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!)

Goodbye, Paysandu!

Here I am during my last few days in Paysandu... it is hard to believe! Everyone keeps saying how we remember at the beginning how three months sounded like plenty of time, but then time just flew! (an expression which is the same, by the way, in Spanish and English).

But to back up a little bit, last week we finished up the conference with some interesting experiences and some eye-opening conversations. At the conference with all the other Fulbright English Teaching Assistants, we stayed in Buenos Aires for a week, and learned about our shared experiences, and how our experiences differed. I think we discovered that many of our obstacles were the same, but that our experiences negotiating those obstacles were very different. Some highlights of the second half of the week include our day at an 'estancia,' or a ranch where tourists can come and ride horses and eat traditional 'asado' (various kinds of roast meat). My story from that day was that I was in the first group to go horseback riding, and a few minutes after we left the barn, I discovered that a little brown horse had it out for my horse and kept going after him... not too long into the ride, my leg seemed to get in the way of his vendetta and the other horse bit me! It didn't break the skin, but now I am sporting a huge bruise to show for it.

We also took a tour of the city with an incredibly offensive tour guide who had some very choice things to say about immigrants to Buenos Aires from other South American countries... we were all completely shocked. I don't think she will be hired again by Fulbright! We also went to a tango class, which was, needless to say, very interesting. I definitely discovered that tango, even the basic step, is very, very difficult! Luckily I had some gracious older men taking the class who were willing to work with me and practice most of the time we were there.

Another overnight bus later, and we were back in Paysandu... this week has mostly consisted of going about our regular routine of lessons at the teacher's college, lessons at the elementary school, visits to other schools, and a few last things to cap off our outside research projects (I went to one last meeting with a gender-issues group that meets through the local government, and they gave me a wonderful packet of domestic violence materials), but everywhere we go now we have to do our round of goodbyes and thankyous.

Yesterday we gave our official goodbye and gratitude to our little family at the elementary school... today they are having a party to celebrate what marks the last day of class before their two-week winter vacation, so they warned us they will also be officially thanking us then. We planned to have a party to thank all of our mentors, but some of them can't make it, so tonight we are going out with two of them for dinner, and then we will still have our party tomorrow for those who can make it and their families. We also learned that we have to go to Montevideo on Sunday instead of Monday, so this weekend will be a scramble to get every last thing done and pack and clean the apartment. Once we get to Montevideo, we will learn more about our new placements there, evaluate our experiences in the provinces, and begin the search for an apartment while enjoying a few days of luxury in a hotel. Wish us luck!

Saludos de Argentina!

Well here I am, finally at my Fulbright Teaching Assistant conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Last week was pretty insane... knowing that we only have one week left in Paysandu after we get back from BA, Elizabeth and I spent the week gearing ourselves up for leaving. We assisted in several classes in the teacher's college as well as prepared our kids in the primary school for their final 'performance.' The show went great; on Thursday, the weather was in our favor as all the kids set up outside along with a good showing of parents. The first graders sang "Alice the Camel," the second graders sang "Five Little Ducks," the third graders sang "Make New Friends," the fourth graders presented on scenes from the school day as well as danced 'El Pericon,' a traditional Uruguayan folk dance that all primary students must learn, the fifth graders presented on topics comparing the U.S. to Uruguay (food, dance, sports, tourism, and important information), and the sixth graders prepared an elaborate dance with English banners to the World Cup National Anthem. It was a very proud afternoon to watch our kids feeling good about what they had done in English class with us, and getting the chance to show it off to the other students and their families. All of the pics are on my flickr site, so check them out!

I also was able to reconnect with one of my contacts for the domestic violence services scene in Paysandu, and she took me on several visits, which was interesting. Now for Montevideo, I have a much more developed sense of what I hope to get done; mainly, working on a specific initiative with a group in a more concrete way.

