Uruguay, etc.

Hola! Well, I had a pretty good week. My theology presentation went surprisingly well, and I was able to stay awake in my Church and State class...two good things, ha. Friday my friend Ed's girlfriend Emily (who goes to Madison but is studying abroad for the year in Brazil) arrived for a week visit. She also happened to be my Spanish class partner and friend last semester, so it's cool to have her here. We went to Clasica y Moderna, our favorite jazz club/restaurant place, again to hear a show of guitar and piano interspersed with Borges readings. Then Saturday night we went to the famous Cafe Tortoni for a very touristy/tacky but good tango show and dinner. After that we took a cab out to Palermo to go to some bars in Plaza Serrano, a very popular nightlife area where I hadn't been yet. Also Saturday was our first soccer game! We lost 2-1 to Di Tella, another BA university, but it was still really fun. It took 2 hours to get to the field, on the subway, then a commuter train, then a taxi...all for only 50 minutes of soccer...but oh well. We played on like a U-10 field, 8 v. 8, and the ref was calling absolutely everything. All of us Americans were getting super frustrated because the game is much less physical here, and everyone was way overshooting the tiny goal. The jerseys were so tiny, and there were only 8 so we had to pass them around. We also got Doritos after the game from the league, which was funny. The other team had some American girls too, and I talked to someone from Minnesota after. Sunday Fran and I went with his sister Caro and her husband to the house of the mother and father in law of the other sister. It was in this super fancy, gated neighborhood called Nordelta, about 45 min. outside the city. We played tennis, ate a delicious asado, and hung out with Fran's little cousins. It is very interesting how the entire family becomes friends with the inlaws of just one sibling. I feel like that never happens in the U.S. Anyway, everyone was super nice, and the neighborhood was insane...all these super modern, huge houses of all different styles. It was like a mix between a new Florida condo development and Stonefields (mini-mansions in Mequon) or something.

So, yesterday was our program trip to Colonia del Sacramento, in Uruguay. It was a 3 hour ferry ride across the Rio de la Plata to get to the tiny UNESCO world heritage town founded by the Portuguese in 1680. Our program director, Mario, actually has a bed and breakfast outside the town, and we went there first for lunch. It was absolutely GORGEOUS, with acres and acres of trees, a lemon farm, a pool, dogs, ivy covered walls, modern decorating, and rooms full of character. Some of the doors were from an old prison in Montevideo and had prisoners names carved in them, with slots to pass through food and everything. His small staff prepared this huge asado with chorizo, chicken, beef, and tons of sides and wine. We sat outside in the garden/yard surrounded by ponds and flowers. For dessert we had blueberry and dulce de leche ice cream and fresh fruit. After we just hung out there for awhile and then took a bus back into the historic district and just walked around for about 2 hours. The cobblestone streets and alleys of old buildings were super cool. We sat down on the pier in the setting sun for awhile as well. The river on that side is the same muddy brown as it is in BA, except apparently in Uruguay it's perfectly clean, not disgusting and polluted like the Argentina side. The brown color is actually because the river bottom is all red clay. We had thought mate was super popular here, but in Uruguay you didn't pass a single person without it. It didn't really feel like we were in a different country at all, except for having to go through customs. On the ferry home we sat up on the deck outside on this bench and just watched the stars in the windy darkness...no Big Dipper, because the constellations are different in the Southern Hemisphere (Mr. D, I thought of you!) Ok, well it's super late so I should go, that's all for now.