Asbusc09′s Blog
Just another WordPress.com weblogArchive for March, 2009
Saturday
Today was our free day in Uruguay, so as a group we decided to have a relaxing day by the beach. We went to a beautiful beach 2 hours away called Punte del Este. We walked around the city and enjoyed the afternoon at the beach. We came back to Montevideo, had a great dinner together and now we´re at Hillel for a Purim party before we board the plane to Panama.
Tomorrow we plan to use our layover time to visit yet another Latin American beach and hopefully eat some delicious food. Then it will be time to get on the plane and start thinking about school again!
We hope you have enjoyed keeping up with our trip on the blog as much as we have enjoyed being on the trip. We will be back in LA at midnight on Sunday…stay tuned for photos
Everyone says hi mom and dad–we will talk to you soon
Danny C
friday
hey hey
Friday began with alot of excitment, we arrived at a elementary school ready to play and garden. There were kids all over the school working on their organic garden. This school feeds all there students because for many of these children this may be there only meal of the day. The kids are working on their own garden and learning at the same time. although not all of us could work on the garden at the same time all over the playground there were groups of us playing games with the kids. It was great to talk to these children teaching them english and playing games. For lunch we were taken to Yavne ( meaning you will build) this is a k-12 jewiah day school. We got the change to talk to some of the high school students about their lives in this community. I was pulled into a English class because all the students say the Americans and wanted to know why we were at their school, they were excited to hear that we came their their home. after a couple of conversations with the students we learned about anti-semitism in South America. Friday started out with a lot of spanish and running around then we got to experience the Jewish community. The night ended with a walk to shabbat service our group went to the Orthodox service at Yavne.
It was a powerful experience to be welcomed into this Jewish community. Then we walked back to Hillel and enjoyed a great shabbat dinner with the community. After that, we all walked over to the beach together and spent time star gazing and hanging out with our group.
To be contined manana… Ruby
3/19/09
Welcome back
Yesterday we started the morning weary of a late night at a salsa club and went to a prominent Jewish Community center in Montevideo where we would procede to undergo a variety of experiences. The Kehillah had a very nice synogogue that is mostly used for services on the high holy days. Our group sat alone in the vast two-decked hall and learned about the solid Zionist culture within the Uruguayan jewish community. While 15,000 jews in Uruguay seems like relatively modest number, there are also 15,000 Uruguayan jews in Israel today.
From there we quickly scurried through the small holocaust museum to the side of the lobby, briefly experiencing that familliar traumatizing mass of different emotions that enter our minds every time as we looked forward to the service were going to provide for today.
But still, there was one more stop before that happened. There was a large room in the basement floor that had several different bizarre clothing items. I will leave the rest of this to whoever gets to blog about our Purim party at Hillel tomorrow night, as there will be several outfits of note. The money used to buy these outfits benefits the efforts made by this magnificent center to provide services for people with mental and phiysical disabilities, which was the focus of our day.
Very few of us have had any experience doing this, but were happy to help, and essentially, that is what the people liked to see. For the next couple of hours we helped people make various art projects. Some were making cedar plates, some were polishing mezuzot, and paintings. I worked with a mentally disabled man who knew English better than I know Spanish. The reason for this, he said, was his love for American music, as shown by his AC/DC t-shirt…. which is actually an Australian band but an english speaking (screaming?) one at that. Being a musician, we were able to find common ground with some of our favorite bands. Before we left (we would return later) we were provided by the people who come here with some delicious pizza and rice.
We took a two hour break from the community center walking through the city center of the very Europeanesque Montevideo, including an area known as Plaza Independencia. There was a statue of a man named General Jose Gervasio Artigas who fought against the British invasion of the Rio Del Plata (the river that Montevideo is on) in 1806. However, the most eerie experience of this trip so far came when myself, Justin Selzer, and Kyle Sears walked under the statue, believing the stairs led to an underground arcade or subway station, only to arrive in a vast, dark, silent room alone, with the cremated remains of Artigas enshrined in the middle, guarded by two soldiers, as still as they would be in front of the Buckingham palace.
We returned back to the community center and spent time making matzah and wine with the same people and were sent off by an enthusiastic and touching set of songs and dances.
After a reflection of the days activites at Hillel we went to a very fun restaurant featuring a live and exciting trio of a mix of latin music and fusion jazz, as we consumed pizza and beer and whatnot (and beer) I noticed very early on that whoever this drummer was in Montevideo, he was definitely good enough to be a well known musician. Surely enough he knew my teacher in Los Angeles who apparently produced an album he played on, so hopefully this will remind me to ask my teacher when we get back in…. two days?!
All the best,
Jacob Steuer
Finalmente, un techo para la familia
Whats up guys, This is David and Kyle reporting from Montevideo. This trip so far has been unbelievable, cannot believe it has gone by so fast. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to Shira, and the people of Hillel Uruguay for giving us these opportunities. These last few days have flown by, our apologies for the tardiness. Check back soon for photos of our two day builds, seeing these images is the only way to fully understand the stories we all have.
Last night (3/18), as the sun set, three families of Nuevo Buenos Aires, Uruguay cut the ribbons and entered their new homes that we had all somehow built in two lightning fast days. This raucous second day began at different points for each of the three build teams. Some arrived ahead of schedule with floors already laid, others faced a daunting task of catch-up working in unforgiving conditions. Our entire group was amazing, we could go on for days about these experiences, and hopefully we will when we get back. By the end of the day, there were three new solid roofs that will serve in these families well in the immediate.
