ok, so first things first
- I know that it has been forever since I’ve been here.
- I promise I’ll do much better since I am now in a different country studying abroad with 10 other students.
- This not writing for months will not happen again.
Now lets keep moving forward. I have arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay!!! My group drove from Abilene to Dallas, and then we flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina and had a 4 hr layover, and finally flew into Montevideo, Uruguay!!!! just for your information that was over 24 hrs of traveling with little to no sleep.
When we arrived the whole group could not stop smiling. It was so exciting to arrive at the right destination with everyone safe and sound. Plus, no one lost their luggage or personal belongings. We loaded up everything to a van going to Casa ACU and then climbed onto a small people mover. they took us along the scenic route, going by the beach, and stopped at a little park on the way. This park had a little grassy hill and an intriguing statue with the beach as a breathtaking backdrop. You could also see the skyline of Montevideo from afar. After taking some photos, we loaded back up and drove to Casa ACU.
The first thing we did was eat the famous empanadas for lunch. Let me tell ya something, they are famous for a reason. Raquel's empanadas = wonderful and worth every carb. After the lovely lunch, the group had about 1 hr to freshen up and get ready to go on a scavenger hunt that would help us get to know the area around Casa ACU. Caitlin, and I walked around and pretty much figured out the lay of the land. Just a little side note, we also won the scavenger hunt, but who's keeping tabs lol.
Once the scavenger hunt was completed, we talked about what each group experienced and then got ready for dinner. ACU paid for this excursion, but since we had to take a taxi, I had to tell the cab driver where to go all by myself in espanol... not the easiest thing in the world, but i did tell him the right place in the end. We went to this cute (but cold and drafty) restaurant that has a small, wonderful art market place on the first floor and the second is where the actual restaurant is. I ordered sorrenos (or something like that) which is like ravioli with ham and cheese stuffing drenched in a white creamy sauce. it was fantastic! everyone enjoyed their food and came back to Casa ACU with full stomachs and leftovers. I pretty much went straight to bed, like everyone else, because it had been a full busy day.
Today we woke up and had a late breakfast. It was so nice to be able to sleep in and catch up on rest. after breakfast we had orientation and received our class schedules. The rules are''t hard to follow and are pretty much common sense, such as lock the door behind you or be considerate to others past 11:00. I found out that all of my classes are after lunch except for Friday :) that is sooo much better than having 8:00 classes every day for the past 2 semesters!!!
Once orientation was over we were taken to Lucas's, a hamburgesa resturaunte down the street. I ordered in Spanish so I'm not quite sure what I got exactly but it was still fun. Ham, beef patty, cheese, mayo, mustard, green olives, two types of salsa, this green garlicky/pesto stuff all came on my burger for a grand total of 50 pesos. That is equivalent to $2.50. So cheep, but yet so good.
After lunch we loaded onto the city buses for the first time. Oh what fun we had! Each person had to pay 17 pesos (or 85 cents) for an one way ticket to any stop on route 121. Our professor taught us the etiquette rules of riding in uruguay. Who knew that there is a right and wrong way to get off the bus or you can only stand in certain places... Lots to learn while enjoying a bus ride. It took about 5-8 minutes to reach our destination.
Our destination was the statue and burial cite of Antigus. The statue is of Antigus riding his horse and underneath the statue is where some of Antigus' bones can be found. There are 2 guards, dressed in the uniform that he wore, that constantly watch over his remains. Around the walls of the tomb are big black letters that narrate important dates in his life. All in all, the architect did nice job of portraying him in a respectful and decent way. The setup forced you to be reverent and respectful so I didn't even want to take a picture of the inside. Once we came up to ground level, our professor showed us the old gate to the Ciudad Viaje (or the Old City). The teacher went to explain that Montevideo use to be a fort to protect Uruguayans from the Portuguese, Antigenes, and native indians. The gate that we were about to enter was the end of the fort and the beginning of the town.
We walked all the way down to the docks and saw lots of interesting things. Here are some pictures that I played with on iPhoto and ended up liking the end results:
Ok, this picture is really funny because when I saw this on the fence I was like "I might not understand what it says in spanish, but I completely understand the picture!" In fact, I thought it was so funny that I had to take a picture of it :)
Here are some pictures from the docks. This was probably my favorite part so far. Imagine 11 people that look like foreigners walking over fishing reels and ducking under fishing lines and you might get the full effect of the experience. p.s. we did this for about a mile or so; we also started walking on the wall but then jumped down onto the sidewalk by the end of the dock.
This is where they load the ships.
Here we are on the start of the wall. It was easy to get on here, but the wall gradually gets higher the father it goes into the water. This wall goes all the way to a light house looking thing, but it is sooo long that you can't even see it from this angle.
For the record, this was taken when the wall was still short. Jesus es el UNICO CAMINO translates into Jesus is the ONLY WAY. I cannot agree more with that writer.
These are some of the rocks that the fisherman sit on (on the left side of the wall). They might not look big, but don't let the picture fool you.
Here is one of the many men sitting on the wall and fishing.
Once we walked as far as the docks could take us, the group turned around and ducked/jumped over or under the fishing poles and lines. Our tour guide (aka the professor) led us to an indoor market place. Three other girls and I split from the group here and then began the long journey back to Casa ACU. This included some wrong turns here and there, but we did end up in the right place. All in all, I'm guessing it took a brisk walk of hour and thirty minutes to get back on time. Talk about your feet being tired!!!
That night, we got the tour of Iglecia de Christo (I think that's how you spell it), which was originally part of the coffee factory that Casa ACU is apart of. the church is 2 stories with a beautifully old clock tower on top. We got to sneek a peek at all of the rooms and ended up on the roof top next to the clock tower. It was fun to see Montevideo from a bird's eye view at night. The steet lights were all on so we could see enough to get around without falling. We were up there just chilling and waiting for the youth group and pizza to show up. To stay entertained and forget our hunger, we sang random songs (such as Mary Poppins and The Lion King) and danced to the drmmers practicing in the plaza closest to Casa ACU. You can barely see the plaza in this picture though, but it's still there.
Once we came back down from the roof, some of the church members were there to greet us. Diego, who is around our age, let everyone taste Yerba Mate for the first time. I do not really like it but I had to drink what was offered to me (which was a lot!) to not be rude. For future reference, if you are ever served mate and don't like it, say gracias (thank you) after you are done drinking it; that is the polite way to say I'm through and don't want no more. I did not know this at the time, but luckily I said thanks anyways and it was not passed back to me for the rest of the night.
The pizza finally arrived and we ate and mingled with the church members that came to meet us. The pizza was very good, but made a little different. Instead of using meat toppings, there was just cheese or oregano and cheese. This was probably the biggest culture shock experience for me because I realized that I had either forgotten or just didn't know spanish at all. I could not create sentences and became frustrated very quickly. Needless to say, I was very quiet that meal, but thankfully most of my group kept trying to communicate. Everyone was beat by the end of the night, including me, so we just fell asleep instantly. That was the end of Saturday the 28 of August.
