Welcome to NYC: Spanish Edition

Hello wonderful friends!

Yesterday I arrived back in Montevideo after spending some time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Population: 13 million. Food: the BEST I have ever eaten. People: highly fashionable. Girls: look like models off the runway. Buildings: very European and GINORMOUS. Art: unmatched. If you couldn't tell, I liked the city just a tiny bit ;) lol

Our time was spent touring major areas of the city. I thought I would break up the trip by neighborhood.
DOWNTOWN: Downtown reminded me of New York with its bustling streets, bright lights, and skyscrapers galore. Our hotel was only ten minutes away from the widest avenue (but not highway) in the WORLD, Avenida 9 de Julio. Any guesses how wide it is? 16 whopping lanes plus huge medians and side streets. This street is massive!
LA BOCA: This neighborhood has become a tourist area but started as a poor area for immigrants. It is still home to many immigrants living in colorful, tin houses and abounds with art, culture, local flavor, and bright colors! We also saw tango dancers here! Fitting as Argentina is the home to tango!
PLAZA DE MAYO: This historical district included the Casa Rosada, the president's house, and it really is pink. Now THAT'S my kind of city lol.
Here I also learned about Argentina's dark, corrupt, but fascinating political and economic background. Argentina was controlled by a military dictatorship a few decades ago and also experienced an economic collapse in 2001. The most interesting part to me was the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. This is a group women who still meet regularly in protest and in search of their children who were kidnapped during the military dictatorship. The corrupt dictatorship imprisoned, tortured, and killed around 30,000 "suspicious" citizens and the government is still finding mass graves around the city. Some of the children, however, survived and are being reunited with families today. I'm probably not explaining all the aspects to this conspiracy correctly but it's fascinating. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madres_de_Plaza_de_Mayo. The wonders of Wikipedia yes?
Hearing Argentina's history made me so grateful that I was able to grow up in a country with generally stable politics and economics. It also made me realize how little I know about world events! How did I not know about Argentina's economic collapse that happened only nine years ago?? It was a humbling reminder to me that America is NOT the center of the world!
PALERMO: The fashion district with classy boutiques. I'm not going to lie, I may have lusted over some of those thousand dollar clothing items! haha. I also had the best coffee in my nineteen years of life in Palermo. Aroma brand coffee with dulce de leche (a rich caramel flavor) ice cream mixed into it!
RECOLETA: This neighborhood featured a huge, beautiful cemetery, cute high rise apartments, a beach front view, and the Flores Generica, an incredible flower sculpture that opens and closes depending on the time of day!
THE PORT: The port area features the Women's Bridge, a architectural wonder. It also features many yachts and highrises and was beautiful at night. The nigth we went there were a handful of Argentine couples getting their wedding pictures taken in front of the bridge!

My time in Buenos Aires was filled with incredible sights, delicious tastes, and memories to last a lifetime. I wish I could explain the sights more thoroughly but if anyone is interested there are pictures on Facebook.

The Value of Silence

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.” -Mother Teresa

This past weekend I was able to travel a couple hours away from the city to an Alianza, the Spanish word for farm. Immediately, I noticed the stark contrast between the bustling, boisterous city and the serene, silent farmlands. Don't get me wrong, I'm a city girl at heart. But having a day out in nature was quite relaxing and much needed!

We spent the day riding horses, swimming, exploring, and of course eating delicious carne y cafe. Riding horses among lakes and rolling hills was the highlight of the day for me. Something about riding horses in the silence of nature allowed me to think more clearly. It was one of those peaceful moments that are hard to duplicate in the unsleeping city. I agree with Mother Teresa, often silence is necessary to find God. And this silence does not just come from retreating to a quiet location like a farm, it comes from shutting our mouths and listening for God as well. Something I have never learned well! We can take some good lessons from God's Creation... it is still and quiet. I've never heard a flower protest or a kangaroo complain or a mountain gossip. A lot of good can come from that silence. I'm so thankful that I was able to experience this for one day out on the Alianza.

On Friday, our group will be traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a week! No silence for us in this city of 10 million people! haha. I hope to come back with some great stories and pictures. Until then, hugs friends!

TOMS: Reason #290,390,698 why Uruguay is Awesome

TOMS shoes. One of my favorite companies/causes on planet earth. I'm a fan to say the least. I learned some interesting history behind TOMS yesterday that made me love this country all the more.
The design of TOMS shoes originates from a popular shoe design from the Argentina/Uruguay area called alpargatas. Alpargatas were well known in the area wayyy before TOMS and look very similar. When Blake, the founder of TOMS, traveled through Argentina in 2006, he saw that the children had no shoes to wear and, therefore, designed his company's shoes after the shoes from that region.
So not only can Uruguay boast of its amazing food, beaches, and coffee, they can also boast of having the original design for TOMS! Best yet, the TOMS famous sky blue and white striped logo/flag looks strikingly similar to the Uruguayan and Argentine flags. Coincidence? No way.