This organization Un Techo Para Mi Pais: Uruguay (http://www.untechoparamipais.org.uy/) deserves a minute of your time. These people run an extremely efficient ship with unmatched compassion, enthusiasm, and direction. Our bosses, volunteers themeselves, are some of the most impressive individuals I´ve ever met.
It is impossible to describe the complexity of this area. The poverty has no equal back where we´re from, but these people opened their community to a bunch of crazy gringos with hammers and shovels, and when we left we had people from all over the neighborhood we couldn´t let go.
The best moment for me (david) of the techo para mi pais experience was towards the very end when we were finishing up the final touches on the houses and the new owners were introduced to their homes. The pride I saw in the faces of the fathers in the families was so powerful and it made me feel really happy to know that two fast days of our time and effort really changed their lives. After the experience was over, the only thing I wanted to do was to go back to Nuevo Buenos Aires and build more homes. I mean…as I write this…I want to go and build more homes. I plan on keeping in touch with the people I met from Techo Para Mi Pais so I can return to South or Central America for that matter and build homes to help the slums of latinoamerica.
After finishing the Techo experience we had some reflection time and somehow had enough eneregy to go out to dinner… We didnt eat until 1 1:45. I was so hungry… but whatever, we survived. After our lovely relaxed dinner we wondered over to the local salsa bar and dance club and got a taste of the culture. We had a wonderful time until the wee hours of the morning! but…. …. had to be up at 9:30 am to go to the Jewish community center in Montevideo.
To sum up the trip thus far… I don´t want to leave Uruguay, the culture here is amazing and doing volunteer work is one of the most fulfilling things a person can do!
Until Next Time
-David and Kyle
The day began at 7am. The breakfast was the typical- kosher carbs, bananas and fake coffee. However, it was all we needed to energize ourselves for what proved to be the most remarkable day yet!
As we (Shana and Lani) sit here in this 6 by 3 foot box of a computer room in the lobby of our far too posh hotel, we feel confident in saying that this day was unlike any that us ASB Trojans have ever experienced before. We hit the road at 8am, our collective group of 30 (not including our AMAZINGLY ENTHUSIASTIC Hillel Uruguay hosts and the guides from the NGO we´re working with- A Roof For Uruguay). After a few stops to pick up food and materials for the day, we arrived in ¨New Buenos Aires¨ the settlement-like shantitown where we remained until the sun began to set.
Attempting to put the day´s experience into words is challenging…but we´re going to give it a shot. Logistically speaking, our time was spent in three groups building the foundation of houses for three different families within the community. Each group was led by 2 Uruguayan volunteers who were there to help motivate and guide us through the physically arduous task of breaking through literally everything from cement, garbage, feces, mud and tree roots in order to place 18 wooden pillars in the ground as the base for the floor of the home. The sun was hot and the work was intense, but the motivation of being there working side by side with the families for whom we were building was a powerful inspiration.
We (Shana and Lani) had the privilage to step away from physically building the house for a bit in order to emotionally and spiritually build a strong connection with the mother of one family, Lillian, on our walk to pick up the BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN at school. For us, this was when the day went from meaningful to life-changing. Having this opportunity to connect with Lillan, her children Lucas and Carla (and their five cousins) allowed us to relate to them on a fundamental human level- far beyond the mere general top-down form of volunteer or community work. The entire day, from then on, allowed us to enjoy this powerful experience of not just providing a new improved home for unknown faces but working with a loving, laughing family we began to know as friends. We shifted between hammering, digging and measuring the home to tickling, giggling and conversing with the members of this horribly impovershed community. The smiles were contagious. The appreciation on both sides was evident. The experience as a whole is truly one that we will never forget.
The best thing is that we get to go back tomorrow!!!!!!! It´s going to be hard to leave at the end of the day…today on our way to the bus, we were accompanied by masses of smiling, playful children of all ages so happy to have interacted with us. Finding a way to remain connected with them after this time will be essential given the connections we´ve already made after just one day.
More updates to come… don´t forget to be greatful 
Peace, Love and Roofs,
Shana and Lani
Hola from Uruguay!
Hola amigos!
Today we had a meeting with two representatives from the NGO A Roof For Uruguay who led a discussion about charity and how we can impact the world. We finally met the University of Maryland group after their flight was also delayed. Boy are we glad that we had a few days to relax!
After lunch, the two schools traveled to a local ¨soup kitchen¨ (Mendendaro in spanish) and put on a carnival for the underprivelaged children in the area. It was such an incredible experience seeing the way that our games made them smile. All of the kids were extremely receptive to our efforts, and it felt great to begin our charity work in Uruguay!
Then we went back to the hillel to have our orientation with the NGO and learn how were are going to be contructing houses. It´s going to be difficult, but fun and rewarding!
Hi Diane, Howie, Les and Marci….we miss you!
Love always,
Amy and Michelle
First day in Uruguay
Hello everyone,
Today, after 24 hours of travel time, we finally arrived in Montevideo. The flight from Panama was edited to include a two hour stop in Bolivia due to weather concerns. We were disappointed that we were not allowed to leave the plane, however we were glad to finally get back in the air. Arriving in Uruguay, we finally met our guide for the day, Elisa, who is also one of our Hillel program coordinators. Our hotel, the Regency Golf, is beautiful and the river is an awesme sight. We spent the day getting familiar with the city with Elisa. First, we ate lunch at a river-side restaurant, then we walked to a street market. After, we made our way to Hillel, where we met the rest of our program guides and came up with ideas for what we will be doing with kids at the soup kitchen for which we are volunteering tomorrow morning. Now, we are having a barbecue at Hillel and are all planning on enjoying the city´s nightlife tonight before we turn in for our early morning soup kitchen work.
Justin Seltzer
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