Sunday, December 23, 2012

Week 22--

I have now been in Uruguay for 5 months. ¡El tiempo vuela!
This week began bitter-sweetly. Bitter because all of my close friends here left to return home. Sweet because I realized how blessed these friends and I are to have helped each other grow this semester. Needless to say, I will miss them dearly.
I thought since school is out and my big trip is over I would have a truck-ton of time on my hands, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This week was so busy! In a good way. I had (not in chronological order) a goodbye lunch and tea, a Christmas dinner with my friend Lindsay and the Anglican Church community, a friend’s graduation ceremony, and a tour of the Cathedral and other churches of Montevideo from my friend Gastón along with a quick stop in an art exhibition. On Thursday night after a ‘fin del año’ Mass at the University, my friend Lindsay and I (who didn’t leave until yesterday, but is returning. Woo!) went to a night of tango with her host-mom. We watched couples tango until 3 in the morning. It is truly an art. I can’t figure out how the tango-ers know how to move their feet around one another without falling on their faces. In addition to all of that, I finished my Christmas shopping, wrapping, and card-writing. I just want to throw it out there that I love writing and making cards for people.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, la Nochebuena! Here in Montevideo, Christmas is celebrated more tomorrow than on the 25th. Christmas Eve is filled with celebration--apparently people begin around midday and continue on throughout the night. A little before midnight, my host-family and I will begin our asado dinner, which is like a huge meat-fest. See for yourself! Then, at midnight, the whole world of Montevideo sets off fireworks. Then, presents. Then, more meat eating and celebration… What a day! I am also excited to go to Mass with my new church community and share the gift of the Lord’s birth with them. It hasn’t really felt like Christmas is coming, in the Uruguayan heat (it is soo hot!) without my family and friends from the U.S. of A., but it is a nice reminder that this holiday should have Christ at its center anyways.
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
Praise God!
I hope you all have a very joyful, safe, and blessed Christmas. You all will be in my thoughts, as you’re laying out cookies for Papá Noel and I’m chowin’ down on meat.
 
Les deseo una muy feliz Navidad--
 
Courtney
¡Feliz Navidad!
My Advent Calendar, graciously sent to me by the Scheaf family--one more figurine to go!
¡Estamos listos para la Navidad!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Week 21--
Ch-ch-ch-¡Chile!
Alyssa, Molly, and I began week 21 by crossing the Andes in order to reach Valparaiso, Chile. The ride crossing the mountain range was magnificent—again, a reminder of the God’s beauty in the world. The roads were, however, a bit curvy for my liking. Talk about sweaty hands! My friend Molly is luckily a walking medicine cabinet, and with the help of some Dramamine I ended up feeling fine.
There were 29 of these curves. 29!
 
Colorful. Hilly. ßTwo words to sum up Valparaiso.
It’s one of those cities where you can walk around the entire day and feel satisfied. The walls and streets of the city are covered in street art and graffiti, and the houses are all painted different, vibrant colors. We learned that the people paint their houses different colors to establish a sense of ownership—to distinguish their house from the other houses. “See that blue house…that’s my house.” “If all of the houses have the same appearance,” one Chilean explained, “how could you point your house out to someone easily?” Tiene razón.
All of that being said--we pretty much walked around for two days simply admiring the uniqueness of the city. In my opinion, the best view of Valparaiso and the port can be seen from the top of Cerro Alegre. We arrived to the top via ascensor and were met with a view of the port, the huge cluster of houses, and Viña del Mar in the distance. In addition to meandering around the city, we stopped to take a tour of the cultural center (which had a fantastic photography exhibit), visit one of Pablo Neruda’s houses, and board a boat for a little zip around the port. After three nights and two days it was off to the neighboring city of Viña del Mar.

Our street in Valparaiso por la noche.
Centro de Cultura--photography exhibit.
Las casas de Valparaiso on a super cloudy morning.
Un arco iris de colores.
View from Pablo Neruda's home.
Little statue proposal goin' on. Sneaky Susan in the backround...
 
Sneaky Susan.
Street Art.
Pobre Papá Noel.
*Gasp!*
'The birds cannot live in the water because they are not fish.' Reeeeeeal deep.
Art.
El Puerto de Valparaiso.
El Ascensor.
Amigas en Cerro Alegre.
Cerro Alegre.
Colorful streets!
 
Viña del Mar is just as beautiful as Valparaiso, but in a completely different way. Valparaiso stands out in terms of distinctiveness whereas Viña del Mar stands out in terms of natural beauty--namely its beaches. We walked to a park, visited a museum (with an original Easter Island statue, ancient artifacts, and a two-headed lamb!), and…drum roll please...went SURFING! Oh goodness, was surfing fun. The “teacher” (debatable) gave us “lessons” (which lasted maybe two minutes) after some “yoga” (stretches) and then it was into the water for over two hours to catch some waves. I did not want to leave! I would have stayed in the water for hours on end if my body had been physically capable and if the time we had paid for had not run out. Let me tell you, it was exhausting. At times I felt like I would paddle for 30 minutes and not move anywhere. Exhausting, yes, but so fun. After two nights and two days in Viña, we boarded a bus to leave for our final destination—Santiago!

Viña del Mar!
Woa.
The water is so blue!
Original Easter Island statue.
Two-headed lamb! What?!
Pre-surfing.
 Yoga. Entre comillas.
Post-surfing.
 
