Uruguay!

Que Suerte! I got to see my cousin Steve in Buenos Aires last week! He’s the guitarist for the band Deep Purple and they happened to be in town while Im here. I went with some friends and had a blast! The crowd was seriously pumped up for the concert and everyone had a great time. It was pretty awesome and the band was amazing I loved how the crowd went wild for them!

Saturday we went to Uruguay..me encanta Uruguay!!! I can’t express the feeling that I had in that country, but it was amazing. First we went to Colonia which is an adorable little town with quaint old buildings and its on the river plate but it looks like the ocean to me. The town was just so adorable, stone roads and old buildings. It was very quaint and tranquil. Everything about it just felt so peaceful almost as if it was straight out of a story book. We took a bus to Montevideo , the capital that night and stayed in a hostel for the weekend. El vieja I think was the name of the hostel. It was my first hostel experience ever and I loved it! The people there were pretty awesome, and I decided I love the hostel atomosphere. It’s a bunch of people coming to stay in one place and it seems like everyone has the same goals in mind: to travel and meet other people and enjoy life. There were people there from all over, it was really cool! I also love Montevideo..its a big city with a small town feel. We stayed in the Ciudad Vieja part which is like the old city. The buildings were magnificeint! Old buildings never cease to amazing me! I am so enthralled with them, and the plazas with beaituful statues all over the city too! The people in Uruguay were so kind, friendly, and helpful! A slight difference from Buenos Aires. The feeling of Uruguay just seems different than here and I really loved it!One day we were there it rained pretty much all day but no worries we still managed to have a great time, hanging out in the hostel, running in the rain, and cooking a wonderful dinner together! It was pretty fun, we had a huge dinner and it was sooo good!

One of my best study abroad experiences so far happened in Uruguay! We were walking and an old book store caught my eye for some reason. My friend Jess and I decided to wander in and ended up meeting an amazing man and bought old books. I got an old book of argentine poems that I’m pretty excited to read. The best part of the store was that we sat and talked with the owner for about an hour. About everything..he was so wise and had a lot to say, we talked about books, love, life, todo! We went back the next day and he told us the legend of mate and read one of his favorite poems to us! It was amazing; I can honestly say I was touched by meeting that man. We definitely had a moment..the book store was old and the books were just about antiques, it was a tiny little place but it had so much character! And the owner was so interesting and helpful to us! One more reason why I love Uruguay!

Uruguay has a sandwhich called the chevito or something like that..its sooo good! It has carne, ham, bacon, chease, tomato, lettuce, a boiled egg..and possibly something else. It’s really popular there and I got to have it a couple times..loved it! Another thing I love about Uruguay is how cheap everything is! I could eat for like 2 dollars if I wanted to!

The last day in Montevideo we went to the playa! It’s actually on the “river” but it seriously looks like the ocean and you cant tell the difference. Its ocean but like river water I think or something like that. Anyways it was nice, and the sand was really nice and light! I seriously had such a great time on that trip. It’s so great to have friends here to travel with and I am truly blessed with the people on my trip! There are some great kids and it’s been a blast getting to know them!

I went to the museum of bellas artes, (fine arts) here in Buenos Aires. Quite impressive! There are paintings from the 1600’s all the way up to recent modern art. There are even pre Colombian pieces from the Andes region. The European art section had some Goya, Monet, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Lots of famous and beautiful pieces. My favorite stuff though was upstairs with the Argentine art. There was some great Argentine pieces. I especially like the modern pieces with political or social messages. There was a piece “without bread, without work”(or something similar) that really struck me. It’s a man that has no job, or food..its evident on his face the strife that the family is going through and it’s a pretty strong piece. There was also a section for photography. There was photos of Evita, Menem, Che, Castro..y mas. I love seeing the historical photographs here. There are so many events and people that have had such a profound influence on this country and its really interesting to see the photos and learn more about htem. I want to learn more about Che and the feelings towards him that’s present here. Its so interesting to me to see the other perspective that Ive never learned in the states. There were also pictures of the children of disaparecidos. I wanted to cry.. the photo showed a young man holding the pictures of his parents who are disaparecidos..looking at the pictures makes it really real..We had a day in class where we talked about the history of Argentina and the political and econimc problems that have happened. It was really interesting, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about he country since Ive been here. A lot of it is incredibly sad..

On a brighter note, Ive gone to tango y salsa classes the last two Thursdays. I’m a slow learner but its definitely been a lot of fun!
My host mom is pretty awesome, I look forward to our dinners all the time. Its really the only time that I sit and talk with her because we are never doing the same stuff most of the time. I mean im hardly ever home because theres always so much going on outside. Anyways, we sit and talk during dinner and discuss plans, or she tells me stories and we talk about our days. I really love it, plus the food is always amazing! Tonight she started reading out of a book that she found for me. Shes very cultured and is a great teacher so its good for me to listen and learn from her!