I can’t believe it’s December, and in just over 24 hours, I’ll be saying goodbye to Montevideo and heading to Patagonia before flying home. It feels a bit surreal that this experience is almost over!

Housing Change 🏡

Living with a host family in Montevideo turned out to be a little more of an adventure than I was expecting 😂 so in mid-November I made the decision to move out and into an Airbnb for the duration of the semester. Though my host was incredibly sweet, during the 3-4 weeks leading up to my move, both of her adult sons were living in the apartment, one with considerable health concerns (along with his unfriendly and often scary cat), and she accepted another student from Brazil. That made for 5 adults living in a tiny 4 bedroom apartment, with one son sleeping on the living room couch! 🛋️ And unfortunately there was a lot of drama and conflict that came from the family all living together and made for a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere. 😬

Though it was a tough decision to move out, the Airbnb was wonderful and I am very grateful that I was able to be in a peaceful, clean and quiet space to finish out the semester. 😃 Here are a few pictures:

The Opera! 🎭

I went to the opera a few weeks before finals. It was Cavalerria Rusticana and it was really neat! Plus, they have amazingly cheap tickets to theater events here and it was only $4 to see it. 🎉

Art Museum 🎨

Our Spanish professor took us to the National Museum of Visual Arts for one of our last classes before exams started. It features only Uruguayan artists and my favorite there is Petrona Viera, an Uruguayan painter who not only paved the way for other female artists, but whose works exhibited political statements in the early 1900s (hers is the one with the ladies below).

Saying Goodbye 🥺

During the last week of class/finals, a few of us were able to meet for dinner for one last group gathering and to say our goodbyes. Some students are flying home right after class ends, some are doing more traveling in the area with family and friends, and several are staying for another semester, either in Montevideo or in other parts of South America. I feel very lucky to have been a part of such a nice group of people this semester! Everyone was so friendly, warm and positive. It was awesome being amongst such cool people while studying here. 🥰

Stefan Arrived! 🎉

My sweet friend Stefan came to visit Montevideo for a few days and then we’ll travel together to Argentina and Chile to hike and explore Patagonia before I head back to the states. I am so grateful to have a friend who was willing to travel such a long way to see Patagonia with me! 😃

Thank you! 💕

I want to thank everyone who not only followed along with me on this interesting journey, but who used WhatsApp, FaceTime and email to stay in contact, and for all of the encouraging comments, thoughts and prayers throughout the semester! I couldn’t have done this without the support of my friends and family. I am grateful to have had this opportunity and have learned a lot, but I am definitely excited to come home!! 😍

Next up: Patagonia! 🏔️