Speaking of the World Cup, we have also been witness to the madness surrounding the phenomenon... Uruguay qualified this year, which means for every match Uruguay basically shuts down. Kids leave school, stores are not open, you cannot think about doing anything in that time span. We didn't get to see much of the first game, but at least they tied 0-0, so they get to continue.

On Saturday night we were treated to a lovely tea at a tea room with our two mentors from the teacher's college, then at 12:40 in the morning we met our bus that would take us straight from Paysandu to Buenos Aires overnight. Beth and Wes, two of the ETAs in Salto, were also on the same bus, so we all hung out in the BA bus terminal for several hours until the sun came up after a pretty horrendous ride on which we all got very little sleep. Then we made our way to the hotel and dropped off our stuff, and had the rest of the day to kill. We walked around for a while, got some over-priced coffee and scones at a famous coffee shop, checked out some of the shopping areas (I treated myself to a gorgeous leather purse), and I was totally satisfied when we were able to get some middle eastern food for lunch (falafel with HUMMUS!!!! oh hummus it has been far too long...)

At 3pm we were finally able to get into our hotel rooms... we had some time to get settled and started meeting some of the other ETAs. We all checked in with the Fulbright Argentinian Commission at 7pm, and did our best to try to meet people. Everyone is from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, or Peru. We learned right away that each program has its own flavor and each set of ETAs a certain personality; I think we realized that we were perhaps the most cohesive group since we have spent so much time together, a more serious group, the ones who probably worry a bit more about things... some groups were more flexible, go with the flo, go-getter types, some more of the party types... quite the range to suit each country's program. It was pretty eye-opening for us. That first night a group of us we went for some amazing Mexican food.

The next day we had some introduction stuff and some presentations from the Argentinian Fulbright Commission. In the afternoon there was a huge storm, so instead of our city tour we listened to the first set of presentations about what some of the ETAs have been doing. Then I walked around with the ETAs from Salto and we had some wine and cheese, met up with Elizabeth, then got some tasty Moroccan food. (Sorry for the focus on food... after eating the same menu in all Uruguayan restaurants for 3 months, it is really, really exciting to get any other kind of international food!).

Today we had another series of presentations, including mine, which they began running out of time for so I really had to rush. Then we went on our city tour, for which I just ended up in hysterics a few times between my very funny seat-mate from Brazil and our ridiculous guide, who basically accused the Peruvian immigrants for causing all crime and drugs in BA, kept talking about 'colored' people, and had a very interesting, and basically just ridiculous set of opinions on the missing people phenomenon that the families are still protesting today. Then I walked around the city some more with Beth, and then a big group of us went out for Indian food with a friend of Elizabeth's who has been living in BA for the past few years. Tomorrow we are going to an estancia, or ranch, which should be lots of fun.

I'll be sad when the week is over, but I can't wait to come back! It has been fascinating to learn so much from the other ETAs, about the challenges they have faced, the things they have done, and just to get to know them as people... it has left me super-psyched for Montevideo, where I think we will have a lot more intellectual and social stimulation too.

Good to the last drop

Another week has whizzed by! We started off by visiting another private primary school, this one being somewhat bilingual, in which there was actually a little boy from New York. After our regular deal at the primary school, that afternoon we were invited to visit a CAIF where the social worker who I had met up with a few weeks ago to discuss the social services system here works. A CAIF is a government funded social services center, mainly for preschool children; this particular one housed a pre-school, some after-school enrichment programs, and all sorts of workshops for parents and their small children, or for pregnant mothers. I was interested to hear things from the social worker's perspective, since like places where I have worked before, she makes up just part of a larger team that runs the workshops and enrichment programs. It sounded like this program had much in common with some of the programs I am familiar with in the U.S., and operates under many of the same philosophies and strategies.

As the week went on, we continued to hold classes in the elementary school as normal, as well as gave quite a few lessons/assisted in classes in the teacher's college. One class we were actually left in charge of entirely, since the professor, one of our mentors, could not be there that day. We spoke about things ranging from opinion essays on global issues to the Great Depression and the New Deal. We also hosted our weekly 'Conversation Club,' this week having a bit of a lighter theme where we did a bunch of creativity exercises, like a charades competition and stories with holes.

