The thing about studying in a host country is you meet so many go-to people.   Like dear Nella who gladdens my heart and really should have been my sister, we're so alike. And darling, sparkly Andrea, who livens any room she enters. And Alejandra, the crazy sister who's the practical joker. I wish we'd been able to spend more time with her. She's a kick. And that's just the Uruguayans. At school the first week we forged friendships with th...

During the 1600's the Spanish, being conquerers and all, found themselves out of favor with the locals (indigenous at the time) and kicked out of Buenos Aires. Not intending to lose out on the riches afforded by these lovely navigable rivers, they simply moved up the Parana River and founded Asuncion, Paraguay. Soon they began casting their greedy eyes south again, this time beyond Buenos Aires to the flat, empty, fertile land across the Rio de la Plata.They ...

This family is hysterical.  I LOVE THEM.  We make a quick dash-in-and-out at the house after class because Mateo's had a high fever and we are really not wanting to get sick. We're on our way to the travel agent's office who's handling our last three days in Uruguay. We only have three days left of class, then three days of touring before we head for Argentina.  But oh no, not so quick. This random woman meets us in the hall with kisses and...

 I think it's freaky, but Uruguayans do it all the time and don't appear to think twice.Remember the post about the military dictatorship Andrea and her mother told us about? They spoke with such pain and passion, such immediacy, that we felt their anguish as we spoke with them. Well, yesterday we stumbled upon the Carretas shopping mall they spoke of, but we didn't know it was that place until I saw the windows. That row of tiny windows where men g...

Be sure you watch these photos just one after another to catch the action at this fantabulous Tango show. We met friends from school at El Milongen, this bar in a suspect barrio, for the most professional Tango show in town. Andrea told us it was the best and it truly was superb.You'll notice as you go through the pictures that you’re seeing different types of dances. The show took us through 200 years of dance in Uruguay so there’s folklore, Afri...