Uruguay Elects a New President

There was quite a party Sunday night as thousands of Frente Amplio supporters took to the streets in Montevideo to celebrate the win of their presidential candidate, Pepe Mujica.


The results of the runoff followed pretty much just as the pre-election polls predicted. Mujica, the ex-guerilla fighter won 53 percent of the votes, beating out his opponent, Luis Lacalle.


Only minutes after Mujica was officially announced the winner of the election, a torrential downpour soaked the crowds gathered along the rambla. That didn't seem to bother anyone. In fact, soaking wet FA enthusiasts took to 18 de Julio (Montevideo's main street) celebrating the win of their party in a long victory march. Flags, fireworks, and Frente cheers abounding.


Mujica ended his short speech on election night with a phrase from Uruguay's national hero, Artigas, "ni vencedores ni vencidos"(There are neither victors nor those who have been defeated) in order to leave party differences aside and unite Uruguayans together under the new democratically elected leader.

Piriápolis, Uruguay

Piriápolis is a beautiful beach town in eastern Uruguay in the province of Maldonado. It is a great place to go to relax on the beach a catch a few rays of the hot Uruguayan sun without all the hustle and bustle of its more famous neighboring city, Punta del Este.


There's a great cable car (ski lift-like thing) you can ride on to the top of Cerro del Inglés where you can see a majestic vista of the whole coastal city. From the hill you can also see a glimpse of Montevideo on one side and Punta del Este on the other. There's also a the other cerros to climb including Cerro del Toro which features a statue of bull and natural spring water flowing out of his mouth. The cool water is all the more refreshing after the trek there.


There are also beautiful sunsets in Piriápolis. But that is nothing new. I'm firmly convinced Uruguay has the most beautiful sunsets in the whole world.

Teaching English in Montevideo

I realize that many of my posts on this blog are about things unrelated to my work as an English Teaching Assistant and have decided to remedy that. Let me tell you about the work I have been doing this year in Montevideo.

I have been working in two places since arriving in Montevideo.


Instituto de Profesores Artigas (IPA)

I worked in many different classes, with all of the years and shifts, but mostly in Language, Literature, History, and Culture. The professors asked me what I was most interested in teaching and my answer was usually something related to discourse analysis. As such, I am confident my students are better able to develop quality criticism of the texts they encounter daily.


Inspeccion de Ingles for secondary schools

I give conversation circles every Tuesday and Thursday for teachers in distinct areas of the city. The idea was to reach those who may need English support and to provide a more relaxed atmosphere to speak in English. I also visited the classes of some of the teachers at their respective high schools.

I also work in the office of the inspeccion where I focus my time mostly on the design, research, organization, and distribution of the monthly Teaching English Newsletter.

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving this year was hardly traditional. I spent the morning and afternoon visiting a local private school with my mentor from IPA. This was the first time I stepped foot inside a private institution since arriving in Uruguay to work in the public education system. The difference was quite noticeable, even though many of the same teachers work in the both the public and private sector. I'm not sure whether to attribute this to management, funding, student background, or support. Clearly, Crandon, the school I visited, is getting it right.


I took advantage of my visit on Thursday to teach the students about Thanksgiving in the United States. I talked about the history, the idea of giving thanks, the time spent with family, the American football, and of course the turkey. But turkey is next to impossible to find in Uruguay! Nobody likes it! I was worried about celebrating Thanksgiving without a big fat juicy turkey, but then my problem was solved.


A friend of a friend us over to his house for big Thanksgiving feast that he spent two days preparing. And it showed. His food was delcious. And not to mention the view from his apartment was spectacular. People are very generous and caring here.

I am very thankful for my time spent in Uruguay and for the many great friends I have made.

Dairy Farm

The English professors at CERP Florida were kind enough to organize a day trip for us to a nearby dairy farm. The visit was fascinating.


We learned about the milk cooperative, Conaprole, (Cooperativa Nacional de Productores de Leche) as it one of the largest dairy exporters in Latin America and has a unique history within Uruguay. Agricultural production remains as one of the cornerstones of the Uruguayan economy. At the farm we learned about milk production and maintenance of the cows. Who knew running a dairy farm could be so complex?

Punta del Este

Punta del Este is a beach resort in Eastern Uruguay known for its glitz and glam. Wealthy Brazilians and Argentinos flock to Punta del Este during the hot summer months to live it up.


The beaches are beautiful. The houses are beautiful. The people are beautiful. Everything is freakin' beautiful in Punta del Este.

Among the fancy restaurants, shops, cabanas, yachts, clubs, and casino is the famous hand sculpture on La Brava beach by Mario Irrazábal. It is supposed to look like fingers sweeping the sand, and it would--if it weren't for traces of the concrete base peeking up through the sand. Nonetheless, the sculpture is still cool. Imagine those fingers being very very tall. And just to let you know. I climbed the thumb.

Uruguay's Inferiority Complex

Uruguay is headed to the Copa Mundial (Soccer World Cup) in South Africa after this Wednesday's qualifying match. The entire country was on hold as Uruguay hosted Costa Rica in the Montevideo stadium. It is quite possible there wasn't a single person NOT watching the game. If there is one thing that Uruguayans take seriously, it's futbol.


When I ask people if they are proud of their country, futbol often has its way of making itself into the conversation. I want to get a sense of the nationalism (or lack thereof?) of the Uruguayan people, but of course, individuals vary greatly, and discussions with foreigners aren't always the best way to assess one's true sentiments about his or her country. That said, speaking from my observations, Uruguay has a bit of a inferiority complex. Nobody cares about us. Our neighbors are so big. Nobody even knows where Uruguay is on the map. Maybe we aren't very important after all. It's almost as if they imagined insignificance into being. But wake up Uruguay: you are awesome! and I could go on and on about why (just look at some of the other posts on this blog).

Despite the tendency to downplay perception of self in conversation, denying great love of country and identification as a unit, we can all agree that futbol is one example of unfledgling patriotism in Uruguay. The entire nation seemed to wear celeste (light blue, color of Uruguay's soccer jerseys) in a celebration of the Uruguay's last game to qualify for the Fifa World Cup. The signs suggest that Uruguayans really do love Uruguay.


Take, for example, the national anthem sung before the game mentioned above. It was performed in the version of a murga. See it here departing from its traditional style. There has been a lot of chatter recently of either strong aproval or disapproval for this new rendition, the "himno murguera." (I like it by the way.) When you speak of symbols of one's country, people are bound to passionately involved, heavily opinionated, and vocal about their convictions. All signs point to a type of nationalism that can't be easily defined.

Murgas

Distinctly Uruguayan.
Extremely popular.


Photo courtesy of Marcos.

Basically male singing, acting, comedy groups. See this person's YouTube video for an example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztDZz8ayNxc