Hello Everyone!!

Most of you have written with lots of curiosity about the culture of America de Sur. I kept putting off writing because it seems completely impossible to explain even the most common experiences here. For example, our shower has a tile floor which is completely flat so water cannot drain unless I sweep it down with our plastic shower broom after every use.

I live in Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo. To say it is the biggest city in the country is a huge understatement. The entire country is only 3 million people and 1 and 1/2 million live here.

My family here is incredible. I live in a romantic antique flat in the absolute center of downtown. Everynight outside the closed shutters of Vero´s and my window I hear buses and horses hooves clanking. The garbage is picked up by men in carts puled by horses! It is incredibly sad to see the animals with their matted hair, and no freedaom to run or to know a world without the confusion, noise and fumes of the city.

We all live on one floor. There are three bedrooms here, Vero and I share the first, her Mom has the second and her grandparents live right across from the kitchen. We have a living room, dining room, kitchen with gas stove and a small storage room that also has a bed where grandma sleeps during her midday nap. During the weekend days our grandparents sit in the dining room watvhing TV, with Grandpa planted in front of the gas stove for warmth. We also have a beautiful long brownish-red haired Irish Shepard named Molly. She and I like to sit on the balcony watching the buses and the people on our street.
 
The economic situation here is in sad shape. In 2001 there was a crisis when both Argentina and Brazil defaulted on their loans. All the Uruguayan banks shut down and people lost everything. Then inflation hit and prices doubled. The country is still reeling from the shock. My family lives well on the Mom´s accountant salary of $500 US a month. Also when the crisis hit many professional lost their jobs. Many of the high ranking adults are still unemployed because companies would rather hire the less experienced workers (mine and Vero´s age) who they can pay less. 

Most of the University students here have studied abroad and almost everyone can speak a little English. Many of Vero's friends speak English almost perfectly. I am amazed by how much the people here know about the US's history, politics, etc. The whole year after Sept. 11th the students here wrote papers about the disaster, on its world effects and the our media's dicussion verses the rest of the world. 

I am involved with a program through my University working with the truly impoverished in the country. Everyday in the city I see homeless people, often with deformities, lost legs, etc. and also single parent's with children. In the country where I work the poverty is a hundred times worse. When I initially drove there with my team we kept passing absolute shanty towns with no running water, no electricity. The children we serve rrecieve one free meal from us of warm chocolate milk and sweet bread. For almost all th kids it will be all they eat the entire day. Initally myself, Florencia, and Letitia were only supposed to work with 15 kids. When we went yesterday there were around 70!! children all running, playing and fighting in one large warehouse type room. The floor was concrete and all they had to play with was one basketball, a long rope for jump rope and the few books and markers and paper we had brought.

We are in a bind because every child needs attention and a chance to play and learn but we do not have the resources in people or materials or money to provide personal attention to 70 kids. Yet you cannot tell a family that only one of their children will eat today. My small group is working with another group of University students who are fixing up the floor, installing electrity to the small house. it is being made into a "community center" although don't picture anything you know in the US because the poverty is much much more intense.

I have been taking lots of pictures which I will hopefully upload soon!! Until then I promise to keep everyone better updated  I miss you all and especially for all my friends begining entire new adventures, marriage, law school, jobs, new babies I am so exicted for you and look forward to hearing all about everything!