Anyway.
As I'm here I feel like it feels very missionary. And when I say missionary a lot of the stuff I'm feeling resembles the feelings I've had when I've been abroad. I just feel more peaceful, calmer. I don't feel like there is a need to be as ridiculous as I usually am. I mean, ridiculousness for me is basically inescapable, but I just feel like it's in smaller doses and it's like necessary ridiculous. Like Connor started freaking out on me when I was taping everything in sight on our way to the Feria yesterday. But he definitely should not give me flack, because when he is all alone up in Norcal (ew) crying and missing Uruguay he'll go to my facebook and watch all of my videos and say "wow. I shouldn't have ridiculed her. She is so freaking awesome for taping like a fool." That's probably what is going to happen. Point is, is that I will always be slightly ridiculous. I just feel more settled. Like, in myself. And I like it. And I don't know if this is true, or if this feeling is going to go away, but I feel like I'm on a mission trip. I feel like I have very specific objectives when I'm here. Which is what we always had whenever I went anywhere, like Thailand or Peru or whatever. Whereas back at school, or home, I didn't really have specific objectives. I mean I had goals, but they got lost in the shuffle of the craziness that I perpetuated within myself. I think I will gain an element of clarity that I need to learn how to permanently obtain so that I can have clarity as I make my way into the future, with my career plans or goals or whatever. Because that bridge is going to come up to me wayyy faster than I will anticipate. And I want to be ready. I want to hear from God what I'm supposed to or where I should go instead of getting my answers from other people or doing things so people will like me or so I'll look good. I really feel like this is a time where I can seek out the Lord and have him clean out my heart and let me realize things about myself and other people that I can use in my future.
I made a list of things that I would talk about today. Let's see how much I can get through before I realize that I am spending entirely too much time on the computer and need to actually go act all hardcore local sauce on the streets of Montevideo.
1. Feria. The Feria is a huge open air market. There is one right by where we are staying, and then there's one over on the other side of town, by Punta Carretas. There's also one in Ciudad Vieja, but that's more of an antique market (p.s. Life goal: buy a pair of vintage European crystal earrings for cheap to wear in Buenos Aires). But it's a super cool place and you can buy everything under the sun. MJ posters in Spanish, shoes, books, ducks. Yes. Ducks. It goes in all different directions for many blocks and there's all sorts of people that are shopping with their maté. Super cool. It's kind of a bust to walk around in when it is hotter than the dickens. But it's still really cool. I like the one by us more than the one by the beach.
2. I feel like it is necessary to post a picture of this cat that I want. He is two dollars. My gatito lindo.
He was two dollars and the Feria and I want want want him. He is too cute. TWO DOLLARS. Come on now. That is a deal. They have all sorts of obscene animals. They were selling ducks and all sorts of weird birds and stuff. It was freaking cool. Granted, most of them have disgusting diseases and ticks and stuff. But whatever. What I save in buying my gatito I can use to pay for medical bills. I feel like it is a win-win situation. Cat. And money for when I get diseases.
3. Punta Carretas. Punta Carretas is absolutely hilarious because at the present moment it is a mall, but it used to be a prison where they tortured political prisoners. I don't know why I used the adjective hilarious, but really, if you think about it, this was an extremely efficient use of space. It's a huge mall with all sorts of awesome stores. They even have a really really nice grocery store underneath some of the stores. There's a food court and kiosks and stuff. Its a really nice mall. Which previous tortured political prisoners. I bought a fantastic shirt at Zara when I was there. On sale. Win.
4. All of these things that I have previously mentioned I have undoubtedly had to walk to. I have done horrific amounts of walking since I've been here, and it's only day 5. My feet are still swollen. I walked from ciudad vieja all the way back to Casa on 18, which took almost an hour. Then we have to walk anywhere to go to stores or anything. I mean, you can take taxis and buses, which I have done and are both fantastic and cheap, but most people are always walking everywhere. So that's what we do as well. My feet are in a constant state of pain. But I figure I should give it a few days/weeks until my feet stop protesting. I do not mind the walking because all I do is eat things slathered with mayonnaise and pizza dripping with cheese because of the scads of cheese piled on top of it. It's all delicious, but I feel as though anything below my waist will resent my lack of willpower. So, walk I shall. I'm also gonna go join a gym. You know. Just in case.
