Feliz Navidad

Happy Holidays to all of our friends and families back in the US.   Many of you may be wondering if Christmas is celebrated here.  And, yes, of course it is.  All the retail stores are decorated and Christmas music is playing and Christrmas movies are on TV so it is pretty much the same.  People just seem to be more laid back about presents, and all that stuff.  I think the focus is more on family.   Don't get me wrong, the kids are expecting gifts under the tree on Chrismas morning but I don't think it is quite the spectacle that we are accustomed to in the US.  On Christmas Eve, there will be fireworks on the beach.  That is one custom that is different.  We will head down to the beach around midnight and then back home to open a gift or two and have some champagne.   Our celebration will begin when the girls arrive on December 27th.

Last night we attended an ExPat holiday party.   It was a potluck for about 70 people.  Very nice.  We even had someone singing Christmas carols at the end.  We attended with two other couples that we know that have moved here from the US, BA and Crotia and Austria and London.   It is so fun to meet people from all over the world.  We met some folks that actually live in our neighborhood so that was nice, too!

Our house continues to be a project.   We are working on our pool right now.  Uruguay has alot of rules and regulations so you have to be careful.  We have had an architect out to survey everything to make sure we aren't on anyones property, etc.   So far, so good!  We hope to have the pool completed in a couple of months but things do move SLOWLY around here.  We are trying to learn about all the trees and plants that are indigenous to this area.  It is alot to learn so we have been taking our time.   Right now we have only a couple of puny fir trees in the front yard and no sod at all.  Can't do anything until the pool is in.   I just hope we don't get alot of rain in the meantime.   It is very messy and tracked into the house by Ollie and Hal.

We had our second dinner party a few weeks ago for our friends, Phil and Graciela.  They enjoyed our cooking so much they suggested we open a restaurant.  Mark is getting really good on the prilla and has been studying the different cuts of meat.  Lomo is filet mignon and we fixed that along with several good appetizers and sides.  We have discovered a wonderful butcher shop right in our neighborhood.  They people there are great, friendly and they trim all your meat up and give you the scraps for your dogs.  The prices are unbelievably cheap for what you get.  We buy beef, bacon, pork, chicken and eggs there!  Everything is extremely fresh and tastes delicious!  We have figured out what is a ribeye and a strip so we are happy now but need to experience the Uruguayan cuts, also.  Needless to say the BEEF is GREAT!

We have been going down to the harbor in Punta in the morning to buy fresh fish.   The fish here is really good,too, particularly the Bortola.  It is a very mild but meaty white fish, similar to grouper.  I have cooked it everyway possible and always love it.  They also have chiparones, octopus, squid and other types of fish.   Unfortunately, they do not have lobster or crab legs!!!  They do get seabass in the restaurants but it is not local.  It is fun to go to the harbor and watch them filet the fish.  They throw it out to the sea lions and seagulls so everything is recylced.

We are enjoying many of the fine restaurants and shops in Maldonado, which is the colonial town near Punta del Este.  They actually have some great restaurants there. Maldonado is actually closer to our house and is where the locals shop, etc.   Punta is a resort town and so most of the shops are very upscale and expensive.   I like to shop in Maldonado because I think I can find a bargain now and then.  The downtown is very busy unlike most downtowns in the US.  We actually spend more time there than Punta.  (I think it has something to do with being on a fixed income!)  The rainbow in the picture was a bonus from our night out in Maldonado.

Going out today to shop for some artwork for our house--wish us luck! 

Making Friends and Living the Life

ALL PICTURES ARE AT THE BOTTOM SO SCROLL DOWN AS YOU GO!

We have made many new friends in a very short period of time in this country!  Right after we arrived here, we were at the mall attempting to purchase cell phones and this nice lady, Rosamee, ask if she could help.  Little did we know that Rosamee would become our most knowledgeable friend and confidante, my "go to" person.  This woman is extremely smart and knows the ways of Uruguay like no other.   She has helped from getting phones to buying a home.  She is an excellent resource for "help" of all kinds.  She even helped us get our healthcare. She knows everyone and is always happy to help us get special discounts, etc.  Rosamee wants to start her own business in helping people move to this country.  We think she is on the right track and should do so immediately.  We would certainly recommend her.  She and her family were our first dinner guests.  Mark cooked on the prilla and everyone enjoyed a great afternoon. 

