As De La Soul once sang: three is the magic number. In this case, three weeks feels magical. As we reflected this afternoon on our experience of Uruguay before we depart tomorrow morning for Buenos Aires, "wanting to stay longer" became a recurring theme. While we could certainly dig ever deeper into this fascinating nation, it has been a gift to have three full weeks for this trip. Gail's thoughtful vision and skillful coordination combined nicely with a terrific, open, and fun group of students. Of course, as the students themselves pointed out, Uruguay offers warmth, even in winter, and an endlessly interesting study in contradictions. Honestly, these students are astonishing in their ability to approach the intellectual pulse of the region as well as inspiring in their optimism. Just today, we met with a Fulbright Fellow (Debbie Sharnak, see below) who complimented the students on their depth and breadth of knowledge. Three days ago, I received an email with similar praise for this group:
[excerpt from Diego's email] To me and I´m sure that for Vicky and Martin too, it was a phenomenal experience. It was amazing to find people like you. You are not only funny, friendly and kind people. You are also interesting people. It was a pleasure for us to find, at the other end of the continent that joins the two poles,people that we believe have a similar sensitivity to ours.
In many cases, this means we need to demolish several prejudices. On the other hand, this comaraderie gives us hope in the task of seeking a new meaning to the world.
Now, specially for the girls and boys. We are shocked by your intelligence and sensitivity. We were joking betwen us about, maybe, you are the future leaders of the United States. This would be great don´t you think? Seriously, you are incredible people. It was amazing to us to know you. Actually, I would have students like you. It would be a pleasure to find you again.
Tomorrow, the students will share some of their reflections on the trip, so stay tuned!
mid-way through our 2-hour wonderfully aimless walk in the city
Josh got this dog to do literal flips!
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Debbie Sharnak. For a great overview of the aims of noalabaja, please see her recent article in NACLA's publication: http://nacla.org/news/2014/7/8/conservatives-uruguay-want-put-more-youth-prison-civil-society-saying-no Mateo asking a question 
the group with Debbie in Fulbright office
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Carolina in the proderechos office
Josh trying to evade my camera-friendly ways
the girls found a tag offering support for noalabaja, the campaign to which proderechos is currently devoting considerable effort.
Carolina, Katie, Emma, and Josh bring it in as they face the idea of having to say goodbye to Uruguay
