Almost there!

Six more days until I take a 23 hour journey to my new favorite place! I can't be as excited as I want to be right now since I received three vaccinations yesterday and am currently experiencing flu-like symptoms. Not fun... but I will now be able to fight off Typhoid Fever, Hepatitis A, and Yellow Fever. Whoo!

For the first six days the girls and me have everything figured out so far. We've booked a hostel and met a girl, Rachel, who can help us get situated. She's from UNC- Chapel Hill, which is really close to our university, so I immediately feel comforted in that she will be the one to help us out.

A lot of people have been asking me about how I feel with the departure date looming and if I am excited. It really depends on the day how I feel about everything. I have days where I'm so excited then days where I am just making lists in my head. There's just a lot to think about and so many ways to feel about this situation. I've never left the country, even home, for more than ten months by myself yet I love Spanish and the fact that I'll be in an evironment where people, signs, and TV will all be in Spanish. I guess if I had to pick one word for it it would be that I feel overwhelmed. In both a good and bad way, but I'm keeping a positive attitude about the whole thing and taking everything in stride.

Nothing is set in stone yet after those first six days. I'm not sure if it´s just Latin American culture or the University I am going to. Or maybe it´s just an American thing to want to know exactly how things are going to happen and what to expect when you arrive to a new place. I know this is probably just typical study abroad things that people learn in my situation, but it´s harder dealing with it even though I knew it was coming. But everything will work out mostly because it has to! After all the research I've done, I feel good about this experience and that I will be able to manage it with the help of the other students from UM. There are only 13 international students including myself and we've already been emailing each other so that's a good sign.

And I would say the second most common thing people ask me when they realize Uruguay is a Spanish-speaking country is "Can you speak Spanish? Will you be able to get around?" Yes, I can speak Spanish though not fluently yet and yes, I will be able to get around. People always ask me this like they can't believe I'm attempting to go to a country that isn't too English-friendly, but I really don't think it will be too bad. I'm far enough along in the Spanish major where I can take the basics I've learned and start to really use them and build upon them to gain fluency. It definitely won't be easy going from speaking my broken Spanish to my American Spanish teachers to being able to speak fluidly to any Spanish speaking person, but I'm confident that I can accomplish this before I leave Uruguay. Plus, I'm pretty sure I have the most classroom hours in my little group of three people so I'll have to step my game up and make sure I can help us find housing and get around the city, and explore our new school. I write better than I speak Spanish, though, so if worse comes to worse I'll just whip out an empty notepad (International students would do this to me at UNCG and it seemed to really help them) and just write down what I want to say on it.

The only big thing that still needs to be done is for me to get my laptop back from HP headquarters. I reall need it before I leave, so I can contact my parents when I arrive via Skype and, of course, I'll need it for school. The next biggest thing is packing... oh, goodness. How on earth does one pack for 10 months?

I wrote this post over a few days and as I'm finishing it I have four more days until I leave. I find myself being very nostalgic as I spend my last days in this familiar place and even saying "Oh my gosh" out loud a lot as it keeps hitting me that I really signed up for this. I'm really looking forward to it and thankful for all the people that have helped me get here by filling out papers on my behalf and holding my jobs and just supporting me as I've had to watch all the other international students leave while I'm still here. So, thank you guys and the next post will be on the day that I leave... in four days... on Thursday!

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!

Uruguay... that's in Europe somewhere, right?

So, I realize a lot of people know I'm going to Uruguay, but have no idea where it is or what it's like. I'm going to use this post to briefly profile Uruguay from my study abroad material and things I've found online.

First off, Uruguay is NOT in Europe. Nor is it in Central America. It's located in southern South America with Argentina to its left and Brazil to the northeast. The rest is surrounded by water-- either the Rio de Plata or the Atlantic Ocean. I'll be in it´s capital, Montevideo, which is located on the southern coast along the Rio de Plata. The weather is fairly temperate and it´s seasons are reversed from those of North America. Temperatures in July average 52 degrees fahrenheit and 73 degrees in January (which are the peak months of winter and summer). It´s, also, free of natural disasters which my parents will love.




Population: 3.5 million people with a little over a million living in Montevideo (it´s capital).

Language: The official Language is Spanish with English and Portugese being common second languages. Near the border of Brazil a mix of Spanish and Portuguese is used.

Religion: Uruguay is one of the most secular countries in Latin America and there is no official religion. Roman Catholics do prevail, though, only less than half of this denomination attends church regularly. Church and state are strictly separated and religious freedom is guaranteed to all of it´s citizens.

General Attitudes: Uruguayans are very proud of their country and do not like to hear people praise other countries more than Uruguay. They have a motto "Nadie es más importante que nadie"(No one is more important than anyone else) and hate aggressiveness and arrogance. They tend to be pessimistic, opinionated, and individualistic. Punctuality is not a bad thing but it´s okay to be late. However, the more formal the event the more important it is to be on time.

Personal Appearance: Conservative well-tailored clothes. Subdued clothes are more common and makeup and jewelry are not usually worn. So, pretty much they wear jeans and a t-shirt which is standard for a lot of Latin America.