We have met most of our neighbors.  They are all great and most speak some or alot of English so we are very happy that it is easy to communicate.  (We are working on our Spanish, SLOWLY!)  We've also met alot people that have done work for us.  Here is a pic of Andria and Carolina who do curtains.  Carolina is expecting her second child so we suggested a baby shower and Andria organized it immediately.  We look forward to meeting many more friends!

The architecture around here is so different.  When you walk down the block, you never see a home that looks like another.  That is what makes it so interesting.  You will see thatched roofs, modern flat roofs, spanish tiled roofs, small homes, big homes, all in the same neighborhood.   We intend to do a blog specifically on architecture soon.  But here a couple of pictures of homes.  The first one belongs to our neighbors mentioned above.  The other is one in the 'hood that I like.  Mark found something he and Ollie liked, too!

Saturday we started out to take a country drive and ended up at the first annual Punta del Este Food and Wine Festival!  It has been taking place every weekend in November and the last one was held in Garzon.  If any of you watch Anthony Bourdaine on the travel channel, you will remember his special on Uruguay.   He visited Garzon and Francis Mallman at his hotel there.  Francis is a famous chef and has a cookbook entitled "Seven Fires - grilling the Argentine Way".  He organized this part of the festival and was in attendance yesterday.  The food is faboulous, all cooked with fire.  The veggies are cooked in the ground.  And the wine is also awesome.  There are many vineyards in Uruguay and you can visit them by appointment only for tasting/tours, etc.  The country drive was awesome, too!  We saw birds, owls, reptiles, armadillo's and lizards, cows and sheep.   We actually got lost but found our way back to town after about an hour and 1/2, just in time for the festival.  I leave you with pics of the day!

Andria & Carolina

One of my favorite homes in neighborhood.

Our newest friends, Ed and Susanna's new home.

Mark's favorite thingin the neighborhood--basketball hoop!

Cooking the pork with fire at festival.



One of the many sights on our country drive.



Get ready, Fat Pat, for the Sunday drives!

Young ladies handing our wine glasses--reminds me of the Wine Spectacular in Huntersville, NC.

Maybe Huntersville should do an outdoor festival. 



Cooking the beef--mmm delicious!



Cooking the squash, beets in the ground--very tasty!

Must have!

On the way home!

Happy Holidays to everyone! 

Settling In to Chalet "Suits Us"

Been without internet access for a few weeks while settling to our new home.  In Uruguay, everyone names their home.  We named our home "Suits Us" after our old home in Danville, IL.  It was on Lake Vermilion and the sign over the door said "Suits Us".   We loved the saying and still do.   Our sign is made of old ship wood and huge old nails.   Pretty cool!   A carpenter in town helped us with it.  Although I think the "S" looks like an "L", so some English people might think it reads "Luits Us".   Not sure what that means in Spanish but it doesn't sound good!  Oh well, it is up and staying as is.

The house is new so there is plenty of work still to be done, especially landscaping.  We hope to put in a swimming pool and hot tub.  Not sure if it will happen this summer or next.  Everyone is busier this time of year and the price of work goes up so unless we can negotiate really well, it may have to wait until next year.  This is a picture of our living room.  We have a beautiful big window with pretty view and of course a fireplace.  It is very comfy and cozy!

Other than being busy with the house, we had our first houseguest last week.  John Ausura, from Mooresville, NC visited us for a few days before heading over to Buenos Airies for a conference.   We took him to Los Combres, a 5 star hotel with a stunning view of the ocean and a huge lake.  We also went to the Estancia Vic, mentioned in my last blog.  We visited the city of Piriapolis.  We drove up to the top of the hill where there is a statue of a saint.  If you bring a flower up and pray, you are supposed to be able to find a boyfriend right away.   John commented that there were an awful lot of good looking women up there!  And the view of the ocean was pretty nice, too.  Ate out alot and had many drinks on our patio.   John was pleasantly surprised at the area, likening it to an upscale Portugal or Cannes, France.  It is always quite a surprise when people really delve into this area.   They normally have no idea how nice it is!

