Bienvenidos a Uruguay

16th week--

A little quote to start off my blog post this week:

         "I thank You God for most this amazing
         day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
         and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
         which is natural which is infinite which is yes" --e.e. cummings

This week I experienced God working through nature. I saw His beauty, His love, and His goodness while surrounded by the little town of Cabo Polonio, Uruguay.

My friends and I had originally planned on taking this trip to C.P. during the weekend, but due to the pretty high possibility of rain on Friday afternoon and Saturday, we decided to be spontaneous and head out for a quick Wednesday-Friday trip. We had already experienced Colonia del Sacramento/Suiza in the rain (reference: 4th week), and--as interesting as it was-- we did not want to experience that again. On Wednesday morning we hopped on a bus at Tres Cruces and began the five hour drive up the east coast to Cabo Polonio.

Cabo Polonio is not your ordinary beach town. The town has very little electricity, no roads, and a population cerca de 90 people. Drinking water comes from a well and shower water = the rain water collected with huge jugs on top of the little houses. It truly feels like an escape from the 'real world.' In order to arrive in the town itself, you either have to walk or take a little truck (I prefer to call it a buggy) through the sand. Even before I had set foot in the town and was bobbin' up and down along the dunes in the buggy, I knew I would love Cabo Polonio. I couldn't wait to soak in the beauty of the nature surrounding me. I was eager to feel the peace that often comes when I shut off technology for a while and allow myself to experience God's creation without distractions.

The young woman who worked at the hostel, Gabi, met us at the buggy's drop off location. Although there is almost a 0% chance of getting lost in this place, it is a little difficult to give directions without roads or signs. Turn left at the brown rock and right at the large dune... We walked for about 4 minutes until we came upon our quaint hostel in which we were the only guests. In front of the hostel was a square of four hammocks, a porch with a big family table, and a wooden swing. Our room had three bunk-beds and a nice, big window to let in the sea breeze. It was simple; it was perfect. We quickly changed into our trajes de baño (bathing suits) and made our way down to the ocean. That first day was spent relaxing in the sun, in the sand or on the hamacas, and taking a little walk around the island. While we were laying the hamacas, Gabi told us that the sunset was starting on the south beach, so we crossed the island to see sky change colors until darkness fell.

Whenever I see a sunset, I always seem to say: "This is how I know there is a God." Along with many other things that have helped me come to the conclusion that God is quite present in this world, sunsets always help to remind me how real He is. Something that beautiful just can't be an accident.

Before it got too dark, my friends and I walked down to the most darling hotel/restaurant for dinner. Even the restaurant had hammocks on the porch and outdoor couches to sit in. It was charming. The restaurant served us delicious food--milanesa, pasta, y pescado--and we enjoyed our meal under faint electricity (aka, wee bit pricey... BUT soo worth it). With the help of Molly's cell phone flashlight, we made it back to the hostel without a problem. Almost as soon as we returned, Gabi motioned us all down to the ocean. She then started stomping/dancing around saying "Mira!" This is when I experienced God in a whole, new way:

NOCTILUCA's! Noctiluca's are little micro-organisms that glow in the water, especially when you dance around. With every little tap-dance-type move you could see them light up in streaks across the sand. We all danced around in the water, marveling at these tiny creatures. I felt like a little kid, which always feels wonderful. Gabi says that in the summer, when the air and water are warmer, you can fully submerge in the ocean and the little lights will be all on your body and in your hair. She said it is an incredible sight to see. I can only imagine, for just the lights in the sand alone seemed almost magical--a gift from God.

However, the most breathtaking aspect of the night was, without a doubt, the stars. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. I can say sincerely that it is hard to describe the night sky in words. There were thousands of star--so bright and clear! I could see every constellation. I was even blessed to see a shooting star. The three of us lay in the hammocks, until we all drifted into a little sleep. As I lay, I admired God's gift and wondered at what my eyes were seeing.

It seems to me that the world is too complex, too perfectly ordered to have happened on accident--with a bang. I'm not saying that everything is perfect in the sense that nothing bad ever happens. I am not ignorant to the existence of evil in this world--sin and evil are very real because freewill and Satan are very real. However, I mean 'perfectly ordered' in the sense that the world works: that we, as humans, can breathe and interact with one another and have thoughts and feelings, that the animals have instincts to help them thrive and survive, that the location of the earth allows us to live without being burnt to a crisp, that atoms and molecules and cells are so complex but somehow work together to compose living things-- it all just seems to work too perfectly well to have been formed by accident, by a mixture of particles and elements that somehow managed to blend perfectly together to create earth and the universe, without a Creator. Anyways...that's what ran through my mind as I admired these stars. So perfectly placed and ordered.

On the second day we walked, stopped, admired, walked stopped, admired...pretty much all day. We began walking among the rocks until we came upon a colony of lobos (sea dogs). Sea dogs are quite interesting to watch. Their bodies are just so strange and silly. They are very good at stretching their necks back very far, like little gymnasts...except not so little. The next couple hours were filled with more rock climbing adventures, a trip up to the lighthouse, and lunch on the south beach.

The day before, we had heard about a walk to one end of the town where you could see 'una vista espectacular' (a spectacular sight) of the other towns across the ocean. We asked Gabi how long it would take: 1 1/2 if we wanted to walk 'tranquila.' So we set out on this journey. OH MY GOSH. The way there felt unbearable--walking across the sand, against the wind, under the sun to this place that felt like it was not getting any closer. About half way through the complaints started flowing, but we did not want to stop walking. We were 'so close,' entre comillas. After 2 hours, we finally made it to our final destination, only to find that clouds had collected overhead and we couldn't see a darn thing. But, as my friend Alyssa says: "It makes for a good story." The view that we did have actually was pretty, and the place had some pretty cool rocks, but it was just kind of funny that we had walked for so long and it wasn't quite what we had expected.

On our way back we decided to put it all into perspective and cut the complaints-- Alyssa pointed out that many women have to make such a walk multiple times a day just to get water, and many of them do so on empty stomachs and with fear of being attacked along the way... like in the book of true stories, Half the Sky (shout out to CORE, Global Citizenship). We did have food in our stomachs, had zero fear of anyone in the town, and did not have to complete the trip again after we finished. I was reminded of Blessed José Sánchez del Río as I walked across the shells in my bare feet. José Luis was a 14 year old Mexican martyr. The bottoms of his feet were sliced off and he was forced to walk in those conditions to his grave because he would not denounce the Lord. He could have been saved and set free if he rejected Christ, but instead he continually shouted "Viva Cristo Rey!" I had NOTHING to complain about.

We wrapped up the day with a pleasant dinner at Lo De Dani--we ended up talking politics with Dani himself--and with great conversation with my friends back at the hostel that lasted for hours. As the conversation faded, I faded into sleep with the sound of the ocean outside our window.

This week was a good reminder of: 1) God's presence always surrounding me 2) The peace and goodness that comes with living a simple life. Two things for me to keep in mind as I make my way into the future.

Ok-- this blog post got a little long. Lo siento. If you made it this far, thanks for stickin' with me. Now you can just enjoy some photos!