January 11, 2014

January 11, 2014

Its been a beautiful day here in Uruguay.

We were all very excited to sleep in this morning. When we finally woke up we headed to rent mules to drive around Colonia. Colonia has two parts, the old city and the new city so we decided to take the cobblestone roads down to the old city to view the historic sights of Colonia. Driving the mules proved to be a challenge in a city with so many oneway streets and signs that are unfamiliar but we got around just fine. After touring for a while we stopped to see the lighthouse and the old entrance to the city. While half the students went to the lighthouse the others headed to the drawbridge. This drawbridge was once the only way into and out of the city of Colonia. Now there is only the bridge and a small portion of the wall left.

The lighthouse has 118 steps to the top and it was VERY windy up there. To get to the top some of the students had to overcome a fear of heights and crawl though a pretty small space but the view was definitely worth it. From the top you were able to see the Catholic Church which is the oldest church in Uruguay. You also had an amazing view of the river where a few boats were sailing and the rest of the beautiful town. A few students stopped at a local shop to get a few souvenirs. Next it was time to grab lunch. We found a nice shady restaurant near the old city wall with delicious grill ham and cheese sandwiches which came with many interesting toppings. Finally it was time to hop back in the mules and head to the beach!!

Needless to say we are all sunburn after spending a few hours swimming and working on our tans. The smarter ones of the group relaxed in the shade near the cafe. Although we we not technically swimming in the ocean we took advantage of the opportunity and had a great time.

Around seven we got back to our hotel and cleaned up for supper. We all enjoyed what was probably our last nice sit down meal of the trip before going back to our hotel to enjoy the air conditioning and get some rest.

We have found Uruguay to be much more tourist friendly than Buenos Aires. Many of the people speak English and no one has tried to run us over yet. We also got to see some fellow Americans today who were study abroad students from Ohio. Tomorrow we will be getting the last of our souvenirs in Uruguay and heading back to Argentina for our final night. This trip has been an amazing adventure for all of us. We have learned so much about ourselves and the culture here. Along the way we also became very close to each other and have made friends that will last a lifetime. As much as we all love this place, I think we are all ready to get back to the States. However, we will greatly miss our Argentine friends.

Deseray Ellsworth