Go find a map, if you can't find one or no longer own paper maps of the world, or even if you had no idea that there was once such a thing as paper maps or atlas's then open another internet window and pull up Google maps, then look up where Buenos Aires, Argentina is and put one finger there. Then find Montevideo, Uruguay and put another finger there. Any guesses as to how long it takes to sail from one to the other……? Anyone? Well I am just going to assume that you have some sort of guess in your head right now and I am also assuming that your guess is close to what mine was. On our itinerary it says that we will leave BA at about 2000 and arrive in Montevideo at about 0700 or so. Now usually our ship travels slower than it needs to because it costs a lot of money to dock in a port so they don’t want to get there early and pay more. Ergo, we all assumed that it would really only take a few hours but that we would travel at a snail’s pace to lengthen the journey. Now, remember that number you had in your head as a guess…got it, good. The actual amount of time it takes us to sail from BA to Montevideo (not going slow just to take time but sailing as fast as we can in the river) is 13 hours. 13! Yikesers! Look at your map again and see how close those cities are—they are on the same river for crying out loud and it takes us 13 hours to sail from one to the other going with the current. Don’t worry, we were shocked too when they made the announcement that we would be leaving BA as soon as possible and that we still might not make it to Montevideo on time.
Well, once we got there—as far as I know we made it on time because when we woke up at 0645 we were pulling into port (we probably left at around 1830ish the night before so by the time we docked it was probably close to 12 ½ to 13 hours as predicted) we were excited to find that we were docked fairly close to the old city. Many ports we visit have large areas of construction or lots and lots of docks that we have to navigate in order to get to the actual city so this was a nice surprise. Danielle, Amy and I decided to go out and walk around a bit to see the city and visit some markets as I had a field excursion that afternoon. We wandered a bit and discovered that most shops don’t open until later in the day at like 10-11 o’clock so we just walked. We happened upon Independence Square which was currently the host of some TV or movie set as there were tents and lights and cameras all over and the area was blocked off by caution tape. We are not actually sure what was going on but thought it would be cool if some SASers ended up on TV :) We know for sure that there were at least two articles about us in the paper as this is the FIRST time SAS has visited Uruguay and we were proud to be the first representatives!
After walking around some more, finding an ATM and a good place for wifi and checking out the market we headed back to the ship for lunch. That afternoon I went on a trip to see the Carnaval Museum and to watch and learn some of the drumming techniques used in the Carnaval parades and celebrations. The museum was really cool, we got to see traditional costumes and props, saw the biggest drum ever used in Carnaval (I could have easily stood up inside it) and many more things. Our guide told us that in Uruguay, Carnaval lasts from the end of January to the beginning of March making it the longest Carnaval celebration in the world. When we were done with the museum we hopped back on our bus and drove out of the city to visit one of the stages used in the festival. They showed us models and pictures of past stages and performances and then pulled out their drums and gave us a small performance. As a percussionist I was super excited about the whole thing and was itching to try it out for myself. When they passed out the drums I took the low drum (go basses) and sat with our music professor and the other percussionist on board because I wanted to learn the hard stuff :) That basically turned into the three of us getting a private lesson while the other people in the group just started drumming random patterns and goofing off which was fine with me because it was great! We learned patterns from three of the four major types of Candomble music as it’s called and the guides were very impressed. We may have neglected to tell them that we had all been drumming for years—the other two more then me obviously but I still have about 8 years of experience—and just soaked up the praise haha. The best part was that for the last song they asked if we wanted to carry the drums and we all immediately began nodding. When they gave us the straps one questioned my ability to carry the biggest drum and I attempted to explain that I carried a big bass drum in school—their English was limited as was my Spanish so this lead to lots of pantomiming that I am sure provided lots of entertainment for all present. Finally deciding that my point was not getting across I grabbed the strap and slung the drum over my shoulder with enthusiasm, smiled at the guy and went on my marry way. Maybe not the best way to handle it but seriously, I can hold my own when it comes to drums (no pun intended). It was a great afternoon and I was sad when we had to leave but I still have my African drum in my cabin so I wasn’t too too depressed.
Later we all went out to get wifi and ate lots of dulce de leche tacos—pretty much a tortilla with really good caramel on it—and that was about it.
On a random side note I am excited that I finally figured out housing for next semester (yay) and am partially registered (still working on the other part). This may not sound exciting but when you are stuck in the middle of the ocean with no internet and are expected to figure out how to get all of your class information to e-mail the registrar it is a huge accomplishment and I am glad it’s almost over!
Love and miss you,
~Colleen
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