Day at the Estancia (Subtitled: Baby animals are cute)

Saturday dawned a beautiful day for our trip to the estancia (ranch). It was sunny and in the 60's, perfect jacket or long sleeve weather for running around outside. The estancia we visited featured lots of animals, a pond, a playground and good food. I don't recall the name of the estancia, it was Estancia something that begins with an R, but one of the students called it Estancia Replication and now the science name is stuck in my head, so I can't remember the real name anymore...

This was a new ranch for CasaACU to go to. It is closer to the city than the one we had been to before. It was quite nice.

This sign greeted us at the enterance. More or less "No outside food or drinks. Except you can bring your thermos and mate." Uruguayos are obsessed with mate.

As I said it was a gorgeous day and it was fantistic to be outside breathing fresh air away from the fumes of the city. When we arrived we had about an hour to wander around take pictures, etc. They did ask us not to play on the swings. So instead our boys took to chasing geese.

There were these little trail things all through the grass. When you looked closely your could see big ants carrying bits of leaves. I never followed were they were coming from or going to, but it was cool. Can you imagine so many ants walking in the same place that they eventually wear away the grass? How amazing is that??? (Matt tasted one of the same type of ant when we were on El Cerro. He said they don't taste good. Just so you know...)

After an hour of playing around they called us in for lunch and the students were excited. It was their first Uruguayan Asado... It was good... but there was lots and lots and lots and lots of meat. I sat at one end of the table with Wimon, Rosalinda, and our bus driver. I could follow their conversation, but didn't have much I could add. Wimon and Rosalinda would talk to him in Spanish and me in English. Well at some point he asked a question that I knew the answer to and they weren't paying much attention. So I answered. He looked at me shocked and said, "Wait, you speak Spanish???" :) Its kind of funny to sneak attack people like that with their language. Of course I had to explain that I understand more than I can speak. It cracked me up.

After lunch we got to go out and feed animals. They gave us bread to feed to the ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys. It makes me giggle everytime turkeys gobble for some reason. I'm afraid we made lots of Thanksgiving jokes with these turkeys.


After feeding the birds, some of the students helped bottle feed a calf. It was only 2 days old and super cute. It kept losing the bottle and trying to figure out who should be feeding it. And it was super cute. (I do realize I'm repeating myself, but it bears repeating.)

After feeding the animals we went on a wagon ride around a field pulled by Pablo driving this 'No No' tractor, sorry family joke. The wagon we were riding in is called a zorra, which is translated female fox or many other insulting things to women... which is strange...

We got to see lots of other animals on our ride including some lambs that were only a month to two months old... see cute animals.

Then we got to ride horses. We had to break into small groups and take turns. It was fun though. We had at least two Texans go on their first horseback ride ever, in Uruguay. For those of you from outside Texas, it is only a myth that Texans ride their horses everywhere.

Wimon, Lauren, and Rosalinda on our ride. The wind in Rosalindas hair makes it look like we were going faster than we were.

After the horsey rides, we had about half an hour until our snack time. So we went to the playground area. The students decided to build a pyramid. I wasn't going to get involved. but they really needed one more bottom layer person. The person that was there just wasn't built to be the bottom of a big pyramid, so I made him move and replaced him. :) We never got it all the way built. We were apparently close, but then the people in the middle gave out... whimps... I don't currently have a picture. If I get one from facebook, I'll add it back later.

We then had our snack, watched them milk a cow, and headed home. Most of us slept on the hour trip back to the city. I woke up and recognized some buildings and knew we were getting close to home. Then we all heard this funny noise that most of us recognized... wait doesn't that sound like a...
FLAT TIRE... yup it was. Our poor busdriver then had to change our destroyed tire. We were going slowly when it happened and it wasn't scary at all. Apparently that's the first time he's ever had a flat tire on a bus. Ben, one of the boys, helped him change it and then we were back on the road for our last mile home. :)

Chicken Curry and Walker Brownies (not Chicken Curry Brownies)

Sometime last week, Allie decided she would fix us curry one night. So over the course of a couple days, she gathered the ingredients. I think she we went to 4 stores trying to find ginger, we were never did find it. Ah well... it was still very good. For dessert, the Walkers fixed their famous brownies, or at least famous if you go to Minter Lane. Wimon fixed them and I got to help. :) Almost the entire group came and enjoyed supper together. Some of the girls and I did the dishes while singing Abba songs. After wards, 5 of the girls and I went to the gym. We're not sure that curry and aerobics is a brilliant idea.

