I'm in love with Uruguay part 1...

This last weekend Adrian and I headed northeast to the beaches of Rocha. He took two days off from work and since the school year has ended for me I was free as well so we headed out on vacation!

We practically wore the same thing every day but for some reason we both felt it necessary to pack our huge trekking bags filled with junk we didn't use.

We started the trip about 5 in the afternoon and before we reached our first destination point, Piriapolis, we drove to a couple touristy places I hadn't been to such as Casa Pueblo, the house of a famous Uruguayan artist that overlooks the Atlantic ocean and a wavy bridge that Adrian and I drove over twice at a super fast pace to feel our stomachs in our throats.

After that thrill we were on our way to Piriapolis. We arrived at about 8:30 and there was still light out, it was early by Uruguayan standards. Adrian wanted to splurge for the night so we stayed at the 4 star Hotel Argentino with tennis courst, thermal spas and much more. It all sounded great but because it was not the high season they closed all their amenities early. It was quite frustrating. S0 we woke up early the next morning to take advantage of the spas and tennis courts. We spent an hour at the spas and then were going to play a few rounds of tennis but unfortunately found out that they were still closed. We decided Hotel Argentino did not deserve its 4 stars, what's more the service was not at all superb, they were quite cold and routine.

After we left the hotel we explored the town a bit and finished the Piriapolis tour with a hike up the highest "hill" in the town. It was a pretty good hike, and throughout the trail water was cascading down the rocks we needed to step on. Although I fell about 4 times I had a lot of fun. What's even cooler about the hike is that just before you begin the climb you can walk through labyrinths of the nature reserve park and see all kinds of animals native to Uruguay.

Stay tuned to my blog for details on days 3 and 4 :)

I'm in love with Uruguay part 1

The big party after the Elections!

After the results were announced the celebrations began and although it poured rain the Mujica supporters wouldn’t let that get in the way of this long anticipated celebration.

60% of Montevideo voted for Mujica so there was quite a crowd that blocked the busiest street in town and that crowded the rambla (boardwalk along the beach) in the Old City. Adrian, his brother, his mother, a family friend and I headed out to join the crowds. We drove first along the rambla and moved at a snail’s pace behind all the traffic that was honking and cheering at the news of their new President. We joined in the fun and I got to film during the moments in which it wasn’t raining so take a look at what I captured! It was a night I’ll never forget, old and young dancing in the streets, waving flags and singing in the rain.

And the new President is....

Hopefully I am not pronouncing victory prematurely but it's pretty certain that the new President of Uruguay will be Pepe Mujica, candidate of the Frente Amplio, a coalition of leftist parties.

Amongst the coalition are former "Tupamaros", gorilla fighters that existed before and during the dictatorship of Uruguay in the 70s, I mention this as Pepe Mujica himself was one of these Tupamaros and despite his more extreme leftist politics, still managed to be elected in one of the more conservative Latin American countries.

In 2004, the people of Uruguay already proved that they were fed up with more conservative politics by electing a Frente Amplio candidate, Tabaré Vazquez. However, Tabaré is much more conservative than his fellow Amplista candidate Mujica and it was quite an event to see him and his party win once more.

As I sit here writing this article I can hear shouts and cheering, horns and absolute chaos. It's all pretty memorable watching it unfold!

Earlier today I also got to watch as Adrián casted his vote. Voting is on a Sunday and it's obligatory for the whole country. Machines are not used and there are no booths. You walk up to a table and show your credentials, they find your picture and fingerprint within the book of names that they have for your voting district and check you off the list. Then you are instructed to walk into a room, close the door and take out the folded piece of paper that has the picture of the president you want to elect. That's all! However, If there are any markings on the paper or anything else they do not count your vote and you must place it within the envelope without anyone seeing who you have voted for or it will also be disqualified.

McDia Feliz!!

Yesterday I officially ended my strike of McDonald's hamburgers and participated in McDia Feliz here in Montevideo, Uruguay. Not only did I eat a McDonald's hamburger for the first time in about 15 years, I ate a Big Mac! I also waited in a line that stretched out along an entire city block! After 45 minutes of waiting in the sun with some of the 2 best Uruguayan gals I know-- one was 9 months pregnant---we finally received our hamburgers, and I have to say, I was pretty satisfied. The wait wasn't so bad either as we passed the time in good conversation and my friends had fun laughing at the fact that the American doesn't like to eat McDonald's hamburgers, french fries or hot dogs.

I bet you're dieing to know, why all the hype, I mean, it's only McDonald's, right? Well, McDonald's is pretty popular here but that's not why people waited for almost 45 minutes just for a Big Mac, they waited because 100% of the cost of the Big Mac was donated to the fight against cancer in children.

It's quite a day, local celebrities donate their time and help out and work as McDonald's employees for free to help keep the lines moving. Businesses buy Big Macs for employees and at every McDonald's there are lines, endless lines of people waiting to donate their money.

Me robaron el I-POD!!

I try not to get too attached to material things...one of the reasons I love living in Uruguay is because I feel like I'm escaping the rampant consumerism of the United States. Don't get me wrong, I love to buy new things and consumerism exists in Uruguay but it's not all-consuming.

Well, I got attached to this i-pod that my friend had given to me and yesterday, as I was walking in broad day light, a young man came up behind me and yanked twice on my purse, broke it and took off running with my i-pod, money, keys to my apartment and phone inside. At first I thought, "that´s life", and then I realized my i-pod was inside that bloddy bag and I stopped singing "que será" and starting cursing the bloke.

A few of my little rugrats and my recent kitchen experience

I thought I'd share with you a few photos of some of the rugrats I teach. I have 3 groups of kids, 1 group of teenagers, 2 classes of adults and 2 one on one conversation classes. The kids are quite a challenge. I need to constantly be on my toes, have something for them to do and incorporate new games or activities into the lesson so they don't get bored. Just when I think I'm running out of ideas I am saved by an idea I find in a book or something I just come up with on the spot.

The other photo is of my most recent cooking experiment...I have the slightest feeling Adrian is training me...however, he did help me cook the "tarta". I made the dough all by myself and he made the ingredients to put inside whereas the last time we made a "tarta" I tackled cooking the ingredients and he made the dough. "Tartas" are a popular meal to eat here in Uruguay, it's only a matter of making the crust then mixing a bunch of ingredients together, pour them on top of the crust, bake it all for a bit and presto! a delicious meal is served. What's more, you have scrumptious leftovers for the week! The crust I made this time was a whole wheat, cheese flavored crust, I was quite impressed with myself when it turned out well. :)