Job Hunts and Jack-O-Lanterns

Tuesday, 10-27: Tired of depending entirely on our Uruguayan friend, Sarah, Kara, and myself soldiered out on our own today. After some pleasant (and at times confusing) chitchat with Mariano, one of the Fruit guys downstairs, we opened up our gargantuan tourist map and plotted out a course to Ciudad Vieja. We figured said neighborhood of Montevideo would have the most to offer in terms of jobs for during Montevideo's tourist season. Hotels, bars, and nightclubs were the blips on our radar.

Fast forward through some awkward conversations, broken Spanish, locked doors, and tired feet and there you have it: Our first attempt at cracking into Montevideo's job market. While our maiden voyage into Uruguayan Employment may not have been a successful one, we plan on returning with curriculos (resumes) in hand and more practiced and refined Spanish. The important thing to remember is that we tried, survived, and know that we can do it again.

Thursday, October 29: The sunshine beckoned and we found ourselves on the beach in Pocitos with our new friend Popi, her sister Vicki, her Aunt, and her Mom. The outing included some much-needed Spanish practice, searching in vain for an abandoned soccer or volley ball, and a quick tutorial on how to spot young hooligans who are up to no good. (Note: they usually wear sneakers and baseball caps tilted low) We also learned that Uruguay has no system for incarcerating people under the age of 18, so even violent crimes are treated with a mere slap on the wrist. All the more reason to keep our eyes peeled and ears perked up, for fear of having a run-in with some kids that don't have much lose.

Saturday, October 31st: Happy halloween! The holiday is not nearly as popular here as it is in the U.S., so we become ecstatic whenever we see a hint of Halloween decoration: a neon orange plastic pumpkin here, a skeleton decal on a window there...we take what we can get because the Halloween spirit here is sparse.

We spent the day cheering for Defensor, the fútbol team for which Andrea's cousin Leandro plays, and then cheering for Popi at her swim meet. We made it home around 9:00 and got to work on putting together our costumes.

After going back and forth about what we wanted to dress as (We thought about being Yankees, the Kardashians, and even dominoes) we settled on the Spice Girls when we discovered that Popi had her heart set on finding 4 other Spices to compliment her Ginger get-up. So Spice Girls it was! Easy to throw together, fairly recognizable, and well-worn territory for us gringas. Unsurprisingly, I was to be Posh spice. My dark hair and penchant for wearing black aided in the tacit assumption.

We hosted a Halloween previa (pregame) and actually had a fair number of guests show up! After a couple hours of carousing we made our way out to club and danced the night away yet again.

Sunday, November 1st: We woke up this morning bleery eyed and craving cake, as we have been for days thanks to the New York Time's write-up on Montevideo and a spotlight on a little cafe that is called simply Cakes. We checked it out and, despite some turbulence with a delay in the order, found it to be an adorable space with delicious nibblies. Definitely a spot to return to on another soggy Sunday.

Thats all for now. Plans for the near future include printing out flyers (EXPERTLY created by my artistic sister Becky) for our English-teaching enterprise and looking for a way to attend a Peñarol vs. Nacional (the two most popular fútbol teams in Uruguay) game. Contrary to the wishes of Andrea's mother and brother, who are Nacional fans, we will be cheering for the yellow and black. Vamos Peñarol!

Que de mas!

Devoted readers, I apologize for my overdue update. It has been quite an adventure in itself getting settled here in Montevideo. Between battling cell phone and internet representatives, trying to learn Spanish, and gorging ourselves on Uruguayan cuisine, I haven't had much time to collect my thoughts, let alone transcribe them.

I will start at the beginning:

I somehow managed to survive 22 hours of travel which included a fainting spell on the flight between Atlanta and Santiago. Not sure what triggered such an event, but I'm going to guess the combination of hunger and a rather strong sleeping pill had something to do with it. Regardless, on Thursday I arrived only an hour and half late and rounded the corner of Carrasco Airport into the open arms of Andrea and her tia (Aunt) Marta. 4 hours later, we returned to the airport to retrieve Kara and Sarah with her other tia Adriana.

With our group finally united, we got to work setting up our quaint Pocitos apartment (Pocitos is a neighborhood in Montevideo, considered one of the more up-scale areas of the city). Andrea and I share one room, Kara and Sarah share the other (obviously -- their names do rhyme, after all). There is even an unoccupied single room, should a flaxen-haired Bostonian who's middle name is Fox decide to join us.

