It was an interesting first week living in Montevideo! 🏫📓 School started on Monday with an orientation and tour of the campus, which is really just a large, pretty 4 story building with a cafe and study areas. Even though the area feels really safe, there are security guards posted at every door (and I was stopped to ask what I was doing when I took pictures of the campus below🤭). There are 22 international students in the program this semester, mostly from the U.S., although there is a student from Italy and one from Australia as well.

We are only taking classes with each other, so it means very small classes. My intermediate Spanish class only has 3 students in it! One class has 4 and the most is 10 students! Classes are mostly in the afternoons and seem very laid back so far. Several professors arrived a bit late to classes this week and mostly just chatted about what the class would be like, including field trips. There were only a few classes that provided a syllabus or expectations for the class. I am taking several classes for my International Affairs major and 2 Spanish classes, taught in Spanish. I have had to pay for 2 books this semester and they were only $13.65 each!! Here are some pictures of the school:

Life this week 🥟

So far, everyone in the program has been really friendly and nice. Most of the students are living in home-stays around the city, but a few are living in apartments. Some students have to take the bus to class, but I am lucky because I can walk from where I am living. We all use WhatsApp to communicate and everyone has been open to social events. One of the students had a birthday this week, so we all met for dinner. Uruguayans usually eat dinner later (like in Spain), so between 9-11pm. This worked out in our favor because we met at 7:30pm and were the only ones in the restaurant! 😆However, it was packed by the time we left.

On Friday evening, I met with another student to tour a free museum near the school and then we found a super cute cafe/book store for tea and bakery treats. 🥐 Saturday, my homestay host took me and her son to an interesting and beautiful ballet 🩰and then we ordered pizza afterward (it had SO much cheese, it was delicious!).

Today, most of the students met up at a large feria, or market, that had everything from fruits and vegetables to clothing, jewelry and food trucks (and the biggest avocados I have ever seen🥑). There are large ferias every weekend and smaller ones in different neighborhoods all around the city most days of the week. The city feels really safe, even at night. The food is expensive. Without a car and exploring the area, I’ve had over 18,000 steps every day for the last few days! 💪

It’s great being able to hear Spanish everywhere, but I am definitely struggling to understand it, especially if people are speaking quickly–so that’s challenging and can be discouraging. So far though, people are kind and helpful when I explain in Spanish that I don’t speak well or very much. Overall, great first week, now 15 to go! 😀