Understandably, you have to the leave the first day for some jet lag adjustment. But still, the day was worth mentioning.
I arrived at the airport in Montevideo around 11:20 and, after getting my bags and what not, I found an awesome elderly gentleman named Jose who drove me to my apartment. I was nervous about speaking with him at first but I warmed up to conversation and we talked about weather, Japanese cars, Montevideo, and the downfalls of McDonald's.
Then I hung out at the apartment with my host brother, Mauro. We had nunes papas (mashed potatoes) and something-or-other pollo (fried chicken) for lunch. Delicious. We sat down to some televised news and sports reports. Soccer, of course, is a big deal in Uruguay and Mauro filled me in on his favorite stadium here in Montevideo.
My host mom got back from work at 4 pm and I spent some time speaking with her, exchanging a few gifts from the states, and asking her a few questions about life in Uruguay.
My body is begging for more sleep but I shall not give in. Jet lag has nothing on me.
Travel Tip #3:
Take it all in slow on the first day. A country can look one way through an air port window and an entirely different way on the street sidewalks. Enjoy a short walk (rectangular loops if you're sense of adventure outweighs your sense of direction), speak the language but don't expect to be sharing life stories, chill out, and smile (universal language the savior).
Monday, February 28, 2011
El Vuelo and the Mathematical Error
The flights went well. From the sparse town of Pepin, Wisconsin (population 908), I drove to Rochester with los lovely padres, flew to Chicago, then Miami, and finally Montevideo (population 1.2 million).
The best part was people watching in air ports. Call me what you like, but when you're half boggled from high altitude ascension and declination, wandering aimlessly through miles of car-free air port hallways is entertainment.
The worst part was the eight and a half hour international flight. Although manageable, eight cramped hours spent in a plane is a lot like a reoccurring dream of waking up and falling back asleep but the random middle aged guy who keeps sliding through your bubble is not part of the dream and the floating, freeing, anti-gravity feeling wears off and reverses the direction of your stomach.
CREATIVE SPLURGE ALERT. Yeah, a few of these are prone to happen when I have time on my hands. The following includes maybe 12 percent facts from my travels and 90 percent fiction. This one is about flying phobias.
You pause long enough to surrender all foresight to the flight attendant's demeaning demonstration of clicking a seat belt together and, quite unexpectedly, you're rendered useless, strapped and stymied inside the old American Airlines. The attendant probably thinks of you as sacks of straw suckers. You think of her as pock marked with makeup running the rivers of her creases.
Don't panic. Don't scream. Chew gum in time with your popping ears and stare at the neighbors who aren't freaking out. One of them is reading a romance novel titled Virgin Helen or Virgin Helios. No kidding. Two attractive girls sit southeast of you but they have that lip snapping, gum popping, purse shopping way about them. Don't look up that word, Helios. Don't bother. You're young; go with twenty and you still need to be ear muffed.
Quick list the following in avoidance of plane noises:
1)87 % of all plane flights ever attempted reached their destination.
2)Edison's hundreds of failed light bulbs are like mini planes.
3)Planes are flurrious, not furious.
4)Whether flying a plane during the night or during the day, it's always black and white.
5)Celestial question: Heaven, Hell, in between on flight 1238?
Pat yourself on the back and worry you may never be Shakespeare. A, you don't have the stuff (el hueso). B, you can't dream of the sky when you're in it and C, you can't leave you're hopes and dreams with the stars when you acknowledge them as gaseous balls of condensed heat and light.
Accept your flight phobia, the sweat over stretched muscles, temporary dyslexia, an intense focus in sounds or woooshes. Grip the arms of your seat and fear other phobias. The left turn phobia is still an unfortunate possibility.
When the pilot recommends that the departing travelers return to visit America, cringe. You just landed in South America. Leave with wobbly legs and a new perspective on bloodshot eyes. You're fairly confident everyone has phobias, some they don't even know about.
The best part was people watching in air ports. Call me what you like, but when you're half boggled from high altitude ascension and declination, wandering aimlessly through miles of car-free air port hallways is entertainment.
The worst part was the eight and a half hour international flight. Although manageable, eight cramped hours spent in a plane is a lot like a reoccurring dream of waking up and falling back asleep but the random middle aged guy who keeps sliding through your bubble is not part of the dream and the floating, freeing, anti-gravity feeling wears off and reverses the direction of your stomach.
