A couple things:
Two days ago, Tuesday, I had my final exam for my "Education and the Society Class." It was rather difficult -- three hours of straight writing -- but the little story I want to share is that afterwards I got a ride back to my house with a friend from class, Lourdes. Hey boyfriend Santiago picked us up and we went to McDonalds (SO popular here, ha) to celebrate the end of class. The reason they wanted to go was because during November there is a fundraiser for an Uruguayan non-profit that donates 20 pesos of every BigMac ordered to the organization -- and everyone who orders a BigMac gets a little paper hand to write their name on and put in the window. So, Lourdes and Santi ordered BigMacs BUT there were no little hands left. Not just in this specific McDonalds locations were there no hands left, but all EIGHT McDonalds in the city of Montevideo were out of these little hands. I couldn't believe it. Then Lourdes said to me "Claro, es Uruguay." -- "Of course - that's just how Uruguay is." And she is right -- Uruguay is the most friendly, tuned-in, giving, and close-knit country I have ever been to, and that is only one of the reasons why I love it.
Another little anecdote is that today I had class, or rather, I was supposed to have class. My first class was cut down from 3 hours to 1 hour because a teacher missed the bus and my next class was completely canceled -- apparently because there was a student strike at the university, protesting for late night classes "el turno nocturno" for students who work during the day and a group of these students had stolen the keys to a bunch of the classrooms. So...my 6 hour day of classes was rather quickly cut down to one. I can't say I was too upset.
It really has been a LONG time since I have last written -- so long that I am not going to be able to retell everything that has happened (worth telling anyways) in the last 3-4 weeks. However, a definite highlight was a visit from my Mom and Tía (Aunt) Patti for my birthday week. I was so happy to have visitors to show around my city and we had a great time paseando: Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Punta del Este (a beach town in Uruguay). Here is a quick run-down of the "best of the best" from the week:
1) On my birthday night (the big 2-1...and no I did not get too crazy seeing as I have been living in Latin American countries for the last 7 months where basically no drinking laws apply...) we went to this great restaurant for dinner "Café Misterio" in the most ritzy barrio (neighborhood) in Montevideo. Two of my friends came with us. When we were getting out of the taxi the "street guard" (one of the useless guys that "watch" the street/open doors for taxis and ALWAYS expect tips) stuck up a conversation. We eventually mentioned it was my birthday and asked him how old he thought I was turning. His answer? THIRTY ONE. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. I think he has a few issues. Or rather, I hope he does. Although this didn't stop us from having a fun night -- yummy champagne, a TO DIE FOR chocolate dessert and lots of laughs and fun conversations.
2) In Buenos Aires we had dinner one night at a Parilla -- one of the famous grille type restaurants that serves the meat that is so often talked about in both Argentina and Uruguay. I ordered a "parillada para 2" - a assortment of meats to share. It turned out to be the nastiest assortment ever -- over half of the plater consisted of some type of intestine. EW. After almost coughing some bites up in out napkins I decided to order another cut of mean, which ended up being fabulous. Regardless, so much for the famous meat of Argentina.
3) In Punta del Este, the last leg of our trip, we enjoyed long walks along the rambla (ocean promenade), fabulous seafood dishes, and pitchers of clericó (white wine sangria with LOTS of fruit, OH, and sugar, duh). One of my favorite moments was when we were walking along the ocean and all of a sudden we noticed this huge hairy head popping out of the water -- it was a South American hairy sea lion -- these GIANTA, walrus sized, ocean creatures. For some reason the big guy reminded me of a school principal.
I could tell a LOT more stories from the trip but it would take forever, and I have another final to study for and long paper to finish, so I am going to stop with the stories for now!