On Saturday, I attempted to be productive by drafting out some ideas for the 15 minute presentation I have to give at our conference in Buenos Aires the week after next... the panel I am on is centered around 'Challenges', which I think is a great topic for me and my experiences, considering that all of the challenges we faced actually ended up being resolved quite positively. I also went for a long walk down at the beach, taking some of my last photos here. That night we went out to eat with some friends (after having a rather difficult time getting a taxi, since we couldn't get through the telephone line to call one, then were told to wait 20 minutes, then no one showed up, then we called and they sent the SAME taxi that had apparently been waiting for us way earlier than they told us and left... so an hour later we made it to dinner...), and then went out to what ended up being a really great pub that we wish we had started going to earlier!

This weekend also marked the beginning of the celebration of the founding of Paysandu, so on Friday we went to part of a choral concert, then this morning we went to the parade. The parade mostly comprised of different associations who ride on horseback in the gaucho tradition, many of whom dress in traditional gaucho attire, and the women in traditional peasant dress. I got a great photo of one of our mentors in traditional dress on horseback.

We then went for an absolutely scrumptious pasta and pastry lunch at a mentor's family home (she is in fact going to be in the U.S. next year on a Fulbright herself). Her family has had us over before, and they are just spectacular and pretty hysterical. Sometimes there is nothing better than to be surrounded by a family, them making fun of one another, being shown old wedding photos and photos of the kids as young children, playing with all the pets... they were also gracious enough to take us to a museum and to take us out for a bit of a 'paseo,' driving and walking around with one of their dogs, drinking mate, and enjoying the beautiful weather that has miraculously reappeared after a week of feeling very cold.

(The problem is not that it gets very cold here, but that nothing is heated, so you never get to go inside and warm up... though we DID make the happy discovery of finding a portable, electric radiator in our apartment, which we have thankfully been using to heat up our bedroom at night! Somehow we had been blind to it all this time... not too swift...)

Next week we will have our kiddies at the primary school present their final showing (songs, projects, and even a dance number to the World Cup Anthem), and take advantage of our second to final week here. Then Saturday we will travel to Buenos Aires for our Fulbright conference for the week, and come back for our very last week in Paysandu. I will be very sad to leave all of our amazing friends and mentors here, but I am also very excited for the new adventures we will find in Montevideo.

Soaking it all in

This week, I've been both soaking in the rest of my Paysandu experience as well as mentally gearing up for the next leg of the journey. We are still teaching the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, since they have not found a substitute English teacher to fill the spot, so we've been progressing with that, as well as fitting in as much time as we can with the little kids. At the teacher's college, we've been presenting on various topics and helping out with lessons as well as hosting a weekly 'Conversation Club.' We've also continued to meet weekly with a college student from the primary-school teaching program at the IFD who wanted to improve his English pronunciation, along with a few more visits to other schools aside from our own (including a private school humorously called 'Mafalda', after the Argentinian comic strip). One of my favorite moments at the primary school this week was when a fifth grade boy, with whom I was working on some assignment or other, looks up at me and says, "Que olor rico que tienes." Directly translated: "what a rich smell you have." Me: "Oh, gracias"... moving right along...

We've been spending some time with the friends we have made here-- and their friends, of course-- and I already feel the twang of missing having this nice community! As excited as I am to move on to the capital city, I know what I will miss the most is the ease of which we were able to integrate into the community, and the friends we have made here. I hope I will be able to express to them when I leave how much their welcoming into this country and their support, help, and friendship has meant to me. Without them this experience would not have been nearly so enjoyable or meaningful for me.

As for soaking in Paysandu, last Saturday night we were invited by a friend to attend a youth group at her church. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a song session rather than the youth group discussion, but we stayed for the songs and then were able to hang out with the young people in the congregation afterwards. It was refreshing just to have some wholesome fun, playing charades and other games that are pretty much the same no matter where you go in the world, it seems.

