I thought I was seriously done with math after I took College Alegbra two semesters ago. Wrong! It´s not like I´m doing calculus or stats in my classes but more the everyday things like paying for things, finding out what time it is and what it is in the US, and figuring out buses.
Exchange rates. Oh, man, they are not what they used to be. When our economy was doing much better in 2005 the exchange rate was 24 pesos uruguayos to 1 US dollar. Now it´s about 19 pesos to a dollar. Not really a huge change but considering how much I have to draw money out from an ATM (I can only get $263 USD out at a time or 5000 pesos) it starts to add up quickly. I think I avoid being charged for exchanging currencies this way by taking my money out of the ATM in pesos because the bank only says it charges me a fee for using an international card. Hmm...
Uruguayan money. This is something I should have looked at before I arrived. Uruguay uses Uruguayan pesos and money appears in bills (billetas)as such: 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20. A bill for 2000 does exist but it is hardly ever seen and I have never seen one. Coins (monedas) come in denominations of 10, 5, 2, 1, and .50. The half a peso coin perplexes me. I only really use it at the grocery store when I owe .50 to .60 pesos. So, if my order is 143.60 pesos then they ask for it and I lose .40 of a peso because it doesn´t even exist. Does that make sense? I feel like someone is always losing with the half peso coin unless it comes up to exactly half a peso. Oh, Uruguay...
Time. The 24 hour clock is widely used as is the 12 hour clock. Ahhh. Everyone fully knows both clocks but they like to throw curve balls and say "Hey, let´s meet up at 15:30!" after I´ve been looking at my 12 hour watch and cell phone all day. What in the world. So, I have to figure out which method to use to find out what time we are suppose to meet and usually end up using my fingers and sometimes freezing in place so I can think of the right time. It´s a very simple thing to use a 24 hour clock, but I´m simply not used to it. I usually have to subtract two from the hour which works from hours 1 to 20. Then I just remember that 20 hours is 8 o´clock and add and substract from there.
Daylight savings time. When Uruguay is in daylight savings time, while the US consecuently is not, Uruguay is one hour ahead of Eastern Standard time. When it´s the reverse Uruguay is three hours ahead of EST. Then, of course, traveling is made difficult because which time zone you're in depends on the country in South America. This means you need to look up the times for each country you're going to travel to. I tried doing this for Uruguay before I arrived and even the internet would get it wrong. My suggestion is to use a map to figure out which time the country is in, look up legitimate sites (government or tourist department websites) or buy traveling books for the country/region which should be able to offically tell you the time zone and if daylight savings is observed and if so when and what regions are affected. Be sure to look up other places you´re traveling to as well because I know for a fact that Buenos Aires and Brazil have different times from Uruguay depending on the time of year.
Buses. I still haven´t figured everything out about buses yet but I´m pretty sure the numbers help to indicate the general area the bus will travel to. For example, most, if not all, of the buses between 100 and 109 with their variations travel from Plaza de Independencia and up 8 de Octubre. I know there are other patterns enough but I´m not confident enough to put them here so I can confuse people.
Taxis. They have two different fares: night and day. I´m not sure if they charge by distance or time, but there are a few that will purposely take the long way with the most lights/traffic if they sense you don´t know where you´re going, you are an obvious foreigner, or drunk. We had a driver this past weekend who was about to bypass Gral. Artigas in favor or taking the longer way to our apartment and Lorenia said "Estoy borracha pero esto es Artigas!" (I´m drunk but this is Artigas) to the cab driver and made him turn onto the main street. It was pretty funny because right afterwards we went on a bump and she was back to being inebriated and pretending we were on a rollercoaster. This is especially bad in Buenos Aires as I think every time I had to take a cab in B.A. I got ripped off one way or another. It´s just how it is in Buenos Aires so allow for it money-wise and know where you´re suupose to be going.
