Things Heat Up

I don't want to jinx anything, but the weather the past couple of weeks has been absolutely perfect: Crystal clear blue skies, crispy dry heat, and a soft breeze that won't quit. Nothing else has quite as direct an effect on my mood as the weather. When the sun is beaming so am I. While some can't stand it, I revel in the rising temperature. That being said, no real bad news to report down here. Instead, I will simply provide some bullet points of recent events:

-Carolyn is off to Patagonia! After some departure difficulties (including a miscommunication with the taxi driver and a forgotten passport/wallet), she made her way back to Argentina to meet up with our buddy Noah before they march off to the Southern-most city on the planet, Ushuaia. I hear the scenery of said landscape is beyond description, and the nights are beyond cold. I'm sure it will be an experience they will never forget. While part of me is envious of their wild adventure, I'd be lying if I said I'm the hiking/backpacking type. I love nature and scenery as much as the next person, provided it comes with four walls and a ceiling at the end of the day. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how I really would fair in such a situation...

-Reaching the halfway mark of my time down here has stirred up the desire within to really get out there, meet some new people, and take advantage of this time that I will never get back. Accordingly, I have been moving and shaking in some social-networking groups in an attempt to meet some new people, with success! I've attended language exchange meetings, met up with a young woman who offered to spend an afternoon with me helping me practice my Spanish, and have even hurdled over the language barrier of Portuguese by shooting the breeze with a group of Brazilian professors who are staying at the hostel where Francesca works. They have insisted that we all come by the hostel next Thursday so that we may partake in the dinner that they will be preparing. If the dinner is anything like the last dish they made (a paella of sorts that Franchez won't stop cooing about), we will be in for a treat.

-Our portero, Ramiro, has approached us about the possibility of a young German girl moving in with us. She is the 19-year-old granddaughter of a friend of a friend of his, or something along those lines, and she will start studying in Montevideo come February. We told Ramiro we'd be happy to add another chick to our nest, and to let us know how plans develop.

-Recently Andrea and I have been toying with the idea of spending a week in Chile. Andrea's mother's good friend and business partner is a Chilean native, with an apartment in Santiago and Valparaíso (a beach town). It seems a shame to forego such an opportunity, but actually venturing into Chile (by way of a 24+ hour busride) and back is going to cost a pretty penny. This will mean sucking up my pride and asking my parents to lend me the dough until I can pay them back upon my reentry into American society and the proletariat. Being the fine, generous people that they are, they have already offered me such a loan. I'm pretty sure I'll have to take them up on it. Proud or not, when is the next time I am going to be within bussing distance of the epic Chilean landscape?

-Speaking of travel, Andrea and I spent the past 4 days in Piriapolis, a beach town to Montevideo's east but before Punta del Este. I've got to say, I think I prefer this understated little hangout to the polished white walls and manicured lawns of Punta del Este. It has a little more grit and personality while still being beautiful. It reminded me ever so slightly of Long Beach Island, where I spent a portion of every summer while growing up, so I can't exactly help my bias.

So yeah. Life these days ain't too shabby, but ain't too eventful either. I promise, if pesos start falling from the sky or I elope with a brooding Latin man, you, my faithful followers, will be the first to know.