Brace yourselves, readers. I am actually ahead on school work. Now when I say ahead I mean done before 9:00. If you know me then you know that is a pretty great achievement. It gives me a chance to get another blog entry done so that I can say I've gotten better at keeping up with this thing.
Tonight we had a Halloween party. Yes, we do know that it's not Halloween yet. We are all about to head our separate ways for free-travel week. Two of the three groups are leaving tomorrow. My group is sticking around for a couple of days then heading out. Anyway, we all got dressed up and had crepes and candy. I dressed up as Wimon, the program director and my professor for three classes. There will be pictures tagged on facebook soon, I'm sure (not that you will enjoy them as much not knowing him, but still). Mom, we had quite a bit of fun with those vampire teeth and skeletons that you sent.
We figured out that after we get back from out free-travel week we will only have four and a half weeks left in Montevideo. I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by. I know that after I get back next Saturday it will speed up even more. Well, there isn't all that much to report right now. I just wanted to post a little something for your enjoyment and so I could say I've posted more.
Until next time, may God grant you peace in a land of worry, unity in a sea of individualism, and love in a world that desperately needs it. I love and miss you all.
Blessings,
Matt
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Not much better
The title once again refers to my ability to actually keep up with a blog. I have decided that I am simply not capable of doing so. Although, it would probably be much easier if I weren't in another country where I have a million other things I could be doing most of the time. Don't get me wrong, dear readers, I love each and every one of you very much. However, empanadas and ridiculously good ice cream are sometimes more enticing. I hope I have not offended you with this information.
We went to Brazil! It was such an amazing trip. We went to Iguazu Falls (now the spell-checker wants me to spell it Iguassu, but that is dumb...I like it the Spanish way so that's how it is) and I cannot even describe the impact they had on my life. I'm going to include a few pictures and I hope that they come close to capturing some of the beauty and power displayed by those falls. Our God is an amazing artist.
These pictures look better on my computer, but they are good enough to give a little taste. Anyway, the falls really made me stop and think about how truly awesome our God is. We had a devo the night after we saw the falls for the first time and we talked about the falls and what we felt about God in relation to them. As many of you know I am a fan of strange analogies, so of course I formed one about the falls. The falls are like the macaroni pictures that children make. The point was never the macaroni picture itself. The point was to show it to Mommy and Daddy so that they would give some sort of recognition in return. Now, I'm not saying that God is five years old or that we are his parents. What I am saying is that the falls were never meant to be about the falls. If I were a supreme being with the power of creation at my fingertips, I would definitely create waterfalls like those. The difference between the two is that I would create them simply to look on them and say I had done it. God creates such wonders so that WE can look on them and say, "My God alone is capable of such things and He is worthy of praise." The point of such awe inspiring creations is that we would see them and long even more for a relationship with the Creator.
While in Brazil I felt a discomfort that I hadn't felt in a very long time. We had been immersed in Spanish speaking culture for about two months and suddenly we were in a country that speaks Portuguese. I had forgotten what it was like to know that I could not communicate effectively with those around me if I needed to (of course, I realize that many know enough Spanish that we could have worked it out, but the anxiety was still present). By the end of the trip I was ready to get back to Montevideo to be surrounded by a language that I know. This was the first time this semester that I thought of Montevideo as home. I haven't been very homesick compared others in the group and I've never been a very homesick person to begin with. It was nice to be able to associate such comfort with the place that I am living. It also brought a new aspect to my learning of the Spanish language: it is a place of comfort. When I began to learn Spanish I loved the language and would jump at chances to speak it. The further I got in my studies, the more concerned I became with getting everything right and speaking became much harder because of this preoccupation with being correct. Now I feel that I can speak easier because it isn't someone else's language so much as it is now one of my languages. I still have a long way to go in learning Spanish, but I truly love and enjoy it as if it were my own language.
Anyway, this entry has been kind of strange and introspective, so I hope you have not been bored by it and I hope that I have not come across as self-cenetered or whatever. I'm still working on getting better at this blogging business. Thanks for bearing with me.
Until next time, may the Creator open your eyes to the wonder and majesty that surrounds you. May you embrace His wonders and praise Him for His mighty works. May you realize that, above all, we are the height of His creation and that God longs for an ever growing, ever intensifying relationship with you.
