Brazil Days 5-7

Hey there! So so sorry that I haven't written this week. My life has been really quite crazy. We are getting ready to leave on our trip to Chile in about a week (soooooo exciting) and because of that, we have been booking and rebooking and scheduling and rescheduling. I actually stole my own identity the other night and that was a doozie to work out with the credit card company. Apparently putting one wrong digit in a passport number while booking things online turns out to be a hasel in the long run. More on that trip later though.

So Brazil. The next day we got up and went to the Guaraní village in Argentina. Yeah, the passport is looking quite awesome at this point with about a thousand stamps on it! :) And that was really interesting. The Guaraní indigenous population has had long and hard struggles with the people who came from Europe basically since the 1500s. There was a bout with the Jesuits (see the movie, "The Mission") and the trouble never really stopped. But now where they stand is a nation within the nations of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay for the most part. They have their own settlements where they raise crops and live somewhat like they used to. They have their own schools and such there as well. This is the kind of village that we visited. It was not a tourist attraction it was a "pueblito" a tiny little village, where about 60 families live I think. It was great. They showed us their traditional houses and traps for animals and weapons and such. Really ingenious things!

I absolutely LOVE learning about indigenous and cultures that are untouched by western hands. Don't get me wrong, I am American through and through and will not be able to change that. I appreciate modern cultures as well, but not quite like cultures that fight to preserve the ways of their ancestors. Cultures that use their hands and the land to produce what they need. That, to me, is just such an organic and raw way of living. In someways, I feel closer to God when I can be closer to nature like that. Anyway!!

The next day basically all we did was get on the bus and come home. We had a lot of fun on the bus again, playing card games and joking around with each other. Thanks to a bit of Advil PM I woke up the next morning happy as a clam to be back in Montevideo!

This week we have been catching up on school work and working hard to get ready for Chile. I am the "team captain" so that's always fun! I can't wait, but I want it all to go smoothly and I have VERY little relative control over that.

Yesterday we went to a museum of a man called Joquín Torres-Garcia. He is a famous South American painter and thinker. It was really interesting. We even got to do an art project with it! Paste and crayons and all. It was great to be back in kindergarden again!

Today is more class, booking, and another visit to the Alianza where Dara and I get to help people with their English. I am looking forward to a Biochem and a P. Chem test before the trip to Chile as well! I can't believe it is already over half-way over! Craziness!!! Keep reading!