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With time I’ve realized nearly all of my neighbors in the apartment building are over the age of 60. And I love it! Unless Grandma is cracking up with a friend on the telephone, it is always quiet, especially after 9pm when they are all in bed. And I’m quite certain if I were sick; I would receive more love, care and tasty recovery food than necessary.
“21 is so young!” This was the response one of my grandma neighbors gave when I told her I was turning 21 years old on Sunday. This is the same lady that is standing on the balcony in the following picture. Please enjoy her expression-I laugh every time I look at it. I snapped the picture last week when the city was tree trimming/tree destroying outside of our apartment building. She was not very happy with them and decided to let them know.
I wish this were my car. Oh how it would enjoy the roads of PA. I just know it. Seriously, rust spots, worn tires included, I want to bring this car home with me.
I gave in. I cut my hair. I'm so weak. A change was necessary and the good thing is now I have confidence that if I ever do wish to grow my hair out, it is possible without as many awkward stages as I previously thought. Here's the scoop... I sought out a trendy little hair joint about 15 minutes from the apartment. It took me a few weeks of detective work to find a suitable establishment because I've had my fair share of grandma styled cuts and I am done with that. I took a picture of one of my past haircuts, not too short, not too long. I showed the girl the picture and told her that if she could cut it more or less like the picture, it would be great. Snip snip snip, away she went. I think if it had been a race, she would have won. She did a great job and is truly talented. However, she purposely gave me a mullet. Remember how I said trendy hair joint? Well to be trendy here in Uruguay is to have a mullet. I was so tempted to keep the mullet, just for one day. It was priceless. Instead my pride took over and I asked her to cut it shorter in the back, more like the picture. Confused as to why I didn't want to look cool, she cut the mullet off. I'm happy with my Uruguayan haircut. It isn't what I asked for, but I'm okay with a little adventure.
This is going to be short and sweet because I have schoolwork to do. But here are two small stories from this past weekend.
A friend and I went to a Uruguayan horse competition on Sunday and I had a billion flashbacks of when I was the one in the event. Dad, I took this video so you could enjoy what I was enjoying. The horses were beautiful and the different types of competitions very interesting.
In other news, 5 friends and I went on a day road trip and then camped in Treinta y Tres, a small town in the interior of Uruguay. We found a free place to camp Friday night, so we decided to make it a party by purchasing hot dogs and chorizos, a popular Uruguayan sausage. It was a struggle at first, but we eventually fed ourselves. I think one of the chorizos fell in the dirt 4 times. However, that was only the beginning of the adventure because we were very unprepared for how cold it was. Two girls slept in our rental car while three of us slept in a small tent. Even though we were cozily packed in the tent, we were too cold to sleep. Or I should say Molly and Brittany were too cold to sleep. I have a gift of being able to sleep almost in any conditions. At 3 am we gave up, packed up the tent and had the other two girls drive us to a bus stop. By 4:45 we were on a bus back to Montevideo. Each of us spent Saturday in recovery in our beds, trying to warm up. Whoever said Uruguay doesn't get cold was wrong. Now we know not to camp in May-without enough blankets and warm clothing.
My most sincere apologies to all of my curious friends and family for the lack of written entries in the last month. I’m alive and well and happy, but the season of midterms has arrived and has taken my free time by storm! So far I’ve survived three midterms, but I still am preparing for one additional written test and one more term paper.
¡Qué baile! : Every Wednesday, three of my friends and I teach an elementary class just outside of Montevideo in one of the poorer neighborhoods. La Universidad Católica organizes community service opportunities for any of its students that wish to participate. So it was through the university that my friends and I have the opportunity to spend time with 30 energy-filled 11-12 year olds during one of their breaks. We are allotted one hour for activities and games with the goal to help them practice and apply the English they are learning. That is background for the real story. It was our first Wednesday with the students and the class was sitting in a circle playing a game. I was seated between Lucas and María when Lucas leans over and asks me if I am a good dancer. I whispered back something about having two left feet. Hearing that he loudly whispers back “So you are a really good dancer?” Before I know what is going on, and in the middle of the game, all of the students sitting around me start whispering, Erica dance, just dance, Erica show us one of your steps, come on dance Erica, dance. Laughing at how much of an instigator Lucas is, I quiet them and explain that I really am not a good dancer. However, the rumor started and there was no way to stop it. By the end of the hour, the entire class sincerely believed that I was a great dancer who simply didn’t want to dance in front of them and all 30 students were chanting “¡Qué baile! ¡Qué baile! ¡Qué baile!” (Dance, dance, dance!) To add to the hysteria, my friends were doing nothing to help me, but with smiles and laughs chanted along with the students knowing that dancing is not a talent of mine. Two weeks later the students are still not convinced that I am a poor dancer and still repeatedly ask me to dance.
Salto, Uruguay: Last weekend I traveled with the Campus Crusade for Christ group from Montevideo to Salto, the second largest city in Uruguay. It is about 6 hours north and is known for its abundance of hot springs. We spent the weekend with a group of university students that want to start a Cru group in their city. The weekend was filled with a lot of good teaching and fellowship. It was encouraging to spend a lot of time getting to know everyone better as well as see the excitement and joy the students had for Jesus. The weekend away gave an obvious boost to my Spanish confidence and I loved spending time with only Uruguayans. Andrés, the National Director of Campus Crusade here in Uruguay, asked me to share how met Jesus and how I got involved with Cru. I ended up sharing my story at 2 church services and 1 of the teaching sessions. It was a challenge and an encouragement because I had never shared my testimony in Spanish in front of such large crowds. Not only did I get to work on my Spanish all weekend, but also I had the opportunity to do a lot of driving. Andrés let me drive the van as much as I wanted and even gave me the keys so some girls and I could go to a flea market on Sunday. The driving is more intense because the driving rules aren’t enforced nor followed. And so the defensive driving that I use when I ride motorcycle in the States was incredibly useful.
Two stories are sufficient for today because quite honestly, I have to think to write sensibly in English. I’m at a point where I’m not accustomed to writing or talking in English, but neither am I able to fully express myself in Spanish.
