Beckah and I. We met the very first day of Autumn 2007 in a program called Spanish Democracy. We were both community college transfers.

My mom.

Larry Locke! He’s going to grad school too, also a CC transfer student.

Cole and Tobey from The Evergreen Singers.

My dad.

Las damas de la Democracia Española.

My friend Kyle.

Amazing turnout in Red Square.

The Processional.

The music: Planet Percussion Band based in Olympia, Washington.

Everyone was dancing! Evergreen Graduation is rad.

Guest Speaker David Whyte, B.Sc.

Me and my fancy diploma cover.

Kathleen y yo.

It’s time to graduate!

My mom, dad and grandmothers made it to Olympia. Faltan los hermanos.

Las abuelitas.

After the ceremony I celebrated with friends in Seattle at the Greek restaurant where I work. I was so delighted and surprised to encounter Karen, my first professor as a full-time student at North Seattle Community College. It was an interdisciplinary Women’s Studies class that focused on writing and reflection, covering all sorts of topics that have steered me in my education. The program was called Beginnings, so it was quite appropriate to run into Karen at my fiestita.

Meg, Kacee, Heather and Nadia

With George Lagos, the owner of The Continental.

Daena, Evangeline, me and Alexa. The weekend crew at the Greeks.

With Juli.

My old friends, roommates, and Blockbuster co-workers: Brennan and Molly.

To top off the perfect end to a perfect graduation day, the next morning I learned that my friend Beckah and I made the front page of The Olympian, Olympia’s daily paper. There is no article about me, but I am dancing… always dancing. Just look for the Saturday, June 13 edition at www.theolympian.com.

So this is the end of this blog. I graduated.

I did it.

Silvana y yo. She was one of the Uruguayas that I met while studying Portuguese in Brazil. She offered me a place to stay and I graciously accepted. This is Latin American hospitality at its finest!

Sipping mates with Fran, the Porteño transplant doing his masters in Montevideo on MercoSur Law.

And then there were some sea lions just hanging out. Chillin…

The next day the three of us met up again and started our afternoon with an amazing pasta lunch!

We then went to Punta Ballena (Whale Point). It offers an amazing view of the South Atlantic where one can see whales along their natural migratory paths.

¡Silvana!

Casapueblo is a working art studio and museum built by artist Carlos Páez Vilaro. The house is also a hotel and a beautiful masterpiece dedicated to Uruguay.

La Mano. This is a gigantic hand made of plastic by Chilean sculptor Mario Irrazábal.

I have spent the past three nights in a hostel back in Montevideo, but I am getting ready to leave right now for Minas. Minas is a little town in the mountains, and I will be visiting one of my best friends from Argentina that now lives here in Uruguay. It is starting to get cold, but I imagine it is going to be beautiful! I’ll be back to Montevideo next week for one more day, then I am going back to Buenos Aires for my last weekend in South America! One week from Tuesday I will be… home?

I love the juxtaposition of new reflecting old.

There is a fountain with a legend that states if a couple carves their initials into a padlock and locks it around the fountain, their love will be locked forever in time. How precious, no?

And then I saw a couple doing it!

Street Artisans in the struggle for art and the right to autonomous work

Palacio Legislativo, the Congressional building

Uruguay´s beloved author Mario Benedetti passed away on May 17, and his body was on display for people to come and say goodbye. I am glad I had the opportunity to go.

Teatro Solís, Montevideo´s historical theater

Right now I am in Punta del Este, a beach town about an hour and a half outside Montevideo. I am staying with friends and will be here for a few days, and then I will return to Montevideo before I go to Minas to visit another friend. ¡Hasta pronto!

The United States bear is painted like the Statue of Liberty. It looks nice but a little boring, I think.

El oso de Cuba.

I had to take a picture of the Greek bear for the folks at The Continental, the Greek restaurant where I work in Seattle.

The bears are positioned around Plaza Independencia in such a way that they seem to be worshiping the statue of Artigas. It is almost comical.

The mausoleum of Artigas beneath the statue.

The words are a time line of important events in the life of the general and the history of Uruguay.

Birth of the General Jose Artigas June 19, 1784

Battle of Las Piedras May 18, 1811
Las Piedras was the Spanish headquarters during the revolutionary war to liberate Argentina and Uruguay from Spain. The battle fought on that day resulted in a triumph for the the revolution and was one of the most important victories during the war. May 18 is a national holiday here in Uruguay.

