Very late, long, awfully written, confusing, and unfinished post... [NOW PICS INCLUDED]

DISCLAIMER:  My attempt to catch up has failed.  Here is the first part of a very long post that will attempt to retell what ocurred here during the past two weeks.  It will be long, it has no pictures and it is NOT finished.  Tomorrow, during a work break, I will take the time to add pictures and finish.  For now.....

Goodness… There is so much catching up to do that I don’t know what to do.  I have two options, stick to few random events and give details, give a brief overview of all of the days, or just act like they didn’t happen.  Since I plan on using this as a sort of “travel journal” (since after reading my grandmother’s I realized they are fun to read later on) I decided to give a brief (but not so brief) overview of the days I missed.  The last day I talked about was last Monday…  whew… I can, however, sum up the past month and a half with a few things I’ve learned.   Immigration has always been a huge topic in my life.  My grandmother was an immigrant, I am an immigrant, and we both have this problem with identity…  Where do we belong?  Where is home?  Are half of us in one place and the other in another? 

One thing is for sure, when I left, I felt like I was losing everything and gaining nothing.  As time went by I realized that I had gained a lot, but I never lost the feeling that I had lost more.  When I first got to Uruguay in May, my parents were here and we were vacationing.  After they left and Maia and I started working, it became our new life and Uruguay became our home (again).  Then… Sarita arrived, and we started showing her around. It was like sharing our special sacred place, our home, not our vacation spot.  We took her everywhere and she fell in love with the place and the people that raised us. With skype and the internet, as she felt more and more at home, we all lost notion of how far we were from what we each now call home.  The boundaries and the miles between the countries seemed to fade.   As Maia left on Tuesday, things changed and the idea of goodbyes came back.  I’m not quite sure if what did me in was Maia leaving or Sarah fighting back the tears as she waved goodbye and walked out of Uruguay and into the plane.   I remember now, sitting here waiting for Sarah’s plane to leave, what it felt like to sit on that plane in 2001… I’ve heard people talk of being a citizen of the world, and today as I spoke to Sarah, remembered 2001, and watched people say goodbye at the airport, I have come to understand the meaning.  Skype, emails, and phones have made the boundaries almost invisible to most that have moved, travel, or have friends around the world.  The more places you call home, the more you understand this…  As I listen to Maia (at home) describing the emptiness and strangeness that she feels now that she is home, I already panic thinking of what I will feel after being here for 3 months.  This emptiness, I have concluded, is experiences by anyone that calls more than one place home, but I also realize that I don’t have half of my life in Uruguay and the other half in the U.S. , I am lucky enough to have 2 separate lives. Sometimes my lives get to mix (like when Sarah and Amy came to Uruguay or when my family come to the U.S), and sometimes, due to things like Skype, I feel like the two lives almost touch. Those moments are priceless.

Anyhow… Now that I’ve said way more than needed and probably have made zero sense…   Here is the summary of most of Sarah’s stay here!

Soooo… here it goes.

Monday July 4^th-

After returning from seeing Laura and Eduardo we rested at Elena’s and headed to “La Pasiva” at 5:30 to reserve a table to watch the Uruguay game.  It was a blast, they came and handed out Uruguay merchandise (flags, whistles, blow up toys,etc).  I think it was a great experience for Sarah to see.  Though we did not win, we tied, Sarah got to see the craziness that is Uruguay when the teams scores.  For that one second, everyone forgets their troubles and has pure joy and pride for their country.  We enjoyed the night and then all (excluding Marianne who had to head home) returned to Elena’s for something sweet!

Ready (way too early) for the game

Tuesday July 5^th –

Tuesday morning Maia and Sarah headed out early to go spend the morning with Diego.  They chatted for hours, because when I woke up (close to noon since I was beyond tired) they were heading back to meet for lunch.  After lunch, we headed to “el teatro Solis” to watch “la escuelita de Rada” (Rada’s little school).   It is a show that is done for little kids by the singer Rada.   I was really excited to go, because since I was in Uruguay I’ve listened to his music.  One song in specific about Montevideo makes me cry every time.  The show was a blast, and I think Maia, Sarah, Cata, and Diego at least enjoyed it half as much as I did.  Though I felt like a fool for liking it so much, it was a blast, the theater was packed, and the energy was incredible!   After the show, we proceeded to get some ice cream and headed back to Elena to learn about the dictatorship.  Elena is a specialist, she knows it all.  So, since we wanted to know the stories and the details, we set aside this night to hear it all.  After a good summary, we sat together to watch a documentary called d.s. (destino final or final destiny), which talks about the murders of Gutierrez Ruiz and Michellini.  All the information was extremely interesting and we learned a ton!!!

Wednesday July 6^th –

The plan for Wednesday was to go visit the Legislative Palace. The morning tour would get us into the chamber of senators but not of the “diputados” since they were in session.  Though we were all curious to see the inside, I don’t think any of us expected to see the beauty that we found.  It was gorgeous!!! So much marble, gold, and art!!!!  The tour guide was wonderful and she spoke clearly enough for Sarah to understand.  I was blown away by the public library that is inside.  Anyone can go, all you need is to show an I.D. Everything published in Uruguay HAS to send a copy to this library, therefore, the visitors are guaranteed a great variety of material.  Fun fact:  Uruguayans get in to “El Palacio Legislativo” for free, Americans pay almost nothing.  However, the workers at the front refused to charge Sarah simply told her to enjoy. 

In front of el Palacio Legislativo

Inside "el palacio legislativo"

After we visited there, we headed to el barrio Reus.  It is known for its Polish/Jewish population, its beautiful colorful houses, and for having stores that sell in bulk.  After walking a bit, we headed back to Elena’s for lunch and took off for Atlantida.  This little trip took no less than 1:30 minutes, and we rode standing the ENTIRE way! Once in Atlantida we picked up Marianne’s laundry from the laundry mat (4 HUGE bags) and we headed to her house.  Upon arrival, we found a box with the futon that we were about to put together.  Though we were under the impression that it came with instructions, it did not.  We fiddled around until we figured it out, and we put it together before Marianne got home. 

The futon!!! We slept on it, and it did not fall apart!

 After spending time with her and eating the most wonderful meat that she had prepared, we finally got to bed!