The Uruguayan Curse

Once again, I am terribly guilty of neglecting this poor blog, but I will try to highlight all that has been going on over the past couple of weeks. I have been working at my new placement in the Department of Second Languages, which is a government group that runs all English teaching and Portuguese teaching programs specifically in primary (elementary) schools. I am running some conversation groups for primary English teachers, as well as helping out on any projects that they need a native eye for, etc. So far it has been really great. Last week I helped out at a teacher-training event and set up my conversation groups, which I started this week, and all the teachers in them are really interesting, motivated, and enthusiastic, so it should be lots of fun. My other placement is still a bit of a mystery, but I am waiting to look into it further until after my parents visit. THEN I will really put in some initiative to get started and find out what I'm supposed to be doing.

As for other news... through some contacts with our rabbi in Westport, I have been able to connect with a cantor here who invited me to attend his Conservative synagogue. Last Saturday, Kate (another Fulbrighter and, in my opinion, definitely worthy of being labeled an honorary Jew) came with me to attend services. Even though the cantor had given our names to the security guards, convincing them to let us in was quite a task (um, did we look like terrorists?). By the time the torah portion rolled around, I was feeling very at home; I was really struck by just how similar the service and whole setup felt. I finally met the cantor in person, and he introduced me to another woman who is involved with the Montevideo Hillel. Everyone was nice and welcoming. After spending 4 months trying to overcome feeling like a foreigner, it felt good to be in an environment and community where I knew I belonged.

Then on Tuesday night I accompanied Veronica, the woman I met at synagogue, to her Hebrew class at the Hillel. The class was really fun, and there is a new session starting in a few weeks, so this might finally be my chance to learn some Hebrew! Haha of course learning a new language in a language that is already my second language is a unique challenge. In a weird twist of fate, there was another girl from the U.S. in the class who works for the Hillel, she lives very close to me, and doesn't know too many people in Uruguay yet, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her better... of course along with the Uruguayans in the class.

This week there are also lots of visitors... friends, boyfriends, and this Saturday, my parents! I'm trying to plan some things so we won't be searching for things to do; tomorrow's task will be to buy a whole slew of bus tickets. I have been trying my best to adapt to life here: frequent food shopping, taking the bus, figuring out the quirks of our apartment (like discovering that the water was making us sick, so we need to drink bottled or filter it), hanging out with the other Fulbrighters, settling into my new job, getting involved in different activities, and just putting out my feelers for anything else that might enrich my life here. I still have a long to-do list of things I need to start to explore, but luckily I still have plenty of time.

I think those were some of the highlights for now... after my parents visit I will be sure to post again about the week with my family! And as for the title of this entry... a la when I left in March, just as my parents are preparing to leave to come here, there was yet ANOTHER huge storm (with hail, even in the middle of the summer), and it left many houses in Westport, including ours, without power. This seems to be an unfortunate trend!

Montevideo at last!

Greetings from Montevideo! It has taken me forever to get myself to sit down and write this entry, but I know it is time. During our last week in Paysandu we had a very nice time visiting with everyone and saying all of our goodbyes... it was sad, but I also felt fortunate to have the opportunity to express to everyone just how much we appreciated all they had done for us to make our time there so fruitful in such a short time. I will miss all the friends we made, the mentors and teachers we worked with, and especially all the kids at the elementary school. The last day we were there they had a party to celebrate the beginning of their two week winter vacation, and they were dedicating dances to us, giving us cards, hugs and kisses, and it was so sincere and loving. It was a wonderful way to say goodbye and a sweet last memory with them. We also baked up a storm and had a little party with some of our mentors to say goodbye, where we exchanged photos and reflected on the experience. We were the first Fulbright English Assistants to be placed in Paysandu, and it is my hope that they will continue to send ETAs there and the program will grow even more.

Then, with no more goodbyes left to say, we packed up our apartment and headed out to Montevideo. When we first arrived we checked into our hotel (one block from la Rambla, the boardwalk along the ocean), and then went over to another Fulbrighter's house for a late dinner. It has been especially nice this week to catch up with the three research-grant Fulbrighters that have been living in Montevideo this whole time, and learn all the tips and tricks they have learned living here, as well as share experiences with culture, work, research, social lives, traveling, etc etc. One of these Fulbrighters, Kate, is my new neighbor, and has been graciously showing me the ropes and has had us all over several times, including a great little pot-luck party we threw together for the Fourth of July.

After we arrived, the next day we had a meeting with Fulbright about our next placements as well as began our housing search. As for work, our placements here are very different from what we were doing before. Everyone has two placements; some people are working in the high schools, or in a teacher's college again, or in various government groups. I am working for the government's Department of Second and Foreign Languages. Through them, I will be running creative conversation groups for English teachers around the city, as well as carrying out various projects and helping out on anything else. My second placement is still very unclear to me... I am supposed to be working with teachers that are doing an English teaching certificate for primary schools, which is a new certification program in its first year of life, so it is still getting off the ground. This week is still vacation, so I won't really find out what I am doing for sure until next week and the coming weeks.

As for housing, the three ETAs from Salto signed a lease for a house they found, and it is really awesome... this sort of secret bungalow, ski-lodge meets Mediterranean style, loft-filled funky little haven. It is pretty sweet. Elizabeth and I ended up going with an apartment that a real estate agent that Fulbright set us up with showed us. She only showed us apartments in the most expensive, fanciest neighborhood, but I am very happy so far with what we chose. The building is a block from the ocean, in the safest, nicest neighborhood with lots of convenient buses and places to go right around the corner, floor heating, two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, a washing machine... a lot of luxuries that we didn't have in Paysandu (especially the heating! Our apartment in Paysandu was FREEZING!).

Also, as anyone who has been following the World Cup can probably imagine, there has been SO much excitement here! No one expected Uruguay to go this far, especially after barely qualifying in the first place, but with every game has come a ton of celebrating in the streets. It is awesome to be here during a time of so much national pride... it has definitely been infectious. Once the U.S. was out, I was rooting for Uruguay all the way. Yesterday we finally got out, but everyone was celebrating in the streets anyway. Gotta love Uruguay!

This week Elizabeth took a trip to the Jesuit ruins in Posadas and then is continuing up to Iguazu Falls. I am very jealous, I hope to get to the falls at some point, but I am enjoying our apartment, the free cable t.v. we have for the month before we cut it off, exploring the city, and just spending some quality time hanging out and cooking and chatting with the other Fulbrighters, their friends, and reflecting on all of our experiences so far. I also will be joining a gym this week, so that will be a positive addition to my life. I also decided to go on this weird yeast-eliminating diet that I learned about from one of the Fulbrighters in Argentina during our conference... from what I looked up online, I might be a good candidate for the regimen and I'm hoping it will help with some of the health issues I've been having for a while now. Unfortunately, I think I started off too strong; I started on Friday, and then on Saturday ended up with my head in the toilet, extremely ill for several hours. I've decided to ease into it, so I'm doing a modified version this week, and will get further into it next week. Wish me luck!

(by the way... more photos on Flickr to come!)