Misadventures in Montevideo
By: Carmela Jenckes, Engineering ’28
GRIP: Entrepreneurship in Montevideo, Uruguay
Of the many stories I carry from my years in Spanish classes, one that has stayed with me and has proven to be surprisingly relevant during my time in Montevideo, was told by my sixth grade Spanish teacher. She had been living abroad in Spain and was recounting her day to her host family, describing a moment of embarrassment. Unfortunately, she added to her embarrassment by accidentally saying she was embarazada (pregnant), instead of avergonzada (embarrassed).
Armed with that cautionary tale and several similar ones from friends and a past experience abroad, I arrived in Uruguay naively assuming I’d be immune to the classic mixups. But not even a week into my internship, I realized just how wrong I was.
My first hint that language blunders were inevitable came when I tried to ask my host family about Candombe, the traditional style of drumming in Uruguay, and had an unfortunate misspeak– instead asking about something very different. Though I was briefly embarrassed, the mixup prompted one of my first moments of shared laughter with my hosts.
Now, I can pretty confidently navigate Montevideo’s bus system. Twice a week, I take the 151 bus to the end of the line to reach my internship office. On off-days, I explore the city using other bus lines, often heading to unfamiliar cafes or parks and finding my way home from there. I still rely on the trusty Moovit app to plan my routes, but even when my phone dies after a long day in the city center, I usually know at least one reliable route back.
However, my first experiences with the Montevideo bus system were rocky at best. I was late to my first meeting with my internship supervisor and program coordinator because I hadn’t realized my bus was going in the opposite direction. Another day, I spent over an hour pacing between bus stops trying to track down a bus that didn’t exist, thanks to Google Maps. Once, I even boarded a long-distance bus by mistake, taking it for only the remaining ten minutes of my commute to my office.
But the mixups didn’t stop with transportation. One day over lunch, I told my coworkers about our cohort’s weekend plans to visit the small coastal city of Piriápolis and hike Cerro Pan de Azúcar, one of Uruguay’s tallest hills. A coworker offered her opinion, and although I missed most of what she said due to a side conversation, I clearly caught: “but it’s not so bad, you guys are young!”
Regardless, the trip to the top had been well worth it, if not for the view of the farmlands and coast from the top, for the passing hikers we’d met and chatted with along the way.
That, along with the fact that the hike was listed as only an hour and a half long (and referred to as a hill?) convinced me it would be easy. Despite the fact that we were told we needed one liter of water each to proceed past the trailhead, I maintained my deluded view of the hike ahead. After buying our water and registering our names on a form, so that someone would know to look for us if we didn’t return, we set off. The first few steps were deceptively flat. Then came the real climb: steep, slippery rocks and overgrown brush that had me unsure where the path zigzagged next. By the time we reached the top, our liters of water had been well used, and we had reassured ourselves that we were “halfway there” far more often than once.
Every missed bus, misused word, and misjudged trail has shown me that some of the best adventures begin with a mistake, and that these mistakes are nearly unavoidable. It’s not always easy to speak up or try something new, especially when I’m at times unsure of the language, but I’ve realized that leaning into that discomfort is when I learn the most, and find the most memorable stories.
Read Related Blogs
Living Abroad: Adulting 101
GRIP: Nursing Research at Trinity College Dublin Being abroad has surprised me in many ways, but one of my main takeaways so far is the amount of growth that can…
From Observation to Action: My First Weeks of Learning and Care at Bwiam General Hospital
GRIP: Power Up Gambia The first two weeks of my internship have been an incredible journey, and I have learned so much in just the past few days. Between hands-on…
Founders, Food, and First Impressions
GRIP: KK FundTaipei, Taiwan When I first landed in Taiwan for my internship at the KK Fund, I had no idea what my day-to-day would look like. Venture capital was…