Santiago reminded me so much of Buenos Aires for some reason. Probably because it was a big city, with many things to do and see—parks, museums, historical buildings, etc. And that’s practically what we did! We visited parks, did a city tour, and saw/learned about many of the historical sites of the city. I enjoyed the tour because we got to see many places in a short amount of time. Our guide taught us everything from little cultural aspects, such as the typical food and customs of Santiago, to bigger themes, such as the conflicts with the indigenous people and the dictatorship. Our tour guide, a local, showed us a typical Chilean restaurant and suggested that we try a plate called Chorrillana. For dinner we returned to the restaurant to test his suggestion… La comida estaba muy rica.
The Cerro de San Cristóbal was my most favorite place in Santiago, as well as one of my most favorite moments from our entire 2 ½ week trip. We took a bus to the top, from which you receive an incredible view of Santiago. From there we continued walking up the hill to a huge statue of the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception. There is a little chapel, candles to light for personal intentions, and places to sit, reflect and/or pray. I enjoyed sitting with Our Lady and talking to Our Lord. Sitting there with Her behind me and the city of Santiago to my front, I felt such a sense of peace.

Santiago, Chile.
'Poetry is not sold; it is shared.'
El Parque de las Esculturas.
El Parque de la Esculturas.
Palacio de La Moneda, Santiago, Chile.
Random collection of bottles we found in the street--I thought they were pretty.
Santiago street art near Pablo Neruda's other house.
La Virgen en el Cerro de San Crisóbal.
Santiago behind us!
On Saturday we began our casi 30 horas back to Montevideo en omnibus. It wasn’t too bad. I actually had a pretty deep conversation with this one guy about true love, the basis of the family, faith, and different issues in society. All in SPANISH! Gosh, I love that. Finally…
I am incredibly thankful that I had to ability and the resources to take this trip to Argentina and Chile. If they had the link to my blog and could read this, I would want to thank all of the incredible people we met along the way--especially the locals. I learned so many lessons from them which I hope to carry with me throughout the rest of my life. Special thanks to my parents for their support, and especially for their trust. Thank you to Lindsay, Alyssa, and Molly for your friendship and for the many memories made throughout our time traveling together. And finally...thank you to all of you for your thoughts and/or prayers throughout my travels. I greatly appreciate them.
Welp. That was my big trip! I hope you enjoyed hearing about it.
Talk to ya Sunday--
Courtney



Tuesday, December 18, 2012


Weeks 19 & 20--
I began week 19 with lots of goodbyes and lots of packing/getting things in order for my trip. It felt kind of strange because I could really feel my first Uruguayan semester coming to an end for one of the first times. Many of my friends were returning home, and my other friends and I were preparing to take the trip that we had been talking about for months.
La despedida de Lu.

Adios Leighton y Carolina!
 
Finally, Thursday came around and my friends Alyssa, Molly, Lindsay, and I boarded the bus to begin our 24-hour ride to Mendoza, Argentina. Within the first hour of the trip, our bus hit a cable, and the glass from the escape window on the roof of the bus shattered all over the floor. Classic—it wouldn’t feel like traveling if something crazy didn’t happen within the first few moments! All was well, as the drivers stopped to patch up the hole with duck tape and cardboard. Although the ‘band aid’ could not withstand the torrential downpour that sprung upon us later that night, the little mishap hardly affected the road trip. We met a wonderful Argentinean woman who recited poetry to Lindsay, watched 2 and ½ Shrek movies (in Spanish), and had plenty of time to read, chat, and sleep.

Woops...
The failed band aid.
 
End of week 19 and all of week 20--
If I described everything we did, the thoughts and reflections I had, and the sights we saw in detail in Mendoza, you would probably be ten years older by the time you finished reading this blog post. That being said, I will give you a list of some of our activities, a glimpse into a few of my thoughts, and then share a small number of pictures with you. How does that sound?
¡Muy bien! Vamos.
Mendozian activities:
1.       Bike Tour of three wineries
2.      Hiking and kayaking (and jumping of rocks into the lake) in Potrerillos—spent time with the people who owned the kayaks, talking, sharing mate (tea) and empanadas. We introduced them to peanut butter! Side note: I want to have a sharing heart like these people…
3.      White water rafting in Potrerillos
4.      Biking around el Parque San Martín
5.      Hiking el Cerro de la Gloria
6.      Museo del Pasado Cuyano
7.      High Andes Mountain tour
8.     Parque Aconcagua (the highest mountain peak in South America)
9.      Concert with cover bands—best song covered = Soda Stereo’s Persiana Americana. I knew it’d be a good concert when we heard the cover of Tina Turner’s Proud Mary as we entered.
10.  Exploring (aka, getting lost) in Salto
Some thoughts and reflections that passed through my brain and heart while experiencing the beauty of the mountains:
1.       I just feel so small!
2.      ‘Wow!’ ‘Geez!’ ‘Mira!’ ‘Thank you, Lord.’
3.      I wonder how that rock got there.
4.      Just like that rock has a place in this world, so do I. The thing to think about and strive to figure out is why I am where I am, and what my purpose is in said place. Lord, help me discover my purpose(s?) in life.
5.      Again, so much beauty and complexity. There has to be a Creator to have thought of how all of this stuff  works together. It just all... works.

I saw God in many, many ways throughout my time in Mendoza. 
In nature...
(Potrerillos)
 (Potrerillos)
(Potrerillos)
(Parque San Martin, Cerro de la Gloria)
(Puente del Inca)
(Aconcagua)
(Parque Aconcagua)
(Salto)
In my friendships, both the old and the new...
In the little things...
I actually found Him in Salto! I guess we weren't lost after all.
 
After our stay in Mendoza, Alyssa, Molly, and I continued on to Valparaiso, Chile. But that is for another post which will hopefully be posted tomorrow...
 
I could not be more grateful for my time spent in Mendoza. The times of reflection, the beauty surrounding me, and the strengthening of friendships will always be in my heart. Un poco cursi, pero es la verdad.  
 
Until tomorrow--
 
Courtney