Congratulations to Emery Ellingson (Gustavus class of 2012) who has just began a new adventure working at La Obra, a community center in Montevideo, Uruguay. Emery is working through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Young Adults in Global Mission program. You can read more about Emery’s work and see photos at his blog, It’s All Relative.
Here’s a snapshot of Uruguay from Emery’s blog:
“Montevideo is a city of about 1.5 million people and is the capital city of the country. All in all Uruguay has a little over 3 million people and is tucked in between Argentina and Brazil. Both Argentina and Brazil tried to take Uruguay during the 19th century but those attempts failed, which is how Uruguay came to be. (This is definitely the Cliff Notes version of Uruguayan history here.) Like its neighbor Argentina, Uruguay experienced high levels of immigration from Spain and Italy, produces lots of beef and has a rich soccer tradition. In fact, the first World Cup was held in
Montevideo (photo courtesy Daniel Stonek)
Montevideo in 1930; it is the smallest nation to have ever won the World Cup. The soccer fan in me is pretty thrilled by this. If you want to find out more about the culture and history of Uruguay, I encourage you to continue checking my blog because over the course of this next year, I will be getting a crash course in everything Uruguayan.”
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