25 days and counting!

I still feel like Uruguay is so far away but it's finally under a month until I will be in Montevideo so it's getting there!

I do not have anything new to report really. I just found a lot more websites and I found an amazing blog done by a southern California family who relocated to Montevideo. They talk about daily life in Uruguay among other things and I am finding them to be helpful.

I, also, found another blog by a student who studied abroad in Montevideo. I have not had the chance to read it yet or find out what school she attended (probably the Univeridad Católica), but I am excited to read her blog.

I found out the other day that there IS a Mcdonalds in Uruguay. (Yesssss!) I must locate it immediately and find the shortest route because I do not see myself liking Uruguayan food at all. I'm a picky eater and the usual cusine of beef and seafood does not sound appealing to me. Bleh! But Mcdonalds will be my lifesaver.

I still don't know what to do about adapters and converters because everyone has their own opinion about them., so I will probably wait until I get there to buy those things. Downside is that if I can't charge my laptop or phone then I can't contact my parents when I get there, but my parents are talking about getting me a pre-paid cell phone and I found out last night that my international student ID has one so I can purchase an international phone card online. I think....

Hayley, Kelsey, and I are still waiting to get an email from the University about arrival dates and housing. Really we're waiting to get info about everything. We just know we were signed up for a foreigner Spanish course and that it´s about $225 USD (US Dollars). Hayley, also, found a blog on housing on the UM website and it was not encouraging. It made it seem like housing would be a challenge. Our options are host family or finding a place of our own. With host families, apparently you ask for a trial? You try them out for a period of time then sign a contract with them and you have to stay throughout the whole contract. I just hope we can move out if we're not happy with the family. Then apartment searching in a foreign country in a different language sounds difficult! Not to mention it seems like a lot of money trying to pay for a hostel while we search and finding a place in the city. o.O

I'm not worried about anything, though. Give me a week more without direct contact from UM and that might change, but I am still excited as ever and researching more about Montevideo and Uruguay in general every day. I am probably over doing it, but this is my first time ever doing anything like this. I don't mind being caught off guard or surprised by anything, but I'd rather be surprised with "Hey, they have Walmart here!" than "US citizens have to pay how much to arrive by plane in Uruguay?!". Know what I mean?


I'm starting to see that my blogs will always be on the long side... but I want people to get a detailed experience along with me, so it's kind of inevitable. I'm thinking maybe two more blogs before I leave on February 25th and hopefully those will be full of way more information from UM and not me just looking up things online that may or may not be true.

Chau!