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!
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