And now I’m back in Argentina having just gone to Uruguay for the weekend (because you can do that from Buenos Aires) with Adrienne and her friend Nichole. I really liked Montevideo. I’m trying to think of the best strategies of convincing Haley to study abroad there. I just loved that it was so small, with such a similar culture as Argentina, except there’s this special difference: Carnival. And I’m sure if I were there for Carnival I’d think even more strongly about this, but I felt the city’s love of dressing up, drumming, and dancing just from my weekend of being there and from my 15 minutes in the Carnival Museum. I imagine that it’s very much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, except with a South American twist. (Carnival happens in Brazil, Uruguay, and in northern Argentina as a last hooray just before lent.) Even though Carnival is now over, we still ran into parades of drummers and dancers snaking spiritedly through the streets (in a residential area, not one that was intended for tourists). We also watched a group of face-painted Uruguayans sing and drum their hearts out in the downtown plaza.
(Picture snapped of Carnivalers preparing for the festivities)
Also, I really liked the diversity I saw through Uruguay’s beachy streets. Due to (I’m assuming) the large Brazilian population, the streets are full of people of all colors. Those of darker hues aren’t stared as nearly as much as they are in Chile or in Argentina. And coming from a county that tries so hard to preach its acceptance of diversity (of skin, that is…), my white guilt seemed to heave a sigh of relief.
It’s funny to actually visit a place for once. I’ve always had such different relationships with the places I visit versus the places I live in. To live in a place, I like to scuff the blankets around a dozen times with my feet and then turn around and around in one place for about 8 hours until I feel comfortable, smoothing out knots and fluffing rumples. (Viña del Mar, Mar del Plata, Laboulaye – in permanent dwellings I’m always criticizing and taking small details into deep account.) But the second I know that nothing is permanent (such as in Perú, south of Chile, Montevideo, places I spend less than a week in), I can easily make myself as comfortable as a cat snoozing precariously balanced atop a set of wobbly clothes hangers. (Do any of you know Scout?)
Reasons I liked Uruguay:
- feels small and close-knit
- culture – like Argentinean except with Carnival and with a seemingly greater love for drinking mate (they walk around with their mates and thermoses in hand all day long)
- beauty – the beaches on the river that seem like the ocean
- tourism – definitely available but distant. Doesn’t scream at you like in Buenos Aires
- good wine (who’da thunk it!?) and tasty (huge) sandwiches called “chivitas”
One set back: I had to immediately learn how to quickly divide by 20 (1 dollar is essentially 20 Uruguayan pesos).
(Uruguayan sunset.)
So I head home to Laboulaye today (I’ve been living there for a week with Claudia, the director of my institute) and tomorrow I stat teaching, officially. OOOOH boy. We’ll see how it goes. It looks like I’ll have little kids and young teens. I’m definitely nervous. I’m not exactly sure at what level everyone is, or really even which book we’ll be using. The book I have right now is VERY British and emphasizes learning British culture as well as the UK geography. I’m not really sure what to do with that. I mean, I’ll teach it. But it’s kind of like an Argentinean being told to teach the culture of Spain. It’s kind of embarrassing how little I know of our “motherland,” excluding the crude accents I’ve been known to flaunt. But if I am supposed to know my mother country, I suppose I should update myself on England, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, and who knows where else in order to give an accurate depiction of “De dónde soy.”
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