Brazil) After church we took a bus down to Plaia Joaquina and went sand boarding.  Which really is interesting.  There are some sand dunes close to the beach and it was so much fun to go down the dunes (back up, not so much). We did that for a hour and after we were properly worn out and covered in sand, we walked down to the beach and washed off in the ocean.  The water was so much warmer than in Punta or even in Montevideo.  But some of the locals we talked to thought it was cold.  

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we went to UFSC (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina) and listened to lectures by the professors and post grad students there about subjects pertaining to anthropology.  Yeah we had to do the school/educational part somewhere.  Wednesday we went on a boat tour.  The only thing really exciting that happened there was a dance contest that a couple of the guys were more or less forced to participate in (one even one!) and I jumped off the ship.  I didn't just jump ship but they had it set up so that we could jump into the ship and swim around a little bit.  It was really fun!  A bit terrifying to jump off even though it wasn't that long of a jump.  

Thursday we changed hotels from our hotel in the center of the city to another part of the island.  It was more secluded but we were right across the road from Plaia Mole.  But the restaurants and grocery stores were about 2 km away.  Friday we windsurfed.  Our visiting professor does actually windsurf so he taught us.  It's hard! But I more or less did it.  Saturday we went on a hike to a secluded beach the hike was a bit harder than I (or any one else for that matter) had bargained for but I did it.  The beach was so pretty and there were some amazing views!!!  The rest of the trip we relaxed at the beach.  We didn't spend as much time at the beach as I thought but that's ok.  The weather was so nice in Floripa.  Floripa is just really nice.  Apparently it's a lot like Hawaii.  Or at least that is what the people who have been there said.  

I don't remember what night this was but we went to a churrascaria (brazilian steak house).  There was so much food!  They would bring around meat to the table and you could eat as much as you want!!!  It was all so so good.  Well at least everything I had.  Oh it was amazing!!!

Portuguese (as I briefly mentioned) is similar to Spanish but at the same time quite confusing.  I had learned a little bit and have studied a bit even before but still it's hard to be dropped in Brazil and have to communicate.  It was nice to get back and speak Spanish here.  To communicate in Brazil I would try the few words I knew in Portuguese and if I didn't know it I would just say it in Spanish and hope they understood.  And I could understand a little bit especially if people were talking slowly.  

It is gorgeous and I loved Brazil!  I hope to go back someday!  

¿Comó?

The last week or so has been super busy!!! Or has felt busy.  To catch everyone up, I turned 20, went to a Uruguay/Paraguay soccer match (world cup qualifier match!!!), went to El Prado (which is a fair), and the usual stuff (beach (though not for much longer), park, learning how to properly kick a soccer ball, etc.)    

So I thought I'd give an update on something and figured since we're at the half way point I'll talk about Spanish.  Yes, that language I've been trying to learn.  First off, learning a language is hard.  There are days where I am honestly exhausted and have a headache just from being more exposed to Spanish than English in a day.  I guess it's good but not too much fun.  Spanish isn't going as well as I could have hoped but at the same time I've learned so much!  But the more I learn the more I realize I don't know anything.  When I first got here I had to first get use to the differences between "southern cone Spanish" and what I had learned.  First off, pronunciations.  Words like: yo, ya, pollo, calle, ayudar, llamar, well anything that has a "y" or a "ll" sound very different.  Instead of a "y" sound it is...not anything like a "y" But I've learned it crazily enough.  Now that sounds natural and when I hear it the other way I get thrown off.  Every once in a while I'll revert to the "y" sound but for the most part I've converted.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not but I think it sounds cooler now!  After that I had to figure out "vos".  It's a different tense.  It's like a more informal "tú".  At first people would ask "¿De dónde sos?" and I had no clue what they meant.  So I had to learn how to understand different conjugations.  I normally use "tú" for verbs but I'll say "y vos" every once in a while.  Makes me feel cool, I'll be honest.  Like I actually know what I'm talking about.  I've learned a lot in general too.  So thats been really good.  And I'm understanding more all the time.  I still have to ask "¿Comó?" a lot because I rarely understand people the first time they say anything.  Mostly because I don't realize that anyone is talking to me.

