Saludos, Montevideo

I always knew the day would come when I'd have to bid this fair country goodbye, I just didn't know how I'd go about handling it. Right now, I'm using drugs. Queden tranquilo! It's just over-the-counter medicine that I'm legitimately taking because I have a cold. Last night I slept for 13 hours and took a nap today as well. I never expected to spend my 2nd to last day in Uruguay too lethargic and pitiful to leave the house (except to go to the mall to use their wireless). But it's okay. Today I've just been reading and packing. I started reading "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan a few days ago...a book gifted to me by my aunt and uncle two years ago for Christmas. I started reading it because of a comment my friend made to me a week ago. We were sitting around the fireplace in his house with some friends when Andres said to me "You don't read, do you?" It was an innocent comment, but probably said in the wrong language. If he asked me in Spanish "No lees mucho, no?" I wouldn't think anything of it, just a simple question. But since it was in English, it didn't sound as innocent with the same sentence structure. Puf! Of course I read! Then thinking about it, I realized that I really don't read aside from what I need to read for school, my Bible, and skimming over the news at cnn.com or in Newsweek. So thanks to the innocent challenge from my Uruguayan friend (or was he Swiss or Argentine???) I decided to start reading this silly book. I'm almost half-way through and it's pretty good. This is the first fictional book I've ready since my English class my Senior year of high school (I'm not counting all the books I read for philosophy 1st semester freshman year at UNC, because those were more painful reads than pleasure reads). It tells about the adventures faced by a group of 12 rich, intelligent Americans as they travel through China and Burma, all narrated from the perspective of their dead friend (who also narrates from the minds of each of her friends on the trip) who organized the trip but died about 2 weeks beforehand. There are a lot of Buddhist influences in the book and so far I've only counted one reference to Baptists and one to Catholicism, which I like because I have yet to read a book with as much Eastern influence. Tan does an amazing job with her apt descriptions of those precise, unforgettable travelers moments, but is a bit obvious with her foreshadowing and symbolism. But that's okay, right? If it was any harder to pick up on, this would greatly narrow her audience and thus her sales. Anyways, I'm really enjoying the book and hopefully it'll keep me sufficiently busy on the plane.

Plane. Tomorrow. I kind of fear my travels tomorrow, because for 20 hours, I'll be commuting through what feels like no-man's-land. Neutral territory. I'm not completely gone but I'm not completely home. I'm so not a fan of big change like this, and I am even less of a fan of saying goodbyes. I'm horrible with them. I never say what I want to say, nor know how to respond when people say really kind things. I also get really tempted to make promises I can't keep, such as "Yeah, I'd love to come back to experience the Uruguayan summer!" during which time I'll be in school or on Christmas break and visiting family. I guess it'll benefit my social side to get some more practice in. I'm pretty much packed right now and tomorrow I'll go into the city one last time to buy a few last minute things and have one last peaceful ride on the omnibus. Please pray that my health will improve for the flight!!!

To those I am leaving in Montevideo and Buenos Aires: Voy a extranar ustedes un monton! No pueden entenderlo, porque muchos veces, no tenia bastante palabras a decirlo o describir como siento. Pero gracias por todo que hicieron en mi vida...por orando conmigo, hablando conmigo, compartiendo su cultura y su vida con mi. Si pueden venir a los Estados Unidos, siempre tengan hogar en mi dormitorio!! Espero que podemos estar en contactos, y que van a decirme que esta pasando en sus vidas. Te banco!!! Besos mil!!!

To those I am coming home to: I love you all so much and can't wait to see you! I apologize in advance if I am spacey or acting overly attached to my experiences in Uruguay and Argentina. It's gonna be really hard for me to be away from this place, this way of life. But I am really looking forward to being a part of your lives again! I hope I don't seem too different, and that if I changed in ways that are evident, it is for the better. And please be patient with me if I give really vague answers about how my trip was because I'm still processing it and unfortunately don't have a catchy 2-sentence summary of the trip yet. Thanks for all your support and I'll see you soon!!!

Much love to all, you'll hear from me again in NC!!
Besos mil!!

Brittany