So, apologies for the long silence, I´ll make up for it now. I´ve been without internet for the past 9 days at the school. I suppose a lot has happened. First of all, when I moved into my room here, there was a leak in the ceiling after the heavy rain...so I was promptly moved to a different room, which also has a door to a (much smaller) terrace, which I can actually open! The weather has been getting better, actually quite pleasant during the day. My first week of classes went well, I feel that my Spanish is improving little by little each day. I have made some wonderful friends from Couchsurfing who have been really helpful and made this whole experience much more fun and comfortable than it would be otherwise. I sometimes feel stupid and alienated still, but I know that will get better with time. Last Friday, I went horseback riding in the campo (country) with my classmates. Such a beautiful and tranquil place, even though my horse was not terribly fond of me. He could probably tell I hadn´t ridden in about 10 years... Saturday was my first real night of partying Uruguayan style. Let´s just say I walked in my door at 9 am...and I did not end up going to the fería (market) as planned at 9:30 am. Rather, I slept until 3 pm and went to play fútbol with some friends. Very fun despite my ineptitude.
So, let´s talk a little about food. First of all, going to the supermarket is a rather unnerving experience. I have no idea what about 30 to 50% of the things are. There is a huge meat counter which I would have no idea what to ask for. Milk more or less only comes in bags. Yes, bags. And you have to weigh your produce before you go to the register. So, things are a bit different, and when you can´t read most of the packages or ask someone (actually asking is much less of a problem than understanding the response), it´s kind of like going grocery shopping as a 4 year old. Only you don´t just want to buy candy. Then, of course, there is eating out. Pizza is a common thing for people to go out and eat. Only make sure you ask for cheese, because if don´t, you will get bread with tomato sauce. There is a very popular dish called a chivito, which Uruguay is famous for. Basically this is a vegan´s worst nightmare. From the bottom up, it consists of steak, mayonaise, mushrooms, onions, olives, and a fried egg. This comes either as a sandwich or on top of a whole lot of french fries. And if you order it canadiense (I did), it has some kind of bacony hammy thing too. Intense. It seems all the really famous or popular foods are really bad for you. Dulce de leche, for example, is milk and sugar boiled down to a sort of caramel-like delicious thing. They put this on crackers, pancakes, and in bizcochos (a type of croissant-like pastry), among other things. There is also a thing called milanese, which is a huge, thin piece of meat, breaded and eaten kind of like a hamburger or with french fries (or both). As for beverages, the most famous drink in Uruguay is mate. It is common to see someone walking down the street with a cup made from a gourd filled with yerba mate and a thermos full of hot water. It is a very interesting ritual, and absolutely Uruguayo. Apparently most non-natives are not too fond of it, but I rather like it. Aside from that, most people drink Coke or beer with meals. I tried an interesting drink called grappamiel. Essentially this is liquor (distilled from grapes but much like whiskey), mixed with honey. Extremely sweet and extremely strong, be careful...
That´s all for now, but I´ll be back sooner than last time. ¡Adiós!
Mmm... grappamiel...
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