As some of you may have already heard from my parents, I traveled to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, this past weekend. It was such a fun weekend, and luckily we had a three day week (and really four days because we never have friday classes) since we has Monday off. I arrived in Montevideo on Friday evening after a hectic day of traveling. I had my last Rabies shot on Friday morning and then was supposed my friend, Amna, to catch a 12:30 boat. I ended up getting to the boat terminal at 12:15, at which point Amna told me she had forgotten her passport! Luckily the boat was delayed because of bad weather, so I told her she could probably still make it if she took a taxi home and came right back. Unfortunately she had gotten locked out of her house, and her host mom didn't get back in time for her to catch the boat I was on (that left at 2:00). She ended up getting on a 4:00 boat, and we both got to the Hostel safely around 8:00 that night. It was lucky that The other group (who went on a earlier boat) gave us the address of the hostel before we left, because it was really nerve-wracking being in a new country all alone with no idea where anything was! Anyway, we all out for dinner that night, and I had the best steak of my life (it's slowly becoming one of my new favourite things)m which made up for all the stress of the day. Later that night we went to an Irish Pub, which had some awesome live music, including an amazing Beatles cover band (which is saying a lot because there are so many of those, and we were all expecting them to have South American accents).
On Saturday we took a tour of Teatro Solis, which is one of Montevideo's historical theatres. It was huge and beautiful, and there were a couple of random actors who would do cameos throughout the tour. Then we ate lunch at El Mercado del Puerta, which was an old train station that has been converted into a ton of Parillas (which are like grills). The food at this place was so amazing, we had some of the best chorizo, sweet potato, and grilled vegetables, and with all the people, the smell of grilling and the general atmosphere it almost felt like a market scene of a disney movie! After lunch we walked down a pier along the ocean. it was so windy and freezing, which made it all the more fun. When we finally got back to the hostel we all sat by the fire for a bit and then had a nap before the night began. We had dinner again that night and then most of us stayed at the hostel for the night because we were so worn out.
Sunday we did some more walking, and we found the biggest street market I've ever seen! It was more like a flee market, with some of the most random stuff in it, and it went on for at least 20 blocks (and that's a conservative estimate). Needless to say, with nine people it was a little stressful because everyone was going at different speeds and there people everywhere so it was hard to stay together. After that we found a place to have lunch by the water. It was so beautiful, and I can only imagine how much more pleasant it is in the Summer. We walked home along a kind of boardwalk along the ocean. After another fireside nap, my friends Nick, Amna, and I went to see a play at the Teatro Solis. It was definitely an experience because the play was in spanish, and they spoke so fast, so it was pretty difficult to understand all the words. Although, I'm pretty sure we picked up most of the story line, which we were all proud of. It was kind of a bizarre, dark comedy mostly about incest, adultery and the like. It was definitely entertaining and worth seeing. That night Nick, Amna and I went back to the Irish pub from the first night where there was more great music, though this time it was more Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin covers.
This morning we got up early and got on a bus to head home. Montevideo is a very interesting city because it seems to be a mix of dirty, sort of poorer areas, and then there are beautiful, seemingly more well-off parts. I know that sounds like most cities, but the difference here was that they were right next to each other. One block you would see half torn down buildings, and neighborhoods that looked like they were falling apart, and then the next block you would see really nice restaurants and apartments, and palm trees by the beach. All in all it was an amazing, adventurous weekend and I'm hoping to have many more experiences like it.
I hope everyone is well. I am going to try to upload more pictures, but my computer has been having a little trouble with that lately, so bear with me!