Exile to Paraguay September 1820

Death of the General September 23, 1850

Jose Artigas Repatriation of his remains September 19, 1855

Puerta de la Ciudadela – This wall remains as the original gateway to the city of Montevideo. It is at the end of Plaza Independecia and leads to the pedestrian street that I mentioned before, Sarandi.

The internet here is painfully slow, so that is all I have for now. There has been a crazy thunderstorm happening all morning, but I think it has let up a bit so I am going to wander out to try to find the only lady in all of Uruguay –and all of South America it seems to me– that sells peanut butter. I’ll be posting more photos soon, so check back!

However, my previous experiences living in Buenos Aires did not necessarily echo this cultural sentimentality.  To my friends, tango is a touristy thing that is only appreciated by extranjeros.  Well, my friend Meg and I made a point to see a tango show while in Buenos Aires, and we decided to go to a famous Porteño landmark called Café Tortoni.  Appreciated or not, tango is breathtaking to watch! It is also important to note that tango is more than just a dance.  It is a genre.  Along with the dance steps, a person can sing and/or play music in the style of tango, and its sound is distinctly original and authentically Argentine.

In my next entry I will begin sharing images from Uruguay.  Montevideo is such a fantastic city, and its buena onda is totally understated.  Yesterday, one of Uruguay´s most famous and beloved authors, Mario Benedetti, passed away at 88 years of age.  His body was on display at the Palacio Legislativo and I went to the Congressional building to pay my respects.  Today is a sad day in Montevideo.

Oh this guy was such a poser… I miss my kitties!

One of my priorities upon arriving in Montevideo was to immediately go to a dentist. The friendly people at my language school helped me locate an office and made an appointment for me, and today I went to the dentist… again. The Brazilian dentist told me I probably need a root canal, but the Uruguayan dentist told me that what I need is to have my wisdom teeth extracted. However, in January of this year I actually had a consultation for wisdom teeth extraction with an American dentist who told me I should absolutely NOT have these teeth pulled since they’re fully erupted and not causing me any problems. My toothache is not in my third molar and so three different dentists have told me three different things. The Uruguayan dentist also said that the pain could be caused by clenching and/or grinding my teeth at night and suggested an acrylic bite plate.

So what am I supposed to do? In the meantime, my tooth still hurts and I don’t know, something tells me no one has it quite right. And I’m also a little wary of the Uruguayan dentist’s diagnosis because he said all this before sending me across town to get ex-rays taken, then said basically the same thing after I returned with the films. The only really great thing is that my consult today cost $0. Seriously, zero pesos, zero dollars. I had to pay $330 pesos uruguayos for the ex-rays, which is about $15 dollars. The same ex-rays I had taken in January in Seattle cost $75 dollars, plus $100 dollars just for the consult. $175 versus $15. What is wrong with the United States??

I guess I’ll just keep up with my ibuprofen regimen for now. Maybe I’ll go to a different dentist here in Montevideo. This whole toothache problem is really starting to get me down.

Rio is a beautiful city! I absolutely understand why it is such a popular tourist destination. I had a great time exploring the different neighborhoods and practicing my Portuguese with the Cariocas (people from Rio). The weather was also a nice change from sweltering Salvador, and it only rained one time while we were there. We stayed in a hostel in Ipanema but managed to explore almost the entire city.

Rio de Janeiro from the airplane.

My friend Meg and me at the Feira Hippie de Ipanema, or Ipanema Hippie Market. We scored all sorts of cool handmade jewelry and things!

We met two nice ladies from San Francisco at the Hippie Fair and they invited us to have dinner with them. It was such a great time! You never know who you are going to meet traveling…

The next day we went to the statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) that overlooks the entire city.

On the train going up Corvocado on our way to see Jesus. My friend Karen whom I met in Salvador happened to be in Rio while we were there, her last stop before heading back to Vancouver, Canada.

The day started off completely gorgeous without a single cloud in the sky, but by the time we arrived it was totally cloudy and we really didn’t get to see the spectacular view at all.

This is what we were supposed to see…

The clouds parted for about three minutes and revealed the city below.

Brad, Karen, Meg and Jesus. We met Brad (also from Canada) while waiting for the train.

It was still a fun afternoon despite the disappointing clouds.

Ipanema beach…paradise.

Another beautiful beach.

The thumbs-up is overused in Brazil… and it’s contagious.

Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf). We rode the tram to the top where we encountered a breathtaking view of Rio, minus the clouds this time!

The next day we rode bikes around the lake and met this guy.

