Uruguay

My time spent in Uruguay was extremely relaxing. After some of the frustration my group of friends and I had experienced in Buenos Aires, it was much needed.

The first day we did some more wandering (we’re really good at that) around Montevideo. The city is small, but very cute, and we visited some more market squares and what not. We grabbed some ‘chivitos,’ their delicious steak sandwiches, for lunch.

A bit later we were walking some more and were asked to join in a soccer game. Haley, Ashley, and I jumped at the opportunity! We were just so awful, but it was a lot of fun. We sat and talked with the guys for awhile, and a few of them asked us to hang out later. We set a meeting time and a place, but I honestly didn’t expect to see them again.

Haley, Ashley, and I then rented some bicycles. It was a thousand times nicer (and more fun!) than just walking around. We covered a ton more ground than we would have on foot. We rode up and down the coast passing by soccer and rugby fields, local beaches, and even a naval base. It was so awesome until my back tire went flat. My sit bones are still feeling that…

So at 8:30 we met those boys in the main square of the city. It was here that we learned they were only 17 years old. However, one of them didn’t look a day over 13.  Oh well, we still had fun. The really fun part was that only one of them could sort of speak English.

I was so surprised by how well we did speaking! Haley has taken more Spanish than Ashley and I, but we all just kind of help each other out. We could keep the conversation going with questions and what not, but what we could get from their answers varied. I can get the gist of the conversations. They took us to play pool before we met up with the rest of our friends for Jessie’s birthday dinner.

For the next two days, Ashley, Haley, Paige, and I headed to Punta Del Este, an extremely popular vacation spot in Uruguay. Summer begins in the next few weeks so we were lucky enough to be there during the off-season. Right across the street from the bus station was the infamous “big hand in the sand.” After taking our pictures, we headed to our hotel and then right to the beach.

The beaches were beautiful. The water was a little iffy, but nothing worse than New Jersey. The first evening we went out for a lovely Mexican meal complete with hand-squeezed margaritas and mojito-ritas. So delicious.

The last day we sunned ourselves some more and then hopped on the bus back to Montevideo. I really enjoyed myself in this port, but again I’m feeling guilty/strange for not “doing more” or seeing more. The quality time with my good friends was a good trade-off.