We also visited the Conrad Hotel on the eve of Halloween.  They had some awesome decorations and were having their regular Friday and Sat evening style show.   We always enjoy stopping to have a glass of wine and watching the models show off the latest Latin American styles.  Great way to while away a couple of hours with just a little cost.   Much better than sitting in the casino.   I can manage to lose $50.00 bucks in no time flat on the slot machines!  I think I'd rather drink than gamble!

Last Sunday morning we went to the market in Maldonado (sort of like a flea market) but with produce.   It was great.  It reminded me of the Metrolina in Charlotte--without the antiques.  Lots of food, drinks, booths, clothes, crafts, jewelry and JUNK!  We managed to get out of there without any junk for once!   We are trying to be a bit more discerning in decorating our new home.   We did buy an Art Deco bar in an old antique store in Montivideo.  Just could NOT resist.  After a little elbow grease and a few replacement parts, we are looking forward to our first cocktail party.

Booked our girls tickets on the internet yesterday.   Brittany, Bailey and their two best friends will be coming in on December 26th and staying for 10-14 days.  Paid way too much for the tickets!  Oh well, can't wait to see them.  They are going to have a blast during the high season.  We look forward to showing them around Punta, Montivideo and Buenos Airies. 

Hope all is well with everyone.   Keep in touch and come to visit SOON!   Just be sure to book tickets way in advance of high season or be prepared to PAY UP!

Website Corrections

In my overzealousness to introduce everyone to the greatest beach bar in the world, I gave an incorrect website address.  The correct one is:   http://www.parador.lahuella.com/.  Brittany brought it to my attention that I had given a website address for a dog food company.   Oh well, sort of goes along with the blog but in no way indicates the rating of the food at LaHuella.  It is 5 star all the way!

The other website I meant to give everyone is for the EstanciaVic, a faboulous resort near Jose Ignacio.   It is:  http://www.estanciavik.com/.

Sorry for the error and enjoy the websites!

Just Like Candy

OK, I am going to be the first admit that is a wierd title but everything I taste here evokes that statement.  And it isn't just the food, it is the culture, everything.   It is everything that you love but feel like you shouldn't have.   Oh boy,  am I in heaven here or what????

Let me first start with the panaderia, or in English, bakery.   Think of Arnhold's bakery in Danville to the 10th degree.  Everything is to die for.  We stopped by the bakery and Mark bought two of everything.  We have been feasting on it along with some vino on our deck daily.   One reason why we aren't getting around to the museums, etc. like we hoped.   The other reason is that we are seriously focused on our home purchase and hope to be in within the next week or so.

Just like candy--AGAIN.  This has to do with DOGS.  They are everywhere.  And if you know us at all, you know that we LOVE dogs.  So here we are in this country where dogs roam around free and they actually have a life of their own.   Do NOT tell Ollie and Hal this as they are still couped up in our small one bedroom apartment.  Although, they do have access to the deck which we have rightly named "Olliehood".   Oliver controls this corner of the world.   His bark actually echoes throught the streets!  (It is still quiet here but next week is Spring Break, so watch out Punta, here they come.)  We have come across some of the greatest dogs in the world here, second only to our own!

We have continued to meet so many wonderful people, too!  Last night we went to our favorite spot for music and food, the El Viejo Almacen.   A great jazz band was playing.  This is the third time we have gone there and lo and behold, we ran into people we knew.  That was great.  These folks were from the Ex Pat group that we attended so they are all from the US--transplants like us.  They love it here and have been here longer than us so they have valuable info to share.   But the thing we liked was that they were at our favorite place.  So far, we have an intuituion for great places to hang out.  We have also been very lucky with our food choices, but that is not very diffiucult as most places are GREAT!

