my home by the river

Before writing about Salto, here are a couple pictures I took during my last few hours in Montevideo. This is the view of the Plaza de Independencia as seen from the Fulbright office:



While walking along the Rambla (a wide sidewalk that runs along the ocean) at sunset, I found some kids playing a game of volleyball:



My last night in Montevideo was probably my favorite. An Uruguayan friend called and invited me to have sangria at a club in the "Old City"--an area with cobblestone streets and lots of music and outdoor cafes. We ended up at a bar that served the best sangria I've ever had...no exaggeration. The sangria was so good, in fact, that I forgot to sleep before my bus departed for Salto at 6am.

Fortunately, I got to the bus on time, and slept every second of the seven-hour trip to Salto. My seat was a "semi-cama" which means it (almost) fully reclines, and has a footrest. It's not quite as good as a bed, but I had no problem sleeping. I made the trip with the two other Fulbrighters who will be teaching there with me, Holly and Liz, and an Uruguayan English teacher from Salto, Fernanda.

Upon arriving in Salto, Liz, Holly, and I checked into our hotel--an expensive but mediocre place conveniently situated downtown. Liz and Holly share a room, and I have a separate room that looks like it belongs in the 1970s. On the plus side, there is hot water, and I get tons of channels on my TV--I watched 'Ray' last night on HBO. Anyway, we decided to explore our new home before heading out to dinner with Fernanda, and were pleasantly greeted by several beautiful plazas, various stores and restaurants, and lots of friendly Uruguayans.

Salto is small--100,000 people--but it definitely has lots to offer. the Uruguay River is a short walk from my hotel, and features a small Rambla along its shore (I'll be running on it soon). I was surprised by the strong current of the river, which is due to the dam being only a short distance upstream. I was told that several people die every year in the river after being swept down it by the current. Nonetheless, I saw a few fishing boats in the river, and both sailing and rowing are popular here.

Since we arrived during the weekend, Salto has been going along at a lazy pace--stores and restaurants all close at around noon for ciesta, and don't open again until 4. We have spent most of our time sitting in cafes and plazas, and eating ice cream. We have already picked out our favorite cafes, one of which resembles a high-scale French restaurant, but sells $6 steaks. Here's a picture of one of the plazas we like being lazy in, Plaza Artigas:



Today we went to the feria, a large outdoor market that happens every Sunday. I bought some old coins for my collection, and Liz bought some CDs. We'll be jamming to reggaeton and Shakira tonight. After the feria, we walked a while to a huge park that was surprisingly nice. It had towering trees that resembled eucalyptus trees. Mosquitoes began attacking us, though, so we left soon after getting there. Paraguay and Uruguay are both having problems with Dengue right now, and, coincidentally, Uruguay's only case of Dengue was discovered here in Salto. Needless to say, we're trying to be especially cautious.

Tomorrow at 7:30am I will meet with my "mentor," Soledad, who will be overseeing my classroom activities while I'm here. Soledad is young and very friendly--we immediately connected when she told me she likes riding motorcycles. I will go with her to one of the public schools here, where she teaches children between six and eleven years old. Liz and Holly will be working together at another school.

Check back soon for an update.