February, 6 months in, half my exchange has already passed, this is crazy. I feel good where I’m at. December and January were amazing.
I went to Punta Del Este with my host family, which is where the rich people live. It’s beautiful, very city-like but also on the ocean and lots of yachts. I was so excited about finding the only Cat Cafe in Uruguay, and I pretty much forced my host family into eating lunch there even though they don't like cats.
Then I went on the YFU trip to Rocha. It was probably the best week of my exchange so far. It was so nice to connect with all the other (20 something) YFU exchange students, and I got a lot of inspiration and advice for this year. We traveled around Rocha and partied and spent a lot of money. I loved Rocha, it’s super hippie and calm. There’s a big surf culture there, and we went to the beach every single day at least once. We also stayed in a really cool hostel about 4 blocks from the beach and like 2 blocks from the main road where all the shops are. I think Rocha is a safer department than Canelones so we had the freedom to go walk around whenever we felt like it which was a nice break from the usual having to be super cautious when going out.
After my week in Rocha came the holidays which are usually not the best time of the year for exchange students, but I got through it. Christmas is a bit different here, the family gets together and stays up until midnight and at midnight people in the neighborhood do fireworks and everyone opens their gifts. Then they go to bed and have lunch together again the next day. We did that and in the night I went ‘camping’ in a tent in the backyard with my host sister and two host cousins. It was a blast and we didn’t end up sleeping until 8am.
The end of December I went with my friends to Canelones Ciudad, which is the capital of my department. We had a lot of fun playing cards, going on drives with Becci's family, swimming in the river, and going to the plaza at night which is what all the young people do specifically in this city. It was really cool to see how different the culture of this city was to my city even though they are pretty close and in the same department.
New Year's Eve was spent with my host dad’s side of the family in Paysandu, it was extremely hot every day so we weren’t very active on this trip but I still loved it. I have a really good memory from this trip of my host dad and I at the beach collecting rocks and talking, and we were so indulged in these rocks and our conversation that we didn't even notice it was raining and we stayed there for like an hour collecting rocks in the rain. After the countdown on New Years Eve, I met up with an exchange student friend and we went dancing with her friends, and a popular Argentinian singer called Migrantes performed which was really cool!
After New Years Covid numbers went way up so I decided to stay at home as much as possible. I did have a couple friends come visit me and I went to a few family get-togethers but I was trying to be very careful because I do not want to spend 2 weeks of my exchange in quarantine. Luckily I got to pass the time with my host sister.
Something I did get to do while waiting for Covid numbers to go down is get a tattoo!! It was a gift from my host mom for a holiday on January 6th called Day of the Kings which is basically a second Christmas. I wanted a sun because it's something that I know will remind me of Uruguay since they have the sun on their flag. The sun I got is very Uruguayan because it is made by an Uruguayan artist called Carlos Paez Vilaro, who designed and constructed casa puebla which is a really beautiful hotel/museum (was his house) in Punta Ballena. When I visited the museum he became one of my favorite artists because his work is so cool, and he was a feminist and he also loved cats (there are even still cats that live in the museum).
I went for a weekend to Paysandu again with my host dad and sister, and I spent a couple of days with my friend from Finland. We went to the beach, went shopping, and tried all kinds of different baked goods that are popular in Paysandu. (We even took a picture with the lady who sold us tortas fritas.)
The last thing I did in January was a camping trip in Arequita, Lavalleja with my scouts group. The trip was super fun and I got a lot closer with my friends there. We were there for 5 days and we were never not doing something, our time was filled with activities and conversations and cooking and planning. I loved it. Even though we didn’t shower the whole time and our bathroom was literally just bushes, I didn’t want to leave. We also didn’t use our phones the whole time and to my surprise this greatly affected my Spanish; I had no opportunity to speak or listen to any English so all of my communication was in Spanish and by the end of the week I was speaking so well!
Speaking of Spanish, I had my first dream the other day in Spanish!! It was a nightmare but it was still in Spanish which is cool. I’m also gaining the confidence to speak to strangers and people in public. I think I still have a bit more to learn but it feels really good to be able to communicate when I need to.
On the first of February I went to the soccer game of Uruguay vs. Venezuela and we won! Soccer is a huge part of Uruguayan culture so I'm really glad I got to experience it. Thanks to my host family for taking me and buying me a jersey.
The first week of February I was really busy. I stayed in a rented house in Punta Del Este with my family and we swam in the pool, layed in the sun, had asados (barbeques), and explored the big city again. I also spent a day with another exchange student, Becci, who was also in Punta Del Este and we went out and got some of the best Ice Cream I’ve ever had and sat at a really nice looking skate park in the middle of the city and the beach and people watched until the sun went down. It was so beautiful!
On Saturday and Sunday Becci and I got up early and got on a bus to a small beach city called La Floresta, where we had our mid-year YFU orientation. It was fun but pretty short and we didn’t get to go to the beach because it started raining. I got to meet Ella, the other girl from the US (Idaho!) who just arrived in January and I was glad to be able to talk to another American. It was super nice to get together with all the exchange students again! We are like a giant family.
The rest of February is going to be super fun, I have a lot planned with my family and friends! Uruguay is celebrating Carnaval right now and it’s like 40 days long here so hopefully if Covid isn’t bad I will be able to go see the world famous marches and performances. They say that Uruguay has the best Carnaval celebration in the world!
Anyways, I’m so happy and grateful to be here and they say that the second half of exchange is always better than the first so I can’t wait to make even more memories and friends! Thanks for reading, watching, and supporting me on my journey!
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