On Saturday, I took a trip with Flor de Ceibo to the country, north of Montevideo near a town called Tala. The trip was a "diagnostic visit," and the event was held in a community center next to a school, surrounded by farms. A few dozen community members showed up, and students from the College of Agriculture at the University of the Republic gave presentations about the geography and economy of the region and its needs. Afterwards, there were hamburgers, soda, and pastries. I'm not entirely sure what was being diagnosed, or really how it related to Plan Ceibal at all, but it was cool to see another part of the country and get to talk to the other students in the group more. Here's the gathering in the community center:
Monday, I went with Pablo and Cesar to another blogging workshop in the town of Salinas, about an hour outside of Montevideo. It was held at a large elementary school (with about 800 kids) in a suburban neighborhood just off the highway. When we arrived, we found a few groups of kids using their XOs. They were far too absorbed to notice us posing for photos.
A group of a few dozen teachers, all of them women, was waiting for us. Cesar and Pablo introduced Tus Ideas Valen and ceibalJAM! Pablo had created a test blogspot site, and asked them to comment on a post with their idea of what a blog was. Most of the teachers weren't familiar with blogs, or really the Internet in general. When Pablo put the URL of the test blog on the board, many of them typed it into Google instead of the address bar, and many of the comments they posted were along the lines of "we don't know, we're here to learn!" But they all seemed to be having a great time figuring it out, and by the end of the workshop had an idea of what a blog is and how tools like Blogger function.
Video coming soon!
Sunday night, I went with some friends to see candombe in a park near the hostel. Candombe is a kind of drumming musical style that originated with African-Uruguayans in Montevideo. On Sunday nights, neighborhood groups practice in the streets, and during Carnival there are competitions. Candombe is mostly performed by men, but the group we saw, called La Melaza, is all women. People surround the drummers and follow them through the streets dancing--lots of fun!
Tuesday, I took the bus across town to "El Cerro," a neighborhood on the edge of Montevideo. It's across the bay from downtown and has a large hill with great views of the city from the top. The guys at the hostel told me to take a taxi from the bus stop to the museum at the top of the hill because it wasn't a safe neighborhood to walk around in. So I did, and the taxi driver immediately told me that it was not advised to come here alone, but I figured that taking a taxi to a museum staffed by soldiers and then a taxi back to the bus stop was not exactly reckless. But when the taxi driver dropped me at the top of the hill, I discovered that the museum is only open Wednesday through Sunday, and I was all alone on top of the hill. So it was a pretty nervous walk back to the bus stop, but no one even looked twice at me and the views were worth it!
As promised, here's some photos of a panaderia (bakery). You can't go more than a few blocks here without passing one. I never learned the proper names for most of the pastries because there are so many--I just point and say "One of this, one of this..." They usually have plain rolls, croissants (called medialunas--half moons), empanadas, and alfajores. Then there are dozens of kinds of pastries, but every bakery seems to have something different. You can get mini ones, called masitas, which are sold by the kilogram so you can get a variety. Basically, every American coffee shop with 10 cookie/cake options is a huge slacker in comparison.
An alfajor is basically a sandwich cookie with dulce de leche in the middle. Usually, the cookies are sort of thick and cakey, not crunchy like an Oreo. There are a million variations--chocolate covered, with nuts or coconut, with chocolate or orange or lemon filling, triple-decker, etc. They are sold fresh in every bakery, or packaged in every convenience store.
Now I'm going to spend a week traveling in part of Northern Argentina before I fly home!
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