Before I left Porto Alegre for the weekend, I was getting down on some cooking (see an example of a typical self prepared meal above) and Kal decided to join me on this Uruguayan adventure on a whim, which was a pleasant surprise. We went out, got our tickets, and had a relaxed night back at the Eco Hostel.
The next day, Thursday, before we left to go to Uruguay, I had a great time walking around the park with this really fun girl named Stéphanie, who came out from the suburb of Novo Hamburgo to come hang out for a bit, which was sweet of her. I would have to say that one of my favorite parts of the trip, if not my favorite over all, would be meeting so many new people. It's so hard to explain the fulfilling feeling of meeting people from all over the world if you haven't gone out and done it, but those of you reading who have would hopefully be able to agree that it is truly a blessing.
From there, Kal and I stressfully managed to find our way to our bus, get through the check in, and get on. The ride itself really wasn't too bad, even though the concept of an overnight bus sounds kind of shitty. There was more leg room and better service than you would get on an airplane, and the seats reclined further back making it easier to sleep.
We arrived that morning in Punta Del Este around 8 am, which is a pretty rich city on a very cool peninsula. If you're not familiar with the geography, it's worth looking into. It's a gorgeous place, and apparently Sean Connery himself lives here. A little disappointed I haven't seen him though... yet.
From a MacDonald's, mooching off their WiFi, we decided to take my friend Craig Ode's advice and track down the hostel we are at now, called The Trip. He stayed here over Carnaval and gave me rave reviews, so I didn't see why not. No offense Eco Hostel, but as far as coolness goes, this place puts you to shame. Not only is it cheaper, but it's run by some homies in their late 20's, they have a full bar, slightly cooler rooms, a legit Uruguayan barbecue, and a sundeck (see above). They don't care about making noise too late or discourage us from having fun in any way... in fact, they encourage us to party fully. That, and it's only $12 a night. Hell yeah.
After spending the day exploring the city a little bit, getting some food and what not, Kal and I came back here to the guys from the hostel hosting a delicious barbecue and day party thing. After a little bit of low key fun, we took a nap to prepare for a night out.
Here in Punta Del Este, it's normal to go out to the bars pretty late. And by late, I mean you don't even leave to go out until 3 or 4 AM. I didn't think it would really work out that well, but it ended up being a pretty cool night. Aside from dealing with a sketchy Uruguayan dude who kind of low-balled me out of some money, it was a lot of fun. We met two great Aussie girls named Jess and Bec, and their British travel partner Lee, who turned out to be some of the more fun people we've spontaneously met since we've been here. Also, we've been hanging out with this cool dude from Houston who now lives in Vegas, a professional poker player named Justin. It was definitely a fun, unforgettable night out. Aside from the bars being more or less a sausagefest and dealing with the sketchball Uruguayan guy, I have no complaints.
After sleeping in for a while today, we made some food and hung out, with every intention to go to the beach. However, as we saw the ominous clouds rolling in, felt the humidity rise, and battled strong winds, we decided it was a bad idea to go check out the famous Bikini Beach today in La Barra. So, we settled for a few photos by the hand statue and battled our way back through the oncoming storm.
It's killing me that I'll be leaving for home in a couple weeks. Not that I don't miss my friends, family, and life back home, I really do. I just don't know if I'm ready to come back.
~ 3/2/13
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