Blessings,
Matt
We went to Brazil! It was such an amazing trip. We went to Iguazu Falls (now the spell-checker wants me to spell it Iguassu, but that is dumb...I like it the Spanish way so that's how it is) and I cannot even describe the impact they had on my life. I'm going to include a few pictures and I hope that they come close to capturing some of the beauty and power displayed by those falls. Our God is an amazing artist.
These pictures look better on my computer, but they are good enough to give a little taste. Anyway, the falls really made me stop and think about how truly awesome our God is. We had a devo the night after we saw the falls for the first time and we talked about the falls and what we felt about God in relation to them. As many of you know I am a fan of strange analogies, so of course I formed one about the falls. The falls are like the macaroni pictures that children make. The point was never the macaroni picture itself. The point was to show it to Mommy and Daddy so that they would give some sort of recognition in return. Now, I'm not saying that God is five years old or that we are his parents. What I am saying is that the falls were never meant to be about the falls. If I were a supreme being with the power of creation at my fingertips, I would definitely create waterfalls like those. The difference between the two is that I would create them simply to look on them and say I had done it. God creates such wonders so that WE can look on them and say, "My God alone is capable of such things and He is worthy of praise." The point of such awe inspiring creations is that we would see them and long even more for a relationship with the Creator.While in Brazil I felt a discomfort that I hadn't felt in a very long time. We had been immersed in Spanish speaking culture for about two months and suddenly we were in a country that speaks Portuguese. I had forgotten what it was like to know that I could not communicate effectively with those around me if I needed to (of course, I realize that many know enough Spanish that we could have worked it out, but the anxiety was still present). By the end of the trip I was ready to get back to Montevideo to be surrounded by a language that I know. This was the first time this semester that I thought of Montevideo as home. I haven't been very homesick compared others in the group and I've never been a very homesick person to begin with. It was nice to be able to associate such comfort with the place that I am living. It also brought a new aspect to my learning of the Spanish language: it is a place of comfort. When I began to learn Spanish I loved the language and would jump at chances to speak it. The further I got in my studies, the more concerned I became with getting everything right and speaking became much harder because of this preoccupation with being correct. Now I feel that I can speak easier because it isn't someone else's language so much as it is now one of my languages. I still have a long way to go in learning Spanish, but I truly love and enjoy it as if it were my own language.
Anyway, this entry has been kind of strange and introspective, so I hope you have not been bored by it and I hope that I have not come across as self-cenetered or whatever. I'm still working on getting better at this blogging business. Thanks for bearing with me.
Until next time, may the Creator open your eyes to the wonder and majesty that surrounds you. May you embrace His wonders and praise Him for His mighty works. May you realize that, above all, we are the height of His creation and that God longs for an ever growing, ever intensifying relationship with you.
Blessings,
Matt
Friday, October 2, 2009
Been a while
Well, my blog readers, I have been negligent. I haven't been updating my blog enough nor have I been writing anything down outside of the blog. This entry will probably be long, or short and disjointed. Regardless, you will know more about what I have been doing.
I'll mention a few things that I forgot last entry about our trip to the ranch:
The ranch is a touristy place so they have some demonstrations and such. One of the things they have there is a model of the old train system that used to be in Montevideo. It made me think of Grandpa Rod (for those of you who didn't know him, he collected model trains and had a model train system set up).
On the way back from the ranch our bus blew out a tire. Now, I've seen flat tires, but this tire was dead. It was in shreds. Now, let's move on.
The main thing that has happened is our trip to Buenos Aires. We spent the afternoon in Colonia, Uruguay, but we stopped at a random farm on the way to Colonia. The owner of this farm is a collector. Of what? You name it. Keychains, pencils, calling cards, ash trays, perfume bottles, and other odd things. He holds several world records (some of which have since been broken). They also make jam. They had most of the normal flavors (strawberry, peach, yadda yadda) and some not so normal (tomato, red pepper, and onion). The onion one was nasty. We spent about an hour there and then we were off to Colonia.
Colonia is the oldest city in Uruguay (?, I'm pretty sure but let's be safe). We drove past an old bullfighting arena that was built in the early 1900s right before bullfighting was outlawed. Now, I'm not going to say that there were signs that said not to enter and we did anyway, but...
