It's About Time

How full I am of updates, and how little time I've dedicated to sharing these updates!  After over two full weeks in Uruguay, I continue to be amazed at how different this country is from Perú.  Not that this should be a surprise...they ARE different countries.  But anyways, I'll dedicate this post to sharing some initial observations and interesting facts I've discovered from my time here in Uruguay.

Whereas in Perú my height, "blond" hair, and white skin made it obvious that I was a foreigner (a gringa, that is),  in Uruguay I blend right in.  The population here is very European, with most Uruguayans being first, second, or third generation immigrants from Spain, Italy, France and Germany.  There is actually no indigenous population here as a result of a genocide that literally wiped out the aboriginals a couple hundred years ago.  Because of this, Uruguay is a unique blend of cultures.  Italian food and family-culture are all over.  Most names for the fruits and vegetables are not actually Spanish, but rather Portuguese as a result of the close proximity to Brazil.  German seems to be a second language here.  Just like in Argentina, yerba maté is as much a part of daily life as putting on shoes.  Social events happen quite a bit later here than in the US, like in much of Europe.  I've been to several dinners that did not even begin until 10:30pm, and that's quite average.

The Spanish that is spoken here is very, very different from the Spanish spoken in Perú (and most everywhere else in Latin America) as well. I thought Peruvians spoke fast until I came here.  Not only do Uruguayans whisk through sentences without me even realizing that they've actually spoken, but their sentence structure and their accents are completely different as well.  As is also the case in Argentina, the "ya" sound becomes a "shh", so words like playa (beach) and yo (I) become playsha and show.  Their Spanish often sounds to me much more like a blend of Italian and French than Spanish.  ...Of course, that's when I can pick out words to make sense of them in the first place :).

Religion is also a very different matter here in Uruguay.  Although Catholicism exists, there is certainly not a deeply rooted foundation in the Catholic church or in religion at all.  The area that I am in is less than 2% evangelical Christian, and this is about on par with the rest of Montevideo.  There are towns along the coast that have no churches and less than 1% evangelical believers.  The absence of the Catholic church has offered more of an opportunity for other cults and belief-systems to become popular here, and Uruguay has the highest percentage of agnostics and atheists in all of Latin America as a result. In a country that seems to lack very little (Uruguay has a consistently strong and stable middle-class, also the highest percentage in Latin America), people don't have much interest in or "need" for religion.

But there is need here.  Look past the relative economic stability, the functioning government, the sense of safety from any type of natural disaster....and there is emptiness.  Vacancy in expressions.  Vain pursuits that lead to discontentment and damage.  Hope in all things which lead to hopelessness.  Uruguay also leads Latin America in another aspect: they have the highest suicide rates on the continent (some statistics say in the entire Western hemisphere).  Yes, there are needs here, and no amount of stability, affluence, or comfort can buy a solution to these needs.

Enter SIM into this picture.  The ministry perspective here looks different from other countries in South America where SIM serves.  Very different.  And it's a beautiful thing!  Ministry is done not so much through established programs and community outreaches as just through life.  Through relationship.  Through spending intentional time listening, talking, growing with, and supporting friends and contacts.    I've been quite challenged and humbled as God is continually transforming my perspective on what life should be as His follower, and seeing the compelling fluidity with which His work is being carried out here in Uruguay has certainly grown my perspective in exciting and abundant ways!

On that note, I have a few heart-updates and disruptions that I would like to share more about, but not in this post.  Soon.  Very soon.  But for now,  I'm off to make lunch!

                                       
                                          A view of Montevideo, driving down La Rambla (that beautiful stretch of
                                          sidewalk is where I run most days...it overlooks the beach of the Rio de la
                                         Plata and stretches for miles: love it!)                                                           
                      

                                         A little park area near downtown Montevideo.  Greenery actually exists here!

                                         To say that I was ecstatic to find that there was an Armenian restaurant here
                                         would be a vast understatement.  And the food was delicious!  DELICIOUS!

               
                                            Sonia and I in the center of Montevideo, near la Ciudad Vieja.
                                           As you can tell, Uruguay is not a super-warm place right now.   :(