While I was in Argentina I bought a book.  It's about violence in soccer, really interesting stuff.  But it's in Spanish.  I've been reading that.  It's not really an easy book to read.  I mean I could have read a kid's novel but this was cheap and sounded like fun.  It's been really good for me though.  At the beginning I struggled to read it.  It would take me forever to read a page and I would finish and have no clue what it all meant.  Now I'm reading faster and understanding a lot more.  Comprehension is one of my big problems.  Both in reading and listening.  I can listen to a sermon at church and understand the words that they are saying, and sometime even put it together in phrases and sentences, but then after church I can't tell you what the service was exactly about.  I can say it was something about this or that but I don't know.  Even reading I can understand it but I can't retain it.  I'll have to work on that.  I also bought Narnia in Spanish but haven't started reading it.  I'm going to finish my soccer book.

A while back I had to watch a movie for Spanish class.  She said we could use English subtitles and we might not have but the a couple of the guys wanted to watch it and didn't know Spanish very well so we used them until the disk messed up.  Luckily there was another disk but that one had just Spanish subtitles.  I was really proud though how well I did.  When I read a book I can take longer on a sentence, phrase, or concept, which isn't a bad thing, but watching this made me think faster.

Spanish music too!  Especially "La Oreja de Van Gogh" and "El Sueño de Morfeo."  :)

So yeah there is a little bit about how my Spanish is going.  In some ways I wish it could have been a complete immersion program (that'll make you learn) but it's not... I don't regret that though.  I've made great friends and have developed great relationships with the people here I'm living with.  I wouldn't trade the friends I made.  And I have learned a lot of Spanish. They have also pushed me to do better.  We're all in this and use each other for support and help.  Now that I've talked about Spanish...I'm going to Brazil this Friday!  Where Spanish isn't going to help me... Não falo português.

Spring Break: Patagonia

I’ve been a lot of places and have seen a lot of amazing and beautiful things, but some of the things I saw and places I visited last week were some of the most amazing things I have ever seen and experienced.  Last week was Spring Break and the guys and I went down south.  Really far down south!!!  Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, El Fin del Mundo!  We left Montevideo and went down to Ushuaia.  All the way down to Ushuaia!!!  It’s crazy to think that you’re so far away from home.  It’s almost 6500 miles from home which I think is officially the furthest I’ve ever been away from home.  When we got to Ushuaia I don’t think any of us could be believe how far south we were but we were in the southernmost city (debated but still) in the world!  Ushuaia itself is nothing too special.  It is popular for tourist because of its status as the southernmost city and it is a port for anyone wanting to go to Antarctica.  The city is surrounded by beautiful mountains.  

The first full day in Patagonia we went to the Tierra del Fuego National Park.  There we did a couple of hikes.  They were both easy but we walked quite a lot so we were still a bit tired.  One hike was around a lake and another was to the Chilean Border.  Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the border because we had to go back to catch the last bus back to Ushuaia.  We were so close though and a couple of the guys did make it but had to run.  I would have gone with them if I knew that we were that close but whatever.  Everything was so beautiful!!!  Everywhere you looked was just phenomenally beautiful!!!  It was so much fun to just hang out and go on a couple of relaxing hikes around one of the most beautiful places on the planet! 

The next day we went to Lago Esmerelda with some girls we met in the hostel.  We were told that the hike would be muddy but we had no clue how muddy it would be.  Most of the hike was through peat marshes.  Needless to say our shoes were filthy after the hike and basically destroyed.  There were a couple of harder parts but mostly it was just trying to find where to step or jump to without falling down...  We made it to the lake and it was beautiful!!!  It was a very interesting yet beautiful color.  We ate our sandwiches there but it was so cold so we were anxious to get out of the wind so we headed back and had hot chocolate!  

Monday we rested a bit from the hiking.  We didn’t want to spend money either because everything is so expensive.  So we explore the town a little bit.  Nothing too much.  We thought about doing a boat down the Beagle Channel but we had talked to people who had done that and everyone said that it wasn’t worth it.  So this day was rather uneventful but it was some rest.  We did cook dinner in the hostel that night (and most nights) in order to save money.  

