Thanksgiving in Uruguay

I spent last week in Uruguay with the other ELCA volunteers. I left here Sunday before Thanksgiving to travel to Colonia. Colonia is a tiny town in Uruguay. About an hour boat ride from Buenos Aires. It was quite a change of pace from the busy city here. Monday was a relaxing day on the beach with Cristina and Chris. Our hostel had bikes we could use for free. It had been about 10 years since I had ridden a bike. I remembered how to ride, but the bikes weren't in very good condition. As we were riding down a hill, I discovered the brakes on my bike weren't very good. They slowed the bike down, but wouldn't work if I had to slam them on quickly. And, of course, we didn't have helmets because nobody wears helmets down here, except the hard core cyclists.

On Tuesday, we met up with the rest of our group at Centro Emmanuel - a retreat center/organic farm a couple hours outside Montevideo. It was a beautiful area and I could actually see the stars at night! We spent the next few days reflecting on our experiences over the past 3 months. We celebrated Thanksgiving together, too. We baked a chicken (you can't find a turkey here). We also prepared other dishes that we typically eat on Thanksgiving (stuffing, etc.). It was an interesting experience with not being able to find the exact ingredients for recipes, using an oven that none of us were familiar with, and guessing at recipes because we didn't have all the recipes we wanted. We also spent a lot of time talking about abundance and scarcity that we've experienced here and back home in the States.

Friday, we traveled to Montevideo to see where Beth and Kate live and work. We spent time playing with the children at their work sites and we went to a museum for a history lesson on the dictatorship in Uruguay.

Sunday, Uruguay elected a new president (they actually re-elected the current president). It was interesting to be there for the elections. People were driving and walking around town displaying flags of the party they supported. Saturday evening, businesses are required to stop selling alcohol until the elections are over. Everyone old enough to vote is required to vote. If they don't vote, they are fined. A number of people move and don't change their registration, so they have to travel to their hometown or wherever they're registered in order to vote. On the boat coming home yesterday, there were a lot of people who live in Buenos Aires, but had been in Uruguay to vote. When the elections were over and the media was projecting the winner, people were out in the streets celebrating. Car horns were honking. People were cheering. Cristina and I ran down the street to the grocery store while this was going on and I could feel the energy and excitement. It even made me feel excited about the elections. We had access to a TV and watched some of the news coverage of the results and celebrations in other parts of the city. The official results of the election were released at 2:00AM.

Being in Montevideo reminded me how big Buenos Aires is. When I was walking around Montevideo, it reminded me of Ballester. The pace of life feels so much more relaxed in Montevideo. The weather is cooler there, too, because the city is mostly surrounded by water. It was a nice break from the big city and heat here, but when I got home at 7:45 last night, I was glad to be home.