By Lawrence Selby – Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo.
It's Thursday night and I've been here almost 5 days now. My Spanish is definitely improving, though I have my good moments and my bad moments. Most of today was bad and most of yesterday was good. I'm finding out that my ability to concentrate, understand and converse is strongly dependent on the amount of sleep that I've had and how relaxed I am. I stayed out relatively late last night and went to a parrillada (an Uruguayan BBQ and steakhouse) with Adrian and his girlfriend. The food was good and we had a bunch of beers. I didn't get enough sleep, though, and was having a much rougher time in class today. This in turn made me more irritable which didn't help matters. I took a long nap in the afternoon because I knew that I needed to clear my head. As I said to my professor today in class, "Aprender un idioma nuevo es un camino largo." So, I might as well try to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery.
Aside About the Parrilladas: Uruguay and Argentina are famous for their beef. I can't count the number of times that I've heard or read about this. They say that the reason for this has to do with the type of grass that the cows eat. This sounds similar to the claim that New York bagels are the best because of the type of water that they use. Because of this, I felt that it was almost obligatory to go and try it. Though the steak was an excellent cut and I enjoyed it, I can't say that it tasted much different than a good piece of meat in New York. I think it all goes back to the expectations. They will get you every time (see prior blog about Brokeback Mountain).
Next Monday is a holiday here, el primero de Mayo (El dia los trabajadores). Apparently the 1st of May is the Labor Day holiday in most of the world (except for the U.S. and Canada). Because we don't have classes on Monday, I think that I will try to book a hotel for Saturday and possibly Sunday nights in Punta del Este. Though the water is probably too cold for swimming, it would be nice to stretch out and relax a bit. Yes, a vacation from a vacation! My only concern is that supposedly everything shuts down on the holiday so I'll need to buy some food provisions in advance and make sure that I will be able to find a bus that will take me back to Montevideo on Monday. It also may be a bit late to find rooms in such a popular resort for a holiday weekend, though I'm hoping that more will be available since this is an off peak season. After that, I'll have two more weekends here. I will definitely need to visit Buenos Aires for one of them.
For the other, I'd like to go and see the Iguazu Falls (in the Amazon at the border of Argentina and Brazil) though this would require a plane flight and probably a travel agent.
Why Uruguay?
I knew almost next to nothing about Uruguay before I arranged this trip. The AmeriSpan program selector (a web based tool) seemed to think that Montevideo was the best place in the world for me to study Spanish, though. No matter how many times I changed the criteria, Montevideo always came up as the top program for me. So, I did a bit of research. Talking to a few Argentineans and surfing the web I found out that Uruguay is very similar in climate and culture to the Buenos Aires region of Argentina (Buenos Aires is about 150 km away from Montevideo and can be reached easily via ferry). Montevideo and especially the nearby Punta del Este (100 km) are known for their excellent beaches. Agriculture is the main industry and both countries share the same "gaucho" heritage.
My theory is that Argentineans regard Uruguay very similar to the way that people in the US think of Canada. The way that most Americans think of Canada as a "kind of big northern state", Argentineans probably regard Uruguay as an "eastern province with good beaches". Or, maybe a better analogy would be the way that people in Philadelphia think about the Jersey shore? I'll test out this theory once I get to know a few people in Montevideo!
Here's what the Rough Guide says about Montevideo:
"Intensely likeable, the capital, Montevideo is of an easily manageable size, and it doesn't take long to feel at home. The city boasts some magnificent architecture, less high-rise and oppressive than Buenos Aires, while retaining a relaxed atmosphere."
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