Tuesday we wanted to do something free so we went on a hike to a glacier.  (which wasn’t really that cool but the hike was fun)  We were told that it was a 45 minute walk to the start of the hike and from there it would be a two hour hike.  We could have taken cabs to the start but we didn’t figure that there was a point in spending the money if we could just walk it.  Well the 45 minute walk ended up being a 1 1/2  hour hike in itself.  Then we started the real hike.  There was a chair lift to a point further into the hike but again we were going to do it for free so we walked (hiked) it.  I thought that would be the hard part of the hike.  I was wrong.  The last bit of the hike was very steep and very icy.  There was a lot of slipping, almost falling, sliding, etc.  Fun fun.  But it looked incredible.  (not the glacier, the glacier wasn’t worth it so I didn’t risk my life going all the way do it.  It was beautiful looking out and we could see the city.  It was crazy to think that we had walked from that.  The hard part was descending and going down without slipping and falling.  We got down to where the hike began and couldn’t find a cab, so we walked all the way back down.  That was a pretty difficult hike...very difficult.  But good and a lot of fun (well after the fact) 

Some of the guys went back to the national park to hike up a summit.  I wanted to but was pretty tired and done with hiking.  I would have but the description said “strenuous” and I had no clue what that meant and wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to find out.  I wished I would have gone until the guys got back, and they were so worn out and looked a bit miserable so then I was ok staying.  I just went to shops and a book store.  There are apparently some great museums in Ushuaia that I went to check out but they all were 90 pesos (about $18!!!) and I didn’t feel like it was worth it.  

Thursday we went to El Calafate.  Our plane was delayed for about 4 hours.  The Ushuaia airport is rather boring.  

Friday we were in El Calafate and this was our only day here.  I didn’t know what this place was before this but was super glad we went.  We could add the flight for only $5 which isn’t too bad. Since the plane was delayed the previous day we didn’t get there in time to reserve our seats on a bus to the Glacier park so we took cars instead.  Which ended up being nicer because we weren’t bound by the bus and could stop and take pictures on the side of the road and take our time.  We went to the Perito Moreno Glacier and it was fantastic.  We saw it from up about 7 km away then moved up closer.  It was so cool!  We watched it for a while and saw pieces fall off.  We walked around there and then as we were about to leave we saw a HUGE chunk fall off into the water.  It was so cool to see and just completely crazy!!!  We were so blessed to see that.  The glacier was huge!!!  

This whole week was great and a lot of fun!  We spent a lot of time getting to know each other even better (as you do on vacations), cooking good and bad meals, hiking a lot, being very sore, etc. It was great and I was a bit sad for it to be over.  This week will be pretty busy!  But good!  We have some exciting things coming up.  We’ve past the half way point of the semester (which is crazy!!!) but there are some great things that have yet to come.  This week I’m going to start leading an English “conversation club” to help people practice their English, go to see the Uruguay Soccer team against Paraguay and more!!! 

Rocha

Last weekend we went to Rocha.  Which didn't actually mean the city Rocha but La Paloma and some surrounding stuff.  Close enough.

Friday was pretty hectic.  We got up and drove to Pirapolis and saw a view of the city then continued driving and went to Casa Pueblo which is outside of Punta de Este.  It's pretty cool!  It is a museum/resort where an Uruguayan artist keeps his collection.  We went to the museum part.  There were some I really liked!  Besides it looks really cool!  We had a picnic and then continued onto Punta and went back to the fingers sculpture and took pictures. Then we continued onto La Paloma.  But on the way there is a cool bridge and we crossed over it.  And then turned around to do it again! As you can see why!

We arrived in a small beach town that afternoon and then went to the beach!  This was actually the Atlantic so it's a lot colder than the water in the Rio de la Plata in Montevideo!  But it really wasn't that bad.  We went out and "body surfed" for a while.  It was cold but whenever you got use to it, it wasn't bad at all.  So we hung out there for a while and then went out to eat that night.  It was someone's birthday so we went out for ice cream!

