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