Wow! So much has happened, yet again. You guys just can't imagine how many hillarious and fun things happen in a day to wear me out so much as to not be able to blog about it. This group of students is so much fun and already so special to me. You can't imagine the bonds and friendships that we are making on a daily basis. Well, Friday was fairly un-eventful as days go. I did homework and watched a couple of movies, our new favorite past time. That night we went to fight class after a home-made dinner of Thai curry from Allie, one of the students here with me. Fight class and curry were an interesting combination, but it was really delicious and fight class was really fun. I learned how to do one of those like jumping, mid-air kicks. I'm not very good, but getting better. That night we watched Eagle Eye with Shia LaBouf. Excellent movie even if the acting is not up to par for every minute.Saturday was a very exciting day. We went to an estancia, which is like a ranch. After about an hour long bus ride, we got there and had some free time to walk around and take pictures. I am hoping to have a slideshow up soon for all of you non-facebook-ers. PS I respect you, non-facebook-ers.
For lunch we had a grilled meal called an asado. There was like beef and chorizo (sausage) and blood sausage (gross) and peppers and more. It was great. The bread was really good. Of course, as all good meals in Uruguay go, there was ham and cheese included in the deal. There were also delicious tomatoes. For desert it was like a sweet crepe filled with dulce de leche and topped with ice cream. Amazing!
After lunch, we went to the pens with the different animals and got to feed them. It was like being at May Farm all over again learning the names of the animals hands on. There were geese and turkeys and ducks and a dog named Pedro and sheep and cows and horses! I don't remember all of their Spanish names, but it was fun getting to pretend that we are four or five-years-old again. Jaimie and I even got to feed a baby cow a bottle of a liter of milk. It was only two days old and precious!
(See picture) After the feeding of the animals, we went on a ride on a trailor thing behind a tractor. It was like a hay ride but without the hay, for which I am grateful. We saw a little baby lamb too (I realize the phrase is redundant)!
After our ride we went into a like 19th century train car that would have been like a first class car with sleeping quarters and a bathroom. Built inside of the car was a giant model train station complete with working train and lights. It was a replica of the train station in Montevideo at that point in time. The lady from the Estancia played a track thing that explained more about the replica, but it was in Spanish and my Spanish was already used up for the day. There was still one car that was intact and that was cool to see what travel in a train would be like for days on end. Crazy stuff!
Right after that we went to the horse pen and split up into three riding groups. My group was first and so we mounted the half-dead creatures and took off at an alarmingly slow speed. The horses were basic trail horses that went on the same trail 14,000
times a day and were not in great shape to begin with. I think they have been trained not to respond to stimulation at all so that new riders won't confuse them. Too bad for me though. Mine's name was Sweet Potato and Matt named his, "Wow I'm Stupid." His horse didn't like him very much.
After that we had tea time on the ranch which consisted of coffee with milk, a cookie, and three little baby croissants. It was great, but after the big lunch I wasn't very hungry. Right as we were finishing our lunch, the lady told us that she was going to go milk a cow, but when we got out there to see, it was like an automated pump thing, not really her milking a cow. Sad day.
We got back on the bus to go home, full of lunch, coffee, cookies, and experiences. I was a real American and listened to my iPod for a while and most of us fell asleep. Listening to Spanish and being up and around all day are exhausting for college kids, anyone I would imagine.
As we were riding along happily, getting close to home, one of our tires like had a blow out so we got delayed. Everyone was safe; it was just a loud noise and about a thirty minute wait. When we got home, Matt, Jaimie, Amanda and I got out to look for some food. They found some (I was still full) and then we watched Aladdin. I made the mistake of drinking mate (the communal pass around drink stuff) with Matt throughout the whole movie, so naturally when I was ready to go to bed I was like on crack. I didn't sleep too well last night because of that.
Today we just went to church and then went book shopping at the street market thing. I found some really cool old-looking books, but didn't want to put any of them in my suitcase, so I didn't buy anything. I am looking forward to our 9 O'Clock service tonight with our group. Matt, Abel, Wimon, and I are the planning committee for the Sunday night services. I find that being on that committee reminds me of my chaplain duties last year at school and I really like that.
Anyways, looking forward to a non-eventful and mate-free night! :P
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