Martes Madness

or: Children at Heart

Tuesday, some of the exchange students went to an “Espectaculo Uruguayo” with some Uruguayan students who kind of served as guides. Of course I didn’t wanna miss out on that and since Becci would have sat at home all alone and bored I decided to invite her. Actually, she’s not that bad a charity case but since she is doing her practical semester at the German school in Montevideo and the school year hasn’t started yet she didn’t know that many people yet. To be fair, neither did I until I started my language class on Monday. Anyway, we decided to join the fun and go check out Uruguayan Carnaval.

In order to get to the place of the Espectaculo, we all met at the main entrance of the university and from there we all went together to the “Velodromo” which is a bike track in the park next to where I live. On our way there we passed a lot of people wearing black-and-yellow, which are the colors of Peñarol, one of Montevideo’s main soccer clubs. Apparently there was a game that night and, as Becci fittingly described them,  they seemed like swarms of bees buzzing around their “beehive”, a.k.a. the Estadio Centenario.  But let’s continue with the actual story: the Espectaculo Uruguayo.

Some of us with two of the Carnaval artists

Upon arrival at the velodromo we found that the Espectaculo was some sort of “Carnaval” thing. Unfortunately we didn’t really understand much of what the people on stage were talking/singin about and that’s why it was mostly a night of getting to know some people and having fun. The show was really colorful but it wasn’t like you imagine for example the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Not at all. But as I mentioned before we didn’t actually pay too much attention to the show.

How do you say "Cheese" in Spanish? (Hint: it's not Queso)

When we got there we first took the obligatory group picture. After that a lot of us decided to have something to eat. They had some typical Uruguayan/Latinamerican foods which all looked pretty delicious. Becci and I shared some “Empanadas” which is some sort of pastry with different fillings. We tried Carne (beef),  Jamón y Queso (ham and cheese) and Queso y Langzanita (Cheese and some sort of peperoni). I gotta say I have fallen for Empanadas really bad and so far my favorite is with Carne.

After that we shared some fun conversations with the Uruguayan students where we learned some interesting expressions. And of course we taught them some German ones that they have probably forgotten about by now. But for everyones enjoyment, I recorded them saying a drinking toast in German.

One for the boys...

...and one for the girls!

After that I really wanted to go “sledding”. Of course there was no snow involved since we had really nice weather. But when we first got to the velodromo, I was amazed by some children going down the slopes of the bik track on cardboard and naturally the child in me wanted to try it. So we went over to the kids and asked if they would let us use their pieces of cardboard for a bit and down the slope we went.

First attempt (note the little boy in the back)

Smooth landing

After a first try, a little boy (you can see him in the first picture) came up to us and straight up told us that we were going too slow because we are too heavy. Big laugh here.

Becci got stuck...

...so Augustín had to help out

But we didn’t let that kid discourage us and tried again and got some practice. And oh the fun we had! At some point a little girl came up to us and told us that it is even more fun if you sit on an empty plastic bottle because that way you go a lot faster. Of course we had to try that as well and believe it or not it was even more awesome. Or “salado” as a Uruguayan fella named Pablo told me is the expression for “great” or “awesome”. Not sure if I can trust him on that but I guess I’ll find out at some point. Anyway, I enjoyed our sledding experience a lot. 

Maxime and I going Pro

Speed accelerator: the Plastic Bottle!

It’s incredible how much fun you can have with such cheap means. Who needs toys if you got a plastic bottle and a bike track?!   

After our sledding experience we sat down and had some more conversations and enjoyed some “churros” (sweet fried pastry). Those are also very delicious just like all the other Uruguayan food. And just in case you haven’t noticed, I do enjoy the food here a lot and I am probably going to gain a bit of weight but it’s definitely worth every pound.

In the end, when we decided to head home we had our first “how do we get home?” experience. We have heard from all kinds of people that girls shouldn’t walk home alone at night because “es muy peligroso!” (translation: it’s very dangerous!). However, Becci and I don’t live very far from the velodromo. To be exact we really only had to get out of the park, cross a street and turn right. And normally I would have walked home.

But as I have mentioned earlier, that night there had been a soccer game in the Estadio Centenario which is pretty much right next to the velodromo. Now, if Peñarol is playing that isn’t just any soccer game. Of course not. Uruguayans are nuts about soccer and one of their favorite teams is Peñarol. That is probably why Peñarol fans are of the most extreme kind.  And it just so happens that they had lost the game earlier that night. Accordingly, they were in a very bad mood and felt the need to express their anger. It just so happened, that when we got out of the velodromo, the buses of the rivaling team went by. Bottles were thrown and one of the reputable gentleman of Peñarol division grabbed his man parts to show them what he thinks of them.

