Back in the EEUU

Happy to see me,
but not the camera.

It's been almost two full weeks since I left Montevideo for Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I'm here to be with my girlfriend, Jenn, who is working on her doctoral degree at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Since arriving, life has mainly been trying to find a way to fit my things, which includes a variety of large percussion instruments, into an apartment that's just not made for them. I've managed to find room for two snare drums so far, and have started to dust off my chops. So far things seem to be in good shape. We'll see if I still feel good about things when I finally touch a marimba again.

Aside from unpacking, I'm looking for jobs. Not a lot of success so far.

I've also been hanging out with my cats, Calvin and Hobbs:

There's also been some nostalgia for Uruguay. So much now seems like a dream. It's wierd not to walk everywhere. I notice the distance between two people when they greet here. I miss Tuesday/Thursday nights drumming, or just hanging around, with the Taller de Percusión in Buceo. A call out of the blue from Alvaro Salas to come to Mundo Afro, to chat, or for some other surprise. Walking/running on the rambla. Hearing drumming coming from Barrio Sur through the open window of my apartment in Ciudad Vieja.

Anyway, for those of you not connected to me on Facebook, here are some photos/videos from the final month in Montevideo.

Noche de Ñoquis (March 29): I wanted to experience this Uruguayan tradition, and convinced Kate and Megan to take part. We decided to make our own butternut squash gnocchi, and aside from the gas stovetop running out of gas, all was a success. Note: gnocchi made in microwave not so amazing looking.

After paying the final month's rent, most of what I wanted to do involved food. A surprise was the Bandeja Paisa, a "little" Colombian meal on March 31:

Killed it!

Tried gramajo for the first time on April 9. Basically a big plate of fries, jam, onions, scrambled eggs, some parsley, and top it off with some lemon juice. Pretty amazing. This is from a place called Míos, an excellent little hole in the wall in Ciudad Vieja, that I discovered way too late in my stay.



 On April 12, I said goodbye to the Taller de Percusión. Very happy I had an opportunity to feast and play some candombe with these amazing people one more time before leaving.

Following Anthony Bourdain's suggestion, on April 13 I finally ate at Estancia del Puerto, in the Mecca to meat: Mercado del Puerto.

On April 14, I played candombe for the final time this trip. It was a total surprise, as Alvaro told me to come to Mundo Afro, and when I got there I ended up playing chico in a rehearsal. The coolest part was having my chico playing approved of by master piano player, "Paco" Silva.

The last 24 hours in Montevideo was pretty much food and saying goodbyes. It was a much more difficult time than I expected it would be. It all started with a waffle from Facal, something I had wanted since first seeing it on fellow Fulbrighter Danielle Brown's blog almost nine months ago. Not sure if it met every expectation, but it was still pretty delicious.

Later that night I went to Mundo Afro, expecting to see a tango/candombe show. It was however a big night for Uruguay, as Paul McCartney was performing there. A couple of weeks before that night, the city was caught up with "Beatlemania." Because Sir Paul was in town, there was no audience at Mundo Afro, and they cancelled. With that, I went and joined Megan at the Intendencia, where they broadcast the end of McCartney's show.

And those are the last photos I have from Uruguay.

I do plan on continuing the blog as I begin the writing process for my doctoral essay. There's plenty of video I still need to go through, and if anything, this offers an excellent venue to draft out some ideas. So anyway, stay tuned...