huwhenas ias.

Buenos dias.... or to phonetically spell it the way Uruguayans say it- Huwhenasias. It's a spanish teachers nightmare.

I figure those of you back home are probably feeling like you've heard from me but you've still got no idea what's going on down here at this place, so to cause no further calamity and to set your mind at ease I will say that I am just LOVIN' this place. You can take comfort in that. I'm not crying myself to sleep at night... except for when I miss my mommy ;) ehhhemm. cough cough. Love you mom.
Do I love it more than Oxford? It's too soon to say.

-No it's not too soon, I don't, but rather with almost equal spirits to the way I love Oxford... but in a different way, and differently... and it hasn't earned its love yet. It's a new love.

I'm not cheating on you Oxford...

Also, I feel like I should tell you that it wasn't AS warm today... and really it's ALMOST cold now that it's dark. So, don't be bitter that you were freezing your tush off when you got into your car yesterday morning, I was already getting a tan and sweating... in a swimsuit... on the beach... and it made me thirsty... so I got a botella de agua at a cantina by the beach and sat under an umbrella...
And anyway today it wasn't sunny the WHOLE time I was at the beach... I would even go so far as to say it sometimes showed symptoms of being overcast.

How could I not love it here? It's warm, sunny, and I haven't started classes yet. But you never know, tomorrow is a new day.
BUT UP TO TODAY Uruguay has been a pleasant mix of Italy, Spain, Morocco and the occasional reminder of Zambia. I'll quickly detail this in a short paragraph and then try to catch you up on some of the highlights of the weekend. That way Monday I can start afresh and be up to realtime.
My first impression at the airport reminded me very much of the day we stepped off of the plane in Marrakesh, Morocco. It smelled wonderful and gave the impression of a small country's airport. It was slightly warmer than Morocco but it was a big difference from walking out of Heathrow into the world. In town the area around our house is very similar to the feeling of where we lived in Scandicci outside of Florence and riding the bus through town is like a time warp because it feels exactly the same. Downtown, closer to the beach and the Ciudad Veija (old town) it looks just like Spain.
So there you have a summary of my feelings about the relation of Uruguay to the world. Congrats. Oh and sometimes at the casa when you're not in the courtyard (because that smells like Essouria, Morocco) it smells like Zambia.

Today we went to church and out of all the wonderful things we have experienced thus far, even the beach, it was the most rewarding and it was definitely my favorite. I hope to talk more about this later but I just reviewed my post and the length is getting a little out of hand. I especially can't wait to talk about the old man named Ruban. El es muy comico.

Pictures later.

chao for now.
jess