Episode 4 - An English Girl in Uruguay Part 2

Hey everyone ! Welcome to the British English Language Podcast ! This is a podcast designed to help intermediate level English language students improve their comprehension of British English by listening to varied and interesting topics discussed by me, Amy, a native British girl from England.

Just to remind you that the transcriptions for each episode can be found on my website - www.britishenglishlanguage.com - and they’re available for you to download or print for free. It will be helpful to listen to each episode a second time, whilst following the transcription, so that you can recognise new vocabulary, becoming familiar with the pronunciation as well as how it’s written.

If you haven’t already listened to the previous episode then I recommend you pause this one and listen to that episode first. I know that I left you on a cliff hanger (a cliff hanger being a popular phrase we use when we are left in suspense) so let’s get started with part 2 of An English Girl in Uruguay !

Episode 4 - An English Girl in Uruguay Part 2

So, where was I ? Ahh yes, it was November 2016, my boyfriend, Augusto, and I had begun work on our land and Björk had just come into the story ! But who's Björk ?! Björk was a 4-month-old, small back and white puppy when she came into my life that spring in Uruguay. She’s such a special little dog and, as I mentioned in part one of this story, she would soon play a very important role in my life helping me when I needed it most.

However, it wasn’t just Björk who joined us on our Uruguayan adventure ! By the end of 2016 we had eleven chickens who enjoyed sharing our outdoor way of life and the benefits of living surrounded by nature. One little chicken, in particular, caught my attention. She was only a few days old when I realised she was different from her brothers and sisters. She had a deformity on her head and she was slower than her siblings and seemed to get left behind. Being young too, Björk loved to play with this little chicken and, after rescuing her from these terrifying experiences, the little chicken decided that I was her mum. She followed me everywhere. She refused to sleep with the rest of the chickens and instead felt safer sleeping in my room with me ! I adored this little chicken and, feeling such a close bond (connection) to her, as well as observing her behaviour and obvious intelligence, gave me a deeper appreciation for this wonderful animal.

To live so close to nature, amongst wildlife and domesticated animals, living under the stars and existing in harmony with the rhythms of the natural world, whilst building deep connections with other animals was so precious to me. I think that, above all, this was my favourite experience of my life in Uruguay.

But life for me in Uruguay was not easy. Living on the other side of the world from my friends and family, was very lonely. Adapting to a new life on another continent, within another culture, speaking a foreign language was too challenging for me at that time. Although I was living the dream I’d been visualising for the previous two years, I was living an emotional and mental nightmare. I remember one day watching dolphins in the sea and thinking to myself - ‘wow, I have everything I wanted. I have the land I’d dreamed of, a boyfriend, I live in paradise and I’m watching my favourite animal in the ocean on a glorious and sunny day, but I feel totally miserable’.

This experience really taught me that it doesn’t matter what is going on in your life, it’s what’s going on inside you that’s important.

Very sadly, I had lost my mother only three months before arriving in Uruguay in 2016. I hadn’t understood the impact it would have on me and how hard it would be for me to survive this new life after such a difficult experience. Looking back, although I don’t regret going to Uruguay when I did, I see that I didn’t stand a chance in being happy, wherever I was, at that point in my life, and being away from the support network of familiar people only made things harder.

Every time I’ve made a long distance trip, the experiences are always the richest of my life. On these journeys I have the most amazing experiences of my life, as well as the most painful. And these experiences bring the most transformation to my life.

Going back to the story, the project on the land continued. At the beginning we were living a very primitive, a basic way of life which gradually became a comfortable and humble life. We installed solar electricity, a running water system, and enjoyed a harvest of vegetables and herbs, it was our own little sustainable sanctuary. Considering we had access to only very basic tools, and a lot of what we built was made from recycled materials, we achieved so much. Like I mentioned in part one of this story, I learned a lot about myself during my short time living in Uruguay. Like the caterpillar in the cocoon, the chrysalis phase, my identity was reduced to nothing and space was made for a new Self to materialise (be created).

I decided to leave Uruguay in May 2018 to begin a healing process, building up the strength that I had lost when my had mother died. So sadly my life in Uruguay came to an end. The land now belongs to (is owned by) a mother and a daughter from Uruguay and I hope so much that one day I will have the opportunity to visit again. To this day Uruguay has a very special place in my heart and I will always feel a strong connection and remember how much I loved the magical energy there.

I will always be proud of myself for following my dream of living in Uruguay, no matter how challenging life was for me there. I continue to follow my desires and dreams and I wish the same for everybody listening too. I hope that you find yourselves on the path of following your dreams, even during challenging times that we’re facing today.

I wonder what have been the most transformative experiences you have had in your lives ? And what kept you going during difficult times ? What dreams or desires do you hope to achieve ? I would love so much to hear from you so please send me a message via the contact form on my website - www.britishenglishlanguage.com. And, I have a little bonus for you ! If you click on the link to my YouTube channel you can watch the video I made about my life in Uruguay, it’s called ‘Alternative Living in South America’.

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of The British English Language Podcast ! I hope you enjoyed listening and I look forward to seeing you next time !