Our first full day in Montevideo was spent meandering around the city and running errands: Unlocking cell phones to make them international, securing health insurance, buying plug adapters, and stocking up on groceries. Dinner that night was a healthy spread of brown rice, chicken, vegetables, and salad. This seemingly lean meal has proven to be the exception rather than the rule, as Uruguayan food has since been calling our name.

On Sunday we hosted a wine and cheese party at our apartment for some member's of Andrea's family. We used cheese that we bought at a feria -- these are plentiful streetfairs found arround the city where you can buy everything from strawberries to blue cheese to bathing suits to jewelery.

Another journey worth mentioning was the one we made to Mercado del Puerto, the literal "Port Market" in Ciudad Vieja (Old City) and one of Montevideo's (few) tourist spots. After a two-hour walk we found ourselves sitting at a table staring at hunks of garlic bread, bowls of fresh salad, a big pot of chimichurri, and a platter mounted with two types of steak and pork Pamplona (meaning stuffed with cheese). Hands down, it was some of the best food I've ever had. The desserts -- dulce de leche crepes and dulce de leche flan -- weren't too shabby either. All for the equivalent of about $17 each.

We've gone out on the town a couple of nights so far, both in Ciudad Vieja and Pocitos. The nightlife is fun but adjusting to the schedule is rough. People don't even leave their houses in Uruguay until 2 AM! Previas (pregames) usually start around midnight or so. We've taken to napping briefly before going out to dance.

Other things worth mentioning:

-The people here, men and women, are unnaturally attractive. It's not fair.
-One of the aforementioned attractive men works at the fruit store right next to our apartment building. His name is Rodrigo and we love him.
-We have become fast friends with our portero, Ramiro. (Note: a portero is someone who acts as a doorman/super/custodian for an apartment building)
-The Rambla, which is essentially a paved pedestrian pathway all along the coast, is my new favorite destination. I've been running on it almost everyday. It's a popular spot for Uruguayans to go and spend time with friends while sharing mate (pronounced mah-tay) which is a supremely strong loose-leaf tea that Uruguayans seem to be nuts about. It's a little bitter for my liking, but my goal is to acquire a taste for it.
-The fashion for girls here seems to be skinny jeans as far as the eye can see, along with boots. Apparently it is also socially acceptable here for guys to sport mullets and rat-tails, a fault we cannot so quickly look beyond.

That is just about it for now. Unfortunately, posting pictures via this blog doesn't seem to be working out so well, so I suggest you count on my facebook profile for that.

Besos!

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself

My name is Emily (see photo at right). I recently graduated from The University of Pennsylvania and have decided to put reality on hold (thank you, recession!) and travel to South America for a bit of life experience and adventure. I plan on staying for 6 months and I have the pleasure of sharing this experience with some fantastic travel buddies:






Andrea
Andrea is our rock. She is the glue that will hold us together. She is our secret weapon. A native Uruguayan, she was born in Montevideo but grew up in the United States. Her fluency in Spanish makes her an invaluable asset to our operation. Many of her relatives still reside in Montevideo, thus offering us a "home base" of sorts and accordingly a good amount of comfort. Andrea is known for her easy-going friendly attitude, affinity for chick flicks, love of swimming, and extensive sweatshirt collection which is habitually exploited by her friends (myself included). I love her.

Kara

Kara is a lot like me -- Sarcastic, direct, and an avid Seinfeld fan. Though her seemingly stony facade has been known to intimidate the feign of heart, she is one of the sweetest and most sensitive people I know. She also might be the bravest, as she is the only one of our group who is diving into South America with virtually no knowledge of Spanish. Don't let that fool you: Her near 4.0 GPA at Penn should be proof enough that this brainy beauty will pick up la lengua in no time at all. If all else fails, she can get a job working the parillas (special grills) and cooking up some steak -- growing up on a beef farm has provided ample practice. I love her.

Sarah

Truth be told, I still have much to learn about Miss Sarah. She is Kara's very best friend since childhood and a recent graduate of the prestigious Yale University. I've only had minimal time with this sassy gymnast, but what a good time it was! There is something to be said for a girl who hops on board for a 6 month trip to Uruguay with 3 young women, 2 of whom she barely knows. I am looking forward to getting to know this Yalie better and sharing this time with her. Love you too, Sarah!


That is just about it for now. My plane departs from Philadelphia in 5 days and 22 hours later (I don't want to talk about it...) I touch down in Montevideo and the real story can begin. Stay tuned!