We Arrived in Uruguay!!

Finally we boarded the airplane to Montevideo, Uruguay. There was a 2-hour delay before departure….knowing what we now know….it was probably ‘Uruguay Time’…in all good humor of course. We had an overnite flight and managed to sleep pretty good…thanks to Phoebe’s suggestions…and the comfy ‘blankies’ Deb had brought. The only trouble was getting my head comfortable…

As we taxied in the Montevideo airport, it became apparent that we would be disembarking onto the tarmac, i.e. no arrival gate…. I truly felt that I was back in Sydney, Nova Scotia…the only other place where I had ever done so…a very positive ‘déjà vu’!

Our new best friends, Carlos & Gabriela, met us at the arrival gate…and they indeed have been the best thing that happened to us in Uruguay. They had brought our new car...

Carlos and Gabriela are the ones that introduced us to ‘Uruguay time’. They are both born and raised in Uruguay. They also spent 6 years in London, England, before having their children….young kids, entrepreneurs, very busy… They are both fluent in Spanish and English (…altho’ Gabriela might argue…but it sure sounds fluent to us…); which has helped us immensely! We were introduced on-line thru their business, ‘FebMik Rent A Car’, …and Bruce thought Gabriela was a guy….because he was communicating with both Carlos and Gabriela without knowing so… Bruce liked their sense of humor very much and had already become fast friends. Initially we rented a car from them, that we ended up buying prior to arrival…Carlos is a very good salesman too!

We have spent quite a bit of time with them since arrival…even though we live over 3 hours away. Benito has slept at their house a couple of times…and hung out at their shop while Dad & Mum did errands….usually with our personal translator, Carlos. They treated us to our first ‘Uruguayan Assado’. Carlos helped us open a bank account; retrieve ‘forgotten’ luggage at the airport; and many other things….in record time. Some of the other things we’ve heard them say quite often is ‘welcome to Uruguay’; ‘don’t forget you’re on Uruguay time’; ‘things are done differently in Uruguay’; and ‘everything is SLOw and nothing is easy here’…and we’ve discovered it’s all very true! Thank you very much Carlos & Gabriela. We will always treasure your kindness & hospitality. You are a testament to all the nice people in Uruguay!

AND THE REST OF THE STORY GOES….

WE ARRIVED….

WE SAW….

WE SHOPPED…

DEB UNPACKED….

DEB IS REPACKING…

AND WE’RE COMING HOME!

Uruguay is a beautiful country. It is the slow pace we expected and we were looking forward to. Brian & Karina’s house is gorgeous and we are grateful they offered it to us. It was really nice having some time with them before they returned to Vancouver. 

La Pedrera is a beautiful small town. The Atlantic Ocean is GLORIOUS and it is very beautiful here. On our few overnites in Montevideo (about 3-hours away), everyone we spoke with is very envious of us living in La Pedrera. They would all like to visit your place Brian & Karina….I’m just not sure that most of them can afford the rent!

The Atlantic ocean beach on the other side of town...

Downtown La Pedrera...

The local hardware store...

The SHORT walk to the beach on our side of town (10 minutes as opposed to 20 minute walk to the other side of town)....NOT a big town!

The local artisan, who lives in this bus, that made Brian & Karina's new sign for their home...

LA PALOMA, next door to La Pedrera, is also a popular tourist town on the ocean. We visited quite a lot…. to the Internet Café; our new bank; and a few restaurants…mainly for internet services! Like La Pedrera, La Paloma, is NOT cheap; and most interesting, there are dogs (bigger than Ben/Benito dogs) running free EVERYWHERE. If you pet one, it follows you around until you get in the car or go home…yes, the dogs in La Pedrera, often followed Brian & Karina home from the beach! The good news is that they are all very friendly, clean and cared for dogs.