Jesus is everywhere in this city.

Studying Portuguese in Brazil was an amazing experience for me, but I have to confess that I am very relieved to be back in Spanish mode. I can’t wait to arrive in Uruguay tomorrow!

¡Hasta pronto!

My professor for two weeks, Tatiana

Daily coffee break

Jailson, the activities coordinator and general go-to guy

Kleber, the administration coordinator and my professor for one week

Delcia from Seattle and Michael from Germany

Boo and me

Frederick from Oregon and Chris from Ireland — astounded that the sun came out

Certificado de Participação — 80 hours in four weeks!

Last night I met up with my friends Anna and Karen and we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant here in Barra. It is called Tudo Azul (Everything Blue) and it is owned and operated by a Swiss-Brazilian and his wife. The menu includes traditional Brazilian fare with a combination of a variety of European dishes. I particularly like the restaurant because it has a few vegetarian options (more than just pizza) and an amazing gnhocci dish that I keep going back for. Besides the fantastic and reasonably-priced food, the service is outstanding. By far the best service I have encountered in this city, and Kurt speaks at least six languages! If you ever happen to find yourself in Salvador, don’t miss the opportunity to visit their establishment in Porto da Barra.

Anna, me and Karen — completely satisfied after our meal

And with Kurt, the owner

There was a very brief pause in the rain earlier this week, so my friend Anna and I decided to go on a little city tour to the neighborhood of Rio Vermelho. With strong winds blowing and threatening clouds looming nearby, we acquired umbrellas knowing that the sunshine was not going to last for long…

Anna eating a pastel… basically just fried bread with cheese inside and completely yummy.

Then we had açaí… the real thing.

Then the rain came back…

…but I’m totally from Seattle!

Tomorrow I take my leave of Salvador and continue south to Rio de Janeiro. I’ll keep you posted!

Até logo! Tchau!

It’s no fun to go sightseeing in this weather, and obviously it severely restricts photography. I’m glad I’m going to Rio on Saturday!

A very good friend of mine was in Florianópolis this past week (a beautiful resort city in the south of Brazil), and she made time to come visit me here in Salvador. Too bad it was raining almost the entire time! We still managed to get in some beach time since the temperature is still warm, despite the rain. I have found myself spending an absurd amount of time doing things alone, so it was nice to have company and someone to eat out with for a few days. Melissa used to be my roommate and co-worker ten years ago, and she has lived and traveled all over the world. I visited her in Germany when I traveled to Europe a few years ago and we have maintained a strong friendship even though we haven’t lived in the same city for almost a decade. She currently resides in New York City.

Melissa and me dining out at an Italian restaurant.

The view of Porto da Barra from the rooftop of Melissa’s hotel.

I call him João.

In case you were wondering, my tooth is still aching, but I have decided to wait until I arrive in Argentina to have a consultation for a root canal. The situation has definitely improved, and is very manageable with ibuprofen, so I am not in any hurry to go back to the dentist here in Brazil. A very good friend of mine in Buenos Aires has offered to help me make the dental appointment and translate for me, if necessary (he speaks English and German fluently in addition to Spanish). I didn’t mention this in my previous entry, but the dentist here began to drill in my tooth without warning or anesthesia. It wasn’t until I began yelping and writhing that she said, “Oh, did you want something to block the pain?” and I replied, “SIM, POR FAVOR!” She didn’t even wait for the anesthesia to take affect and continued to drill into my tooth, so I think I would just prefer to further avoid the dentist’s chair altogether in Brazil. On a positive note, the lingering toothache is now completely tolerable and it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg like it would have in the States.

The other day I was visited by a bird who seemed just as fascinated by me as I was by him. The little guy kept coming closer and closer to me, and when I began taking photos, he was practically posing for the camera.

As I mentioned before, I am leaving Salvador da Bahia this Saturday and meeting up with my friend Meg in Rio de Janeiro. We will be traveling together for two weeks and visiting three countries. Meg and I have been friends for sixteen years (ever since seventh grade) and again, I cannot wait to have company! I have experienced a lot here in Salvador and I need to decompress. This place has challenged me in ways that I never conceived of, and I am surprised that the language barrier has been the least significant of these challenges. Being a tall, blond, extremely fair-skinned, blue-eyed woman alone in a Latin American city with a population that is at least 80% African-Brazilian has completely redefined my idea of a “comfort zone”. This experience has been eye-opening and life-changing, which was absolutely my objective when I chose to study Portuguese here, but I am prepared to move on…