was February 29 but because it's not a leap year, the calendar skipped right over it. We thought that was pretty cool so we celebrated by waking up at 6:30 AM to see the sunrise. We are so, so blessed to be having all of the opportunities that we are. This weekend our whole group took a trip to Rocha, the beautiful eastern coastal part of Uruguay, and it was definitely the most fun trip we've taken so far. We stayed in a town called La Poloma, where our hotel was on the beach and we could open the windows and fall asleep to the sound of the waves at night.We didn't have classes on Friday so we left that morning and had a four hour bus trip to Rocha. After arriving, we went to the coolest place I've ever been to, called Cabo Polonio.
It's on the ocean and it is surrounded by miles of huge sand dunes so hardly any people live there, and the only way to get in is by riding a monster truck or a horse through the dunes. We all piled into a big truck and then spent the day in Cabo Polonio seeing the lighthouse, buying handmade crafts from the few locals, and relaxing on the beach. One of my favorite things there was a little house painted teal and covered in a mural of the ocean with tons of little mirrors to make it glitter in the light. I just kept thinking about how housing associations back in the States would never allow something like that, but it was just so beautiful.On Saturday we woke up early to go take a boat down a river to visit a forest of Ombu trees. Ombu are amazing--genetically, they are actually classified as grass rather than trees, and they have large holes in the trunks big enough for our entire group to climb inside.
Ombu are only found in Uruguay so it was really special to be able to see them. And now I can say that I've been inside of a tree--or a grass. Whichever way you say it, it sounds pretty cool. The boat ride down the river was just beautiful. As far as you could see, there was no "civilization." Along the banks there were palm trees and cows...something you'd only ever see together in Uruguay! We had lunch at an estancia, a small ranch taking care of all kinds of wild birds and animals. They had a one-armed monkey who had been an escaped pet from Montevideo and I got to hold his hand. It was precious. The owners cooked one of their own lambs for us for lunch but I couldn't really eat it because I felt so bad after seeing them!After lunch we went to Punta del Diablo to see the Fortaleza Santa Teresa,
a fort built in 1726 so it's actually 50 years older than the United States! We're learning a lot of South American history here in our classes and it makes me sad to learn some of the terrible and wonderful things that have gone on, yet we are never taught about it in school in the States. There's so much to learn in the world but life is too short to learn it all, I guess.We spent Sunday riding horses through the countryside and along the beach in La Poloma. I've been so sore and a little sunburnt the past two days because of it, but it was an incredible time. Yesterday I had to carry around a pillow to sit on in my classes because I was so sore! Lawson's horse was a little wild so occasionally he'd get left behind the group and then have to run to catch up. It was funny--he looked like a man from a romance novel, galloping across the field with his hair blowing in the wind. My horse belonged to a twelve-year-old boy who worked at the horse riding place; he had received it just the day before as a gift for working there for two years. That's a long time to work somewhere when you're only twelve years old. But his horse was sweet and I was glad that he was so well-trained since I haven't ridden a horse in years. We got back to Montevideo Sunday night and have spent the past two days catching up on homework and looking forward to another long weekend this week. Next weekend, starting on Friday the 13th, we'll be heading out to Peru for ten days!
The view while boating down the river to the Ombu forest
I have another album of pictures up on facebook from our trip this weekend. If you want to check them out, you can click here.Chaille turns eighteen tomorrow. I wish I could be there. Happy birthday little sis! I love you!
My friends Zanessa, Carolyn, Sarah, and I on the beach in Punta del Diablo.
The horse story reminded me of one time when my family went horseback riding, we went with a group and there was another family with us. One of their horses was like Lawson's, and kept deciding to do something else, and one of the other people goes "Your horse has a mind of its own!" and I said "Most horses do..." and she gave me a death glare.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are just too darn awesome and cute together. :)