I find that stores, restaurants, and buses are more relaxed with their money. If you´re missing a few pesos they of course make you look for it, but if you can´t find it then it´s fine. I bring this up because I was a cashier for about five years at places where they would count your drawer and you would get in trouble if you were missing too much. Usually, I would have to add my own money and go looking around at the floors on my breaks to come up for whatever money I knew I was missing. So, it´s cool they aren´t strict about money.
And of course, always buy tickets early whenever possible when traveling out of the country. I know for a fact that flights are cheaper to South America when you´re already in there so plan ahead and always ask your fellower travelers where they went, why, and what did they think about it as well as to ask for any traveling tips. I know this has kept me from doing things not worth my time or money. Alright that´s my two cents. (See how I ended with a clever math pun? I didn´t even mean to. Honest.) :D
May 31, 2010
May 24, 2010
La UM
I realized that I'm here in Uruguay for school and not really talking about my school experience. So, here is my attempt to make up for it.
First impression of the school: Wow, this place looks fancy. The white buildings were very well kept with gates surrounding the property and security guards watching out for the students who would hang out outside to smoke. It's kind of complicated to get to the school and even more complicated to explain how to get to my apartment from the university. Most of it's buildings are located right around the park, but it's not clearly marked and the streets are intricately crisscrossed in such a way that it makes things difficult. We even have to cross an intersection where five streets come together with no stop signs, so we have to literally watch all sides as we cross four other streets almost simultaneously.
This school only has a population of about 3,000 students which is nothing compared to the 20,000 students at UNCG. I feel like I already know one third of the students that attend UM just meeting people in my classes and in the international program ceneter. Also, I think it´s different that the students are always dressed nice for classes. It might come as a given with private schools but I never see anyone come to school in pajamas and it's hard to find students that look like they rolled out of bed and into the classroom. This could also be because everyone has to commute to campus, but who knows. (There is no on-campus housing at any of the universities in Uruguay).
As far as diversity is concerned, what diversity? I´m pretty sure only three african-americans attend this school (one being me) and that most of the diversity comes from international students. Of course, Uruguayans all have a mixed race usually involving indigenous roots with a european heritage mixed in, but it's the same mix for everyone. The majority resemble Europeans more than anything, though It's a little weird coming from a university that is the most diverse school in the UNC system to UM where I'm surprised to see people of other races. Then again, Uruguay is known to be the one of the most European-looking countries in Latin America.
UM is a very Catholic school (Opus Dei). All classrooms have Jesus on a cross on the right or left side of the chalk board. Even in different rooms of the buildings you'll find religious art and paintings. Since they are so spiritual we, also, always have no school on Christian holidays.
Classes are generally held later than they are in the US and are also longer. All of my classes are least an hour and a half and more than half of them are held at two in the afternoon or later. This school is even so small that in each faculty there is a board with all the times and meeting locations of the classes. The classes usually aren't held in the same classroom every time they meet, so the room number definitely comes in handy when you can't find your class where you thought it would be. I definitely like the later schedule here because I can sleep in late most days, but at the same time when class doesn't get out till 7:40 p.m. on a Friday it cuts into weekend traveling plans.
There are NO meal plans. Every time you want something you have to pay out of pocket and it's not an all you can eat buffet. I tend to get a ham and cheese medialuna which is just a sandwich. The prices are reasonable and you can even charge your prepaid cell phone here. Huge plus.
Speaking of school, students in the obligatory levels of schools that are public have to wear uniforms. It's mostly the younger students so primary school and, I think, secondary school as well have to wear them. I think they are so cute because you can wear whatever clothes you want underneath but have to wear either a white or green and white checkered overcloak-like uniform. Another tidbit is that the uniforms have been worn since around the 30s or 40s and, in my five-year old opinion, the boys look like they´re wearing a dress. :D
First impression of the school: Wow, this place looks fancy. The white buildings were very well kept with gates surrounding the property and security guards watching out for the students who would hang out outside to smoke. It's kind of complicated to get to the school and even more complicated to explain how to get to my apartment from the university. Most of it's buildings are located right around the park, but it's not clearly marked and the streets are intricately crisscrossed in such a way that it makes things difficult. We even have to cross an intersection where five streets come together with no stop signs, so we have to literally watch all sides as we cross four other streets almost simultaneously.
