Things have picked up a little bit in the past week or so. Classes are still slow, but it seems like we're getting close to finishing the introductory bit/overview of the conquest of Latin America (aka every Croft class I've ever taken) and are about to start actually learning about Uruguay. I like my literature class better every day. The material isn't my favorite, but our professor is adorable and every once and a while she'll make a cute joke. My friend and I decided we're going to start taking a Portuguese class as well. It only meets once a week, and we won't technically be enrolled in it, because its a year long class and we're only going to be here a semester. We really just want a way to meet more Uruguayan students and integrate ourselves more into the culture here.
Last weekend was fairly busy, even though it was the first weekend I haven't traveled. On Friday night, a group of us went to see The Hunger Games. And it was awesome. You should go see it. And read the books. On Saturday, Sarah, Brianna, and I went to La Ciudad Vieja, the oldest part of town that was originally colonized by the Spanish. Its not the safest area of town these days, but its still very impressive. We visited all the important landmarks, la Plaza de Independencia with the huge statute of Artigas, the cathedral, the door to the city, the Fountain of Love, and several other plazas...with statutes of Artigas. They like him here. I also ate my first chivito, a type of Uruguayan sandwich. Typically, it has beef, ham, lettuce, tomato, egg, and mayonnaise, but i went for the chicken option, without mayonnaise. As much as I want to immerse myself in the culture, I just can't jump on board with the intense love of mayonnaise. Or the love of Crocs. On Sunday, I went with Giannina (the woman with whom I live) to have lunch with her family at her father's house, which is a little bit outside the city and very pretty. It's a rustic-style home with a big garden and patio in the back. Her whole family was there, which I thought would be overwhelming, but they were extremely welcoming. Also in attendance were her two cousins who moved away from Uruguay when they were toddlers and now live in Miami. We had a few North American moments. I was also very excited, because I got to eat seafood for the first time since I've been here. Giannina's dad made paella, a Spanish dish of seafood and rice (a little strange, seeing that their family is Italian, but I wasn't complaining).
Next week is Semana Santa or Semana de Turismo or Semana de Cerveza or Semana Criolla...you get the picture. Its Holy Week, which means we get the whole week off of school. Lots of people travel during Semana Santa, and there are also several festivals celebrated during the week. I'm leaving Friday morning for Bariloche, Argentina, a small town in the Patagonia region, very close to the Chilean border. Its referred to as the "Switzerland of Argentina." We're hoping to do a lot of hiking and maybe some kayaking or white water rafting or horseback riding. Our hostel offers a lot of activities. We're going to finish the trip in Buenos Aires to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of our friends! To get to Bariloche, we have a 24 hours bus ride. But first we have to get to Buenos Aires. For some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to choose the bus/ferry that left at 1:15 AM on Friday morning. We actually had some pretty solid reasoning behind that decision, but as it gets closer, I'm regretting it more and more. Anyway, between the 24 hour bus rides and the shared, 8-person room in the hostel, there's going to be some inevitable bonding.
The only other noteworthy thing I can think of is that the weather is changing. Today was the first chilly day we've had. The temperature was only in the 50s, I believe, but that aforementioned, god-forsaken wind makes it feel like its a lot colder. Its gonna be a looonnnnggg winter in Montevideo, folks.
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