Other than that we just explored the town and relaxed for the afternoon. We walked up on an old section of the city wall and sat down by the water for a bit. Then we headed to the Buquebus (the ferry between Uruguay and Argentina). The ferry ride was okay on the way over, but on the way back the water was rougher so we were all feeling a bit queesy on the second trip. When we got to Buenos Aires we went to our hotel and then grabbed some dinner at an Italian place down the block. It was great. The next day we went on a tour of the city that took us by the president's office building (the Pink House), several monuments, both the richest and poorest neighborhoods, and the cemetary. Now, when I say cemetary you have the wrong picture in your mind right away. Think of a city with buildings that are very close together. Now shrink the buildings a little. Now I'll just show you.
This is one of the "streets" in the cemetary. The place is HUGE. There were tons of different statues and types of tombs and such. I came back to the cemetary the next day to take pictures and wander around some more.
We spent some time in La Boca which was one of the poorest neighborhoods when immigrants were pouring into the Americas from Europe. The whole neighborhood is made up of random building materials (scrap metal, mismatched windows, etc.) and painted bright colors. The story goes that an artist decided to paint all the buildings because he didn't think they had to be sad just because they were poor. We also came back there the next day and ate at an open air restaurant with a free tango show.
We went to another tango show with the whole group that was pretty good. The food was really good. I got a steak (because even though beef is supposed to be a staple food in Uruguay our cooks don't cook it for us much) which was delicious. Also I finally got some awesome coffee. My addiction was satisfied for a short time. Some of us saw a few other musical performances: a jazz band and a weird hippie band. They were both pretty good, but not the greatest thing ever. But at least we had some adventures.
Sunday we went to the church that Hannah was with when she stayed in Argentina. We were supposed to go to a market near the church after service but it was raining so we stayed and played foosball and ping pong and ate pizza. The people there were a lot of fun and we had a blast.
I know I'm forgetting things but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading so we'll call it quits for now and I'll try to be better about updating. I love you all. May God put a fire in your heart that you cannot help but be His light to those around you.
Blessings,
Matt
I'll mention a few things that I forgot last entry about our trip to the ranch:
The ranch is a touristy place so they have some demonstrations and such. One of the things they have there is a model of the old train system that used to be in Montevideo. It made me think of Grandpa Rod (for those of you who didn't know him, he collected model trains and had a model train system set up).
On the way back from the ranch our bus blew out a tire. Now, I've seen flat tires, but this tire was dead. It was in shreds. Now, let's move on.
The main thing that has happened is our trip to Buenos Aires. We spent the afternoon in Colonia, Uruguay, but we stopped at a random farm on the way to Colonia. The owner of this farm is a collector. Of what? You name it. Keychains, pencils, calling cards, ash trays, perfume bottles, and other odd things. He holds several world records (some of which have since been broken). They also make jam. They had most of the normal flavors (strawberry, peach, yadda yadda) and some not so normal (tomato, red pepper, and onion). The onion one was nasty. We spent about an hour there and then we were off to Colonia.
Colonia is the oldest city in Uruguay (?, I'm pretty sure but let's be safe). We drove past an old bullfighting arena that was built in the early 1900s right before bullfighting was outlawed. Now, I'm not going to say that there were signs that said not to enter and we did anyway, but...
Other than that we just explored the town and relaxed for the afternoon. We walked up on an old section of the city wall and sat down by the water for a bit. Then we headed to the Buquebus (the ferry between Uruguay and Argentina). The ferry ride was okay on the way over, but on the way back the water was rougher so we were all feeling a bit queesy on the second trip. When we got to Buenos Aires we went to our hotel and then grabbed some dinner at an Italian place down the block. It was great. The next day we went on a tour of the city that took us by the president's office building (the Pink House), several monuments, both the richest and poorest neighborhoods, and the cemetary. Now, when I say cemetary you have the wrong picture in your mind right away. Think of a city with buildings that are very close together. Now shrink the buildings a little. Now I'll just show you.