A (Not So) Typical Day in My Life

Warning: this post could be a bit dry, but it is still important. Today I thought I would go through a typical day in the life of me, a study abroad-er. (How's THAT for conceited! Kidding.) I realize that I have been posting mostly about specific experiences, but I think its important to explain what I have generally been up to here as well.

My day starts with breakfast, often cooked by our amazing cook Raquel, whom I am convinced has the power to make anything she touches melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and (rarely) Fridays I have classes during the day. My classes include 11 hrs of Spanish a week (talk about a headache at times... but SO good for me!), one Bible missions class (probably my favorite), a Latin American studies class, and an online literature class. The best part about classes is that they are so applicable to where I am living now. For the first time in my life, I WANT to learn Spanish and WANT to learn about this country's history. It matters because it's where I am. Lunch is cooked by Raquel and provide a nice break from class. Classes are typically done by 4 or 5 every day.

After that time, various activities consume my evening. On Mondays, we have movie night as a group. This past week we watched Stranded, a documentary about the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in the 70's. Wednesday nights, another student and I head up an English conversation club at the Alianza, a school that teaches English to locals. A group of locals come and we literally just talk to them for an hour to improve their English. We have so enjoyed this time and have gotten to know locals! Thursday nights, we do a second English conversation service, this time at the church next door. These are similar to the Alianza, except they are faith based. We have the locals read the gospels and try to incorporate Christian values into the conversation.

On weekends and free weeknights, we usually explore the bustling city. Whether it be going down the the beach to jog, drinking cortados at a local cafe, doing homework (what? we actually study here?! haha), hanging out with the teens from the local church, or finding a local event such as a concert or market, there is always something exciting to do. Sunday mornings, I am hoping to attend a church not far from the casa. Last week was my first week there, and I loved it! How amazing is it that a service in another language can still have such an impact on my spiritual walk? God is good.

That is a typical day in my life this semester. Typical isn't the best word to use, however, because every day holds something different. It is nearly impossible to have a "regular schedule." We take many trips outside the country, feildtrips within the city, or attend random events that change up everything. For example, tomorrow we are spending the day a couple hours away from Montevideo to ride horses and swim! Pray I don't fall off of the horse and I will write again soon! Chao amigos!

Beauty in Death

The last activity I pictured myself doing on a warm Sunday afternoon in Montevideo was going to a cemetery. I guess I envisioned my afternoon being composed of beaches, street markets, and coffee, the objects that shape most of my afternoons here in this beautiful country. This afternoon, however, my awesome (and I really do mean awesome) teacher and friend Ronnie Rama has brought three of us students to the cemetery.
Why are we here? Well, several reasons.

One, for the sake of history. There is much to learn about this country's view on death and burial. Cemeteries in Uruguay, and many South American countries, are nothing like the cemeteries in the states. Here, families buy plots of land and a corresponding wall space to be buried together. Each plot of land features a statue, monument, house, or other structure unique to that family. Also, the bodies are stored in the thick walls of the cemetery, the families' wall space, for two years. After those two years, they are removed, compressed, and put into the plots of land. The system is very interesting but makes sense. Ronnie also taught us about the typical "symbols of death" and what they represent. For example, an upside down burning torch found on many tombs represents the light on the other side, or life after death. An hourglass with wings represents the concept "time flies." Who knew cemetery symbolism could be so interesting.

Secondly, put best in the words of Ronnie, "visiting a cemetery can be life-affirming." Being in the presence of thousands of dead affirms that you are alive. It reminds me that life is short. We are living in the dot with the line of eternity ahead of us. We are breathing. We are walking. We are experiencing life. And we should experience this short moment to the fullest.

Third reason, for the sake of art. Each grave is a work of art- full of symbolism, sculptures, inscriptions, design, and intricate architecture. In a strange way, the cemetery is beautiful. Beauty can be found in death because each monument represents the unique life and accomplishments of an individual. The graves are nothing like graves in the states, cookie cutter tombstones that seem to have come from a magazine. (I wonder what a magazine for tombstones is called... Tombstones R' Us? How awkward.) Acres upon acres of large sculptures. A morbid art museum. It is awesome, once you get past the fact that you are surrounded by thousands of skeletons.

Overall, this outing gave me insight into the country's beliefs on death and a view of some fantastic sculptures. Most of all, I was reminded that I am alive and should be using this precious life for God's glory and to spread His name!

Don't worry, the rest of my Sunday was filled with less morbid events, like drinking cortados and inhaling absolutely fantastic desert at a local restaurant. Until next time!