Today is Sunday, the fourth day of our stay in Salto. It was another enriching cultural experience for us. Our wonderful host teachers picked us up once again from our hotel to embark on a trip to one of Uruguay’s renowned hot springs, known as the “Arapey Hot Springs.” The trip took over an hour, spanning scenic landscapes that brings travelers from Argentina and Brazil to enjoy this breathtaking location.
Upon our arrival, we walked around the area, encountering vibrant green parrots once more, as well as encountering natural hot spring pools. Following our exploration, the time came to immerse ourselves in these mineral rich hot pools. While many of us chose to swim, I was rather dangling my legs in the warm waters just to not miss out the healing properties of these natural wonders. The temperature hovered around 34 degrees, even though it was a refreshing day, I thought it would be a good idea to not swim on this day due to running the rest of my days being sick.
The water was surprisingly not that hot as well. I was expecting to be so hot but it was more than lukewarm. And also, all the pools that we have seen were man made pools not natural pools which I thought to be a little out of authenticity. The natural hot springs were there as a landscape and visitors were not allowed to get in.
There were different pools at the park where we explored each of them depending on how hot they were. Some of the pools were so open that it had so much wind and we were kind of passing those quickly.
After enjoying our time in hot spring pools, we ate our lunch at the park which I thought was very neat. We were the only ones at the restaurant at that time because many of the people were here camping and cooking their own meal. I saw lots of them even making Asado just right outside of their tents which reminded me of picnics back in Turkey where people usually BBQ at any public park on the weekend.
After lunch, we visited a five star hotel near to hot springs called Arapey Thermal Resort& Spa. Our host teachers told us that this hotel was so expensive that so many people couldn’t afford to come. They have never been there as well. A tour guide from the hotel showed us the hotel and the amenities they have. We also visited a church near the hotel which was phenomenal.
After the tour of the hotel, we went back to the city before 6 pm. The reason we went back early was because it was a special day for Uruguayans. There was a world final football (soccer) match under 20 against Italy. We wanted to experience the time of this special day in Uruguay. Our friend, Stephanie, who is also a Fulbrighter but came here in a different Fulbright program as an undergraduate, suggested we watch the game on the big screen at the Salto pier. The pier was just 10 minutes away from our hotel. We walked down to the pier and were ready to watch.
One thing I do all the time when I get to a new place is to try street foods. Here in Salto, you see peanuts coated with caramelized sugar everywhere on the street. So, I wanted to have one of those while watching the match. I bought one and went straight to the place where the screen was. There were a lot of people from young to old who were all enjoying the match, and supporting their country team with pride.
After the first half of the game, we decided to leave the place and have time for dinner. The score was zero to zero. There was no winner. After dinner, I went back to the hotel and was ready for sleep. Then, all of the sudden I heard screams. These were the screams of “goal” where the Uruguayan team shot a goal during the last minutes of the game. Shortly after, there were screams, horns, trumpets, and drums all over the city. I was still in my room, thinking that the party would be finished soon. On the contrary, they were just starting.
I called Stephanie if she wanted to join me to go to the store to find our Kosher meat and she said yes and was happy to join. The minute I stepped outside of my hotel door, I could not believe the scene. It was literally every single person in the city from age 1 to 100 (!) out on the street celebrating their team success. People with Uruguayan flags, shirts, hats, trumpets, drums were everywhere on the streets. Cars joined them on the streets as well with their horns and waving flags from their windows. I truly say that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, seeing how Uruguayans celebrate their football.
I was really impressed by how a country was united from young to old, men and women to celebrate on the streets. It was no joke. I believe everyone in Salto was out on the street. I was also impressed by the level of maturity during the celebration. One would think that there could be lots of people who could potentially create violence or some other things that could lead to public issues due to drinking or drugs. Not at all. It was a peaceful, joyful and fun city wide carnaval.
I stayed there until 10:30 pm with Stephanie to watch the celebration without going to the grocery store. We thought that we don’t want to miss out this opportunity. I then came back to the hotel and stayed about half an hour and decided to go back again to watch because the party was nowhere near to finish and there was no way for me to sleep in this loud noise. So, I went back to the street and stayed there until midnight. That was the limit to stay and went back to the hotel and slept like a rock. Even at night, they were still celebrating. I’m so glad that we had a chance to see this experience. It was a true learning experience to see Uruguayan culture in this authentic setting.
Expeditionary Learning 