Today I had my Lit class, which went well. I also had an interview to place me into the community service--I'm pretty sure it went ok! Right now I'm in Tres Cruces (shopping center) at a cafe enjoying a cappuccino, Wifi and heat!!
Here are some random things about Uruguay:
-Almost everyone drinks Mate here...its like tea, but they carry it around with them EVERYWHERE....buses, taxis, class, work. How it works is you have a huge thermos full of hot water and a separate mug carved specifically for the mate. The herb mixture is in the mug and you pour hot water over top and drink it through a metal straw. Everytime you want a drink, you have to pour more water. This is a popular phenomena here and there are apparently alot of rules for drinking mate...none of which I know yet, but I am definitely learning!
-Here, when you meet, greet or say goodbye you ALWAYS kiss once on the cheek. Boys, girls, young, old...everyone. After a long drive and a great conversation with one of my taxi drivers (Juacito aged about 70) I got out of the car and he shouted "Espere! Beso! (Wait! Kiss!) and I had to get back in the car and kiss the old man on his cheek. They think it is sad that Americans don't kiss...but as one girl from last semester noted...they don't hug here. It is all very strange!
-People use the terms "da" and "dale" to mean "yeah" "ok" "good" "sure"...etc.
-There are fruit/veggie stands on almost every street corner...even though it is the middle of winter!
-The other day I was getting on the bus (it was early in the morning so it was PACKED) and I fell face first into the aisle. The only person who tried to help me up was some old woman...everyone else stared at me like I was crazy. I just laughed....oh gosh.
-There are lots of tiny vehicles here!! and some of the poorer population have horses with carts (it is very strange to see buses, taxis, cars, motorcycles...and then random horses) and they drive around with huge bags of garbage and random items
-Everyday I see people digging in the dumpsters on the streets for food
-The other morning I was on the bus on one of the busiest avenues. There is a median grassy area in between the lanes of the highway. A man was peeing in the grass...in broad daylight.
-Everyone here dances amazingly...and can put any North American to shame
-Blonde=beautiful, gorgeous, amazing because there are literally NO native natural blondes
-They love music from the 70's and 80's here...on the bus it is not strange to here "I will survive" and other random songs. On the news, they play horrible old songs that no one listens to in the US anymore. And on serious news stories, they play horror movie music...so weird. It almost makes serious news funny because they have sound effects and stuff--Silvia didn't even notice the music in the background until I pointed it out.
-They are OBSESSED with soccer here. Everyday there is something in the news about one of the players from the world cup, there are billboards/newstands with their faces plastered everywhere. The last 3 days of news have featured Forlan's visit to India....a really stupid story played OVER AND OVER again.
-They do not have alot of police cars here...I have seen very few. That said, there are tons of security guards everywhere. My university has 2 at every door and many walking around the building. Some expensive stores have men with huge guns standing at the entrance. Even the grocery stores have guards at every other aisle to prevent shoplifting.
...and that is all I can think of right now.
Hasta luego
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