I’m back to tell you about my second week here in Montevideo! I can’t believe a week has already flown by. Where has the time gone? To site visits, group meetings, travels on the weekend, and more city exploring. Since my last post, I’ve had many more walks around the city, ate a few more chivitos, and enjoyed many ice cream cones!

The weather here has been BEAUTIFUL! I really couldn’t have asked for better autumn weather on this trip. Certain days have gotten up to 21 degrees Celsius (or 70 degrees Fahrenheit) and haven’t really dropped below the 50s! Juan said this weather is not typical in Uruguay and that it’s normally a lot colder here. I’ve been so thankful to have this warm weather, especially since I didn’t bring the warmest of clothes with me. Oops.

On Saturday, all of the United States students took a bus ride to Punta del Este, a gorgeous beach town in the Maldonado region of Uruguay. Juan arranged the entire day and let me just say that it was one of the best trips! Our first stop was to Punta Ballena where we could look out over the coastline of Maldonado seeing the beach stretch on for miles. We then made our way to the Punta del Este Marina and I got to see sea lions! They just wait in the water for the local shops to feed them fish scraps and then they all swarm towards the food. I couldn’t believe how close to shore they were! From there we walked down the Rambla, which is similar to our beach boardwalks, and out onto the rocks while some others looked for crabs and seashells.

Juan’s house was the next stop on our trip. He’s from Punta del Este and was gracious enough to let all sixteen of us enjoy an asado in his home. An asado is a South American barbeque with various meats such as chorizo, pork, and beef. Juan’s dad cooked up various cuts, corn, and sweet potatoes. For dessert, Juan’s mom made these pancakes filled with dulce de leche and topped with powdered sugar. I can’t get enough of the dulce de leche! Everything was SO good! After eating all of the food, all sixteen of us went down to Playa Brava in Punta del Este and had a friendly game of fútbol. (and my team won! Los ganadores!) We ended the day off by looking at the sunset over Punta Ballena again near Casa Pueblo, this castle-looking hotel. There’s even little succulents that grow all over the hillside there. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

My last week is jam-packed with homework and assignments meaning this week will fly by! I can’t believe my time here is almost over!! I’m not ready to leave but I am excited to get back home!

Chau Chau as they say here in Uruguay!

Nikki Jones