The capital city, MONTEVIDEO, is where all the action is…including Carlos, Gabriela and Fedmik Rent A Car. In fairness, it is clear that there is a LOT of action in both La Pedrera and La Paloma during their tourist season. It should start just about the time we leave?!! Tourist season it appears starts in earnest after Christmas and runs thru the end of March/April. In Montevideo, unlike La Predera and La Paloma, there are shopping malls, the airport and the only English-speaking meeting in the country! The drive to and from Montevideo is beautiful. As you’ll see below, it is mostly cattle country; and every once in a while, you’ll see the lone horse tethered to a tree in the middle of nowhere; sometimes close to homes; sometimes not?

OOPS...forgot the city pictures...much like all the others...BIG AND BUSY!!

On every road, everywhere we have been there are scooters/motorbikes….quite reminds me of Malaysia. In  Uruguay, most of the bikes we have seen are driven by women; or husband, wife & kids; all sorts of configurations on the scooters, and bicycles. The common denominator in the country is that mostly they wear flip flops only…a very interesting phenomenon…lots of people waiting for buses everywhere too….

And the ‘piece de resistance’, or as it is also known, The ‘Riviera / Monte Carlo’ of South America, is PUNTA DEL ESTE; about halfway between Montevideo and La Pedrera. IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Although we were there twice, we did not get enough pictures to do it justice….

In summary, of our ‘VISIT’ to Uruguay….

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.

THE WEATHER IS IDEAL; warm during the day, cool at nite; seems like very little humidity.

THE PEOPLE ARE FRIENDLY, KIND & CARING, LAID BACK AND HAPPY.

IT IS QUIET IN THE COUNTRY AND BUSY IN THE CITY.

MOST PEOPLE SPEAK SPANISH ONLY…at least in our limited experience…

IT IS MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN WE EXPECTED...shame on you International Living!
NOT MUCH IS OPEN BEFORE 11AM; and most places stay open way after we go to bed.
LUNCH STARTS ABOUT 1-2PM AND RESTAURANTS ARE OPEN FOR DINNER AT 8:30PM. We only went out for dinner once...with Brian & Karina on their last nite.

Our favourite picture is below. We ordered Direct TV at Brian’s place… We were given the installer’s number to call him. On Sunday, Bruce & I returned from Montevideo. A neighbour introduced himself in English! It was very exciting….Bruce took full advantage and asked him to call the installer, figuring he probably didn’t speak English; which he didn’t. Next thing we know the installer will be coming in half an hour. Of course, in Uruguay, that was about 2 hours later. No problem. Everyone here works every day; nite and day (although the day starts a bit later than we're used to). There were 2 guys and they arrived on their bike, with a 6 foot ladder! Somehow thru charade gestures, a poco espanol, and our electronic English-Spanish dictionary, Debra managed to communicate so that the guys could install the satellite, set up the Direct TV, get the information they needed to register us and explain to Debra how it worked. Of course all instruction manuals are Spanish only. Bruce was quite impressed with Debra this day…and in fact has been very impressed with his darling wife the whole time…! Here are our installers as they were leaving after ‘completing the job’.

And a word to the wise…

If you’re ever planning to move from your country, it’s probably best to visit first and make sure that it will work for you. Unfortunately Uruguay didn’t work for us…and that is nothing against Uruguay!! As importantly, Bruce suggests that if you are over 70, act your age and recognize any drastic change is probably not a good idea!

We will return to Anna Maria Island on Tuesday, December 31. Ralph & Darlene are letting us use their place in Sandpiper thru whatever day in April the United States lets us stay {thank you, thank you, thank you!). We will NOT be selling our Sandpiper home. The house in Wasaga Beach is still on the market and will hopefully sell in the Spring. We will be living in Richmond Hill with my mum, Margaret Taylor, whenever we are not in Florida – thank you Mum!

The bottom line is that Bruce will probably never live it down (be gentle friends…remember he’s one of those over 70!) and Debra can pretty well do whatever she wants, and spend whatever she wants, for the rest of their lives!!

A final word from Bruce….Hasta La Vista Baby! (Uruguay…)!