Hello everyone! It’s 2 weeks in Uruguay now! This last week has been rough but things have been getting better the last few days. My mood kind of crashed last week and I got really homesick, so I didn’t do much until yesterday. Yesterday I went on a 3 hour walk and took some new photos! After that, Astrid and I went to get dinner at a very nice bar. Since my AirBNB REALLY sucks (check out the article I wrote,) I am moving to a new AirBNB this Friday. I went to check out the location of the new AirBNB today and it is a block from the headquarters of Universidad De La República Uruguay (UDELAR,) the largest university in the country. (For My MN friends, imagine being right in the middle of the U of M campus.) I’m moving from Barrio Palermo to Barrio Pocitos, which is only a few blocks, but a HUGE difference. There is so much more energy near the university, even though there are no classes right now due to summer break. I think Pocitos is where I’m meant to be.
I’m seriously considering going back to school to finish up my degree, especially since I’m going to be RIGHT next to the university. I’m stopping by the admissions office tomorrow to ask how to transfer there. I’m going to need to dive deep into Spanish more than I’ve been doing already. I hope I can go back to doing research. Fortunately, UDELAR is a research school, so maybe I’ll get to achieve my dream of doing musicology research. Shoutout to my former professor and dear friend, Dr. Sarah Schmalenberger, for inspiring me to study musicology and research back when I was at UST.
One of the hardest things about this move is the lack of a trans community here. I LOVED being in MSP because there was such a strong and close knit community here that doesn’t exist here. I really really want to go back and visit soon. I don’t know where my life is going to take me but I foresee myself going back to the states, either to visit or to stay for a few months soon. I don’t know if I can stay in any one place for more than 9 months at this point. There’s so much I want to do and see. While I miss home, I’m scared of going back due to the political situation there. I fear that the two paths that lie ahead are either to go back to school and pursue my academic passions, or go home and get back into community organization and activism. One thing is certain tho: I cannot afford to stagnate. I am going to improve myself physically and mentally. There is no other option. It scares me.
Stay strong,
-Pico Pastelle
