I’m about to go to bed for my first night in Montevideo, UY and what a day… I didn’t think that flying was going to be too bad but after getting off a 3 hr flight from Boston to Miami and having to rush right onto my 9 hr flight to Montevideo I think it’s safe to say I hate flying, for the time being at least.
What’s hit me the most today is the reality of culture shock. We talked about it in class and I read about it and checked out the culture exercises that Grace put up on Moodle last semester, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for this. Ever since I got in line boarding my flight from Miami to Montevideo I have been a minority. Not necessarily in skin color but absolutely in language and culture. Frankly it’s terrifying. I thought I was going to be able to hold my own with my Spanish, that was wrong. Listening to these people (or any native speakers I would think) is so far from a classroom, even Luis, that it’s like everyone is speaking Swahili. I think I’ve found that the best way to get through this is to completely swallow your pride. I have never been on an international flight before so right off the plane in Montevideo I had no clue where to go. I must have asked six different people directions between getting to customs (40 feet in front of my face), getting through customs, getting my baggage, scanning my baggage again, and then finding the exit (again right in front of my face) and getting in my taxi to go to the university.
My host family is really nice but it was definitely a struggle at first when I was just with my host mom. She is one of the members of the family that doesn’t really speak any English and, to my fault, I just let her run her mouth for at least an hour, catching some tid-bits here and there. However, the rest of the family (her husband, four daughters, one son) are all good about making sure I understand, repeating themselves, and mixing in English when we have to. I’m really thankful for that because I feel completely incompetent with my language skills and hopefully this atmosphere will help a lot.
So for us first generation 394ers that haven’t gone abroad yet try to get yourself to a place where you’re ready to leave. This snuck up on me really quickly and it still feels like I’m in a little bit of denial that I’m here and this is real and I’m supposed to be here for a year. Other than that don’t give in to your fears. Like I said before you have to swallow your pride and play ignorant tourist for a little bit just to get by. Then don’t let yourself play mind games. I was terrified so I started going through the whole range of emotions and I definitely let the self-pity, sadness, and home sickness get a hold of me. I had to try real hard to stop myself from crying at one point and had to continually talk myself out of going right to the office to cut my stay down to just a semester, or even a week for that matter. So make sure you get yourself settled in and go to the bathroom, and eat, and drink like you normally would and get some sleep. A family friend of mine that I’m hopefully visiting in Peru this summer (January) told me that the first day is always tough, then day two is a little bit easier, and by day three you start getting in the rhythm of things. I just have to put my faith in that happening and get some sleep.
Best of luck for the rest of you taking off this year and don’t let this post scare you!
Will Jones
Montevideo, Uruguay ’13
Great to hear from you! I’m sure you’ll get over the shock sooner than you imagine and that you will have a great experience. I really look forward to see how your experience develops with time. Keep blogging!
Enjoy URUGUAY WIll I am so excited to hear about your trip! Totally jealous you are there for the year I only have a few days left and my month is up and I am seriously in denial that I have to go home. I never want to leave so enjoy every day of your trip don’t take it for granted. Once you get into your rhythm you will love it. Best of luck amigo
It was pretty easy to settle in! By even the second and third days it was easier to go about daily things and it’s only going to get better now that I’m starting school activities. It was nice to be here early but you can only walk around town so many times so it’s good to be getting into a schedule now.
AH! I know this post was from about three weeks ago, but I am just reading it now. I hope you are feeling more comfortable now and that you are enjoying EVERYTHING about South America. I am sure that you are speaking Spanish even better now, and by the end of this first semester you will be fluent. I can’t wait to read the rest of your posts! BEST OF LUCK!
Thank you! And yes everything is easier now, pretty acclimated to the city and city life, now I just have to get my head around TeorÃa Gramatical 1! And ya the language is so different at first but it gets easier every day.
Happy to see you engaging here. I have also added your blog to this one. Hopefully other students will follow suit. Many should be shipping out soon, or perhaps they are already settled. Let’s see what we can hear.
Any thoughts regarding general education and your experience now – beyond Gramática? Is there a link?
I’m also curious about your relationship with soccer now? Are you playing? Watching?
Education in general seems to be on the decline from the past. It used to be really good and there’s a big statue that I go by a lot with a bunch of philosophers and professors and statements about education but everyone I talk to says it isn’t like that anymore. They have lots of problems getting lower class kids in school which just creates a cycle of poverty generation after generation. The public university is free however which is great news for families like my host family who have 5 kids, all of whom have/are/will attend La Universidad de la Republica. But as a whole literacy and classroom attendance have dropped so people aren’t happy. Big elections for new Education Directors coming up. I’ll look for a link and post at another time.
As for soccer we start our tornéo interno next week, I’m on a team with all the European intercambios. We go down to the park on the weekends and play with local kids a lot and a few of us would like to find club teams to play with. On my blog I have pictures of when Atlético Madrid came and played Nacional which was an awesome experience. The atmosphere in the stadium was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and tickets are so much cheaper! 200 pesos gets you a general admission ticket ($10). As long as Uruguay beats Peru they still have a chance to make the World Cup but they’ll have to play Argentina at el Estadio Centenario. That game will be sold out and crazy so we’re all going to buy tickets.
Great getting your comments. Looking forward to your news from Uruguay. Regarding soccer, keep us posted. Enjoyed your post about the museum, and liked reading about the game. Hope you get to see the Argentina game live.