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!