Well, here I am with just a few short weeks left to go. Hard to believe, but I am eager to be home and organize the next phase of my life. But, I had the fortune of enjoying a bit of these last few weeks with some amazing visitors. Life-long CT friends Allison and Erin came to visit for a week, and it was incredibly special to have that experience with them. Having grown up together our whole lives, it can be hard now when we see our lives going in different directions and having such different experiences from one another, so it was truly wonderful to get to share a piece of this experience with them. I felt very special that they took their precious vacation days and came all the way down here, just to Uruguay, to spend 6 short days with me! We found some time of course to hang out and have them catch me up on all of the pop culture I've missed, along with some city sightseeing and trying of the different Uruguayan cuisines (asado, chivito, mate, masitas, and the torta frita was quite the hit!). Then we took a few day trips, including Punta del Este, and Colonia. Although the first few days were rainy and gray, we finally got some sun towards the end. They also got to meet several of the other Fulbrighters and friends here during a rambla picnic I organized. All in all I'd say it was a successful trip, and it was so much fun to spend one of my last weeks with them here!
I was sad when they were gone, but didn't miss a beat... that weekend, I went on a trip to Cabo Polonio, a beach nature reserve that you can only reach by off-rode vehicles. Elizabeth and I went on a Friday and met Beth, Meara, and Beth's friend Kim there, where we stayed in the most adorable little hostel/inn that was really more like staying in someone's home for a few days. Although there isn't reliable running water or electricity, we were pretty comfortable, although I did get to make good use of my headlamp at night! It was an impressively beautiful site... being so remote, people who live there really have to be prepared for the 'hippy' lifestyle people live there, but they get a beautiful and very protected spot in return. On our final day of the weekend we had our one day of beautiful weather, and climbed the lighthouse for an impressive view. We also got to see the sea lions that live on the rocks. Although we saw lots of dead animals on the beach (sea lions, penguins, turtles...) we unfortunately did not get to see all of them live. It was a great trip, but after so much traveling and running around these last few weeks, I wasn't sorry to finally be home and have my feet planted in Montevideo for a little while!
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