Not only is it the height of summer here, but the sun is simply stronger in Uruguay, closer as we are to the equator and, according to what I've heard, under an actual hole in the ozone layer—so more UV rays get through. I wear 60 SPF sunscreen and I've still gotten a little burnt each time I've been out; the students run around with no sunscreen to about 30 SPF, and after last week's trip to Punta del Este, there were MANY red faces and bodies (this week there are several leprous-looking, peeling body parts among us).
In contrast, the people here have such beautiful and beautifully-adapted-to-the-sun skin. There really IS something to that Latin Lover thing; there are so many physically lovely men and women—and the babies, oh my word, are gorgeous. But lest you think that everyone is similarly brown-colored, let me dissuade you of that thought. There are people as fair as I am (though I've seen nobody as freckled, lucky them), and there are people about as dark as Katie is (I would say that's maybe the majority), and there are people significantly darker. In general, beautiful brown eyes with long lashes prevail, and, as I've seen everywhere I've traveled outside the United States, people are much thinner than Americans. On the streets, I'm often the only one wearing sunglasses, because my blue eyes actually hurt outside here without them, especially during the middle of the day. Don't I wish my blue eyes weren’t?