Allie, in the middle, cooked dinner with Amber's, on the left, Rachel's, along with others on the right, help.

While, waiting, some of the students got to playing with some crumbs on a plate. Which sounds silly, well and it kind of was. But they kept creating a static charge on the saran wrap on the plate. It caused the crumbs to dance. The major feature was Matt screaming, "DANCE!!!" at the crumbs.

Mmmmm... Curry...

Maybe the two most important buildings in Uruguay

Building #1: El Palacio Legislativo

Wednesday was a super busy day. As soon as classes were over we headed toward the Palacio Legislativo (The Legislative Palace). It is called the palace because they guy who designed it didn't want to design just any old legislative building, he wanted to design a palace. It is really something. While it was a bit tough to hear our tour guide, it was really great to see this beautiful building. Unlike last time I was here, the Senate was not in session so we got to see their chambers. Uruguay has 37 Senators, unlike the U.S., the Senators represent the whole country and are voted on by the whole country. They have 99 equivalents to Representatives which represent the Departments (or States.) Anyway, here are a few pictures.

The Palacio Legislativo from the East Side.

The main hall there are many types of marble and granite decorating the building. Almost all is from Uruguay.

This is one of the mosaics in the main hall. They are so detailed you pretty much have to be told that its a mosaic and not a painting.

Before we went into the library we had to wait awhile because a Representative was being interviewed. But we did manage to catch the changing of the guard, so that was cool.

Before we went on our next adventure, we decided a potty break might be a good idea. Our guide showed us where the women's bathroom was. It was a one potty bathroom, for 13 of us women. Apparently the men's bathroom had 8 potties. I guess we can tell which gender was in the building more when it was built.

We then hopped into Taxis to go to our next destination. I was really proud of myself because I was in the front seat and conversed with our driver!

Building #2: El Estadio Centenario

We headed off to our second stop which was the World Cup Qualifying Match between Uruguay and Colombia. The first FIFA world cup was held in Centenario and Uruguay won the first World Cup. They are the smallest country ever to do so. Of course that was over 70 years ago...

When we got to the Stadium, we met several of our friends from church. Two of the men Antonio and Aldebar, and 4 of the youth, Diego, Martin, Andrea, and Natalia. Our tickets were for the East side of the stadium in a section where we don't have assigned seats, so we got there an hour early to get a good section for all 25 of us. It was cold but fun. We learned some soccer songs that were ok to sing, and well... some words we shouldn't say. :) We saw #9 from Colombia fall to the ground with a severe leg injury every few minutes only to get up and start running again. There were 2 red cards and at least two yellow cards. It was an exciting game. Even more so since Uruguay won 3-1. :)

After the game we tried to stick together and avoid getting pick-pocketed on our way home. We made it home safely. The guys from the youth group from church (who are now college aged) are really good about watching out for us. Rosalinda and I stayed at the back of the group to make sure no one got side tracked. Diego and Martin stayed back with us. They are such nice boys.

Here are some pictures from the game:

So we could buy a few Uruguayan flags if we wanted.

Waiting in line to get in.

Natalia using her Uruguayan flag as shade.

Oh yeah and there was a game going on. Uruguay is in blue. I think #9 for Colombia is throwing the ball in. He's the big flopper. I also have a picture of him rolling around on the ground about the tenth time it happened.


At half-time they gave us confetti. Our group ended up with several bags. The game then came to blow said confetti at each other. (Its NOT snowing.)

And we won!!!!


When we got home the kids very nicely shared the left over spaghetti with each other. Notice Kate, Jaimie, and Abel in their Uruguay Jerseys.

It takes two to Tango, but no profe required

Monday night was Tango night at CasaACU. I had promised Dario I'd go to his step class which was at the same time. (I didn't know they were at the same time when I made the promise.) He wasn't there which is a whole other story, but it did give me a convenient excuse to miss the beginning of the lessons and just take pictures of everyone dancing. I did the tango lessons last time, and it was fun, but kind of awkward. :) Instead I took something like a hundred pictures in an effort to get a few good ones.


