Aside from the homework that is starting to come in, it has been an eventful past few days.
In Uruguay, they celebrate Noche de la Nostalgia (“Nostalgia Night”) every year on August 24th, which is the day before the Uruguayan Independence Day. Apparently, it is one of the most popular and widely celebrated holidays in Uruguay, and the purpose of this night is to go out to a club, bar, or simply be with friends, and listen to “nostalgic” music and celebrate nostalgia. I’m still not exactly sure what that means, but it is a huge part of Uruguayan culture.
Needless to say, the following day around 3pm, Montevideo seemed deserted. I was waiting for a bus, and there were very few cars and people out, which is strange because I live on a major street. Perhaps some people had too much nostalgia?
I had my first official class of Turismo Aventura (“Adventure Tourism”). We all met at a local part at 9am in the freezing cold, and the professor went over some basic equipment and procedural instructions. He explained the different types of ropes, carabiners, how to tie two different knots, and how to put on a harness. Apparently, I can tie very good knots!
Nudo pescador (“Fisherman’s knot”)
- Nudo de ocho (“Eight knot”)
Next, we learned how to properly attached two ropes between two trees: one sturdy enough to walk on and the other overhead to hold on to. Surprisingly, it really was not that difficult to do. In the end, there were several ropes between the trees, so we had a competition to see which team could complete the entire course the fastest. That was actually pretty difficult, because it was really cold out and having to grab on to the ropes was rough on the hands. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun!
We will meet again in two weeks and do either repel or mountain biking, but nonetheless, it’ll surely be a blast.
I think I will be going on my first excursion this weekend! More details when things are more set in stone.
Chao!
Adventuras Uruguayas 