Friends: Making New Ones and Missing the Old

If I’m being honest, I don’t even remember Monday so I’m just going to assume that nothing noteworthy took place.

Tuesday in Recreation Class:

That night, Melissa and I went to play volleyball.

It was basically like intramurals but we picked teams when we got there. It was extremely fun and everyone was super nice. I am not very good at volleyball, mainly due to the fact that I never play. I’m being too easy on myself, I was like the worst one there but everyone was so encouraging that I had a blast anyways. In order to continue to play, we need to go to the local hospital and get what sounds like a physical. They need information to solidify that we are in good enough health condition to play. I don’t really understand this because we’re playing intramural volleyball and I have insurance but I just my blood type is also essential information.

We got home around midnight but still had lots of energy. Due to this, we decided to take a walk on the Rambla (boardwalk). We ended up sitting on the beach and talking for an hour. These are the nights that I am really thankful for. I really want to take advantage of every second I am here because I know all too soon, it will be over. This is a perfect example of what I want to do to take advantage of time here. I went to the beach (a 10 minute walk instead of a 20 hour drive in Wisconsin) and spent time with someone I am only going to live with for the next 4 months.

Melissa and I were walking alone at night so I was prepared ;)

 On Wednesday, we went to the soccer museum for our Culture Class. The museum is in the stadium of the first ever world cup. It was really cool to be in a place of such history. In case you didn’t know, Uruguay won the first world cup. I have probably been told this, without exaggeration, about 20 times.  Soccer is a HUGE deal here and Uruguayans have such pride that their little country beat out all the rest.

Someone's mom wasn't happy in this uniform choice

Later that night, Melissa, Maya, Jeremy and I went to a pizza party that my Recreation class was having. It was thrown by the activities office as kind of a “Welcome to the University” party.

This is a great time to explain the University system here. Students come into college with a degree in mind. They then follow a strict 4 (or 5 depending on the career) plan. They do not have freedom to pick what classes they take or when, it is all laid out for them. They also have classes with the same classmates every day and every year. It’s a really interesting system and I see lots of pros and cons about it. One thing I am slightly envious of is the friendships these students are able to develop with their classmates. This allows for deeper discussions, study groups and a supportive learning environment. However, it could go the other way if the classmates don’t get along.

Anyways, we played games, ate pizza that was cooked over a fire, and sang songs together. It was such a great night.

They way they cooked "over" a fire was super interesting and way different then I have seen. They stoke the fire and wait for the coals to fall through the grate. Then, they move the coals under the grill.

On Thursday, I met up with some friends with the intent of going to a bar called Baar (not a type-o, there really is two A’s) FunFun (pronounced foonfoon, silly Spanish speakers) to watch a Tango show.

Quick little tangent about English words here, NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME WHEN I SAY THEM! There are some English products and when I ask for them, I always get the response, “What?” and I will repeat it a couple times until giving up and pointing. At this point, they say “ohhhhhh,” and repeat the product name, pronouncing it wrongly. This is really funny to me because, I mean, I speak English sooo… I think I’m right on this one. It’s also funny because I often have to repeat myself when I am saying something in Spanish because my pronunciation is wrong but to have to do it with English too! As they say in Uruguay; pa!! (pa = shoot, darn, oh no, really?, oh whatever you want it to mean)

Anyways, Tango show at Baar FunFun. When we got there, we found out that there wasn’t dancer tonight, only live music. We were bummed that there weren’t dancers but the live music turned out to be excellent. 

With the famous drink for Baar FunFun. When I told people I was going here, literally everyone told me I needed to try it

The second band was highly entertaining as well.

On Friday, I didn’t really do much during the day. We all kind of just hung out. Around 5, Maya and I went to run some errands. Later in the evening, we had another get together with my Recreation class. They were grilling hamburgers and we offered to bring an American dessert typically made while camping. It was quite the challenge to find the ingredients we needed. In the end, the only thing ingredient we found that was the same was the chocolate. We went to about 4 different stores and spent a few hours looking. Eventually we settled for what we could find. For graham crackers, we had to use these thin, round, vanilla flavored cookies/crackers. The marshmallows were like 4 colors and spirals. We were worried that they wouldn’t be the right flavor so I bought a small bag, opened it right at the cashier to try them and tell Maya, who was waiting in line behind me with the big bag whether or not we should use them. I think the clerk thought we were crazy.

They had Micky Mouse shaped marshmallows but not normal ones

We got lost on the way to our classmate’s house (shock). After consulting with some locals, we got back on track and arrived a little over an hour late. Not surprisingly, we were still one of the first ones there. Tiempo Uruguayo is so confusing! People started to trickle in and we were hanging out and goofing around. It was really fun. While we waited for the food to be done, we played some games too. One thing I love about this group of people is that they are so incredibly fun. No one is “too cool” for anything. We were literally singing sound and doing dances that you would teach kids at summer camp and it was a blast!

After a while, the burgers were ready. They were so amazing. It was the first true American tasting burger I have had since I left. 

After dinner, we had another jam session. I swear everyone here knows how to play guitar here. There were 3 guitars circulating around the circle. Someone would pick a song and within a minute, the others would pick up on the chord pattern and join in. It was pretty incredible to witness. We were given maracas so we got to play along too.

This is from earlier in the night, the stool looking thing is a drum

After the music, we started to cook S’mores over the fire. It was really funny seeing the Uruguayans react to the flavor. The majority of the people love them but some took up to 5 minutes to eat one because they were so sweet.

Also we used forks to roast them

Overall, it is amazing the relationships I have been able to develop in such a short time. I am incredibly blessed to have a friend group of Uruguayan students. It is really hard to break out of the international student friend group and while I am so grateful to have these amazing people in my life, I am also very thankful that I have been able to branch out as well.

They were going to leave to go dancing but unfortunately I started to feel really sick so went home.

I spent the next 2 days in bed, watching movies, and eating nothing but rice. Don’t worry, I’m better now! :D

Sunday night, Melissa, Maya and I took another midnight walk to the beach and ended up staying out for over two hours. 

As you can see, this week was packed full of great people and memories. However, I have found myself more homesick this week than any other. I have never really been homesick before. I mean, I obviously missed my family and friends when I was at college but this is the first time that I’ve really ached to be in a comfortable situation. I love it here and I don’t wish I was in the States instead but I always feel just slightly on edge. I am missing being in places and with people that I am 100% comfortable with. I have the urge to Skype people, not to talk but just to be in their presence. Skyping in general is great, and I’m glad I have this connection to the people I love back home but it leaves a lot to be desired. The moments I love most with these people is when we are just passing time together, not necessarily talking for an hour straight. For this, on Monday, I skyped with my dad and we watched the Wheel of Fortune together (something we do whenever I’m home). It was so nice just to have a sense of normalcy and spend time with my dad. I really felt like I was at home for a while with Pat, Vanna, and Dad.