After the guys and girls had practiced their steps alone, the instructors told them to get a partner and start trying to dance. That led to this awkward moment when everyone just ended up in a big circle trying to figure out what to do. Back to Junior High.

They started out having everyone dance at arms length, which is easier.

Then after they had practiced at arms length for awhile, the instructors showed them how they were supposed to be for the dance. The instructor told them to leave room for another person. Wimon piped up and told them to leave for Jesus. For the record, this picture isn't posed, I managed to catch them just as they started and were looking at me.

Because the girls out number the guys two to one, the instructors brought more people to help. This was the favorite guy for the girls to dance with. My favorite Facebook description of him by one of the girls: "The hot guy who didn't speak English, but his sweater smelled good." That's a longer nickname than we usually give people when we don't know their names, but it works.

Sing with Joy to the Lord

What a great Saturday! In the afternoon, Wimon, Rosalinda, several of the students and I went to a fair called "Hecho Aca," or "Made Here." It wasn't so much an open market as a higher end crafts fair. It was all in doors and we had to pay an enterance fee. It was really neat to see the stuff they had. The Uruguayans are really proud to displays all their wares made here. It was mostly artwork, jewelry, knicknacks for around the house... you know craft fair stuff. It was more on the edge of town so we took a bus. We knew the bus we took was going to the neighborhood we wanted, but we didn't know that it was one that took a more indirect route. We ended up seeing some of the poorest neighborhoods in Montevideo, which was an intersting contrast to Hecho Aca, as almost everyone there was probably upper middle class. I was tired and came back sooner than the others. My bus ride home took probably a third of the time that the ride there took, but it wasn't as interesting.

When Wimon and Rosalinda came home, they brought Chinese food for dinner for the three of us. It is such a blessing to be here with them. I've been friends with them for several years and always respected and admired them. But I have loved getting a chance to spend so much time with them. We have a good time hanging out and even discussing business... which believe or not does happen sometimes... I promise we do work. And really, they work A LOT... I don't know how they keep up the pace. As we were finishing up dinner, we got a great surprise. Raquel, our normal cook who has been on vacation, and her husband Luis stopped by to say, "Hi!" They had only been back a few hours. It was great to see them. I feel like saying that Raquel is our cook is the understatement of the year. She is one of the great parts of living in Uruguay. We are really excited to see her.

After Raquel left, we finished up dinner then heard this beatiful sound from the courtyard. Our students were singing. They just had spontaneously started singing then went after songbooks. Well if you know the Walkers and I well, you know that singing is something we can't resist. Not everyone was out the whole time, but probably over the course of a couple hours of singing almost everyone in the house was out at one time or the other. We sang old and new favorites from both an OLD "Great Songs of the Church" and from the latest addition of the Minter Lane Hymnal. What a blessing! Rosalinda assured them that we could do this everynight and it would be ok with us. We finally quit around 11 in respect to our neighbors. :)

Have I mentioned that this group ROCKS??? I am so blessed to have been able to come to two times to South America with two great groups of students.

Times are changin'

I'm not sure if its living in Uruguay or living with college students, but my daily schedule is certainly different than it is when I'm in Abilene. I stay up much much later and sleep much later. Actually, I joke that I'm still on Abilene time. At home I go to bed at 10 and get up at 6, here we are 2 hours ahead I generally go to bed at midnight and get up at 8.

Wednesday was a long but good day. In the afternoon we went on a 3 hour tour, (Hahahaha... now the Gilligan's Island song is stuck in your head) of the city. We started out at the oldest city cemetery where lots of important people are buried. Like most major cemeteries in this part of the world, it was full of impressive monuments and crypts. From there we went to one of the big tourist hot spots, Mercado del Puerto (the Port Market), then onto El Cerro, the hill I referred to in a previous post. After that the tour gets a bit fuzzy for me, as I kind of dozed off in the bus. It was cool and rainy outside, we were warm in the bus. :) I did learn several things about the history of MVD that I didn't learn last time.