5. Ok. I have heard that you get cat called here and men are always like "wassuppp pretty ladyyyy" blah blah on and on, except in Spanish and usually about 4 degrees more obscene. Can I just say that that has NOT happened. I bet I just jinxed myself. But really. I have gone out by myself and with one other girl, no cat calls. Nothing. I got checked out, sure. But that does not count. I have not gotten a catcall. Not that I want one, but I guess I was just expecting it already. I hope that doesn't sound creepy. I bet once it starts happening I'll freak out. So who knows. And probably by writing this I just jinxed myself.
6. May I just say that I am terrible at Spanish. I don't care what any of y'all say. My Spanish is deplorable. I feel like people look at my like I speak jibberish. When I'm just speaking what I was taught. I dunno. It's really frustrating. It's day ive and I feel like I should be better than I am. I get really discouraged really easily. Then I don't even want to speak it. Like when I was at the Feria I was looking at an old typewriter (p.s. Life goal: acquire and old school typewriter) and I told the guy I wanted an older one. But I used viejo instead of antigua. Sooo the guy thought I was talking about him. Being old. Fail, Lauren Johnson. Fail. But I guess I just have to realize that this is going to happen for a while. I just need to put on my big girl pants and have no fear and just get craaazy with learning Spanish. I feel like I'm so close to understanding, but then the different sounding y, j, and ll sound are different, and then everyone talks about a billion miles an hour, so that throws me. Off. I feel like I'm being a little too hard on myself, because we've been here for 5 days and I'm expecting fluency to just happen. Which it doesn't. I have to work at it, even though I am constantly surrounding by Spanish. Believe me, it's everywhere. Now that I think about it, it has to be a whole lot worse if you know absolutely no Spanish. I cannot imagine how terrifying that would be. I would definitely be crying all the time if that were the case. But it's not. But I'm still not satisfied with the proficiency of my Spanish. In time, in time.
7. We start classes today. I have 3 and half hours before I have to go. Thus, the blog that is longer than time. Anyway, I'm really excited. It doesn't seem like a super difficult load that I have, and I'm technically taking 15 hours here because one of the classes was the INTS one, and I don't have to do anything there. So this is the least amount I've taken. And I'm really looking forward to my classes. The only one I'm slightly worried about is my POLS class, because I'm afraid I won't be able to grasp all of the elusive and subjective nonsense we have to talk about all semester. I mean, I'm soo excited, but I already started reading my book, and it's dense. I am reading it super slowly because I want to make sure I understand everything and it's not confusing or I missed something. But other than that I'm stoked. AND I am stoked for my Advanced Spanish Conversation class. Bring onnn the conversation. I am ready!
8. I made friends with some of the people from the church. We finally got to meet them last night because we got a tour of the church, which actually used to be an old coffee factory, so it's huge and there's lots of space and secret passageways and ladders and stuff. The people that live at the church actually live above us, we can hear the little girls yelling and giggling at night as we're hanging out in our rooms, because there is a courtyard right in the middle of Casa, so we can hear everything. I am currently listening to Hillsong on my computer and David Gray from Dr. Gentry's room, across the courtyard. Killing two birds with one stone. Win. Anyway, I met Ema, full name Emmanuel, and Diego. And they're sooo cool. They took us to the Feria and all over town, and we ended up in this restaurant where we ate these massive sandwiches called Olimpicos. They are rather ginormous. They have three pieces of bread and are filled with ham and eggs and olives and all sorts of stuff. It took me a while to decide if I liked them or not, but I decided I do like them. They're super interesting. I think they'll grow on me. But Ema and Diego are super cool. They help me with my pathetico Spanish and make me laugh. I can't wait to get to know them better.
k. Well that took up about a bazillion hours. But that's what's been going on here. I need to go run some errands. So I'm out. Miss y'all! Send letters! Or emails!
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