We have only been in the city of Paysandu (in the 'departamento' of Paysandu) for about 3 days now, but it seems like much longer! Our hosts here have been wonderful, and are constantly checking up on us. It is impressive how welcoming and friendly the people are here. They make it so easy to feel at home, even though everything is so different. The department is about 100,000 people but the city feels pretty small and is much less modern to my Americanized aesthetic, but I am getting accustomed to things (including the very strong accent and slurring of words) and beginning to feel comfortable here.
We had a long bus ride from Montevideo, but we revived ourselves after checking in the Mykonos hotel (quiet and quaint, and a bit of a change from our modern, upscale hotel in Montevideo), and went on our first adventure here. Carolina, one of the younger teachers we are working with, invited us out on a small boat with her cousin, her cousin's husband, and their 13 year old daughter. It was the perfect welcome to our new city... the weather was gorgeous, and we went out to an island in the river between Uruguay and Argentina, right by 'el puente', the bridge which connects the two countries between Paysandu and Colon. On the island we had drinks and lots of pastries, which is what people do around 6pm ('tea time', left over from the British influence here), since they eat so late. Usually people also drink 'mate', the traditional very strong tea here, drank out of a gourd and metal straw which filters the herbs. The family was very funny and so welcoming, we felt right at home. Later that night we went out to dinner with some of the other host teachers, and were shown a bit more around the city.
Sunday we finally had some time to rest after a busy busy week, and in the afternoon we went to look at a few living options. Ultimately, we have decided to go with the first apartment that we saw, which was the only option where we could live totally on our own. It is in a surprisingly new and modern building and we are getting it for a very fair price, so I feel pretty good about it. It was never used as a fully livable apartment, just an office, so it is missing some things, but the people who normally rent it are not going to be using it for a while, so they are going to put some things in so they can rent it out and have it be more livable. Our hosts are also lending us some things (like beds!) so that worked out well. We will hopefully start moving out tomorrow, and will be in by Thursday. It is close to the center of town, where our teacher's college is, and also close to the elementary school, so we will never have to feel unsafe or have unreasonable distances.
Last night we went to the teacher's college for the first time... they are renovating their building, so they are unfortunately being housed in a former hotel, so it isn't the greatest situation, but they call themselves a big family, so it still has a very hospitable atmosphere. We got a very warm introduction by the director and one of our hosts in front of a large portion of the school, then we introduced ourselves, then they sang us a song! It was very sweet. We got a tour of the place, met as many people as we could, then sat in on an english class, which was really interesting.
Today we went to the elementary school for the first time. For now I am actually working at the same school as Elizabeth since there are a few different outbreaks of illnesses at my school, and everyone agreed I should hold off on going there for a bit, especially given how I've been sick recently. I was so impressed how quickly they took care of that... we spoke about it on Sunday, then later that night I received a couple of text messages from our hosts telling me it was all squared away, and I got a phone call the next morning from Patricia in the Fulbright office, who coordinates everything for us, saying that she spoke to the two school directors and everything was confirmed. It was very reassuring to know what good hands I was in.
Today at the elementary school was very fun... we were introduced to everyone then walked around with the director, who is a very funny, jovial guy, and then we went with him to a ceremony being held in a plaza and run by various school officials and schools to celebrate the beginning of the school year in commemoration of Jose Varela, the father of the public education system in Uruguay, who believed every child deserved an equal education. It was very nice, with a children's choir, and the kids from the public music school playing some songs.
Then we went back to the school and joined four different classes throughout the school day. The kids had tons of questions for us and were definitely fascinated by us and it was pretty adorable. They would hug and kiss us goodbye, and ask us lots of funny things. I was very impressed with what they can do with very few resources, as well as very impressed with the computers that the government gives each child in the school system. It is truly an amazing venture they have to get all kids on board with technology for learning.
Those are all the highlights for now... I'm very excited to finally move into our apartment Thursday and to be able to cook and stop living out of a suitcase, although that will also mean I will no longer have free wireless internet. I will do my best to still be in touch through the interwebs, and will hopefully be getting my own wireless modem within the next few weeks. Next week for Easter our city has 'Semana de la Cerveza', literally 'Beer Week' in honor of the brewery that used to be in Paysandu (although it closed a few years ag0), which is a huge tourist attraction with lots of festivities and concerts. The other Fulbrighters in Salto will hopefully be coming to visit, as well as one of the Fulbright professors, who is coming to visit with her family next week, and possibly some of the Fulbrighters in Montevideo. We also will be going to Salto for a visit, where we will definitely have to spend some time soaking in the natural thermal baths there. More posts to come!
Here is the link to my Flickr site, where I will be periodically posting all of my photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/allisonbloom
Enjoy!
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