CREATIVE SPLURGE ALERT. Yeah, a few of these are prone to happen when I have time on my hands. The following includes maybe 12 percent facts from my travels and 90 percent fiction. This one is about flying phobias.
You pause long enough to surrender all foresight to the flight attendant's demeaning demonstration of clicking a seat belt together and, quite unexpectedly, you're rendered useless, strapped and stymied inside the old American Airlines. The attendant probably thinks of you as sacks of straw suckers. You think of her as pock marked with makeup running the rivers of her creases.
Don't panic. Don't scream. Chew gum in time with your popping ears and stare at the neighbors who aren't freaking out. One of them is reading a romance novel titled Virgin Helen or Virgin Helios. No kidding. Two attractive girls sit southeast of you but they have that lip snapping, gum popping, purse shopping way about them. Don't look up that word, Helios. Don't bother. You're young; go with twenty and you still need to be ear muffed.
Quick list the following in avoidance of plane noises:
1)87 % of all plane flights ever attempted reached their destination.
2)Edison's hundreds of failed light bulbs are like mini planes.
3)Planes are flurrious, not furious.
4)Whether flying a plane during the night or during the day, it's always black and white.
5)Celestial question: Heaven, Hell, in between on flight 1238?
Pat yourself on the back and worry you may never be Shakespeare. A, you don't have the stuff (el hueso). B, you can't dream of the sky when you're in it and C, you can't leave you're hopes and dreams with the stars when you acknowledge them as gaseous balls of condensed heat and light.
Accept your flight phobia, the sweat over stretched muscles, temporary dyslexia, an intense focus in sounds or woooshes. Grip the arms of your seat and fear other phobias. The left turn phobia is still an unfortunate possibility.
When the pilot recommends that the departing travelers return to visit America, cringe. You just landed in South America. Leave with wobbly legs and a new perspective on bloodshot eyes. You're fairly confident everyone has phobias, some they don't even know about.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Preparation
I head out for Montevideo, Uruguay in less than two weeks and I must say preparation is a major pain. Between packing, paperwork, last-minuted researching, grabbing prescriptions and wrapping my mind over the fact that I'll be living in another country for the next five months, I've found myself somewhere in between the stress of finding a profession I'm passionate about and graduating from college.
Tip 001 for Study Abroad Survival: Keep Busy. With a flight date set for February 27th, the first semester starting mid March, and no college course, due dates, or papers since December 19th, an over-extended winter break quickly becomes abysmal. Reading helps, a stocked refrigerator is both friend and enemy, exercise routines are only as good as your motivation, and never be afraid to cry. I've spent much of my time barreling through a few journals, reading the classics, falling asleep to Odysseus (How do you read that monster?), being reawakened by Raymond Carver, staking out the local library, and resisting the never-ending netflix splurge. Any time spent in comfort is good, but keeping busy is key.
Tip 002: Pack Light. The family pet won't fit, the toaster isn't worth it, and weigh the pros and cons between every inclusion (yes I could pack that neck tie but I don't know how to tie it ... learning how to to tie vs. ugly knot vs. having someone else tie it and handling it like a time bomb ... note to self: watch my language at the airport). Packing is another additional stress/learning experience thrown into the study abroad mix. The key here is coming up with a good list and trying to stick to it. Most likely, half of everything you pack is unneeded.
Buenas noches
Tip 001 for Study Abroad Survival: Keep Busy. With a flight date set for February 27th, the first semester starting mid March, and no college course, due dates, or papers since December 19th, an over-extended winter break quickly becomes abysmal. Reading helps, a stocked refrigerator is both friend and enemy, exercise routines are only as good as your motivation, and never be afraid to cry. I've spent much of my time barreling through a few journals, reading the classics, falling asleep to Odysseus (How do you read that monster?), being reawakened by Raymond Carver, staking out the local library, and resisting the never-ending netflix splurge. Any time spent in comfort is good, but keeping busy is key.
Tip 002: Pack Light. The family pet won't fit, the toaster isn't worth it, and weigh the pros and cons between every inclusion (yes I could pack that neck tie but I don't know how to tie it ... learning how to to tie vs. ugly knot vs. having someone else tie it and handling it like a time bomb ... note to self: watch my language at the airport). Packing is another additional stress/learning experience thrown into the study abroad mix. The key here is coming up with a good list and trying to stick to it. Most likely, half of everything you pack is unneeded.
Buenas noches
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