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MOM AND DAD COLBY CHEESE ARE HERE!!!

They both tried my mate...and told me it tasted like a hay field. Just wait, they'll come back completely fluent!

sol

Well, it is SOO hot here right now. The sun is shining and I just got done with community service...the children are so precious. I cannot even express how amazing these kids are...so caring and loving!!! When we leave they attack us with hugs and kisses and are always laughing; I'm going to miss them so much in December.

I decided I'm going to skip alll of my classes today and go to the beach. I have to experience this while I can!! :) Maybe tonight, we'll go out dancing and then tomorrow I really don't have to go to class either because there is a city wide PARO (strike). All of the buses, taxis and the public schools are closing so that they can demand higher wages. My school is private, so we technicallly still have class, but the teachers can't force us to come because we don't have transportation means to get there.

I'm still working on posting more pictures...I've been getting into the slow-paced rhythm here...it is so hard to find ambition when the sun is out and the beach is calling!!!

Talk is Cheap

Our weekend was wondeful---the weather was so nice!! I feel so grateful because we had 8 Uruguayos to show us around and give us the real experience. And real experience it was....15 of us (final count) for 3 beds and 1 shower...hahahaha. We drank a TON of mate (the Uruguayos made SURE we had mate before we left) and got to grill a traditional asado. The asado is different cuts of meat slowly grilled over coals so that we eat for about 3-4 hours. We went to the beach and because it isn't HOT HOT, it was almost empty...so fun! I'll post up pictures soon.

I had to give a presentation the other day in class and basically just had to talk for like 10 minutes about the markets in uruguay. This was for the same professor who yelled at me the first week and told me I spoke no Spanish and my accent was horrible. When I was done she said my accent was excellent...FINALLY!!!! Let me tell you I have been working my butt off talking as much as I can...(so hard for me as you can imagine :) haha).

Punta del Este

Last night we were supposed to go to Teatro Danza and watch a performance...well we got lost and ended up showing up abou 45 minutes late. We thought possibly the show started late, but no luck, as it had JUST ended. After that we went and saw an INCREDIBLE live band in an underground pub...amazing..

We also made last minute plans to go to Punta del Este this weekend which is about 2-3 hours away from Montevideo. The water there is beautiful blue and the beaches are known to be some of the best in the world. A group of 13 of us (Uruguayos and foreigners) are going to pack up and stay at our friends' beach house, grill out and chill out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punta_del_Este

1 WEEK til mom and dad!!

427

If my dog, Grita, has not left the garden for the day, she walks me to the front gate and watches as I descend the steps and lift the latch of the white fence. I step onto the sidewalk and relatch the squeaky metal gate, making sure not to slam it too hard. "Ciao, Grita" is the usual salutaion.

I begin the walk to my bus stop on Rivera, turing onto Francisco Solano Lopez (Ex-Comercio). I watch the familiar buses pass to the other stops on my 5 block walk, and peer into the businesses that line the street. My feet navigate the broken sidewalk, and I feel the grooves and breaks hit my boots. Being careful not to make eye contact with the sidewalk dwellers, I pass the tiny bar that is always grilling asado on the side of the street. I can see the cuts of meat and the intestines laid out above the fire. I never take the time to stand and watch anyone, knowing that I stand out enough with my light eyes and hair. Tourists are rare here, especially in this barrio, and attract pick pocketers and cat-calling. I pass by the construction zone and reach the bright green Multi-Ahorro building that denotes the bus stop corner. Walking hurridly so that I can see which buses are traveling down Rivera, I turn the corner and pass the small kiosk and take up my standing position leaning against the posts of the bus stops.

My bus passes every 10 minutes during the day, but at night it comes around about every half hour. Every once in awhile someone will ask me if a certain bus passes for that area. I usually am able to tell them, but if I can't, they automatically pick up on the fact that I'm foreign and move on to ask someone with a more uruguayan appearance. I can usually see my bus coming from far away and I hold out my hand as it pulls up to the stop. If you don't signal to the buses that you want to get on, they will drive right past your stop. I board and move to the money handler, usually trying to give them exactly 17 pesos so that I don't have to carry around spare change. I grab my ticket and take a seat near the back so I can get off easily when I want to. People board with their mate and long dark hair and I watch the buildings pass by. Graffiti covering most surfaces denoting the fans of the two soccer teams. VIVA MANYA.

Bus 427 travels fairly fast so I usually arrive in front of the giant historic tree (El Ombu) within a half hour. I make sure to hit the Parada button so that they let me off at the correct stop and deboard, making my way towards my 2nd home. I pass the bakery, which I can smell for at least a block after. There is always some type of trash on the sidewalk, and when its windy it makes small garbage tornadoes on the stones. I pass numerous dogs, stray and owned, and dodge the shit they leave all over the sidewalk. I consider myself lucky that I haven't stepped in any yet (knock on wood). There is a man that sleeps in a stairwell. He is a parking attendant during the afternoon/night and is very cordial and always says hola, leaving the cat-calling to other men. I also think he is in a constant state of inebriation considering he is either sleeping or parking cars with a giant beer in his hand. He has long brown dreads and I can always hear him laughing heartily down the block.

