I've most definitely been shirking blogging responsibilities. To the 4 people that read this blog, I'm sorry, but thank you. My own brother refuses to read it.
The last two weeks were somewhat uneventful as I finally encountered my first round of tests here in Urugay. I have not gotten them back yet, but I am hoping everything went well. It's difficult to tell here. When I arrived to my second test, I was feeling great about how the first one went. I slowly realized that the students on each side of me were not in the class with me for the test. Recognizing my confusion, they explained that they had failed the class and were re-taking all the tests. They did not have to retake the class, just the tests. They weren't even sure at what point were in the class. This very same class doesn't have an actual textbook. Our syllabus consists of different themes and you must search through a series of manuals that are 5-20 years old to learn about it. I'm sure I'm doing super bien.
I also had the chance to attend the Expo Prado which is best described as a state fair, but for an entire country. I spent the day amongst live stock and witnessed my first horseshoe competition. Not the game horsehsoes, rather a competition of men in berets (it's a gaucho thing!) hammering shoes out of metal, scraping hooves, and then hammering the shoes on. This was followed by a traditional Uruguayan tray of 5 lbs of assorted meats and sausages (suggested serving size) and red wine (tannat). When I managed to stand again, I got to see Uruguay's one classic rock band, Cuartteto de Nos. They had a great energy despite the fact that one band member spent 90% of the concert on a comfy couch on stage.
Pictures below of Uruguayan things:
Beach off of the Rambla (ocean front path which lasts for miles), my favorite running spot.
It's a sunset. On the Rambla. .25 miles from my house.
Only the American shows up for running group when it's raining and windy.
4/10: Unpleasant wind, but it was above 50 degrees.
Montevideo.
Political Art: "Si toma Si mato Tio Sam"
A hipster restaurant for the hipster vegetarians.
It still serves meat. 9/10, I want to eat there every week.
The entrance to a medical center on my walk to school.
It appears they only treat people with upper body issues.
Gramajo: Basically Urguayan Poutine
There was some sort of sauce, eggs, salty ham, onions, fries and parsley.
8/10: best when warm. Will eat again.
New law school. Better than the old law school.
Hammering a horseshoe.
Banging horseshoes.
Horseshoes be banging.
Candombe in a tourist area.
Brent's attempt to keep up with their dancer.
This is the money shot right here. Brent dancing, random man dancing, woman candombe dancing in large shoes (she did this for hours), and a candombe drums with an enthusiastic leader.
I am still a lame law student. School-wise there is nothing new to report besides the fact that I have now been] serenaded with"Hey now, Hey now." (Lizzie McGuire fans will know that classic). Professors are also surprised by the fact that I actually speak Spanish, and I'm hoping to keep surprising them all the way to a passing grade.
Otherwise, here are some activities that have happened:
Noche De Nostalgia
August 25th is Uruguay's Independence Day, but the big celebrations happen the night before on the "Noche de Nostalgia." This tradition began in the late 70s while Uruguay was under a military regime. At that time nearly 500,000 Uruguayans lived in exile (the current population is only 3 million). DJs created events in which people could go out and listen to music from the 60s and early 70s from the before the regime (which are also called "oldies" here...it took a few times hearing it for me to understand what people were saying), and it quickly became a yearly traidtion which continued after Uruguay returned to a democracy in the 80s.
Now, they still listen to "oldies," but the songs are from the 60s-90s and include some Ace of Base. Most of the original Noche de Nostalgia revelers do not go out all night to celebrate, and some Uruguayans expressed some guilt about using the holiday to have a big party. I just told them that Americans have no idea what that's like, and they should definitely feel guilty for corrupting the day's meaning. (que no! [not joke]).
I went to a friend's house for the night. Her family set up a dance floor in the front yard and kept the grill going in their patio from 11 pm - 6 am (and presumably after I left at 6 am). We ate "brochettes" (kebabs) all night while dancing to oldies and even fit in a game of a charades board game. We played in teams, and they did NOT go easy on the foreigner (even when I begged to put back a 7 word card). I did not successfully act out a single card in the minute timeframe, but we somehow won.
Charade Winners! No thanks to me!
"Brochettes" on the fire around 4 am
The man in the wig used to be paid to dance in clubs.
Candombe en la Calle
Candombe is a traditional dance that originated with African slaves (mainly Angolan I think) that is still practiced today. On any given day in Montevideo, you can hear someone playing a drum with a Candombe beat. Near my house here, a group of youths (late teens) plays every Friday and Sunday and dance through the street. Bus and cars be damned.
Traditional post-Candombe sushi
Getting ready to go
Hash House Harriers
This isn't quite Uruguay specific, but everyone should know about them. The Hash House Harriers were created by English serviceman in the late 30s to "promote physical fitness among our members, to get rid of weekend hangovers, to acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer, and to persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel." They are in a number of cities worldwide.
The runs are designed by two group members. The rest of the group shows up and must find arrows which indicate the route. There is a round "stop" every half mile or so for the runners to stop and regroup. After each stop, the runners have to go find the route again. The route can go in any direction and sometimes will go up and down a hill for the fun of it. Or, if you're lucky, there might even be a mid-route beer stop.
After the run, the newbies had to answer questions about ourselves in front of the entire group of 30 or so runners (name, age, home country, marital status). We then had to chug a beer by the time the runners sang a special Hash song. If we failed, we would get a beer thrown at us. Penalty beers were then handed out for various reasons, including being too competitive, attending too many runs, not coming to enough runs, being born within the last week, or any other reason they could think of. Luckily, Uruguayan beer is fairly light and Uruguayan cups are small. I did not get doused in beer. I hope you're proud dad!
Stop and Wait for the group
Time for a picture of everyone with either "Tetas" or "Huevos"
I would never have run up this hill without the Harriers
Where is that next arrow?
Found it!
What are they asking? And why are we all on a bench?