This school only has a population of about 3,000 students which is nothing compared to the 20,000 students at UNCG. I feel like I already know one third of the students that attend UM just meeting people in my classes and in the international program ceneter. Also, I think it´s different that the students are always dressed nice for classes. It might come as a given with private schools but I never see anyone come to school in pajamas and it's hard to find students that look like they rolled out of bed and into the classroom. This could also be because everyone has to commute to campus, but who knows. (There is no on-campus housing at any of the universities in Uruguay).
As far as diversity is concerned, what diversity? I´m pretty sure only three african-americans attend this school (one being me) and that most of the diversity comes from international students. Of course, Uruguayans all have a mixed race usually involving indigenous roots with a european heritage mixed in, but it's the same mix for everyone. The majority resemble Europeans more than anything, though It's a little weird coming from a university that is the most diverse school in the UNC system to UM where I'm surprised to see people of other races. Then again, Uruguay is known to be the one of the most European-looking countries in Latin America.
UM is a very Catholic school (Opus Dei). All classrooms have Jesus on a cross on the right or left side of the chalk board. Even in different rooms of the buildings you'll find religious art and paintings. Since they are so spiritual we, also, always have no school on Christian holidays.
Classes are generally held later than they are in the US and are also longer. All of my classes are least an hour and a half and more than half of them are held at two in the afternoon or later. This school is even so small that in each faculty there is a board with all the times and meeting locations of the classes. The classes usually aren't held in the same classroom every time they meet, so the room number definitely comes in handy when you can't find your class where you thought it would be. I definitely like the later schedule here because I can sleep in late most days, but at the same time when class doesn't get out till 7:40 p.m. on a Friday it cuts into weekend traveling plans.
There are NO meal plans. Every time you want something you have to pay out of pocket and it's not an all you can eat buffet. I tend to get a ham and cheese medialuna which is just a sandwich. The prices are reasonable and you can even charge your prepaid cell phone here. Huge plus.
Speaking of school, students in the obligatory levels of schools that are public have to wear uniforms. It's mostly the younger students so primary school and, I think, secondary school as well have to wear them. I think they are so cute because you can wear whatever clothes you want underneath but have to wear either a white or green and white checkered overcloak-like uniform. Another tidbit is that the uniforms have been worn since around the 30s or 40s and, in my five-year old opinion, the boys look like they´re wearing a dress. :D
May 19, 2010
Exploring Uruguay
So, in the past two weeks I went on two trips within Uruguay: the interior and Colonia.
My Spanish for Foreigners class (all four of us and the teacher) went to a town past Carrasco and we invited Lorenia along too. We only went to the outskirts of the
interior, but we were in the countryside of Uruguay nonetheless. We ate then rode on horseback around the ranch. I, actually, took a horse drawn cart with the teacher because I wasn't feeling confident with the horses. Have I mentioned yet that I´m not an animal person? This little boy around 8 years old drove the cart for us and the landscape reminded me so much of North Carolina. It was fun to get out of the city and see some of the cows that are soo famous here. And probably where the asado came from. As mentioned before, I was done with asados on week three, so I had chicken.
Then I went to Colonia this past weekend by my lonesome. Colonia is about two and
half hours away from Montevideo and was a nice break from city life as well. It's a small historic town with a long coastline and expensive food due to a lot of vacationing tourists especially the ones from Buenos Aires looking for a break. I have to admit I wasn't too impressed with the place. Not to say it wasn't worth it--I´m glad I went-- but I wish I had gone with lower expectations. One of the biggest attractions was a string of museums where you could pay a one time fee and have the ability to browse all of them. That ticket, also, lasted a couple of days or at least two when I asked the ticket lady about it. I could only get into six of the eight because one was closed 
for rennovations and one wasn´t open on the weekends. I think the museums are more for history buffs, though. I walked around and thought it looked nice, but I wasn't thrilled by them. Now the nice views were more exciting. I'm not good at taking pictures, but the way the town is set up it's hard to take bad pictures unless there are dogs humping behind you as you push the button. Ahem. And even though there are restuarants contructed in original buildings from the actual colonial period, they still manage to look hip and romantic. These restuarants actually make Colonia a great couples town. It's a nice and relaxed place, and with some well placed dining in view of the water.
