It turns out that Uruguayans enjoy a good party, especially the ones from San Jose. Since we are blessed to have a big house, we have decided to share it whenever possible. After some discussing with the San Jose crowd, plans for my 23rd birthday party were in progress. It turns out that in Uruguay, the birthday person is expected to host a party anyways.
Savannah did a lot of work planning the menu and preparing un monton of yummy desserts. We made about 200 oreo balls, chocolate chip cookies with hand-cut chocolate chips, and chocolate cake from scratch. We also served taco soup, fruits, and veggies, but I declared the theme to be chocolate.
We invited everyone we have met so far in this country, but about 20 people came, including the four of us. There were eight friends who came from San Jose and several more from Montevideo. We started out with the game signs, which works super well across languages. As more people arrived, we broke into dancing. The party ended at about 1 am, which is pretty tranquilo for this country.
I was very surprised to receive several gifts, including a new leather wallet from my team that came from the expo that was in our neighborhood all last week. I also got some jewelry from my Uruguayan friends. The party was SO much fun for me. I felt so welcome from the many Uruguayans who have embraced us so far. Dancing is one of my favorite things so I am extremely grateful to be in a culture that loves to celebrate.
What's even more interesting is that the party continued to Saturday night, after a large youth event. Several friends from San Jose had come to Montevideo for this event and were waiting for Lyle to give them a ride back. They brought yet another party to our house until about 12:30, and we worked on some more dance skills. Luckily we still had many oreo balls.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Weeks One and Two in Montevideo: City Life
Our first two weeks had a lot to do with getting to know the city. The first hurdle was learning how to cook here. We did not find the grocery store to have the cheaper prices we expect in South America. Beef is a huge industry here so that is the most popular meat option. They also have ham and chicken but no turkey. The most obvious missing items are peanut butter, chocolate chips, and salad dressing variety.
Popular food items are Italian pasta, beef sandwiches, and a hot drink called mate. Mate here is like coffee in the states. People carry around thermoses of hot water and drink it all day long.
My biggest frustration so far has been with the city buses. They are not user friendly like the New York subway that I'm used to, which has a map at every station and signs galore. Here, the bus stops are not always marked with which buses come and it's much harder to know where to get off because the roads names are extremely long and often abbreviated. We have had some fun missing our bus stop stories. Buses are usually extremely crowded, but the strange thing is we have had buses pass the stop because they are too crowded to let more people on. This is not normal for LA I'm told, as in most cities people just push their way on to overcrowded buses.
Popular food items are Italian pasta, beef sandwiches, and a hot drink called mate. Mate here is like coffee in the states. People carry around thermoses of hot water and drink it all day long.
My biggest frustration so far has been with the city buses. They are not user friendly like the New York subway that I'm used to, which has a map at every station and signs galore. Here, the bus stops are not always marked with which buses come and it's much harder to know where to get off because the roads names are extremely long and often abbreviated. We have had some fun missing our bus stop stories. Buses are usually extremely crowded, but the strange thing is we have had buses pass the stop because they are too crowded to let more people on. This is not normal for LA I'm told, as in most cities people just push their way on to overcrowded buses.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
First Weekend - Fiestas Galore
Our first few days in Uruguay consisted of many parties. You see,we spent Thursday night flying from one LA country to the next,we arrived Friday at noon, stopped in our apartment, drove the hour from Montevideo to San Jose, and arrived just in time for a Uruguayan holiday!
Saturday was Uruguayan Independence Day,but instead of celebrating that, they stay up all night Friday celebrating Noche de Nostalgia. Everyone dresses up in outfits of decades gone by, and we were invited to a party with the young people of the church in San Jose. The party was Super fun, with dancing, and a midnight barbecue.
On Saturday, we went to a children's group with Claren. We learned some of our favorite children's songs in Spanish, and played some soccer of course.
Sunday was another party! It was a lunch at the church in San Jose, complete with a band and lots of cake! There was a huge crowd and it was so fun to see everyone celebrating.
Saturday was Uruguayan Independence Day,but instead of celebrating that, they stay up all night Friday celebrating Noche de Nostalgia. Everyone dresses up in outfits of decades gone by, and we were invited to a party with the young people of the church in San Jose. The party was Super fun, with dancing, and a midnight barbecue.
On Saturday, we went to a children's group with Claren. We learned some of our favorite children's songs in Spanish, and played some soccer of course.
Sunday was another party! It was a lunch at the church in San Jose, complete with a band and lots of cake! There was a huge crowd and it was so fun to see everyone celebrating.
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