We realized that the insistent warnings not to go home alone that night at all were probably not made up out of thin air. Luckily, our Uruguayan friends were very helpful here. Some of them had their cars parked nearby and so we waited for them to get the cars and got a ride. Down the street, two turns and back home we were. Safe and sound and with lots of good memories.



P.S.: And the answer to what Uruguayans say instead of "Cheese" when taking a picture: Whiskey!

Getting Groceries.. Trust me, it's not as boring as it sounds!

Today was another lazy day in Montevideo. Originally we had planned to explore the city a little, but the weather is just kind of blah so due to a lack of motivation my roommate Becci and I decided to stay in and enjoy the sun from our rooftop terrace.

First though, I went to get some groceries. Sounds boring? Well, let me tell you it ain’t as easy if you don’t know the language very well. Getting all the things you have on your grocery list isn’t as hard because we live in a world of pictures. I may not understand every single word but some things just look the same in every country. Some however don’t. My favorite example here is milk. In Germany milk is usually sold boxed or bottled. In the US you’ll probably find it in (half)gallon sized plastic canisters. In Uruguay however, you get things like milk, juice or jogurt in plastic bags. Much similar to the ones used for frozen vegetables.  But see yourself.

Leche Fresca... in a bag!

Weird, huh? I thought so too, which is why initially Becci and I decided to buy the one brand of milk that comes in cartons. But when I visited our local supermercado today, they were out of boxed milk. So what do I do? Of course I buy the bagged kind. More about that later on in this post.

So I went on with my shopping and just before I cam to the check-out I found some German goodness: Milka chocolate and Haribo gummy bears. However here in Uruguay, them good ole Goldbears are named “Ositos de Oro” which roughly translates to “Little Bears of Gold”. I think that's the cutest version of “Goldbears”.  I was tempted. But then I saw the price and decided that I probably shouldn’t splurge. The current exchange rate is at about 25 Uruguayan pesos for 1 Euro, or in Dollar terms 20 pesos for a Dollar. For those of you who are too lazy to do the math, that would be about 2.25€ / $2.50 for the chocolate and €1.80 / $2.20 for the gummybears. Which I find a little expensive, knowing that I can get them in Germany for less than half of the price they charge here. 

Sweet temptation...

When I was done getting the things I needed and marvelling at the German candy, I of course went to the cash register. Seeing that the lady who served us the last time we were at that store was working, I decided not to go to her line. She had enough trouble with our dollar-peso mix of payment the last time already. So I spared her another adventure and waited in another line. 

This time however, it wasn’t half bad. I forgot to get my vegetables and fruits weighed so the lady explained to me in very fast Spanish that I had to get that done so she could check the things out. I didn’t understand much of what she said so I told her that my Spanish wasn’t as good and if she could repeat what she just said a little more slowly. She did and I understood perfectly. So while a bunch of people were waiting in line behind me I went to said guy who weighs groceries and got back to the cash register. Now in Germany, that would have annoyed everyone in line. People would have gone ballistic if they had to wait because some idiot like me forgot to weigh their vegetables and caused them to wait. In Uruguay? Not a problem! The people here have all the time in the world and aren’t rushing around to get things done. If they have to wait, well that ain’t no problem. I have to say I really like this mentality.

Back at home we decided it was coffee time. The first thought was that using milk from a bag can’t be that much different, since apparently everyone here is buying milk like that. As seen in the fridge, our roommates bought juice in bags as well. Because however plastic bags with milk or juice can’t stand upright, they simply leave the juice/milk/whatever in their plastic bags and put those bags in jugs in order to minimize the cleaning efforts. Becci and I decided to do the same with our bagged milk. Aaand we failed! To say this way of storing milk is inconvenient is quite an understatement. It is very unpractical and my first attempt was stopped after causing a milk spill. So for now it’s easier for us to pour the milk from the bag into a jug and put said jug less the bag in the fridge. Less spilled milk in the kitchen, more cleaning for us.

Spanish way vs. German way

After our milk-adventure, I went up to our rooftop terrace and enjoyed the sun some more. And of course I don’t want to keep that from you. But don’t think it’s all fun and vacation. As you can see there were some clouds in the sky and there was a slight breeze going. I thought it was quite nice because the sun is very strong here in Uruguay.

Working on my tan

Later Becci and I had dinner on the roof as well cause it’s so nice outside. Earlier we had watched crowds of people, mainly dressed in black-and-yellow jerseys on their way to the "Estadio Centenario" across the street. Montevideo’s biggest soccer stadium that is. Apparently, Peñarol was playing. And even though I don't like their color combination, I have to say it was quite entertaining to listen to the crowd. During dinner, we were entertained by the noises that came from the stadium. And since Peñarol is one of Montevideo’s main soccer clubs, the fan chants were quite audible. I found it pretty funny to guess what’s going on on the soccer field based on the crowd’s noise. Whistles? Sounds like a foul. 

 See them floodlights and that tower? That's "Estadio Centenario"