Then last Sunday we went to see a play put on by a local theater troupe (the same troupe, in fact, that animated the tour we took of Paysandu several weeks ago). It was in a black box theater this time, not in the grand historic Florencio Sanchez theater, and had a much more abstract, experimental flair, with two young female actors. I really enjoyed it... it reminded me so much of all the abstract black box theater I've been involved with over the years, the show both made me miss that theater world as well as made me feel at home in their venue.

Then tonight, we went to see a tango show in the Florencio Sanchez theater being put on in honor of the bicentennial celebration in Argentina this past week (which we learned more about at a talk we went to earlier in the week given by one of our hosts). The show was wonderful, just a pair of dancers doing various different types of tango to various songs, interspersed with images and old footage of famous performers, artists, and writers. It was very well done, and I think it may even have inspired me to take a tango class when I'm in Montevideo. I am painfully ignorant about dance, including tango, so this may be overly ambitious, but I can dream, right?

These next two weeks we will spend preparing a final project with all our kids at the primary school; songs for the younger kids, art projects for the 4th and 5th graders, and perhaps even a pop song and dance with the 6th graders, if that actually comes to fruition! Then we will head to Buenos Aires for our week-long conference with all of the other Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in South America, then we have one last week in Paysandu, then we will be moving to Montevideo. Where did all the time go???

"What? A Jonas brother is coming?!?!"

My apologies for neglecting my blog over this last week... there is a lot to catch up on! The main excuse for my neglect was that my brother came to visit this week. He flew into Montevideo and braved his way on his own through getting to Paysandu. After the 4.5 hour bus ride he arrived safely on Wednesday night. We went out to eat at Romi, a local restaurant which just moved to snazzy new location, and was able to try 'Chivito' his very first night (the flank-steak sandwich piled high with pretty much everything under the sun). Then on Thursday, he came with us to a presentation we gave on the American Revolution at a public high school, grabbed a quick bite then hailed the first cab we saw to hurry over to the elementary school. This week we worked on 'family trees' and had the classes come up with questions for our 'surprise visitor' ("Is it Hannah Montana???" .... "What? Brother is coming? A JONAS brother is coming???" --Sorry kids, my life does not revolve around the Disney channel...) So they were able to ask him questions, and come up with an 'Interview' for our guest.

Thursday evening we had some friends over for tea-time, then later that night we had tickets for a play benefiting a Down-syndrome society. The play was about Juana de Ibarbourou, also known as 'Juana de America', a famous Uruguayan poet whose somewhat tragic life paralleled the political turmoil during the dictatorship in Spain and later in Uruguay itself. In my opinion, the play was a bit over-dramatized at times, but the story of her life was very interesting, and the drama made it all the easier to understand. Plus the beautiful Florencio Sanchez historical theater is always worth a visit. I did think the play had some very creative staging techniques, which I enjoyed from a more technical viewpoint.

Then on Friday we went back to the elementary school, where Andrew got to play an intense soccer game with some serious fanatics, see the 4th graders perform some traditional dancing (this particular one is known as El Pericon), and see some very fine singing of the 2nd grade rendition of 'Five Little Ducks' and 'If All the Raindrops.' It was a pretty adorable day all-around, and of course the kids were very well behaved with him there. Oh, I also don't think I mentioned that we are back to being the principal teachers of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, since the substitute could no longer stay at the school, and they have yet to find someone else. So now we are back to creating our own agenda and lesson plans, which I think we feel more confident with now.

That night we had a conversation group with one of the students at the IFD (the teacher's college), and then Andrew and I went out for a drink while Elizabeth finished up with one last class. Then we all went out to eat at PanZ (pronounced, 'Pan-Zeta,' since the Z in spanish is pronounced 'zeta'... so, as in, 'panceta'... took me a really long time to figure that one out... not too quick on the uptake...), where he got to try some Uruguayan-style pizza, faina (a chickpea-flour flat-bread), and some flan with dulce de leche.

