Heatwave

Put on the Martha and the Vandellas in the background, because it is WAY too hot for winter in Uruguay right now. Temps have been hitting 30+ for the past few days (86 or higher for you silly Fahrenheit people), and it is WINTER for two more weeks. All of the Uruguayans are as in shock as I am. Of course, having temps that high in "winter" isn´t exactly a new thing for me, either, hailing from Texas as I do.

The hottish weather has been good for exploring the city, though. Wilma and her husband, who is the pastor at the Waldensian church, took us on a driving tour of the city last night. Montevideo is absolutely stunning. The main part of the city is a sort-of crescent along the shores of the Rio de la Plata, with the old city on one end of it and lots of glitzy high-rises on the other. There are palm trees, green hills, and nice beaches - I personally find Montevideo to be a lot more appealing than Buenos Aires, it´s much bigger Argentine neighbor.

Size-wise, Montevideo is about 1.5-1.75 million, which makes it a reasonably large city, and also home to 50% or better of Uruguay´s population. Because of that, plus Uruguay being a very small economy and heavily economically dependent on its gigantic neighbors (Argentina and Brazil), the cost of living here is notably higher than in Buenos Aires. The groceries I spent about $15 on a few days ago might have cost $10 in Buenos Aires. Suffice it to say that budgeting wisely will be a key for this year. It´s still cheaper than the US, but it´s definitely not Ghana, land of the $1 humongous meal in the night market.

Beyond beginning to develop a feel for my home for the year, I´ve also been making lots of connections with people here. On Thursday night, the three of us living in the church went to the Waldensian church´s group for college age people, and I really enjoyed myself. A really large part of the group´s time together was spent singing. Sometimes, it was serious - "Dios está aquí" and so on. I think their singing of Cumbaya around three lit candles while we sat in a circle holding hands was serious as well, but predictably, I had some trouble keeping a straight face during that. After a while, though, the music turned to somewhat lighter fare - initially, it was to more upbeat praise songs (they made Kirsten and I come up with a couple of songs when it became very obvious that we didn´t know any of the ones they were singing), but eventually we started singing fun/silly ones, often involving gestures and the like. It was fun to be singing nonsensical songs in Spanish; I didn´t have to worry about trying to figure out their meaning. Plus, the group did a great job of making us feel included and a part of the evening; I´ll definitely be going back on Thursday nights.

Since I hinted at it, the language aspect of the past week has definitely been the most trying for me. I can deal with heat, and I like meeting new people. I also like Spanish. However, I´ve never had to really, truly function in español before, and it´s definitely a new, and often exhausting, experience. The funny thing is that what I figured would be my biggest problem (comprehension) has not been too tough; I´ve only had a few serious problems with understanding what´s being said to me, and I´d say that I probably catch about 75-80% without having to ask for a repeat of the phrase. It´s been the responding that´s been getting me. It´s hard to be asked a question, think of the answer in English, and then translate it into Spanish in an amount of time appropriate to a normal conversation. It´s starting to get better; I´ve been in full-time Spanish mode for about 2 weeks now, and it´s getting easier.

That said, it´s still not easy, and I´m looking forward to the day when markedly less effort is required to converse. On the plus side, people have been extremely patient and understanding, have complimented my Spanish (a shocker for me, since I definitely do NOT feel all that great about my Spanish right now), and in general just seem appreciative that I´m really trying. Both Wilma and Milton have been great about this; they give me plenty of time to answer questions, and when I can´t think of a word, or am struggling with the grammar, they very patiently help me out with suggested words and the like. Milton assured me that this first month will be the worst, and that things will improve drastically after that...vamos a ver.

Today is a big day - I´m working at La Obra this afternoon (not sure what I´ll be doing, but I´ll be doing something), and this evening, Wilma is meeting with Kirsten and I to begin sorting out schedules and trying to come up with tasks that fit our interests and skills. Now, off to go find some pre-work food - chau!