First Days of School

It’s been a crazy week. We went out and celebrated Melissa’s birthday, and like true Uruguayans we didn’t return until 7 AM. 

We got up early the next day to go to the faria. It is basically like a flea market, but way bigger. It was really fun. I went with the intention of buying more clothes since my backpack allowed for so few. I left with a lot of things, only one of them being clothing. I bought a purse, since I don’t have anywhere to safely keep my money, a backpack because my small one is too small to hold notebooks, a photo album, two scarves and a shirt. The prices were crazy good and it was loads of fun walking around. 

We came back for lunch and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. In the early evening, Melissa and I took a walk around the Rambla (the beach). We ended up finding a little stadium off of the beach. There was a handball tournament going on so we stayed to watch 4 or 5 games. It was really fun and interesting. I had never actually watched the sport and it was fun to figure it out as it went. Also, there were men and women teams playing. It was fun to note the difference.

We started heading back as the sun went down. Not long after we got back, we ate supper.

After supper, Jeremy, Maya, Melissa and I all hung around the table. It was a blast just hanging out together.

On Sunday, we went to another Faria in a different park. This one was even bigger than the one the day before. It was just as fun to browse. Today I bought another shirt and a mate cup.

This is a Mate cup. This one is much more decorative than the every day cup. Mate is a type of tea that is infamous here in Uruguay. Most of the locals drink it. Its a really social drink that gets passed around. Some people even carry their mate around with a thermos wherever they go. There are special bags that you can store the thermos and the cup in together. Its a huge part of the culture. I guess I can never be a true Uruguayan because I think it tastes disgusting.  

We returned to the house around 3:30 for lunch. We all took a little nap and reconvened to go over our class schedules for the following week.  Since we are international students, the first week is basically a trial period. We can go to as many classes as we want to with no obligation to enroll in it. We were all kind of stressed because they just realized the schedules this weekend. We were all scrambling to find classes that will work with our corresponding majors and create a schedule. After a few hours, I finally had a schedule pieced together. The plan is to attend 10 different classes and see how I like them. This means I’ll be spending a lot of time at the University. I am grateful for this “trial period” though because it allows me to see if I like the class but even more than that, if I can even understand the professor. Different speakers are easier to understand than others and it is crucial that I can understand the people that I am learning from. Another reason this time is so important is because the majority of the classes we have to choose from have no description. All it is a name of a class and the time it is being offered.

We had some amazing pizza for dinner, spent a little more time checking and rechecking schedules, and headed to bed.

I had the preschool jitters in the morning. I got ready (in short s and a t) and ate breakfast. I had heard that shorts aren't common in the University but it’s so nice out here that it feels wrong to wear pants. Also, I only have 2 pairs of pants so I don’t really want to wear them already when it will get cold here eventually.

The main entrance to the main University building

When I got to class, I realized the shorts were a mistake. Seemingly, everyone else in the University was wearing pants. Oh well, lesson learned. I went to my first class but no one was in the room. I waited for a while and then went to the office to see if I had the wrong classroom. Turns out, the class doesn’t start till next week (yeah, I don’t know why either). My first day was starting out well. I walked back home to take a nap and eat lunch before my other classes.

The classes I actually attended went smoothly and soon we were back home again. We all relaxed before dinner and after eating, we recapped on our day; what classes we liked, or didn't like; or schedule for the next day.

Jeremy, Melissa and I got up early for an 8 am Photography class. It seemed interesting and I class I could enjoy. After that, we went to a class where I couldn't even understand the professor. Jeremy and I didn't have any other classes in mind before lunch but we had time to kill so we decided to find another one to go to. We found one called “Techniques and Playful Recreation” and decided that seemed like a good fit haha. We went to the room and once again no one was there. When we asked the office, they told us that the class was in a different building (basically the whole college is in one building except for a few classes). The building was only a few blocks away, so we arrived quickly but still late.

As soon as I walked into the class, I knew that this was the perfect class for me. The whole class was in a circle, laughing, and playing a game. They welcomed Jeremy and I with open arms. By the end of the class, everyone knew our names and we had been invited to a Welcome to the University gathering the next day.

I ate lunch at the University. Laura packs us a lunch when we don’t have time to come home to eat. After lunch I had two more classes. These ones were for international students only. 

I didn't take a picture but the rooms don't have clocks, only crosses. In every room there is a cross in the spot a clock would normally be.

After classes, Jeremy and I decided to go to a soccer game. A Brazilian team, Cruziera was playing the Uruguayan team, Defensor. Right before we left, Melissa decided to come with and on the way we found Maya walking and got her to come too. We met up with a couple other international students. It was a blast. There was a group of Defensor fans that cheered just like a student section. Defensor won, 2—0 and both goals were amazing. I almost got one on camera but my phone shut done! L

After the game, we came back, ate dinner and headed to bed.

Wednesday I went to classes. Nothing eventful happened, I couldn’t attend the lunch welcome which was a little sad but after our last class, we found out there was another one. Turns out it wasn’t really for international students but we participated anyway. We even got a shirt specifically for local students! (The blue ones, internationals have red).

Thursday, I went to another new class, The Theory of Camping. Needless to say, I will be pushing myself academically and taking this class as well. It was a long day of classes, I was at the University for 10 hours with an hour and half break for lunch.

Later that evening, we went to an event put on by a Christian organization. It was free hamburgers and soccer. The place it was held in was really cool. It was this big building with about 10 small, indoor fields. It was really fun to play but I was horrible.

Friday, we strolled around the city before lunch checking out all the local grocery stores, fruit markets, and local shops. It was really fun exploring around and also fun to see the differences in food. When we got back, we had a lazy afternoon. I got a lot of little things done. It felt good to be productive. Later in the evening, we went for another walk. We ran a few errands and checked out a few more shops.

LOOK! I FOUND A TOYOTA TERCEL! RIP Baby Blue :(

Yes, this is real life, not 101 Dalmations

I didn't even know this still existed

Later that night, I had plans to meet someone to take a look at a bike I was considering buying. I asked Jeremy to with me because I was mildly freaked out. When we left, it was like a scene from a movie, dark and rainy. We got to the meeting spot and found the guy waiting in a huge windowless white van. Luckily, he was super nice and the bike was great. I ended up not buying but he was asking more than I originally thought.

We came back and spent the rest of the night all together in the living room. It was nice to just hang out all together.