The next day we were suppose to go to the Ombú forest and then to Cabo Polonio but that morning it was raining and there was apparently a cyclone on the way and thunderstorms.  So plans got canceled.  The guys had already rented a body board so they went out to the beach in the morning to get some use out of it before the weather got really bad.  The rain let up and I decided to go on a walk thinking that I'd get out while I could if I was going to be stuck in the hotel the rest of the day.  And it didn't rain again...So we went back out to the beach, they got some more use out of the body board, I met some people from Quebec, and we got pelted by blowing sand.  It hurt a bit...Again the water was cold until you got use to it.  Apparently that morning it was colder and you didn't get use to it because it was still raining outside.
That afternoon I went up the lighthouse in La Paloma and decided that it was going to be a goal to see how many lighthouses I can go up this semester.  Because lighthouses are cool!  Power went out in the whole city...and as soon as I told someone that the power was out in the whole city it came back on. That night we went out to eat and ice cream and then hung out for a while on the porch.  La Paloma is a small town and there are stars and the air is fresh and it was just really nice to get out of the city.  It was cool to see a small, even though it was touristy, town in Uruguay to get a different impression.  We've mostly been in the city so it was interesting to see how other Uruguayans interact.  I really liked La Paloma.  It was really chill.

Sunday we did what we were suppose to do saturday.  We went to the Ombú forest which is a forest of Ombú trees.  Well obviously but ombú trees are really cool.  So we saw that and then went to Cabo Polonio.  Cabo Polonio is a hippy town (for lack of a better description).  It's actually a natural park but people already lived there so there is a small town.  They don't have electricity or running water and very small huts for houses.  There are dunes around and so we had to ride a truck to get out there.  It was quite a ride!  After there the beach was fantastic! And really clean!  There was one that I really wanted to get on but we didn't have a lot of time and there was a red flag because the waves were pretty dangerous so we couldn't swim.  We went to the other beach.  We swam, walked around, went and saw sea lions.  And I went up another lighthouse (that makes 3 this semester!) So that was fun!

Casa Pueblo

Lighthouse in La Paloma

Ombú tree

Lighthouse in Cabo Polonio

We headed home and got back later than we expected but we still got to do a lot and it was a lot of fun!  I love travelling with the group because you get to know people better when you travel.  It was the same in Oxford, the only difference was that in Oxford while travelling I would get to know people who I hadn't really known well before and in Uruguay we're so small that we know everyone well.  So we get to know each other better.  Like this Friday 5 of us are going to Ushuaia!  How crazy is that?!!! I'm so excited!!!

¡Un Partido de Fútbol!

Last night we went to a football (soccer) match! There are two main football teams here and where I live is a Peñarol neighborhood.  Most of our friends cheer for Peñarol.  Last night a couple of our friends took us to a Peñarol match.  They were playing some team from Argentina.  Unfortunately in the last few minutes the other team scored and we couldn't come back so we lost 0-1.  I have been to football matches in England and Spain but we were just going, didn't know anyone who were fans, so we basically just chose a team (basically whichever people around us were cheering for).  This time we were with fans and they were getting into it so we got into it.  I don't get the people who get crazy into it.  I actually bought a book about football politics and violence while in Argentina.  There were only 150-200 people there who supported the other team.  I don't know how many I'm not good at estimating.  Basically the whole stadium were Peñarol fans.  It was fairly full and full capacity is 65000.  So they were outnumbered by quite a lot...I'm not sure how many people were there but there were a lot. Still the Argentines were outnumbered.  And they were frankly a little stupid.  They had barriers to separate them from the Peñarol fans and they knocked them down.  If you knock down the barriers set up to protect you what do you expect to happen.  The police came and took some away... There was a lot of smack talk and singing.  It was really fun!  I mean Peñarol should have won but it was still fun!  It was also a cool experience to go with Uruguayans and they could explain stuff to us and gave us a bit of an insight into Uruguayan football.
I think we might go to a Nacional game later this semester. That's the other team and quite the rival of Peñarol.  I have a friend who won't choose between them because it's kinda a big deal.