Semester 1- Report Card
We are 1/2 way through the school year, we did it! It is summer break- which is super weird- I still am confused about how come I didn't experience fall! We are headed home to Washington for nearly a month! We are excited to see family and friends and enjoy the snow, mountains and winter.
It's been a pretty good few months. There have been challenges, particularly in the past week (endless phone calls with health insurance, a car that needs a TON of repairs and a dead phone) but as Rob pointed out, all of these things could have happened anywhere. Regardless of your knowledge of the language, the generosity and openness of the people and the quality of the air, living overseas can be exhausting. It's always tough to move somewhere new- navigating newness is always hard. The layer of a new culture and language just amplifies it.
Since Rob and I just finished entering grades, and Marieka just got grades (which were amazing, if I do say so myself), I thought I could provide a first semester report card and comments for Uruguay and Montevideo. Overall, UY and MVD is performing pretty well this semester but there is room for growth.
PE- A-
Uruguay is all about sports, mostly futbol, or as you may know it, soccer. Every patch of grass and sand is a potential soccer pitch. But honestly, even beyond futbol, there are so many activities. I have found many kindred spririts in my swim group (thank you NAF Malvin!) and I even swam 4500m in the ocean last week- I have only gone that far once in open water and I have been so grateful to connect with the swimming group here because it has made the expat experience much richer for me. This organization and passion for swimming, cycling, running, volleyball, basketball, inline skating, kite surfing and of course FUTBOL...the list goes on and on...is amazing here. This is a country that loves the outdoors and I am so glad to not live in an urban jungle. I have to give a - though, because the country is incredibly flat, it is difficult to get your heart rate up sometimes without running, which I have decided I am too old for!
Social Studies- B
I will be honest- the social support here through the government isn't perfect, but it has many bright spots. Everyone has health care, education is free through college, and mandatory through 8th grade, there are many public recreation areas and parks (like the entire beach is open to all and no houses sit directly on the beach), there are lifeguards at every beach in the city, the city cleans the beaches daily, voting is mandatory (you will receive a small fine) and there is a sense of "we are all in this together" (especially evident during the pandemic- I have only ever seen 1 person in a store in the past 5 months without a mask). I love that there are monuments everywhere, and most streets are named after people- teachers, doctors, policians, military leaders, creating a common story. Abortion is legal, same sex marriage is legal, marijuana is legal (for citizens), there is paid maternity leave and a mandatory retirement age, and the country has a strong vaccination rate and a low death rate, and had just a short lockdown in the beginning of 2021.
One of my favorite stories of the social support was when I asked a friend about an amazing art deco building across from where we swim that is called Colonia des Vacaciones. I asked "What is that building?" and he replied "It is where kids and families from the interior get to stay in the summer for free and enjoy the water. Developers want it, it is a very valuable piece of land." Then he said, "You know, we are socialists" which I think he meant a little tongue in cheek but also it is partially true. There are many social supports and I love this about UY.
Why the B then? While I am still learning the ins and outs of the country, and honestly, I will never understand it like a native, I am bewildered by the wide gap between the cost of living and the wages people earn. I talked to the owner of a small hotel we stayed at, and he had some thoughts about it, but the reality is that housing, transporation and food are pretty expensive and the local wages, even with the supports, appear to not match up. I don't know how people do it.
English- A
I am a lazy language learner. I was passionate about French until 11th grade, then tried Spanish in 1993 when Rob and I lived in Mexico. I am trying again, but let me tell you, the Rio de la Plata Spanish is not the Spanish I learned in Mexico. Lots of words squishing together, "ll" becomes "shh" and suddenly, I flip to English. Thankfully, people know enough here to help me get my basic needs met, and more. I get a D but they get an A. And, I had a big talk with my Spanish advisor (Marieka Campbell) and I am going to get back on the language wagon in January. I also told my swimming friends I was going to try, they giggled but agreed they would help me. We will see how long that goes,
Math- C+
Things are are expensive here. In some ways, it makes sense- small country, not a lot of production. But food? Wood? Some of the life basics that one would expect to be affordable, aren't. What is cheapest, sadly, is human labor. I can get an hour massage for $25, I can get my house cleaned for under $10 an hour, and getting Mei Mei groomed is pretty affordable. But dinner out? Hard to get anything for under $10-$15. People hustle on street corners- juggling, selling washclothes/air fresheners/garbage bags, and even bags of tomatos and avocados (incredibly cheap!). There is even a guy who dresses up like Spiderman and appears to swing or climb on a blue web between lights for cash. I am not sure how people can make enough to make it worth it to be there all day, but they are there, daily.
I will say the government retirement plan is good- I will even be able to retrieve my savings even after only working for 2 years, which is a nice perk. But the cost of living/wage gap is a problem, and I think it will continue to be as (weathly) people discover this safe, sane and beautiful country as a place to escape to.
Science-B+
The air is clean here in Uruguay, making it a much easier place to live than China. Also, people have taken the pandemic seriously- they wear masks in indoor public places, and in general, are vaccinated (making it easier than the US). There are some missing pieces to the awareness of science and the environment here (and complete disclosure- I understand this is a really small country, so it is hard or even not necessary to implement things like other countries can or do implement, however...) Busses are the only mass transit option. No trains, no light rail. I would find it challenging to live without a car here and that is a bummer. For all the ways UY is European, this is one reality that is much different- the car and bus culture with many cars and motos spewing out black smoke as they weave in and out of traffic.
Also, plastic bags are everywhere here- I tried to bring my own bags to a store, and got reprimanded- they wanted me to use their store specific pink plastic bags for vegetables. There isn't a lot of recycling that I am aware of besides the massive bottle recycling box across the street from my house. I am curious about the overall waste per person here, though, and I think it might be low. Things are expensive, and there isn't a ton of cheap plastic stuff from China, so I wonder if overall, there is less waste per person than, say, in the US. Also there are people who cruise through the neighborhoods thorughout the day looking through the dumpsters, and rescuing things they reuse or resell, so there is a system, however imperfect, that functions.
The B+ is given in Science because people love being outside here. People love staying up ALL NIGHT outside- talking, laughing, having a BBQ. They love summer, they love sunsets and they give themselves the gift of enjoying them, frequently.
Technology A
Teaching technology and living in China helped me become more patient with technology- "Students, let's just wait another 5 minutes while this page loads..." so I have been thrilled with the speed that the internet works at our school and at home. We can access google and Facebook without a VPN! Our phones work well and the phone plan is really affordable. It makes one wonder why we pay so much for cell phone service in the US. People rely heavily on Whatsapp and Instagram for communication and for advertising so I now I finally have an Instagram account.
Art/Drama -A
Marieka has commented many times that Montevideo reminds her of Olympia, and we agree. There are hippies and art and music and tattoos and a real DIY sensibility to the city and country. I think in part, it is the rural reality of the country- you need to make your own if you want something, but there is also just an art-as-part-of- life thing happening. Streets are named after artists, there is (good) graffitti (and some terrible tagging) everywhere, and the street markets are filled with homemade earrings, art, graphic design, wood work, etc. People watch the sunset and play the guitar, they sit and drink mate and talk for hours on the beach, they are able to be "tranqui" in a way that Americans struggle with. I give them an A for seeing art as a way to enjoy leisure time.
Spanish - P
I am unqualified to assess in this category.
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