Aventura (no i didnt spell it wrong, its in spanish)

Aventura: Empresa de resultado incierto o que presenta riesgos (Real Academia Española) / Adventure: an unusual, exciting, and daring experience (Concise Oxford English Dictionary)

Well my blog is titled adventures in Uruguay and the last couple of weeks that exactly what i have been having. Perhaps I get the inclination to call everything an adventure from my aunts and my mom, but wherever it comes from I think my friends here will always remember me saying “¡es una aventura!”.
Survivor part 1: (last semester my friends took a trip to celebrate the end of classes, so in following with tradition, 2 more trips were planned to celebrate the end of this semester.)
Two weekends ago I got the privilege to go camping with friends in Arequita. There we hiked up the big rock/hill for lack of a better term. (Its very fun to see what they think is tall, as Uruguay doesn’t really have mountains). We spent the day scampering around the top and taking lots of photos. At night we prepared a fire and ate chorizos and panchos (hotdogs) (side note: 70 hotdogs were purchased for the weekend to split between 9 people, needless to say i think I ate the most hotdogs I have ever eaten in my life, and hopefully the last I will ever eat.) I also got to teach my friends how to make s’mores! Other highlights of the trip include swimming in a nearby river and visiting a cave in the side of the rock full of bats. The bat cave visit was a minny tour and I ended up having to translate for some Indians (from India) who only spoke English. I don’t know how well I translated it all (partly because after someone talks for 10 minutes straight, try repeating exactly what was said in another language and let me know how it goes for you…) but in general it was a fun experience. My friends jokingly told me I need to come back and work as a translator (although some my have been more serious about the me coming back part). The last highlight of the trip was visiting a small waterfall. To get there I rode in the back of a pick-up over some of the most gorgeous countryside. That is where the phrase “its an adventure” came in.
Survivor part 2:
This past weekend was another adventure with more friends. This time we took a trip to Piriápolis on the coast. Don’t worry, there were plenty of big hills to climb there too. We started the adventures off with a chairlift to the top of cerro del San Antonio. Afterwards we took a trip to the beach and I convinced everyone it was warm enough to go swimming, which it totally was.
The main attraction close by is cerro or hill Pan de Azucar, which at 423 meters is the 3rd tallest point in Uruguay. (tallest point in MD 1,024 meters, Backbone Mountain) On Sunday we made our way up Pan de Azucar. The climb was a little bit more difficult to get to the top compared to Arequita, but was totally worth it. There is a giant cross at the top that you can go inside, to the top and look out. The cross kindof moves in the wind so I didn’t spend too much time inside. After returning to the bottom, we may or may not have found ourselves in front of the Castle of Piria, the guy who founded Piriapolis, but the castle was closed so we continued to the cerro del Toro. I made it up about half way, before deciding to sit and relax and enjoy the nature with 2 others, while the rest of the group continued… (it wasn’t at all because we had been walking all day and I needed to rest, nope definitely not.) At the end of the road making our way back to the bus terminal, we ran into a comparsa playing candombe (youtube it, its pretty sweet) in the street. To finish the day off we stopped for churros and saw the sun set over the water. All in all, an amazing weekend. Obviously, there was lots more that happened but I figured I wouldnt bore you all with too many details.

Spring in Montevideo

This week marks my last week of classes. I cant believe it is already the end of the semester here. Although at the beginning I wasn't quite sure I was prepared to stay here for a whole semester, I now find myself not prepared to leave it all behind. I have done lots of school work in the past few weeks and now face final exams, relaxing at the beach, and a few trips to see a little more of the country before I leave. The weather is getting to be beautiful and i find myself walking to school more often, reading in the park and running on the rambla. Although I will completely miss fall this year, having 2 springs is totally worth it. Since last updating you all, I am now the proud owner of a mate, and yes when I return I will be carrying it around with me to class as long as I can find yerba. I visited Salto, the second biggest city in Uruguay (with a population of ~125,000). While in Salto my friend Christeane and I took a boat ride to visit Concordia the neighboring city in Argentina, walked around the city and spent the afternoon relaxing in the hot springs. Other exciting events include a weekend full of hanging out with friends that ended with going to a fútbol game, and riding the rides in parque Rodó next to my house. One of my favorite quotes describing José E. Rodó, who the park is named after comes from the wikipedia page on him. It says, "What Rodó was afraid of was the debilitating effect of working individuals' limited existence doing the same work, over and over again, never having time to develop the spirit. Among Uruguayan youth, however, he is best known for Parque Rodó, the Montevideo amusement park named after him, where the worship of culture was somewhat less refined than Rodó intended." I also got to see Trotskey Vengaran, a rock band from here, in concert. Anyway thats a little more of what I have been doing here. I figured Id give you all a quick update and let you know im still alive, and despite my desire to stay longer (even though I miss you all a ton!) i will in fact still be coming back. (I mean i do kinda need to graduate this spring...)
Sending my love!