My eyes drop again and I watch my feet follow the lines of pushed together bricks and stones, noticing that I spend alot of time in the inbetween here. Bus stops, buses, the blocks connecting my destinations. Always in transit, but never minding it; finally enjoying the wait for once.

My father

I got an email from dad this morning. I was studying in the silence room and laughed out loud.

Found - .28 cents
Found - numerous potato chips of various sizes and flavors and a cheeto
I will have to use these to make my next meatloaf when Rachel visits
Found - 11 pens and pencils
Bailey can lay claim to this one
Found - 1 wrapped hershey candy bar
and these below were saving for Quinn , I think we can re-mic them
Found - 100 unpopped popcorn seeds
Found - the mother load - 1 lost remote
all within the confines of the couch downstairs

signed
dad

Attached was a picture of the remote...we've been missing that thing for what seems like years forcing us to have to stand up to change the channel (gasp*).

Puede Ser

The American BBQ went fabulously. Dad, you would be soo proud of me--I made and grilled 20 DELICIOUS burgers with green onions and Worcestershire sauce and then grilled peppers and mozzerella on top...and alllll the fixin's!! ...so delicious!! We also had homemade mac n' cheese, deviled eggs, coleslaw...all homemade. :) :)

Saturday I went to El Prado with some friends. El Prado is essentially like state fair...except its for the whole country (which is actually smaller in population then Wisconsin by about 2 million). People from all over the countryside bring their animals in and there are food stands and tons of activities (minus carnival rides...and carnival workers). There was also a huge USA stand with streamers and representative of American companies like American Airlines and Harley Davidson, as well as cardboard cutouts of Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, Uncle Sam, Obama, Mickey Mouse and the Statue of Liberty...and donuts...so strange haha. It felt really weird to walk through an exhibit representing your whole country. There was also a live band singing songs like "Surfin' USA"...with Spanish accents. Our Uruguayan friend of course made us bring mate, so as we walked around all 5 of us (3 north americans 2 Uruguayos) sipped some mate...I'm getting used to the extreme bitterness of it---I think I just love the act of sharing it! Afterwards we went to an amazing restaurant and got some reallly good food--it was around 1 am...and the restaurant was full!

Sometimes being in such a beautiful country, it can be easy to forget that it is considered 3rd world. However, when we drive through the bad parts of town, I am reminded that although I love this place, I don't always understand the "laid back" nature of the laws. Marijuana is technically illegal here, but if you have less than 2 joints on you, then you can't be prosecuted...I often smell weed just walking around or on the beach. Also, drinking in public technically isn't allowed either...but I always see people walking around with beers--its just kind of frowned upon. Prostitution is also legal, and apparently it is common knowledge that they start around 11 pm and if there is a woman at a busstop after about 1 am then she is a prostitute, because the buses don't run that late. I have only seen about 2 or 3 prostitutes when driving around with friends or on the bus coming back from Buenos Aires when we drove through a bad part of town--they stay out of nicer residencial areas. Also, whore houses are common here...I just recently learned that there is one about 4 blocks from my house...I walk by it everyday to school. Also, when speaking of petty street crime, you really have to watch out for kids ages 6-17...they are the worst criminals here because if you aren't an adult, you don't get tried for crimes. The children are protected by the law and therefore are the main cause of robbery, abuse and even murder (yes, murder). It is horribly sad because the children are driven by poverty and are simply a product of their environment. It has definitely been a tough thing for me to not trust kids, but yesterday night my friends and I were walking to a play (it was around 9 pm) and a group of about 4-5 young kids aged 6-10 walked up to us asking for coins and money. This is pretty common, but something was definitely fishy because within seconds they had all invaded our personal space and were grabbing at our purses and touching our pockets. Luckily we were with some Uruguayans who yelled at the kids and scared them away. I felt so uncomfortable because I don't feel right yelling at some very very young kids that I don't know...but at the same time, they could have easily robbed us. After they had left the Uruguayans told us that if we didn't yell at them or handle the situation quickly, they would definitely rob us in a flash. I wish it didn't have to be that way.

Last night I went to the theatre with my class and we saw "Rescatate" which was based around a robbery involving planchas. Planchas are very difficult to describe. They are very similar to a type of gangster and wear particular clothing and have a distinct way of speaking (slightly barbaric and very vulgar). Not all planchas are thieves, but almost all thieves are planchas. Most of the young kids who steal, are planchas. It is a type of fashion fad, mixed with lifestyle choices. Most planchas are a of lower economic status, but again, that is just the stereotype. The play addressed alot of the stereotypes and is very popular here--I really enjoyed it, but since it involved the plancha dialect, I was unable to understand alot of it haha.

Now I'm hanging out with Eduardo and the other exchange students and of course he is yelling at me in Spanish...love this guy haha. However, he does call me La Alegria del Mundo (the happiness of the world)...funniest/craziest old man ever.

I also finally had a chivito...AMAZING steak sandwich that is VERY popular here...alll the toppings you can imagine. DELISH.

ALSO: mom and dad come in 3 weeks---I'M SOOO AMPED!!!