Thursday finished off the school week for me. I taught P-chem first thing in the morning and then went to Spanish Conversation after. When lunch time came around, I was beginning the weekend. :) All of the students except for Alli have class on Thursday afternoon, so she and I went to the gym, where we were tortured by another of my friends, Ezti. Thursday night, we are offering to do English Conversation with people who want to practice their English. We had a good turn out for our students, but not so much from other people, but that's ok. Maybe next week.

The first week of classes pretty well wore everyone out. Friday became a day of rest, which was nice since it was cool and rainy. The Introductory Spanish students had class in the morning. The rest of us spent the day running errands and curling up where it was warm and reading, watching movies, and/or playing games. Oh and taking naps... I don't nap... I took two on Friday. It was a nice day. In the evening to do something to use some energy, several of us went to the gym at 8. Lauren and I went to dinner at Molto Bene at um... 11:15 for dinner. The same people work there as last time I was here. It turns out that at least one of the servers remembers me. When we got back, most of the students and I played a big round of Taboo. When we realized it was 1:15, we thought we might should go to bed. This morning I slept til after 11. I'm not sure when that happened last... probably when I was here.

Back in the Saddle

Classes started on Monday and we are getting more into a routine. I'm teaching Biochem on Monday and Wednesdays and P-Chem on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have 9 in biochem and 6 in P-chem. I actually have a total of 10 science students this semester. I have been accused in the past of not doing any work at Study Abroad, but I just figure you guys aren't as interested in hearing about what I'm teaching in classes. :)

I'm definitely going to have to get used to teaching for an hour and a half again. On Monday, I was lecturing along in biochem looked at my watch and realized it was nearly 2:30. I thought, "Man I didn't get nearly as far as I thought I would." Since we were doing only review, I told the students to review a set of structures they were supposed to know from organic chemistry for the quiz on Wednesday and let them go. I gathered all my stuff up, went down stairs, and thought "Wait a second... I don't get the internet to myself until 3 o'clock. We're supposed to be in class til then." All the students have their Latin American Studies class at 3. So I called everyone back to the room for 30 more minutes of class. That is certainly one handy dandy thing about living in the house together. I'm not sure the students thought it was so handy. But they came back without grumbling. :)

Now those of you who read my blog last time are probably thinking that I have gone four whole days without mentioning the gym. Well not to worry... I made it there yesterday. I stopped by in the morning and got to visit with Fabricio. I managed to do the whole conversation in Spanish. I was pretty proud! When I walked into the back of the gym where he was sitting... he did a double take and jumped up and gave me a big hug. He also happened to wearing the ACU shirt I sent to him after I returned last time. Which was pretty awesome since he didn't know I was coming. In the evening I knew Dario was teaching. I couldn't go to his class, but I stopped by afterwards to say hello. I got another big hug and got to visit for awhile. He said he kept looking for me in his classes and was dissappointed when I didn't come. It is so fun to see them again.

The reason I couldn't go to Dario's classes was because I was hanging out with Rachel and Rosalinda. Since it was Rachel's last night, I thought that was important. :) We walked down to the Old City and did some shopping. We also managed to stop at McDonald's for ice cream with dulce de leche topping. Mmmmmmmm

Today (Tuesday), in addition to the class I taught, I also attend Advanced Spanish Conversation. Amelia, the teacher, is the same person who tutored me last time. She was sure I was ready. I wasn't so sure. There are only 3 students in the class in addition to me, and they seem happy to have me there. I was afraid I'd be way behind the other three, but I was right in the middle. It was pretty fun. And conversation is certainly the area where I want to do the most work.

This afternoon, Rosalinda and I took Rachel to the airport to see her off. While standing in line we met a really intersting retired professor for University of Arizona who lives in Punta del Este, THE resort town in South America. She is among other things a cardiologist who did some work UTSouthwestern.

This evening I took 6 of the girls to my gym. Valeria, one of the instructors I made friends with last time, was teaching. She is so fun and energetic. The girls loved it. They give me and my friends a special deal at the gym...so we get to go for a little less that $10/ month. I'm just so excited everyone else had fun. Its always a little scary when you tell people how great something is... But the legend of Gimansio Urbano lives on! :)