This is one of the "streets" in the cemetary. The place is HUGE. There were tons of different statues and types of tombs and such. I came back to the cemetary the next day to take pictures and wander around some more.We spent some time in La Boca which was one of the poorest neighborhoods when immigrants were pouring into the Americas from Europe. The whole neighborhood is made up of random building materials (scrap metal, mismatched windows, etc.) and painted bright colors. The story goes that an artist decided to paint all the buildings because he didn't think they had to be sad just because they were poor. We also came back there the next day and ate at an open air restaurant with a free tango show.
We went to another tango show with the whole group that was pretty good. The food was really good. I got a steak (because even though beef is supposed to be a staple food in Uruguay our cooks don't cook it for us much) which was delicious. Also I finally got some awesome coffee. My addiction was satisfied for a short time. Some of us saw a few other musical performances: a jazz band and a weird hippie band. They were both pretty good, but not the greatest thing ever. But at least we had some adventures.
Sunday we went to the church that Hannah was with when she stayed in Argentina. We were supposed to go to a market near the church after service but it was raining so we stayed and played foosball and ping pong and ate pizza. The people there were a lot of fun and we had a blast.
I know I'm forgetting things but I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're getting tired of reading so we'll call it quits for now and I'll try to be better about updating. I love you all. May God put a fire in your heart that you cannot help but be His light to those around you.
Blessings,
Matt
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Texan at last
Well, I did it. I rode a horse as you can see. Now, I need to explain a bit about the picture. It seems that I am smiling, but I am actually speaking sarcastically to the idiot. I dubbed my horse Wow-I'm-Stupid. He liked to stop walking every once in a while at which point he would get whipped by our guide, yet he continued to stop. Then he would decide that he could fit in a two inch gap between other horses. Needless to say he was not the brightest creature. I am glad to be able to say that I have taken part in this famous Texan stereotype (even if it took leaving the country to get me to do so), but I don't think it's an activity that I will be taking part in again anytime soon. Not that I don't wish cars could be bumpier and smellier, but they are just so much faster.
The estancia was a lot of fun. Aside from the horse ride we got to simply enjoy the scenery and relax for most of the day. We chased some geese like 3-year-olds (don't worry, I led the chase) and fed bread to various types of birds. We were also fed lunch there. Let me tell you about this lunch. There was bread to start with, always a good sign. Then they brought out sausage (an appetizer). Then they brought out piles of beef and chicken. . . mounds of it. And there were some baked potatoes in there. There were too many different kinds of food. If you know me, then you know that I like to get a bit of everything. Well, that made this meal the biggest meal I think I've ever had aside from Thanksgiving. By the end of the meal we were all ridiculously full. That's when they brought out dessert. Crepes rolled up around dulce de leche. Take a moment and let that idea sink into your brain. It was awesome. Then we all threw up. . . not really but close.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to the market down the street on Sunday to check out the book vendors. I thought I might be safe from my addiction to buying books when I came down here, but apparently I love really old books at cheap market prices. I've only bought one so far, but the temptation is growing.
Speaking of addictions, the coffee here is not good. I know what you're thinking: "Wait, I thought you were in South America. Isn't the coffee supposed to be great?" We have been mislead my friends. There is good coffee in some countries, but here it's nasty. The cooks here try to brew it "American style" but it doesn't quite make it (although it is really strong so that part is good). This is one of the factors that has lead to my new addiction to mate. It's not as good as the coffee I'm used to but it is more fun to drink. I found out that there is a website that you can order it from in the States so I'm pretty pumped about bringing this crazy beverage to ACU.
Well, that's about all for now. May you continue to seek the Lord and have the courage to wrestle with your Father. May you be lost in His love, found in His salvation, dead to your sins, and alive in His mercy.
Blessings,
Matt
Friday, September 11, 2009
Soy celeste, celeste soy yo
The title of this entry is part of a song sung by the Uruguayan fans at the soccer (futbol) game that we went to Wednesday night. It was the most fun I have ever had at a sporting event (it even topped crowd-surfing out mascot from the top of the stands to the bottom at the volleyball state championship my senior year). Imagine an Aggie football game. Now throw in jumping up and down in unison and screaming things at the top of your lungs in another language (sprinkle in foreign expletives as needed). Even though it is a very low scoring game, soccer is one of the most exciting sports to watch. It's amazing the things the players can do with their feet and heads and everything else (but hands of course). Sometimes things would happen that would make Isaac Newton go, "Say what?" Uruguay won the game 3-1 so it was awesome. This week has been pretty hectic as far as school is concerned because I had a pretty hefty work load and we had a lot of planned extracurriculars (soccer, a tour of the legislative palace, and a tango lesson). Yeah, I forgot to mention the tango lesson. . .
