Week 3: Uruguay

I suppose I'm a bit late on this one, but it was a packed couple of days with more classes beginning. Friday through Monday, the entire IFSA program took a trip to Uruguay, a sort of last hurrah before classes began in earnest (for me, though, classes had already started). I had a great time, but quickly began to get agitated by my inability to have alone time. Being constantly surrounded by 50+ people is tiresome.

Anyway, we woke up super early Friday morning to take a ferry across Río de la Plata. I successfully had called and ordered a cab the night before, so Lauren, Sarah, Priva and I pulled up to the boat terminal with relatively little effort. The crossing took an hour, and it was a painful one at that. Michaela and I are both susceptible to motion/sea sickness, so we pounded some dramamine and attempted to not be too uncomfortable. Once the group landed in Colonia, Uruguay, we boarded a bus that took us to Mario's (the program director) lemon farm bed and breakfast. This place was incredibly picturesque, an ideal honeymoon spot.

We spent the day lounging around the pool and beach, which was a 15 minute walk away. We were served a delicious choripan snack and parilla for lunch. Altogether I had a blast, laughing more than I had in a while and enjoying my fiaca. Mario taught us that fiaca is the act of doing absolutely nothing, and that Americans are terrible at it. I think I was pretty successful.

Chorizo+Pan=Choripan!

Michaela, Caroline, and Me

Around 6, we piled into cabs and headed into Colonia for the evening. We unpacked in our respective hostels and had some downtime (as if we hadn't been having downtime all day). This is the first part of the itinerary that made no sense. At 8, we went in small groups on a walking tour of Colonia, an apparently beautiful little town with cool historical buildings and history. Unfortunately we saw very little of it, because at 8 o'clock, it's dark out. For this reason, I don't have any good pictures of Colonia. The stars were beautiful, though.

The next morning, we left at 9 am for Montevideo. We went on a short walking tour of old town Montevideo, taking a couple breaks in plazas to meander through flea markets. After, we partook in a disappointing lunch. I say disappointing because we sat at the table next to the IFSA staff, and had to witness the higher level of treatment they received. Michaela and I were particularly peeved, because our pasta (which was mediocre in itself) did not come with salad or fries, unlike the other options. Call us privileged white girls, but we were left hungry and without a diversity of nutrients.

After lunch, we hopped back on the bus to continue on to Punta del Este. We spent some downtime hanging by the pool and declining to spend time in the over-crowded jacuzzi. Dinner that night was held in the hotel, and I enjoyed a marvelous mero hojaldrada, a sort of white fish stuffed pastry, with a chocolate souffle for dessert.

Mero Hojaldrada

The next day, a bunch of us went on a Mario-led walk along the beach. Punta del Este is so named because it is the point where the Río meets the Atlantic Ocean, so we walked along the whole point and returned to the hotel area for lunch. At the recommendation of the hotel staff, Caroline, Michaela, and I went to a nearby café called Chivipizza. The food was fine, but I was left in a bad mood because I was charged over $10 for a side salad, without warning. We then went to the beach, but enjoyed it very little due to a cold breeze. After changing into warmer clothes, we walked to the other side of the peninsula to witness a beautiful (and brief) sunset.

"La Mano"

Monday, we ended up hanging around the pool instead of the beach, and ate in the mall food court... cheap, but not super adventurous. After lunch, we all piled back on the bus and headed back to Colonia to be ferried home. A long and densely packed trip, but a good break from the city.