Just smile and say "Si"

Okay, I don't know if it's just me or if I'm really that bad, but for some reason I keep finding myself stuck in a situation where a Uruguayan is trying to communicate with me and alas...all I can do is smile and say "si" over and over again. What's up with that? At home, for the most part I can make out what another person is saying...but here the words are crazy different! Sigh. That has happened more times than I can count, but it's not too bad. Uruguayans are really friendly and patient people. I have sooo much to learn.

I still can't believe I'm really here. I'm in South America. It's such a whole other big world. When you're in Uruguay, you feel it.

Just a quick wrap up, I haven't even been here a week and it feels like I have been here for months. I think it's because we are doing so much and are really busy. At least we have been. It should slow down soon. We have been doing lot of different things, but most of it consists of learning where everything is located. Easy things are really hard here, like withdrawing money from an ATM and going out to eat. The menus look so foreign, haha, which they are, but I have never seen spanish words like this before. Then ordering is another story. This isn't where you get your parents to tell the waiter what you want. You have to do it yourself...most of the time. We went to the ciudad vieja yesterday and I was trying to tell the waiter I wanted my steak cooked well done. Wow. Note to self: Cocino mucho does not mean "well done."

Well, we have gotten lost more times than I can count, living next to a beach is really amazing, there is no such thing as Mexican food here, and a car almost ran over me yesterday. Seriously.

Today was Church. Quite intimidating if I do say so myself, but really enjoyable. After church, we ate and then all of us had to get up and say our names, where we were from, how many siblings we had, and what we were studying...all in spanish! I don't think we did half bad.
It was a little disheartening though at some points. The people there all thought I knew spanish because I was "latina." Sad day. They also kept making jokes and laughing at me....and I'm still not sure why. I just laughed right along with them.
One man kept asking me about my family and where they came from. I think he just kept associating me with Mexico. He laughed at me so much. LOL. I mean, he didn't laugh at me, he was a cute old man. I just really need to learn spanish.

Well, this was a long post, but I promise they won't all be that bad. I really wasn't even planning on keeping a blog. This is for you Dad.