If you know me then you know that dancing and I are not on good terms with each other. It said some things that it can never take back and the relationship simply spiraled downward from there. The tango is no different. I am glad to have experienced this piece of culture, but I simply don't enjoy dancing. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am, in fact, terrible at dancing. This boy just wasn't made for that sort of thing. The 7th grade sway-back-and-forth dance is about as far as I make it with dancing (I must admit I have a mean sway). There are quite a few pictures on facebook of me in all my awkward glory (just click on the Pictures of Matt link below my profile picture and click through until you see them). Enjoy.
The legislative palace (yes, it's a palace made of 70+ types of marble and 50+ types of granite) was sort of interesting. I think I listened and took pictures more for my dad's sake than my own. I figure he'd enjoy a little about it when I get back. So there's your souvenir, Pappy (just kidding).
Last night we had our second English Conversation "class" with the church. People who want to practice English come and talk to us. I met a guy there last week named Nicolas who was there again this week. He is an interesting character. Here is a typical conversation with Nicolas:
Me: How are you, Nicolas?
Nic: I am very well. (Explanation of day in Spanglish). How are you?
Me: I'm good. I'm kind of tired, but good.
Nic: Wow! That is interesting.
Nicolas and I have different definitions of interesting. I find people's opinions on religion or other topics interesting. He finds it interesting that I think it's cold outside. He wins some points for trying so hard. Only some.
Well, this weekend we're going to an estancia (ranch) and I think we're going to ride horses which I have never done. It's one of the top stereotypes of Texas and the first time I'll do it is not even in the United States.
Until next time, may our God and Father open your eyes more to His glory and power that you may bless those around you. Have peace, exude joy, be love.
Blessings,
Matt
If you know me then you know that dancing and I are not on good terms with each other. It said some things that it can never take back and the relationship simply spiraled downward from there. The tango is no different. I am glad to have experienced this piece of culture, but I simply don't enjoy dancing. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am, in fact, terrible at dancing. This boy just wasn't made for that sort of thing. The 7th grade sway-back-and-forth dance is about as far as I make it with dancing (I must admit I have a mean sway). There are quite a few pictures on facebook of me in all my awkward glory (just click on the Pictures of Matt link below my profile picture and click through until you see them). Enjoy.
The legislative palace (yes, it's a palace made of 70+ types of marble and 50+ types of granite) was sort of interesting. I think I listened and took pictures more for my dad's sake than my own. I figure he'd enjoy a little about it when I get back. So there's your souvenir, Pappy (just kidding).
Last night we had our second English Conversation "class" with the church. People who want to practice English come and talk to us. I met a guy there last week named Nicolas who was there again this week. He is an interesting character. Here is a typical conversation with Nicolas:
Me: How are you, Nicolas?
Nic: I am very well. (Explanation of day in Spanglish). How are you?
Me: I'm good. I'm kind of tired, but good.
Nic: Wow! That is interesting.
Nicolas and I have different definitions of interesting. I find people's opinions on religion or other topics interesting. He finds it interesting that I think it's cold outside. He wins some points for trying so hard. Only some.
Well, this weekend we're going to an estancia (ranch) and I think we're going to ride horses which I have never done. It's one of the top stereotypes of Texas and the first time I'll do it is not even in the United States.
Until next time, may our God and Father open your eyes more to His glory and power that you may bless those around you. Have peace, exude joy, be love.
Blessings,
Matt
Friday, September 4, 2009
Mate and more
The first word in the title of this blog is pronounced mah-tay. It is a type of tea like drink that they drink a lot of in Uruguay (and Argentina) and it's great. The first awesome thing about it is that you drink it out of a gourd with a metal straw thing with a strainer on the end. The really cool thing about it is you drink it in groups a lot. We made friends with the youth from the church connected to CasaACU and we drink mate with them whenever we hang out. It has about as much caffeine in it as coffee but you end up drinking a lot more because you just keep adding hot water to the gourd and keep drinking without noticing how much you've had. It's been a very long time since I've actually truly felt the effects of caffeine because I have a severe addiction to it (see facebook note "Addiction") but mate keeps me up. It's awesome. Enough about my new addiction and on to what you're here for: adventures.