The rambla, or boardwalk, offers great peeks at the beaches and the river of Colonia and I think I experienced this the best way by renting a bike for a few
hours and just cycling it. I was very much out of shape, but the rambla was reasonably flat so my limp the next day wasn't too severe. Also, the rambla had nice rest spots where I would abandon my bike for a picture and to stand on the beach. I enjoyed it a lot since I got into cycling before I came here and was missing my bike trips something awful. Overall, it was a good trip even though it wasn't all I thought it would be.
Package update: I received my package! It actually arrived in customs in Montevideo ten days after it was sent, but they failed to send me a slip of paper letting me know this. So, I waited over a month extra for a package that was already here. Bummer. But really glad I got my package and everything was intact... until I dropped my laptop right after I took it out of it's case. So, I have to find someone here to fix it for a reasonable price and, if not, then when I possibly go back to the US in July I'm going to buy a Mac. (Mac>PC)
Speaking of heading back home in July... I never actually planned on stepping foot back on US soil until my ten months were up. I was talking to my parents before I went to Colonia and my dad asked me out of the blue if I was going to come back during my break. I thought he was kidding and jokingly asked him if he was going to pay. He said yes.... So, if time permits I'm going to head to Chile after exams then head home for a few days in July. We shall see...
Random: This guy in Colonia really surprised me when he thought I was from the frontera AFTER hearing me speak Spanish. What? haha. Even more progress!
My Spanish for Foreigners class (all four of us and the teacher) went to a town past Carrasco and we invited Lorenia along too. We only went to the outskirts of the
interior, but we were in the countryside of Uruguay nonetheless. We ate then rode on horseback around the ranch. I, actually, took a horse drawn cart with the teacher because I wasn't feeling confident with the horses. Have I mentioned yet that I´m not an animal person? This little boy around 8 years old drove the cart for us and the landscape reminded me so much of North Carolina. It was fun to get out of the city and see some of the cows that are soo famous here. And probably where the asado came from. As mentioned before, I was done with asados on week three, so I had chicken.Then I went to Colonia this past weekend by my lonesome. Colonia is about two and
half hours away from Montevideo and was a nice break from city life as well. It's a small historic town with a long coastline and expensive food due to a lot of vacationing tourists especially the ones from Buenos Aires looking for a break. I have to admit I wasn't too impressed with the place. Not to say it wasn't worth it--I´m glad I went-- but I wish I had gone with lower expectations. One of the biggest attractions was a string of museums where you could pay a one time fee and have the ability to browse all of them. That ticket, also, lasted a couple of days or at least two when I asked the ticket lady about it. I could only get into six of the eight because one was closed 
for rennovations and one wasn´t open on the weekends. I think the museums are more for history buffs, though. I walked around and thought it looked nice, but I wasn't thrilled by them. Now the nice views were more exciting. I'm not good at taking pictures, but the way the town is set up it's hard to take bad pictures unless there are dogs humping behind you as you push the button. Ahem. And even though there are restuarants contructed in original buildings from the actual colonial period, they still manage to look hip and romantic. These restuarants actually make Colonia a great couples town. It's a nice and relaxed place, and with some well placed dining in view of the water.The rambla, or boardwalk, offers great peeks at the beaches and the river of Colonia and I think I experienced this the best way by renting a bike for a few
hours and just cycling it. I was very much out of shape, but the rambla was reasonably flat so my limp the next day wasn't too severe. Also, the rambla had nice rest spots where I would abandon my bike for a picture and to stand on the beach. I enjoyed it a lot since I got into cycling before I came here and was missing my bike trips something awful. Overall, it was a good trip even though it wasn't all I thought it would be.Package update: I received my package! It actually arrived in customs in Montevideo ten days after it was sent, but they failed to send me a slip of paper letting me know this. So, I waited over a month extra for a package that was already here. Bummer. But really glad I got my package and everything was intact... until I dropped my laptop right after I took it out of it's case. So, I have to find someone here to fix it for a reasonable price and, if not, then when I possibly go back to the US in July I'm going to buy a Mac. (Mac>PC)
Speaking of heading back home in July... I never actually planned on stepping foot back on US soil until my ten months were up. I was talking to my parents before I went to Colonia and my dad asked me out of the blue if I was going to come back during my break. I thought he was kidding and jokingly asked him if he was going to pay. He said yes.... So, if time permits I'm going to head to Chile after exams then head home for a few days in July. We shall see...
