I’ve been in Uruguay for a little almost two weeks now and I’m still getting used to everything culture-wise. I’ve realized that it’s difficult to compare two cultures, especially without sounding critical, and it’s even harder to do in Spanish. Honestly, some days I’m proud to be from the US and other days I’m not. In a lot of ways Uruguay is more modernized than the US and also in a lot of ways it's not.
For example, today in my philosophy class the professor and my classmates taught me how to use they/them pronouns in Spanish (we are reading Michel Foucault). The professor asked me if sexuality was allowed to be taught at schools in the US and I didn’t know how to answer.
Also, the other day, as you might have seen on my pictures page, I tried cow intestines which is popular here. I was scared after being vegetarian for so long that coming here and eating meat would hurt my stomach or I just wouldn’t want to. But something that has really helped me to enjoy the meals and asados here is that (according to my host dad) they use all parts of the cow. They eat every part except for the horns which are used for other things, for example knife handles.
If you’re wondering how I’m doing the answer is good. I feel both new and accustomed all in one. I’ve been super tired which is a very clear symptom of culture shock but I’m not sure if I have any more symptoms other than that. The biggest difficulty for me is that my memory has been horrible. I can’t remember words, plans, conversations, where I’m going, what I’m doing. I think it’s because of the loads of new information that is given to me everyday. After about 6 or 7 I get super tired and am unable to attain anything new, my host family knows that and in the evening, they give me a break from Spanish corrections unless I ask.
Something that took me by surprise here is how kind and welcoming everyone is. More specifically how close families are. I have tons and tons of ‘family’ here and everyone knows about me and is so excited to meet me, pretty much every day my host mom videocalls her mom and various aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, etc. and they are always eager to say hola to me. I’ve met a couple of Florencia’s friends and last night we went to a restaurant/game room with two of her cousins and ate pizza and sushi and played pool.
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