We went to church last Sunday which turned out to be more frustrating than anything else. Autumn (on of the professors) told me that the guy who was preaching that morning was the hardest man to understand. She wasn't lying. Considering the church used to be a coffee factory and the microphone was a bit scratchy, the sound quality was already not the best. I caught a few sentences but the majority of the time my brain got too tired and checked out. Hopefully the next preacher will be a little clearer.
Classes started this week...I had forgotten I was here for school. My classes aren't bad except for one. I'm taking Latin American thought through the Catholic University here in Montevideo and it is going to be the hardest class I have ever taken (and possibly ever will take). Our professor is German but he lives in Montevideo and speaks Spanish without any noticeable accent, except when he says some phrases in English then he sounds German. It's a very strange combination of languages and ethnicity that comes together in that room. The worst part about the class is that it's two hours every Tuesday and Thursday when it only counts as a 3-hour course. Basically I am in class an extra hour per week. My brain keeps trying to check out after an hour and a half so it's a constant struggle for that last 30 minutes to pay attention.
We haven't been out much this week because it's been raining like crazy. We did go down to the beach and played some friendly futbol with our church friends and drank mate (of course). On that trip I made a deal with Martin that I would only speak spanish to him and he would only speak english with me. That has been really great practice for me and for him. Spanish Conversation is a lot of fun too. My teacher, Amelia, reminds me of Senora Croft in some ways and she looks like Edna Mode from The Incredibles.
Well, I'll post more when I've had some adventures. Until next time, may God continue to bless you in ever changing ways that you may spread His love and glory.
We went to church last Sunday which turned out to be more frustrating than anything else. Autumn (on of the professors) told me that the guy who was preaching that morning was the hardest man to understand. She wasn't lying. Considering the church used to be a coffee factory and the microphone was a bit scratchy, the sound quality was already not the best. I caught a few sentences but the majority of the time my brain got too tired and checked out. Hopefully the next preacher will be a little clearer.
Classes started this week...I had forgotten I was here for school. My classes aren't bad except for one. I'm taking Latin American thought through the Catholic University here in Montevideo and it is going to be the hardest class I have ever taken (and possibly ever will take). Our professor is German but he lives in Montevideo and speaks Spanish without any noticeable accent, except when he says some phrases in English then he sounds German. It's a very strange combination of languages and ethnicity that comes together in that room. The worst part about the class is that it's two hours every Tuesday and Thursday when it only counts as a 3-hour course. Basically I am in class an extra hour per week. My brain keeps trying to check out after an hour and a half so it's a constant struggle for that last 30 minutes to pay attention.
We haven't been out much this week because it's been raining like crazy. We did go down to the beach and played some friendly futbol with our church friends and drank mate (of course). On that trip I made a deal with Martin that I would only speak spanish to him and he would only speak english with me. That has been really great practice for me and for him. Spanish Conversation is a lot of fun too. My teacher, Amelia, reminds me of Senora Croft in some ways and she looks like Edna Mode from The Incredibles.
Well, I'll post more when I've had some adventures. Until next time, may God continue to bless you in ever changing ways that you may spread His love and glory.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Bienvenidos: The Longest Blog I Have Ever Written
Well, it's been a crazy week but I finally have some time to get down to typing this thing out. Welcome one and all to the longest blog I ever hope to write.
The days before I left the country were awesome. I have the greatest friends that anyone could ask for and hanging out with them before I left was wonderful and sad and great and everything. The notes provided quite a bit of entertainment for the trip as well. Even though it was a hectic few days with meetings and trying to see everyone, it was a good time.
The trip got off to a slightly rocky start. We weren't able to check in for our flight because we couldn't prove that we weren't planning on staying for less than 90 days at a time in Uruguay. Which some of you may think, "Yes, you are silly boy," to which I say, "Nay." We are in fact traveling to Buenos Aires and Brazil at opportune times throughout the semester so that we are never in the country for more than 90 days at a time. ACU is sneaky like that. Eventually, through lots of calls and a fax or two we got through with the help of our sweater-vest sporting "Buddy" Nasir. Then, we were off to Miami (yes, Hannah, we sang the Will Smith song a lot). The Miami airport is the worst. Nothing was open except two or three places which were overpriced (though delicious) and the Starbucks was closed. The place we ended up going had coffee...but wait, it was ALL decaf. Needless to say, Miami (and the state of Florida for that matter) has been docked several hundred life points.