Random: This guy in Colonia really surprised me when he thought I was from the frontera AFTER hearing me speak Spanish. What? haha. Even more progress!
May 9, 2010
Feriados y tráfico
Saturday the first of May was Día de Los Trabajores here in Uruguay also known as Labor Day. This doesn´t happen in the US until the first Monday of September, but it´s the exact same holiday (feriados in Spanish). If I´m not mistaken it started in Chicago and is now celebrated all over the world. It started Friday night with a lot of businesses shutting down early and went through Sunday. I, unfortunately, wasn´t able to see the city shut down for the weekend since I was held up in my apartment studying for mid-terms. If you want to read a blurb about it on the Exploring Uruguay blog here is a link. The blog also offers another link to see more about labor day and it just links to the Wikipedia page for the holiday.
Mother's day is today... in the States. Usually it occurs on the same day in Uruguay, but today was election day! They voted for their intendente or city council. The reason I bring this election up is because I found out a very interesting fact about voting in Uruguay. As a citizen, you have to vote. Those that don´t vote will be penalized a fee. I think it's funny because they say Uruguay is passionate about politics and naturally you assume that they don´t have incentive to be this way. Wrong. And I´m guessing that the tax is not a light one either with how "passionate" these Uruguayans are about politics. I joke about it, but I really think they do care. If you're going to vote, you might as well make sure it's someone you can support. Uruguay, also, has an interesting political past that involved a dictatorship that actually ended not too long ago. I can´t give you dates or names just yet, but in my Uruguayan history class we´ll get to this at some point and I can tell you all about it. Once again Wikipedia offers a great synopsis of politics in Uruguay. It talks about the structure of politics and a little history as well. Just scroll down to see the few paragraphs to see the section.
I, also, found another blog I liked a lot. This guy Seth (NY, USA) is traveling around South America and managed to stop in Montevideo for three weeks and it looks like he had fun! I haven't read the entire thing yet, but his talks of fútbol and especially the voseo were better written than my accounts of them. He was in Uruguay from February 10th, 2010 to March 2nd (so you can find the posts more easily). He traveled throughout the rest of South America too, if you´re interested in viewing the rest of his blogs.
I saw my first traffic accident here. It was unfortunate as it involved a guy on the motorcycle, but he was laying on the ground talking on his cell phone, so I don´t think he was too badly hurt. This incident made me realize something. Despite how crazy they drive here, Uruguayans are pretty good drivers (ignoring the blocking of intersections outside of Tres Cruces today that involved excessive leaning on car horns). Surprisingly, there are not always lines on the roads here in the city so sometimes at an intersection there will be two lanes of traffic and other times three. Even with all the close calls of people indecisively floating between lanes and cutting through three lanes of traffic while turning in an intersection I havent seen or heard of a single accident. I'm, also, excluding when cars bump into each other while trying to parallel park as it happens all the time and doesn´'t really cause any harm to either cars. I guess they need to hit the car behind them sometimes to make sure they can't back up anymore. Also, I think this is the reason so many car alarms go off here. Go figure.
