Documenting.

I don't know if I am really going to have time to write allllll that has happened in the past 36 hours or so. But I shall do my best. I am exhausted and full of Steak and Potatoes, (I don't know why I capitalized those) so I don't know how much I can fully relay with humor and commentary because I am absolutely exhausted. But here I go.
We left school around 11. I was incensed because Mother Nature decided to pick a bone with me and flattened my hair to pancake status for the 20 minutes I was outside in the mist. Freaking mad. We had our prayer, our hugs, or, better to say, all the clique-y Oxford people hugged all of the people they couldn't bear to be separated from each other for any amount of time so they could continue to be their clique-y selves. Anyway. Whatever. We left and got to DFW around one.
Too bad our flight didn't leave until 6.
So DFW and I became really good friends. We hung out a lot, especially on the Skylink.
I went to Chili's with some friends in the B terminal and then we got coffee and then went back to D terminal. And still had like 4 hours before our flight left.
So then I took the Skylink to E. Why? I don't know. I ended up looking for books. I would.
I went back to the terminal to find we had even more time left because our flight got delayed like thirty minutes. So then we finally got on our plane and we all were looking at skymall magazine. That is probably the most hilarious thing I've ever read in my life. Who needs a cell phone holder that you put on your wrist? I mean really. It's hilarious. So that took a whole 15 minutes of the two and a half hour flight.
I don't really remember the rest of the flight. I think I read Dead Aid. Which is probably the most boring book known to man, talking bout bonds and the Dongo and China and all sorts of nonsense. I really wish that I had more prior knowledge of most things economic related before I read that book. Because I have no clue what that woman talks about most of the time. It’s slightly frustrated but I have vowed to myself that I will finish it. I only have about 50 more pages, and if I ever read it again in my life or ever need to brush up on the economic problems of Africa, I will have at least some basis of what I’m talking about instead of starting from scratch. Man, Africa has a lot of problems. You think it’s soo simple. Oh, oh no. Giving money to third world countries is bad idea. Baaaaad idea, lemme tell ya.
Anyway. We made it to Miami, our connecting destination, where we practically had to run to make the flight, and when we made it, where the flight from hell ensued. It was just bad and I cannot really explain to you why it was so horrible. I was comfortable, except I had the munchies for about 75% of the trip. I felt like I had smoked a HUGE pile of weed. Not that I smoke weed anyway, but still. That’s what I imagine that it would feel like. I sort of felt ok when we got our meal, but that was at like 1 o’clock in the morning. So my food system is all messed up. Well, it was. Now I’m just getting fat because of all of the amazing food I’m eating all of the time. I didn’t really sleep. It got off to a kind of bumpy start because apparently the air conditioner was rearing its ugly head of rebellion, so we had to sit on the plan for an hour and a half before the beast was tamed. So when we finally got out of North America, I slept on my tray table for a few hours, then I woke up to find everyone else was passed out, so there was no one to play with on the plane. For hours in endless agony I tried different ways to sleep; back on the tray table, sitting up, nothing could lull me back into a state of semi-consciousness. I tried for several hours in vain, only to drift into hazy slumber until the sun wedged its way through the cracks on the plane windows. We got fed breakfast, which I devoured, then I promptly changed into the pants and sandals that I had been carrying around in my backpack for the last 16 hours. After several more hours of listening to a dead ipod and looking around to see sleepyheads arise from their REM cycle. When the captain finally switched off the fasten seat belt sign, you cannot imagine the joy and relief that flowed from my soul. Finally. After driving, waiting, flying, running, sitting, flying/dying, I finally was going to land in the place I had been anticipating for months: Uruguay.
As I looked around when wheels and earth united, I saw sky. Lots of blue sky. Not my Africa sky, but a foreign South American sky. It was hot. Very hot. Very sunny. Lovely, obviously, coming from the frozen tundra known as Abilene. I felt like a genius as I walked off the plane with my legs exposed and my North Face jacket tucked neatly in my backpack. We went through customs very quickly, and I now have another stamp on my passport. Uruguay and Africa sound very exotic together, I think. Which I like. It makes me sound interesting. So if anyone ever begins to think I am a terribly boring person I can just whip out my passport and point and say, “I definitely am interesting. Botswana, Zimbabwe, AND Uruguay let me in. I have to be slightly fascinating.” But I never carry my passport with me anywhere. Hm.
