Petting tigers, spring break and meeting the President

First off, let me apologize for the amount of time between my blog posts. My computer's hard drive decided to fail, wiping everything from my computer and it took a month to get the parts to repair it. Obviously, a lot has happened since then!

We took a class trip to Buenos Aires and I absolutely fell in love with the city. This city seems so foreign and beautiful yet so familiar at the same time. The architecture reminds of the beautiful old buildings of NYC combined with the city planning I saw in Athens mixed with a very European feel. I felt so at home with it's amazing parks, art museums, artisan markets and cafes. I felt like I could stay there forever and still find new things to love. My only regret is that we only got 5 days in the city. I got to see some amazing live tango and eat some great Argentine steaks. BA absolutely amazed me, I can easily say that is one of my favorite places in the world I have ever been.

While we were there we took a day trip out to the Luhan zoo, about an hour outside the city. This was no normal zoo, they let you get in the cages with the animals! According to their website the animals are not drugged. I am not sure of the legal ramifications or if this is even moral, but we did it none the less and it was amazing! I got the fulfill a childhood dream of mine and pet and feed a tiger.

We got a week off from class for spring break at the same time as ACU. Elise, Anna, Corrine and I went to Mendoza, Argentina and then Santiago, Chile! Let me just say that none of us speak Spanish that well so it needs to be recognized how well we did literally crossing the continent with what little we knew. We flew to Mendoza, spent four days there and then took a bus to Santiago. The bus went straight through the Andes mountains. That bus ride was so scary; I thought we were going to fall off a narrow mountain pass at least a dozen times. In Santiago we got to stay with some amazing girls studying abroad with Lipscomb university.

We went horseback riding in the Mountains outside of Mendoza! Mendoza, even though technically in a desert, is known for it agriculture thanks to modern irrigation. We road bikes through the vineyards and got to go to places where they make olive oil and chocolate. 

We went to a huge hill in the city where you could see the vast city, mountains and smog that is Santiago. This city was great but very different than Montevideo or Buenos Aires, it was much more Americanized. 

Just yesterday we decided to check out a parade that was going on, as we were walking back to the house we noticed a lot of people stopping in the street and some men in military uniform. Anna discovered that the president of Uruguay was there standing on the street watching the parade! His secret service let us take a picture with him! It was awesome and he was so kind and approachable, definitely not dressed for the occasion but who expects to see the president on the street!

What a week.

This past week has been crazy and full of new experiences. Everyone here at Casa ACU is trying to get used to the work load (2 hour Spanish lessons everyday are a lot) as well as really get used to actually living here. I am slowly mastering the bus system which is the primary means of transportation within the city. We even made a successful trip to the grocery store and have been cooking some great meals!

Early in the week we took a tour of Montevideo, getting some of the more "touristy" things out of the way early on. We visited several historical sites, memorials for fallen soldiers and my favorite, the historic cemetery. Anyone who is anybody is buried here and it was just very surreal to be surrounded my so many above ground graves both hundreds of years old as well as brand new.

More importantly, carnival was this week. Every South American country has its own carnival celebration, the most famous one takes place in Rio, Montevideo however, has the longest carnival. Think like a parade...but better. Carnival features dancers, singers, drumming groups and many other interesting acts. It started at 8:30 and went past midnight! 

Me and this singer bonded 

That Sunday we got invited to a traditional Uruguayan Asado, or BBQ. The food was absolutely fantastic and the house was right on beach. It was awesome to get some very traditional food and see what rural Uruguay looks like. 

Beaches and Mate

Things are going well here at Casa ACU. I think that the reality that we are going to be here for four months is really sinking in for some people. Some are really embracing this but for others I think this is a bit scary. Some of entered a state of culture shock, realizing no one else besides us speaks english and at times it is frustrating. 

However on Saturday we went to the beach! We went to the most popular local beach called pocitos. It was gorgeous and the water felt great. We with out a doubt were the whitest people there. We had a lot of fun as a group until someone got stung by a jellyfish or a "medusa"as the locals call it. It's amazing how much spanish you can come up with when you think someone has been stung by a deadly creature. Turns out it was harmless but it was scary none the less. 

Some of the residence here at Casa ACU have begun drinking mate. Mate is a favorite drink of much of this part of South America. It has more caffeine than coffee and can be found everywhere. I tried it for the first time and it was interesting. Think very bitter water mixed with the strongest green tea you have ever had mixed with dirt. Not too bad. 

Bonus Picture: A vintage book store we explored 

Traveling & the first days

Leaving Abilene...

I'm going to be honest, flying abroad has never been a pleasant experience for me. Sitting for long hours in a cramped space with complete strangers just isn't that appealing. This trip however wasn't so bad, maybe it was because I was so excited or because I was with friends or that we only had two flights, but it wasn't that miserable. I even got three whole hours of sleep on our overnight flight!

Arriving...

Being this far away from home is so surreal. All your points of reference and familiarity just disappear, except the occasional McDonalds. All of a sudden everyone around you is speaking a language you barely understand and your thrown into a completely new environment. This is definitely going to take some getting used to. Montevideo makes it a little easier to though, being right on the beach surrounded by magnificent architecture and kind people makes for a great place to live.

The Group

Casa ACU is fantastic, it is all one building and just so cool. We are only one block off of the main road in Montevideo and there are so many restaurants, stores, churches and apartments all so close. Our hosts are fantastic and they took us all out for a traditional Uruguayan dinner. Elise and I shared this monstrosity called Chivito. It is basically a pile of everything good, including but not limited to: french fries, ham, bacon, steak, fried egg, potatoes, peppers, onions and olives. It was soooooo good.

Today, we explored the beautiful old city and walked around the city a bunch just learning the area.