Speaking of transportation I am leaving by bus on Friday for Colonia (del Sacramento), Uruguay. I'm very excited since this will be my first trip by myself and because I walked into Tres Cruces today and bought my tickets on the spot. I felt so spontaneous and whimsical. I´m going for two and a half days which I think is plenty to explore this colonial place. I decided not to go to Buenos Aires mostly because tickets are more expensive than I would like when you try to buy them less than a week in advance and I want to try traveling by myself in a more low-key, safer place. We´ll see how it goes.
And, I got lectured briefly by Lorrenia again for slipping up and refering to the citizens of the US as Americans. I´m starting to realize that she is the one with the big problem with it and not Uruguay. Still I wouldn't say American though. It´s not politically correct and us people from the United States love to be politically correct. See how that was just a mouthful? I just say America when she's not around.
Random: May 1, 2010 in Uruguay is written as 1/5/10. The date and month switch places compared to the US version. And, tacos means heels on shoes here. Did you get a look at those huge tacos!?
Mother's day is today... in the States. Usually it occurs on the same day in Uruguay, but today was election day! They voted for their intendente or city council. The reason I bring this election up is because I found out a very interesting fact about voting in Uruguay. As a citizen, you have to vote. Those that don´t vote will be penalized a fee. I think it's funny because they say Uruguay is passionate about politics and naturally you assume that they don´t have incentive to be this way. Wrong. And I´m guessing that the tax is not a light one either with how "passionate" these Uruguayans are about politics. I joke about it, but I really think they do care. If you're going to vote, you might as well make sure it's someone you can support. Uruguay, also, has an interesting political past that involved a dictatorship that actually ended not too long ago. I can´t give you dates or names just yet, but in my Uruguayan history class we´ll get to this at some point and I can tell you all about it. Once again Wikipedia offers a great synopsis of politics in Uruguay. It talks about the structure of politics and a little history as well. Just scroll down to see the few paragraphs to see the section.
I, also, found another blog I liked a lot. This guy Seth (NY, USA) is traveling around South America and managed to stop in Montevideo for three weeks and it looks like he had fun! I haven't read the entire thing yet, but his talks of fútbol and especially the voseo were better written than my accounts of them. He was in Uruguay from February 10th, 2010 to March 2nd (so you can find the posts more easily). He traveled throughout the rest of South America too, if you´re interested in viewing the rest of his blogs.
I saw my first traffic accident here. It was unfortunate as it involved a guy on the motorcycle, but he was laying on the ground talking on his cell phone, so I don´t think he was too badly hurt. This incident made me realize something. Despite how crazy they drive here, Uruguayans are pretty good drivers (ignoring the blocking of intersections outside of Tres Cruces today that involved excessive leaning on car horns). Surprisingly, there are not always lines on the roads here in the city so sometimes at an intersection there will be two lanes of traffic and other times three. Even with all the close calls of people indecisively floating between lanes and cutting through three lanes of traffic while turning in an intersection I havent seen or heard of a single accident. I'm, also, excluding when cars bump into each other while trying to parallel park as it happens all the time and doesn´'t really cause any harm to either cars. I guess they need to hit the car behind them sometimes to make sure they can't back up anymore. Also, I think this is the reason so many car alarms go off here. Go figure.
Speaking of transportation I am leaving by bus on Friday for Colonia (del Sacramento), Uruguay. I'm very excited since this will be my first trip by myself and because I walked into Tres Cruces today and bought my tickets on the spot. I felt so spontaneous and whimsical. I´m going for two and a half days which I think is plenty to explore this colonial place. I decided not to go to Buenos Aires mostly because tickets are more expensive than I would like when you try to buy them less than a week in advance and I want to try traveling by myself in a more low-key, safer place. We´ll see how it goes.
And, I got lectured briefly by Lorrenia again for slipping up and refering to the citizens of the US as Americans. I´m starting to realize that she is the one with the big problem with it and not Uruguay. Still I wouldn't say American though. It´s not politically correct and us people from the United States love to be politically correct. See how that was just a mouthful? I just say America when she's not around.
Random: May 1, 2010 in Uruguay is written as 1/5/10. The date and month switch places compared to the US version. And, tacos means heels on shoes here. Did you get a look at those huge tacos!?
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