DIA DEL NINO!

In Uruguay there's your typical mother's day and father's day, but there is also grandparent's day and kids day. I think I remember celebrating--or at least ackwnoledging--a grandparent's day when I was younger...but a kid's day? And one in which you get gifts? It's like another Christmas! What kid wouldn't want that?

To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled to celebrate "kid's day" as I knew my mischevious and rambunctious host sister would enjoy reveling in "her" day. I love this little eight year old host sister of mine but at times she can really try your patience!

However, my Rotaract club turned "kid's day" into a great experience for me. We celebrated the day with kids from two organizations. The first one we celebrated the day with was an organized soccer club in an at risk neighborhood. The club boasts a membership of 100 kids that joined to stay out of the streets. The other organization we went to is a shelter for teenage mothers and their children who come from extreme poverty situations and have often faced abuse in their lives. We spent the day playing games with the kids, handing out gifts, sharing stories with the moms and just having a blast!

The Falls of Iguazu

VACACIONES!

I just enjoyed 3 weeks of winter vacation back in July. Buenos Aires is just an easy 2 hour boat ride away from Montevideo so I met my sister Katie there and we toured and enjoyed the city for 3 days. Then, we hopped on a 17 hour bus ride (it’s cheaper than going by plane) to reach the Argentine, Paraguay and Brazilian border where the park of Iguazu Falls is located.

Ever since I saw the 1986 film, The Mission, I’ve wanted to see these wondrous falls. They truly are breathtaking! I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I managed to take before my camera broke, it’s definitely more impressive in person. Here’s some information that Wikipedia offers on the falls:

“Upon seeing Iguazu, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" Vastly larger than North America's Niagara Falls, Iguazu is rivaled only by Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe (this is excluding extremely large rapid-like falls such as the Boyoma Falls). Whilst Iguazu is wider because it is split into about 270 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world, at over a 1600 m wide and over 100 m (350 ft) in height (in low flow Victoria is split into five by islands; in high flow it can be uninterrupted).”

“Iguazu, however, affords better views and walkways and its shape allows for spectacular vistas. At one point a person can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls. The Garganta do Diabo has water pouring into it from three sides. Likewise, because Iguazu is split into many relatively small falls, one can view these a portion at a time. Victoria does not allow this, as it is essentially one waterfall that falls into a canyon and is too immense to appreciate at once (except from the air).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls

After looking at the date of my last entry I realized it has been a while since I have been able to make a post to my blog. With exams, traveling and projects with Rotaract, the time flew by and my blog was neglected. However, in the next couple of days you'll start to see more entries about Katie's visit, Rotaract and other exciting events in Uruguay.

Human Rights Tribunal

Since my classes are in the night time from 7pm -11pm I most often can sleep later than what I use to sleep back in the states. This morning however, I woke up bright and early to head to MERCORSUR. There I had the opportunity to witness a tribunal of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. As an international Relations student and enthusiast of Human Rights, it was a great opportunity to see such a tribunal take place.

The Court, established in 1979, is an autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States. It interprets and applies the American Convention on Human Rights and other treaties concerning the matter. The jurists are from member states, and the current panel’s president is from Peru.

The case we heard today was concerning slander. A Panamanian human rights defender, Santander Tristán Donoso, was being sued for publishing slanderous articles about the Attorney General of Panama. Tomorrow, another case will be heard concerning the country of Bolivia and the court's sessions will end in the afternoon.