Grandma to Erica, “You’re pale.”

It is summer here in the south and so for me that means humidity and 80-degree temperatures and beach time! The apartment I live in is about 6 blocks from the beach and so Greg and I go as often as possible. Tuesday was the first day we went to the beach and before leaving the apartment Grandma had some wisdom to share. This is how the conversation went.


After lunch, at siesta time, I told Grandma that Greg and I were going to take our siestas at the beach. She replied by calling me pale and then telling Greg he has nice color. Thanks G-ma, haha! Then she adds, “If you don’t use sun protection you’ll peel like a fruit.”


So Greg and I spent the afternoon at the beach, enjoying the sun and waves. Now I am the owner of a sunburn, but I’m okay with that. Obviously the only way to cure sunburn is to spend more time in the sun. Duh. I felt like such a beach bum today when I was rushing around just to get some time in at the beach before class.


Speaking of class…Wednesday marked the first day of my pre-semester Spanish class; real classes don’t begin until the 9th. I needed this transition back to real student life. I’ve become so accustomed to the grandma lifestyle of cooking, knitting, reading and napping. Also not only has it given me an opportunity to meet some other international students, but it has been so helpful in teaching the Spanish that is spoken in Montevideo. Tonight the professor somehow got us tickets to the first ever guided tour of a very important cemetery in Montevideo. Somehow the TV stations found out “extranjeros” were going to be attending and so we were on TV.


I wanted to post one more update before this weekend. There are six of us internationals that are going to Punta del Este this weekend. It is another city that is about 2-3 hours away by bus. It is supposed to have great beaches (more sunburn). We will catch a bus after class on Friday and hopefully find a hostel to stay in when we arrive.


9 things I liked about my week…
1. Regular Siestas, sometimes more than one a day
2. The beach
3. Living with a grandma
4. The 5pm snack of toast, marmalade and coffee (Lunch is at 12 or 1 and Dinner is eaten between 10 and 11)
5. Walking: I walk everywhere.
6. Speaking Spanish all the time!
7. Dreaming about having a fro and another dream in which Brad Pitt and I fought off a bad guy in an apple orchard, Chuck Norris style
8. Meeting students from Germany, England and Slovakia
9. Having multiple chances to share about Venezuela


This is a picture of the beach where I spend my time. It's not from wikipedia.

My current knitting project: large scarf/blanket

I dreamt I had a fro

I live with a grandma! And for all of you that are pondering, “Will this influence Erica to become more grandma-like?” The answer is yes, without a doubt. I will tell you a few stories about my first 2 days in Montevideo. I arrived to the apartment rather tired on Saturday around noon. Immediately Malena or as I refer to her, Grandma, asked me if I was hungry. I said not really and she proceeded to make me three large pieces of chicken and 2 baked potatoes. Let the grandma hospitality begin!


That day I unpacked, we each took a nap, we went for a short walk, ate ham and cheese sandwiches at a café, (I don’t think either of us were hungry, but we stopped because she was tired of walking.) took another nap, walked to the Super, rested again, ate dinner and went to bed. Throw in some knitting and chatting and you have grandma-style day.


The second morning I woke to the sound of rain and I was immediately shocked to discover I didn’t have a fro. The humidity makes my hair curlier and I think this provoked the fro dream. It rained steadily all day and so even though I was all rested I had another day of knitting, naps, reading and chatting with Grandma. I’m knitting a blanket because I’m over scarves and I don’t know how to knit anything else. How fitting that Grandma keeps referring to my blanket as a huge scarf. I need to look up the word for blanket.


Also today, a great mystery was solved. Throughout our conversations Grandma often spoke of her husband. It sounds terrible, but I could never understand whether he was alive or deceased. Well, he walked in the door today. Luis is his name. I think he works and lives somewhere else and she decided to live closer to her children and grandchildren. We’ll see if this proves to be true in the coming days. Who knows, maybe I will be living with two grandparents.


For those of you that have heard me speak of Gregory, he arrives tomorrow morning. He is another student and he will share the apartment with Grandma and I. I look forward to the company.


I decided to write tonight while I have time because I hope to do some serious city exploring with Gregory in the coming days. Carnaval is tomorrow and Tuesday!


Grace and Peace

ETA: 13 days

I'm not a blogger, but I do not foresee myself having ample time to email everyone and their mother. And this way you can be sure that I have not been eaten by a sea lion or caught a rare Uruguayan plague. Nevertheless, there should be some laughs to be had as I share stories of learning Spanish and living in Montevideo.

Two weeks remain before I fly out of Philadelphia International and I have more packing to do than I wish to think about, but will you please check out Wikipedia's picture of where I'll be living? Holla. At times my heart seems to be pumping anxiety through my veins instead of blood, but I'm ready to go and excited for the comical adventures that will undoubtedly follow me. To add to my excitement, I just discovered that...

A substantial industry of hand-knit sweaters is built on the backs of Uruguayan sheep and the fluffy wool they produce. The wool yarns are hand-dyed then knit into sweaters in interesting styles and in nuanced colors not represented on a Pantone chart.

Knitting anyone? Anyway, here is my address if you desire to send love letters my way.

Av. Soca 1223 Ap. 301
Montevideo 11.300

Uruguay