Hola,

A lot has happened since we last wrote. School has been our 24 hour focus but we did find time to squeeze in things like grocery shopping, eating Ice cream at our local heladeria and cruising the mall for some Starbucks coffee. It's strange how an American icon almost makes you feel like you are home.

We did manage to do a couple of fun things. We visited the Plaza Indepencia where we took an elevator to the 22nd floor and walked around a 360° observation deck. The skies were clear and we looked out over the whole city. Muy lindo!

On another day we met our class at The Mercado Agricola. It is an indoor market where you could purchase beautiful fruits and vegetables as well as clothing items typical to the community. We then toured the Palacio Legislative.

This building houses the governing bodies of the country: president, Senate, House of Representatives. The buildings craftsmanship was stunningly beautiful. After the tour we had lunch with Stephen and Catalina whom we had met a month earlier. We said our goodbyes but we hope to see them again at some time in the future.

One Sunday we were invited to have lunch with a woman we met at church. Her name is Gail and she had been a missionary in South America for the past 40 years. We spent hours listening to her stories until the day grew short. What an amazing life she has lived.

We finally graduated after four weeks of intense schooling. Yippee! We decided to celebrate with our classmates, Roger and Bea, by going to the Gaucho Museum and attending the Llamadas Parade. 

The museum was very interesting and the parade was a once in a lifetime event. All 62 barrios in Montevideo compete, each assembling a drum team of 40 to 50 men accompanied by dancers. The event started at 7:00pm and continued into the night past 1:00pm. Needless to say, we didn't stay for the whole event. We said our goodbyes to Roger and Beatrice and some others from the school, and we walked home. 

We have moved out of our house and are now travelling up the coast toward Brazil for the next 9 days. We will post pics as we spend our time relaxing on a well deserved break from escuela de español.

Hasta luego,

Scott and Sarah