Lobos Marinos

This weekend I visited Punta del Este in eastern Uruguay and got to see Uruguay's infamous sea lions or "sea wolves" as they call them in Spanish (lobos marinos).


Swimming about in the port of Punta del Este are a group of 8 or so enormous sea lions. They hang around the port alongside a flock of albatrosses where all the fishermen dump their leftover fish pieces.


You can get uber-close to these fascinating sea creatures and watch them swim around, playing, eating, and fighting with one another. This little boy in the picture enjoyed walking up and down the dock with a fish carcass while the lobos marinos greedily followed his every move.


"Feed me." You can almost hear the sea lions calling out to you. "Feed me. I'm going to sit on this rock here, and you throw me some tasty fish guts."

White Herons

Salto is a wonderful place to be. It is beautiful.


I have a resolution to run (read jog) at least 3-4 times a week and thus far I've been pretty good about doing so. It makes me feel better to get some exercise, suck in some fresh air, and enjoy the stunning Uruguayan scenery.

Usually, there are large flocks of white herons that congregate by the river. They are beautiful birds to watch because they are so graceful and provide a stark contrast to their surroundings.

I am thankful for those beautiful white herons. I thankful for the beautiful river. I am thankful to be in Uruguay. I am thankful for my family and friends who love me. I thankful for so many things. And I recognize that it never hurts to remind myself of the things I am thankful for when I am going through difficult times.

Trip to the Zoo

I went on a field trip to the zoo this week with the kiddies. Great fun. Ohhh, birds. Ohhh llamas. Ohhh anteaters.


Animals are one of the easier things to teach in English. Kids love animals, and there are lots of animal songs. In addition, some of the names are similar to the Spanish ones (tigre, tiger; leon, lion, mono, monkey).


And you can always act out the animals. (Example, monkey: hop around, curl your arms under, and yell ee, ee, oo, eeee, ooo, eee) They seems to like that.


For some reason the kids were excited to the see the spiders (and they knew the English word for spider quite well, which I am going to chalk up to Spiderman). Ewww. What is wrong with these chidren?