If there’s one thing I learned during my jam-packed first week in Uruguay, it’s the value of being humble when working in a foreign country.

I like to have everything under control. But when I arrived in Montevideo two weeks ago, struggling to recall the Spanish terms for airport security, I wasn’t in control. When I impatiently boarded the 522 bus to Pocitos instead of the 149 because I didn’t trust Google Maps, I wasn’t in control. And when I was getting lunch from a corner store on Calle Colonia and I anxiously (and accidentally) ordered a well-done steak, I definitely wasn’t in control.