Although my time in Uruguay is far from over, our opportunity to share this experience has come to an end, as you all finish the school year. It’s been a great three months from my perspective! Here in the southern hemisphere, the school year is just getting started. I’ll be staying in Salto until July, then moving to Montevideo for the second half of my program. In Montevideo, I'll be living in a university student residence (kind of a combination between a dorm and a house) with a fellow Fulbrighter. Although I’m excited about living and teaching in a bigger city, I’m glad I was placed in Salto for the first half of the year for the following reasons.
Almost half of Uruguay’s population lives in the capital city of Montevideo, and many of the country's services are centralized there. Many Uruguayans living in the interior (the rest of the country) feel that they don’t have access to the same opportunities as Uruguayans in Montevideo. During my time in Salto, I got to see what life is like in the interior, and to help provide some of those opportunities to people who don’t usually get them. Many people I talk to here have never met an American before, or even anyone who is not Uruguayan.