After customs and baggage, we finally met the Walkers, who are fantastic. I really like both of them. They spent time in Botswana, which is way cool, because I can talk about it with them and bond over the sand and those moments where you just go ‘T.I.A.” So that’s rather exciting. They’re really nice people and I’m looking forward to getting to know them. So we finally got on the bus. Finally. Finally. We drove to Casa, the long way, and I got to see Uruguay. It’s rather foresty at some parts. Which was cool. Someone was selling hammocks on the side of the road. I enjoyed that and as I took a picture I tried justifying to myself the need for a hammock. I have nowhere to put a hammock.
Anyway. We finally saw the ocean. The beautiful Atlantic Ocean. And it was super comforting. Living by the beach for such a long amount of time allows huge expanses of sea to comfort you after being shell shocked from a bazillion hours of travel. As we drove along I taped it. I hope it’s warm because we are planning on going over there very soon. We stopped at this park and it was lovely. We all got out and took pictures of the ocean, the buildings and the sea squishing a swirling tan line up the coast, dotted with a lime or a polka-dot bathing suit. We could see all the way up the coast of Montevideo. Pretty cool, I must say.
I paused as I watched the Uruguayan flag wave in the breeze. I would be proud to be a Uruguayan under that flag; it was waving in proudly in a subtle way. It had a quiet and enduring grace as it stood on its coast, the blue in the flag and the clear blue sky complimenting each other. It was then I decided that Uruguay was fantastic and immediately took a liking to it.
After our brief stint at the park, or seawall, whatever it’s called, we made it to Casa. After about a million ours, I had reached home. Which is currently where I am sitting, typing this so that everyone in the states or wherever they are can read it. I’m in my room, a room across the courtyard, the best room, according to a certain wise and anonymous source. Abbey is my roommate and I cannot say how happy I am that she and I decided to room together. She is a fantastic person and I love her dearly and I cannot wait to share this adventure with her. If you leave our room and turn right, you immediately hit the courtyard, and walk into one of the main halls of the main house at Casa. Turn right and follow a hallway all the way down to the kitchen, which is what we did first the second we walked through the door. Raquel and Mariela were waiting for us with giant plates of empanadas de maiz, pollo, carne, y queso. And for desert, empanadas de dulce de leche.
Needless to say, it was amazing. We had been so hungry and it was wonderful to have a meal ready for us after we had been driving for so long. So after we had lunch upon arriving, we were forced against our will to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. Which I didn’t mind in particular, except for the fact that the group I was in had someone that lost their ATM card within five minutes of being out in a totally unfamiliar city. So we went back to Casa and hung out, but then Jacob (the other guy in the group) and I went out and hit the town. We went to Tres Cruces, the ginormous bus stop and walked around like tourist for quite some time trying to find everything. But I am happy to know where the bus station is in case I decide that everyone is driving me crazy and I have to book it to Chile or something. Or Rio. Or maybe I’ll just sit in the bus station.
We got back and debriefed about our experiences around town. Which was terribly informative, I feel like it helped me get my lay of the land a lot better than if we just sat around with each other. Not that I don’t like sitting, or being with people, but it was definitely cool to know about where the cambio is and the nearest supermarket and all sorts of things like that. Which I like knowing. After we had our intro to Uruguay they told us we were going out to eat, to the Mercado de Abundancia. Which basically seemed like an old warehouse with restaurants and I think there were some stores inside. IT was funny how it was set up because there were a lot of tables set up everywhere where everyone sat, and then the places they actually prepared the food were in the corner. It wasn’t like you went in to a restaurant and it was all exclusive and closed off. All of these tables were separated by small gates and walkways, but they were all different restaurants, but all on the same floor, with the cooking areas in the back. It was funny because I noticed that in one corner it was a place where you could learn how to tango. Which is exceedingly exciting, because it’s sort of been a life dream of mine to become a tango beast. I cannot explain to you how epic that would be. Tango is some fun nonsense. But it’s hard. Really, really hard. I forgot to mention that below the restaurants/tangofest was a Mercado, where they sold all sorts of cool things, like handmade leather and mate gourds and all sorts of stuff like that. So after we had been looking around we went to eat, where I had my first chivito of this experience, and I must say that it was awesome. I got it sin mayonesa, which is probably going to be one of my more excellent life choices. But it was amazing. I don’t even know what all is in a chivito other than pure awesomeness. There’s ham, steak, cheese, lettuce, and egg all rolled into a meat pancake dish. It was served with potato salad, salad, and fries. So amazing. I wish I could eat them all the time but I decided that I am not going to eat them all of the time because then they won’t be as good or as special. But they were delicious. We had a little bit of ice cream after that and then took a taxi back to Casa. Taxis are probably by far the way to go.

I’m sorry that this blog is so lame now, I promise I’ll get pictures or videos up soon! And I promise that my writing will improve!