Then Saturday morning we (Andrew, Elizabeth and I) got up early to catch our bus to Colon, Argentina. Luckily, this time it didn't take quite as long to get over the border. On the walk to the hotel we made a reservation for a tour of the Parque Nacional el Palmar, the national palm-tree park a bit outside Colon, and then went to check up on a safari-tour reservation we had made. Sadly, we learned that the English-speaking tour guide who was supposed to run our terrestrial safari was not going to be around all day (despite the fact that I had made the reservation for Saturday with him earlier that week...) so instead of going in a Jeep and searching for semi-precious agates and stones, we booked a boat tour instead.

Then we went to the hotel, the Hosteria del Puerto, which was this adorable historic hotel down by the river. Our room was a bungalow-style room with a loft where Elizabeth and I slept, and I have to admit, it was a treat to have t.v. again. Unfortunately, Andrew got bitten up by mosquitos in the main room below, but up in the loft we were fine. We went out for lunch then headed to our boat tour, which was quite the adventure.... the weather was pretty ominous the whole time, we had some shifty moments where I didn't completely trust our captain or our little inflatable motor-boat, but we got to learn about the local islands, the flora and fauna, and some interesting ecological facts about the area... like the fact that the level of the water changes so drastically so frequently that no one could possibly inhabit the islands, which is what keeps them a valuable ecological preserve. The other people on our tour were a very young couple on their honeymoon from Buenos Aires, who brought along their very tiny and very good-tempered baby... so I think in the end, the baby faired a bit better on the boat than we did!

Unfortunately, after that adventure Elizabeth came down with a bug of some sort, so Andrew and I walked around while she rested and we eventually got a really tasty dinner at a recommended restaurant right by our hotel. Then on Sunday, we were met at our hotel for our tour of the national park. It was about an hour drive out, and then at the park the guide told us a bit about the fauna, like the fact that they just have no idea how all the palm trees that make up the huge nature preserve got there in the first place, and walked us through one of the trails. Then he drove us to another spot and let us walk around ourselves for a while, where we got the chance to see some Jesuit ruins. Unfortunately, we did not see a single animal... no one told us ahead of time that you need to book an afternoon tour to see any :( Then we headed back to Colon, had some lunch, and then found ourselves a little frustrated with a lack of anything to do, since everything shuts down in the middle of the day for the 'siesta,' and we really had nowhere to go. So, we read in a coffee shop for a while, then in an ice-cream shop, until things started opening up again and we could walk around a bit. Eventually we just headed back to the bus station and made our way home, where we were very grateful to be back in the apartment.

Monday was a holiday, so we had a rather boring day. I also came down with a bad cold. Our friend Yosanna came over for a bit and Andrew was able to try mate, the bitter green tea that is drunk out of a gourd with a bombillo, or a straw which filters the herbs. Yosanna drinks hers sweet, which is not traditionally Uruguayan, but which I prefer. Elizabeth baked her cookies, and we made some empanadas. On Tuesday, Andrew came back with us to the elementary school, and then that evening he left for Montevideo to get to know the 'big city' for a few days before he flies back out on Thursday. One funny anecdote about the week was that the whole time Andrew was here, from the very first night until when he left from the bus station, this same stray dog kept following us around! It was so quirky and cute, he was so surprisingly friendly and people-focused for a stray.

Now Elizabeth and I are back to our old routine, lesson planning for our little kiddies, running our new 'Conversation Club' on Wednesday nights at the teacher's college, and presenting on various topics at the teacher's college and elsewhere. Since I am sick I'm hoping to have a restful weekend... we had a busy and exciting week and a half, but it's nice to get back to my normal schedule. The next project is to buy a small space heater for our apartment though... it is starting to get chilly here! I see winter coming, which means in about 3 weeks we head to our conference in Buenos Aires, then one week later we moved back to Montevideo already!