Excerpt from my travel journal:

"I'm flying about [sic] Washington DC suburbs! I'm so excited =) It's so uniform. And so organized. My OCD likes flying."

From my write-o, you can tell I was tired, but I was really excited to be in a place where I knew people. As I got on the plane away from Washington DC it hit be that it was the last time I would see people I know for the next two months.

As I was sitting in the airport in Buenos Aires, I overheard some kids. They were talking in British English and I think they were two of the very few people in that airport that spoke English.

Girl: "Suckers!"
Boy: "You're my sister! Sisters aren't supposed to say bad words!"


Here's my entry from Saturday the 21st:

"I'm finally on the plane to Montevideo. Somewhere between Washington DC and this plane, I realized that I'm crazy. Not only have I never been to South America before today, I'm going to be spending two months in Uruguay, a country that I've never been to. I can't speak Spanish nearly as well as I should and not everyone speaks English. And when they do, it's not very good or it's strongly accented. The next two months will definitely be an adventure."

Here are my first thoughts on my way to the school from the airport. This is my first impression of the country:

"So far I love it. I'm on my way to the school from the airport. It smells good. There are a lot of people walking around and it's almost 9 o'clock. There are people biking. I saw a few dogs outside already. Lots of dirtbike-type bikes (instead of mopeds). People don't use blinkers often. More dogs. I saw a gas station and there are a group of guys that check your tires and wash your windows. People sitting in a circle on the beach, one playing guitar. Street signs have sponsors? [The street signs all have a name and logo across the top of a business, which I'm guessing pays for advertising.] Seems like people just drive as fast as they feel is right. People with mate gourds. [Mate is a kind of tea that a lot of people drink. They walk around with a thermos under their arms that has hot water in it. They have a gourd that is full of the tea leaves. They pour the hot water over the leaves and they use a straw/strainer to drink it.] They don't let lines between the lanes hold them in. There are a lot of people out. Families, not just teenagers or anything. Guy standing in back of weird looking pickup truck thing in the middle of town. [Personal safety is not a huge issue.] A few nice cars, lots of clunkers. Environmentalists would have a fit. Lots of yield signs, hardly any stop signs. One stoplight just for foot traffic?"

I have class in 15 minutes so I have to do my homework quick, but I'll write about more of my adventures later.