We got on the plane to Buenos Aires and settled in for a nice long flight. Now, we had learned that the flight would not be 12 hours as we were led to believe. It would be 8 1/2 hours with a three hour layover in BA followed by a two second (not much exaggeration) flight to Montevideo. The Lord was with us, however, and the captain told us shortly before we took off that the plane had been rerouted through Montevideo. Considering the majority of the people on the flight were headed to BA we kept our celebratory dancing to a minimum.
After we arrived in Montevideo we took a bus to CasaACU. We had lunch (four varieties of empanada followed by dulce de leche empanadas for dessert) and immediately fell in love with our new home. Then, we were given a scavenger hunt to get acquainted with the neighborhood around Casa. Given that we had not had much real sleep in the past 2 days it was an interesting adventure. A girl tried to sell me perfume, but that was about all that happened that was worth comment. That night we went to a restaurant by taxi. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I will forever remember the rides there and back. Taxi drivers have no fear whatsoever. Pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way, so you look both ways or die...immediately. Sitting in the passenger seat having a casual (if broken and awkward) conversation with a man who is almost killing innocent bystanders and switching lanes like a middle school girl changes boyfriends is the craziest experience I've had in a while. Now, to talk about my favorite part of the trip so far: the FOOD!
At the restaurant I ordered chivito al plato. This is an Uruguayan dish that consists of a heart attack. First, a bed of french fries is laid down. This is topped with a very thin steak. The steak is then covered with cheese and a slice of ham. Picture this in your mind. It should resemble a mountain. Now, hold that picture and add a fried egg. Who knew eggs were such a useful condiment? This meal was the most delicious thing I have eaten in a while. I really need to find a local gym...
Today we went down to La Ciudad Vieja (the Old City). We visited a few museums and a cathedral along with looking at quite a few plazas and street vendors. After we finished with the scheduled activities we were set loose to return at our leisure (well, before curfew anyhow). We had been exploring in groups of 3 or 4, but we met up with a few of the other groups and decided to walk down to the Rio de la Plata (it is the biggest body of water that is not an ocean that I have ever seen). There we walked and talked and generally looked like tourists. A few of us met four Uruguayans who were sitting on the wall by the edge of the water. They were really nice and spoke English very well. Luckily, the guy with them did not speak English as well so I talked with him in Spanish a bit. The first thing we learned from them that surprised us is that we don't have Texan accents which made us happy. Then they said something that I don't know if I will ever hear again and never expected to hear ever. After we spoke in Spanish a few times with them one of the girls said, "You are so Mexican." She was referring to the way we speak Spanish, but it was still hilarious. After we explored a little bit more we walked back to Casa.
Some of us went to the store after we got back to buy stuff for dinner. We decided on pasta with spinach sauce and leftover empanadas. We fed a group of nine for around 5 bucks. Take that Oxford! Plus, we had enough pasta leftover for some (if not all) of us to eat it again another night. We had a blast cooking together and generally being weird. After dinner we decided to try out La Cigale, an ice cream shop just a few blocks from Casa. It was amazing. They had a bunch of flavors including raspberry, tiramisu, strawberries and cream, and so many others that I'll probably try before I leave. After our ice cream adventure we came back to Casa and watched the Goofy movie. Now I need to get some sleep on a mattress I'm convinced is made of phone books stuffed in cloth. When I sit on it I don't sink...at all.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post more before I have so much that it gets to be this wordy, but, let's face it, that probably won't happen. If you made it all the way through then congratulations.
The days before I left the country were awesome. I have the greatest friends that anyone could ask for and hanging out with them before I left was wonderful and sad and great and everything. The notes provided quite a bit of entertainment for the trip as well. Even though it was a hectic few days with meetings and trying to see everyone, it was a good time.