In other news, I finally bought my plane ticket! I will leave on February 25th at 1:50pm from Raleigh, NC. I'm really excited because I will be riding down with two other girls from UNCG going to UM and we'll have some fun connections in New York and Brazil before we reach Montevideo. We got our tickets for a little over $800 roundtrip so that is excellent considering we're leaving in the middle of day with two connections and going completely out of our way.

The coordinator at UM doesn't arrive in her office until January 25th, so we've gotten no packet of information on host families or classes since they've been on summer vacation. Unfortunately that means we bought our tickets without knowing a lot. Our plan is that if we arrive early we'll stay in a hostel for a few days and explore the city. We've already got one picked out and I'm sure we'll try to hit the beach before school starts.

Lastly, classes start tomorrow for UNCG. I'm pretty excited I get to relax for another month before I have to worry about classes even if I'll be in school in June while UNCG is out. Oh, well. But I'm super excited! I finally have a date I can tell people for Uruguay and it´s a little over a month away!

I've been into a lot of George Lopez things lately and really anything Spanish related, so here's a link to a funny video to end my post.

I got ants in my pants!

I really want to put up a real post on this blog even though I'm not in Uruguay yet so... this is a post of my countdown and preparation for Uruguay. If I leave on February 28th, which is a date that is just stuck in my head, then in exactly two months from now I will be in Uruguay. So, I will use these two months to look up things about Uruguay and post about them so that when I actually am there I can check my information and provide a more accurate view of Uruguay and hopefully South America in general for everyone out there. Sound good? Okay. Alright well, here are some things I've been looking up and finding out about Montevideo/ Uruguay so far.

I just ran across an awesome article called What NOT to Do in Uruguay. It's not exactly the most positive article, but it gives me a reality check about Uruguay. It's not a booming metropolis like I keep thinking it is; its actually very tranquilo and stuck in the 80s. Not what I was going for at all when I chose Uruguay... but it will be a good experience nonetheless. The article also mentions that while Montevideo is rated one of the safest cities in all of South America do NOT stay out late. I know this is kind of common sense but every time I read about safety it mentions not being out at night and it seems like a very severe warning.

I, also, ran across another website thanks to Hayley, who is going with me to the Universidad de Montevideo, that talks about the more everyday things I need to know about Uruguay. I really like it because these are both Uruguayans and people who moved to the country and have firsthand experience that are offering their advice. They talk about where to find decent books in English, how the water supply is, where to find housing, what kind of adapters or chargers you may need (without a power converter any big voltage American appliances like computers, cameras, and blow dryers will fry INSTANTLY) and they even talk about what winter is like in Uruguay: windy and rainy, joy!. It´s just full of blogs and articles I've found to be very useful.

I mentioned South America earlier and how I wanted to be able to tell people about it. To explain that statement I will have at least a full month of winter break where I'm not in school where I'll probably be here by myself for a while. The study abroad students I have met will leave and others will be on their way. So... why not travel? If some students stay an extra week or two we can find a cheap way to travel, or if I make some good Uruguayan friends who are willing to be spontaneous with me, I'll travel with them. The only real downside I see to this is that this is the reason I will need to get a yellow fever vaccination now. If I didn't travel I wouldn´t really need it, but now I will need it. I hate shots. But I'll get to see some great things and I MUST see Rio de Janiero because I've heard from numerous people that it´s a beautiful place and that I must see it before I die.

Naturally I'll need a place to stay while I´m in Uruguay so I'm going to start looking at couches to sleep on and hostels as well. Couchsurfing is an international phenomenon where people or families offer up their "couch" or bed or floor space to someone for a certain amount of time. You contact the person directly and discuss arrangement as well as payment if they would like to be compensated. Hostels are like hotels but... better? I've never stayed in one but you can have your own room or sleep in a dorm-like setting with a number of people which, of course, is less expensive than having a private room. I think they offer their own entertainment like bars and social rooms to hang out in and are just an inexpensive way to have a reasonably safe place to stay.

Other things I've been doing to prepare for my 10 months abroad is just re-teaching myself basic Spanish skills via the Spanish 204 and 301 books I've kept, watching Univision (a Spanish channel on t.v.), and just today I picked up a Spanish newspaper, Qué Pasa.

Things I've yet to learn and need to get a move on are learning how to Tango (it's a big dance style there) and looking up Uruguay's history. The people in the study abroad office said I should really know about their history so I can understand their culture better. It's probably a great idea to get started on that since Uruguay is a liberal nation and I often read about (peaceful) protests and reforms going on.

I don't know if its too early in the game to be looking up all this information but I'm so antsy. I just want to be in Uruguay already and be experiencing these things instead of researching about them. I can't buy my ticket yet because I need to find an airline that is very flexible since my arrival and departure times are estimates right now. And I haven't heard anything else from UM since I got my acceptance letter so I don't know where I'm living or anything. I'm not too worried, though. I have two whole months to figure everything out and don't even have to worry about getting a visa until I get there. So, I'm just waiting.