The last day of our Fulbright reunion in Uruguay we went to Gaucho ranch to spend the day relaxing and reveling in all that is amazing about Uruguay. When the bus pulled into the ranch, we were met by a man riding a horse carrying a large Uruguaian flag that rode us up to the main building. There we were greeted with men dressed as Gaucho's holding platters of wine and soft drinks to welcome us! Wow! Talk about being treated like royalty!
There were large pasture areas, fences, and wild animals. We could ride horses, play soccer, swim in a pool, go for carriage rides. It was an amazing place! 
Anyone for a horse back ride? Many of us jumped at the chance to ride horses through this wide-expanse of pastureland, including me! 
Here are some of the sheep they had at the ranch. One fulbrighter got in the pen and tried to herd the sheep in an effort to try to touch one. It was hilarious watching all the sheep continuously run away from him. They look so fuzzy!
There were also llamas! That were easier to touch and just as fuzzy!
The Gauchos performed some horse tricks with us that were kind of amazing and also a little unusual. The one guy in the red hat actually snuggled up to the horse, while the horse was on it's side almost like they were a couple spooning in bed! It was unusual to say the least!
Aside from eating more delicious food, including the best blood sausage (ok the only blood sausage), I've ever eaten, there were also hammocks to relax in, if playing on the ranch got a little tiring.
Uruguay is known for it's hot, tea-like drink, called matte (ma-tay). It looks like this (shown above) but the taste is a little bitter....
as you can see by my face after trying matte. But matte is served in this little wodden cup, you put the tea-like matte leaves right in there and add water. Then you drink it out of this metal little straw. Matte is supposed to bring people luck. So you pour the hot water in, and you are supposed to drink all the water up, and in Uruguaian culture, this means you have drunken the luck you will take with you in life. If you leave any matte left in the cup, it means you are leaving your luck for someone else. So despite my not liking matte too much, I tried to drink as much matte as possible to change my luck relating to my project in Brazil.
Ah yes, they also had these houses that were made by Gaucho's back in the day with mud. I think they lined an animal trough with sheep wool to sleep in at night. Anyway as a marine biologist is totally creeped me out to be in this structure, surrounded by dirt and earth, and far away from the ocean. 
The whole day was really picturesque. Great open landscapes, hammocks, wild animals, a soccer game and great food. It was a wonderful last memory of Uruguay before heading back to Brazil! Thanks Fulbright! Uruguay is my favorite!
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