The trip got off to a slightly rocky start. We weren't able to check in for our flight because we couldn't prove that we weren't planning on staying for less than 90 days at a time in Uruguay. Which some of you may think, "Yes, you are silly boy," to which I say, "Nay." We are in fact traveling to Buenos Aires and Brazil at opportune times throughout the semester so that we are never in the country for more than 90 days at a time. ACU is sneaky like that. Eventually, through lots of calls and a fax or two we got through with the help of our sweater-vest sporting "Buddy" Nasir. Then, we were off to Miami (yes, Hannah, we sang the Will Smith song a lot). The Miami airport is the worst. Nothing was open except two or three places which were overpriced (though delicious) and the Starbucks was closed. The place we ended up going had coffee...but wait, it was ALL decaf. Needless to say, Miami (and the state of Florida for that matter) has been docked several hundred life points.
We got on the plane to Buenos Aires and settled in for a nice long flight. Now, we had learned that the flight would not be 12 hours as we were led to believe. It would be 8 1/2 hours with a three hour layover in BA followed by a two second (not much exaggeration) flight to Montevideo. The Lord was with us, however, and the captain told us shortly before we took off that the plane had been rerouted through Montevideo. Considering the majority of the people on the flight were headed to BA we kept our celebratory dancing to a minimum.
After we arrived in Montevideo we took a bus to CasaACU. We had lunch (four varieties of empanada followed by dulce de leche empanadas for dessert) and immediately fell in love with our new home. Then, we were given a scavenger hunt to get acquainted with the neighborhood around Casa. Given that we had not had much real sleep in the past 2 days it was an interesting adventure. A girl tried to sell me perfume, but that was about all that happened that was worth comment. That night we went to a restaurant by taxi. I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but I will forever remember the rides there and back. Taxi drivers have no fear whatsoever. Pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way, so you look both ways or die...immediately. Sitting in the passenger seat having a casual (if broken and awkward) conversation with a man who is almost killing innocent bystanders and switching lanes like a middle school girl changes boyfriends is the craziest experience I've had in a while. Now, to talk about my favorite part of the trip so far: the FOOD!
At the restaurant I ordered chivito al plato. This is an Uruguayan dish that consists of a heart attack. First, a bed of french fries is laid down. This is topped with a very thin steak. The steak is then covered with cheese and a slice of ham. Picture this in your mind. It should resemble a mountain. Now, hold that picture and add a fried egg. Who knew eggs were such a useful condiment? This meal was the most delicious thing I have eaten in a while. I really need to find a local gym...
Today we went down to La Ciudad Vieja (the Old City). We visited a few museums and a cathedral along with looking at quite a few plazas and street vendors. After we finished with the scheduled activities we were set loose to return at our leisure (well, before curfew anyhow). We had been exploring in groups of 3 or 4, but we met up with a few of the other groups and decided to walk down to the Rio de la Plata (it is the biggest body of water that is not an ocean that I have ever seen). There we walked and talked and generally looked like tourists. A few of us met four Uruguayans who were sitting on the wall by the edge of the water. They were really nice and spoke English very well. Luckily, the guy with them did not speak English as well so I talked with him in Spanish a bit. The first thing we learned from them that surprised us is that we don't have Texan accents which made us happy. Then they said something that I don't know if I will ever hear again and never expected to hear ever. After we spoke in Spanish a few times with them one of the girls said, "You are so Mexican." She was referring to the way we speak Spanish, but it was still hilarious. After we explored a little bit more we walked back to Casa.
Some of us went to the store after we got back to buy stuff for dinner. We decided on pasta with spinach sauce and leftover empanadas. We fed a group of nine for around 5 bucks. Take that Oxford! Plus, we had enough pasta leftover for some (if not all) of us to eat it again another night. We had a blast cooking together and generally being weird. After dinner we decided to try out La Cigale, an ice cream shop just a few blocks from Casa. It was amazing. They had a bunch of flavors including raspberry, tiramisu, strawberries and cream, and so many others that I'll probably try before I leave. After our ice cream adventure we came back to Casa and watched the Goofy movie. Now I need to get some sleep on a mattress I'm convinced is made of phone books stuffed in cloth. When I sit on it I don't sink...at all.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post more before I have so much that it gets to be this wordy, but, let's face it, that probably won't happen. If you made it all the way through then congratulations.
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