Places to Go

1. Cayman Islands: Diving
2. Grenada: Grand Etang National Park
3. Venezuela: Salto Angel waterfall
4. Uruguay: Sailing at Punta del Este
5. Argentina: Iguazú Falls
6. Jamaica: Alligator Pond

After reviewing the pros and cons of each of these destinations, I have decided to go to: Uruguay!!!!! :)

Flight Itinerary

AMERICAN AIRLINES OPERATED BY AMERICAN EAGLE	3053	SBA Santa Barbara	May 23, 2010 07:50 AM	LAX Los Angeles	May 23, 2010 08:35 AM	ERD
AMERICAN AIRLINES	1520	LAX Los Angeles	May 23, 2010 12:30 PM	MIA Miami	May 23, 2010 08:15 PM	777
AMERICAN AIRLINES	943	MIA Miami	May 23, 2010 11:20 PM	EZE Buenos Aires	May 24, 2010 09:10 AM	777
AMERICAN AIRLINES	943	EZE Buenos Aires	May 24, 2010 11:15 AM	MVD Montevideo	May 24, 2010 12:10 PM	777
AMERICAN AIRLINES	984	MVD Montevideo	May 29, 2010 09:10 PM	MIA Miami	May 30, 2010 05:20 AM	763
AMERICAN AIRLINES	299	MIA Miami	May 30, 2010 08:40 AM	LAX Los Angeles	May 30, 2010 11:10 AM	777
AMERICAN AIRLINES OPERATED BY AMERICAN EAGLE	3037	LAX Los Angeles	May 30, 2010 04:35 PM	SBA Santa Barbara	May 30, 2010 05:15 PM	ERD

Language

Hello - Hola
Goodbye - Adios
Please - Por favor
Thank you - Gracias
Your welcome - De nada
Yes - Sí
No - No
What is your name? - ¿Cómo se llama ustedes?
I don't speak Spanish! - ¡No hablo español!

Money

USD - UYU

1.00 - 19.5
5.00 - 97.50
10.00 - 195.00
20.00 - 390.00
50.00 - 975.00
100.00 - 1,950.00

7 Things to Do

1. Go back in time in Colonia del Sacramento.

2. Sail and fish at Punta del Este.

3. Eat huge steaks at Mercado del Puerto.

4. See some gauchos in Tacuarembó.

5. Stay at and look at Casa del Pueblo in Punta del Este.

6. Explore Montevideo.

7. Wander through the Plaza Independencia.

Monday

Today is my very first day in Uruguay! I'm so excited to see, smell, hear, feel, and taste everything here! I finally got off of my plane at about 12:30 p.m., half the day, gone! Well, I guess the first thing to do is eat (I hate airplane food!). Gladly there was a café right there, so I dropped in and got a pancho because it looked just like a hot-dog and after that flight I wasn't feeling too adventurous.

I arrived in Montevideo, and I thought that since I only had about 5 hours before I got super tired from jet lag and had to check in at my hotel, I'd just wander through the Plaza Independencia, which directly means "independence place." It was mainly just a big plaza in Montevideo, but I had a fun time looking around at all of the buildings and wandering into some of the shops.

One shop I went into was a little trinket shop full of, well, trinkets. There were a couple of keychains in the shop, and one had a really pretty picture of the statue in the center of the square. I asked the shop owner what it was, and he told me that it was of General Artigas, who is considered the father of Uruguay. José Gervasio Artigas is basically Uruguay's hero; to my understanding, he basically saved Montevideo from the "Unitarians." I guess that he's kind of famous in the same way that Martin Luther King is, but, obviously, for different reasons. That's why his statue is in the center of the square.


I thanked the man and bought the key chain as a souvenir, then left the shop. I was getting pretty thirsty, so I stopped in another café to have a drink and found that they had yerba mate. I got some and sipped it to find out that it tasted a lot like tea, and I guess it was. It was very cool and refreshing and I'm glad that I had it. The man at the counter asked me how it was and I told him it was great. Then he told me that most cafés and even restaurants never have yerga mate, and that it's usually served in private gatherings. I thanked him for it and then left.

It was pretty late, and I still had to go check into my hotel and unpack and everything else that comes with traveling, so I went into my hotel, and when I got up to bed, I was exhausted do to jet lag and fell down on the bed. I was asleep before I knew it, but ready for a great tomorrow.

Tuesday

Mentevideo!! Today is my first real day in Uruguay, and since I was already here, I decided to explore Montevideo. Montevideo is the capital of Urugauy, and it really showed. It's buildings were spectacular and it had a bunch of great places to go and things to see.

As I walked out of the Plaza Independencia through a large gateway, I began to think of how run down the gateway seemed to be. I tried to ask someone on the street, but he was too busy. So, I asked someone else. This time, he told me that the gateway is actually called La Puerta de la Ciudadela, which means "the door of the citadel." He explained that it was so run down because it was a ruin from the destruction of the colonial fort in 1833. What was that? I had no idea, so I went to a museum to find out.

I went to Ciudad Vieja (and I'm sorry there's so much translation, but you gotta do what you gotta do) which means Old City. I figured that this place must have a history museum some where, and I was right. In fact, there were a lot of museums, but I chose the one that was the most beautiful. I stepped into the museum through the front door, ready for that clean, old, and partially dusty smell of museums. I was not disappointed.

I looked around for a while, and then I finally found a picture of the citadel. Sadly, it was everything about it was all in Spanish! I had to look for about 10 minutes to find someone who could translate for me. So here is the citadel's story, in a nutshell:

The citadel took 40 years to build, and used to be surrounded by a moat. There were walls all around it, but now they are all ruins, except for a little by the Teatro Solis. (I had to go there!) Anyway, it surrounded Ciudad Vieja I guess, but now it's all in ruins.

I thanked the woman who was translating and went on my way to Teatro Solis (Solis Theatre). There weren't any plays going on right now, but there was something going on tomorrow, so I must go see it after I eat. However, I did see the walls that were now crumbling, even though they were almost non-existant. I had a really fun day, and tomorrow I get to eat steak!