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.

Month Two in the Books

 Monday came and went without much excitement.

Tuesday we went to Teatro Solis to watch a Gershwin concert. Teatro Solis is the second oldest theater in the city. It was gorgeous. We sat on the ground floor and tickets were $10 which was crazy because in the states for something like that would have been over $100.

On Wednesday, I went to the University early because I had a meeting with my language partner. This is a program arranged through the University. They match international students up with an Uruguayan student who each want to learn the other’s native language. We met in the cafeteria and talked for a while. Normally, the program works were he speaks to me in English and I respond in Spanish but for the most part, we were only speaking Spanish. Turns out he is an amazing partner. He was helping me with my vocal sounds and teaching me how to speak like a local. He also took me to the shopping center really close to the University. It was weird being in a mall. For the first time since I left, I felt like I could be in the United States. It was just like any other mall I had ever been it. It was really fun but also an extremely weird feeling to be somewhere so familiar. We walked back to the University after 20 minutes because I had class.

Later that day I went to the Museum of the Gaucho for my Culture class. 

It was really interesting and fun. I had the privilege of dressing up as the Gaucho. 

The Gaucho is comparable to the cowboy from North America. It was interesting to learn about their life styles and also to learn tidbits about life back then. For example, I learned that girls would prepare mate differently for different people to send different messages. If it had honey in it, it meant one thing but if it was cold it meant another. To me, this seems like an extremely inefficient way to tell someone something but the secret code is pretty fun. 

The museum also had an exhibit about women which was interesting. 

Roughly: "When she combed, it gave her a smile that lasted for 5 seconds with an effect that will last for life"

The last floor was a money museum. It was really interesting and interactive. They had a giant safe which I swear was right out of Gringotts. There are 3 keys needed to open it and all the key slots are hidden. To access the first key hole, you have to push up one of the metal circles, and then push another one to the right and finally, another one down at the same time.

After the museum, I went back to the University to attend a new class, Ecoturimso. I decided to take this class instead of Camping because it’s not at 8 in the morning two days in a row and we are going to take a field trip! Oh yeah, and I can get credit for my minor with this class (but mostly the first two reasons :P).

Thursday in my recreation class we played a game and needed to distinguish between the two teams. I only wanted to put a little bit of green paint on because I still had classes that day, whereas the rest of my classmates didn't. However, they made sure that didn't happen.

Also, this was the board for the day's lecture. Yeah, those are words, apparently...

My last class of the day was cancelled. Not wanting to waste my newly free afternoon, Garrett and I walked to the Montevideo sign and enjoyed the beach.

Later, we had people over to hang out and then went to a dance club that just opened. Once again, it was fun to hang out all together outside of school.

We didn’t really do much Friday. Melissa and I walked around a bit in our neighborhood. It was nice to get to know our area a little bit better. We also did a little bit of homework (I swear a do schoolwork here too… sometimes). Then, we all got ready to go to a Tango show at a local bar. They have shows every week with live music and dance partners to demonstrate Tango. Tango originated here in Uruguay. We got off to a late start and there was no space at the bar for us to watch. Instead, we went to a friend’s house that was really close by and hung out.

On Saturday, Melissa, Alex and I went to the Feria. I love them too much to stay away. It was a gorgeous day and I didn't want to waste it inside. 

There are a ridiculous amount of old vehicles here

This is a view "muy Uruguaya" a tree lined street

After the Feria, we split an ice cream.

After we finished the treat, I met up with my language partner, Santiago, again. We met at a different shopping center to buy sushi. Melissa came with me and we also met Garrett there too. The four of us bought sushi at the “English store” and then walked to the beach for a picnic. We spent 3 hours at the beach, eating, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. 

We ended up  speaking a lot more English this time but I didn’t mind because we were in depth talking about the cultural differences between America and here. It was an extremely interesting conversation. We talked a lot about human rights (like my favorite subject ever). Uruguay is a really progressive country. They were one of the first countries to pass a law giving women the right to vote (200 years ago), giving them the right to divorce without reason and things like that. They also just recently passed a law legalizing same sex marriage, abortion and marijuana. There seems to be a great divide in public opinion on these new laws. I was told that the government usually passes laws that aren’t really the popular public opinion but after a year or two, the public supports them. This is fascinating to me. The government is more progressive than its habitants. In the United States, its seems like we need to beg for these things and even then, they don’t become a law but here the government does it before the public is “ready”.

 Santiago spent a lot of time explaining the Uruguayan culture. Much like the United States, Uruguay is a melting pot. The country was founded on immigration. There is no native tribe or people from this area. From Santiago’s perspective, instead of embracing all of the cultures, everyone tries to form the main stream. No one wants to stand out here. The rich hide their wealth; the poor pretend they have the same amount of money. It’s okay to be gay as long as you don’t act too flamboyant. It’s okay to be black as long you do the same cultural things as everyone else.

For me this begs the question, if Santiago’s perspective of his culture is accurate; if there are all these equalities here for everyone, but they aren’t socially allowed to embrace what makes them different, are they really better off? They are free to be who they want to be by the laws standard but are they really free? I would say no. For this reason, it seems like Uruguay really isn’t that much more ahead of the U.S. in that regard. Sure, it’s legal here but not there but if you can legally do something that you are still going to get persecuted for, things aren’t much better. However, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

I’m not sure if I am articulating my thoughts clearly on this. I’m not saying everyone walks around acting exactly the same, wearing the same clothes and being like everyone else. On the other hand, people aren’t as free as I once thought they were to act however they wanted. In that regard, here is not so different from the U.S. everyone is just trying to find a way to fit in with the world they live in.

I found this simultaneously discouraging and encouraging. I was discouraged that in a country with laws I would love to see in the States, the same problems still exist. However, I was encouraged to know that the States aren’t alone in these problems and thing will get better.

After the beach, we took a leisurely walk back to house. We ate dinner and headed out to a Uruguayan friend’s house (YAY URUGUAYAN FRIENDS!) We finally had a true Uruguayan experience and returned how at 9:30AM.

I spent most of Sunday sleeping but I didn’t feel too guilty because it rained all day. We spent the rest of the day hanging out together and doing homework. It was nice to have a bit of a lazy day because usually, I’m just running around (which I am so thankful I can do).