Last Sunday, we visited our favorite beach bar in Uruguay.  It has also been voted the BEST BEACH BAR IN THE WORLD by Conde Nast or Travel and Leisure, not sure!  Visit their website at:   http://www.lahuella.com.uy/.   Faboulously wonderful place, laid back, on the beach, horseback riding, great food and drinks.  Do yourself a favor, come and go here or at least check out the website!!

On our way back, we stopped at a resort called Estancia Vik, thanks for our friend, Phil.  He called ahead and we were able to visit.  There are no words to exprees the awe at this estancia/resort. For those who cost is of no concern, consider booking it Danno!!  No place like it in the US--I personally promise you that.  It is nature and comfort at it's very finest.  We were treated to a tour of the place--8 out of the 12 rooms and the rest of the place which includes 3000 acres of the most beautiful countryside one has ever seen.  They have polo games there, too!  The cost of a room, the minimum, by the way is over $1000/night.  I truly believe it is worth it.  There is, of course, horseback riding, bicycling, etc.  My personal favorite were the huge rocks, geoge's in the main pallor.  Utterly breathtaking....   I didn't take any pictures there so you will have to check out the website to see what I am talking about but believe me, it was truly a once in a lifetime scernery!

OK, back down to earth.  We are busy decorating our own abode.  We love it.  Things are falling into place as if God has a plan for us.  We really believe this is where we were meant to be!  The people that we have met that are helping us with our house have been unbelievable.  We plan on having a big party as soon as we get in.  We will be celebrating our move as well as the good vibes we have felt since moving here.    Nothing, absolutely, nothing has dissappointed us thus far other than a couple of mistakes that we have personally made!!  Life is good, God is good and we are happy

And, last but not least, I promised Charles Olson, a picture of the beach.  I threw in a little extra enticement for you and Antoinette to come and visit.  (She may not enjoy the pic as much as you.)



Get out your magnifying glass!



The Uruguay Way



Hillside dotted with wildflowers leading
the way to the beach.



On my last blog, I said we were going to the museum and arboretum. Sorry to say we haven't been yet. I think we are already getting lazy....sunny Sunday afternoons on the patio have a way of slowing us down. We will get there soon as we are awaiting our first guest on November 1st and we are busy planning the agenda. Most of our days continue to be spent on getting into our home. It is almost finished but still needs alot of work, like cleaning, etc. I am hiring a cleaning lady to do a deep clean. She works for $6.00/hr on the deep clean and then I can hire her for regular work at $4.00-$5.00/hr. I almost feel guilty about it! Will post a pic of the house soon.

One thing I find particularly frightening here is DRIVING!! I have to admit that I just drove by MYSELF for the first time yesterday. I had to go to the Dr, which was interesting since I don't speak Spanish. Mark has done all the driving so far and it is tough to get used to the new way.... First, no one stops at the stop sign, mainly because there are cars parked all over the sides of the streets so they stop halfway into the intersection, look, and then go. I get so nervous that they aren't going to stop at all but then that is silly because they don't want to get hurt either. Then there are all the motorcycles. Most people drive them because gas is expensive here so you see young men and women, children on the back, as well as older folks on motorcycles everywhere. The only problem is they just do whatever they want. They pass on the left or right, you have to be looking for them everywhere. Talk about defensive driving.... And then there are the bicycles. Those are all over also. Also, during the low season in Punta, they turn off the stop lights. An interesting concept. It is great because you don't have to stop every block at a stop light but you have to realize that the car to the left or right of you doesn't have to stop either so you have to be looking out for cars all the time. And lastly, there are round abouts EVERYWHERE and those a sort of confusing, too. One good thing is that it is easy to get around here. We are on a peninsula and close to the tip you can look to the right and look to the left and see the ocean. That is pretty cool. It reminds me of Torrence Chapel Road and Lake Norman.

Banking continues to entertain me. My account here does not give me a credit card or checks so I need cash for all transactions. I am constantly in the bank withdrawing funds. When you come in, you have to take a number and then have a seat and wait, on average, an hour. Your number shows up on a lighted board and instructs you to go to a certain window-sort of like at Marshall's retail store. The other day, I went in and took my number. The sign showed 037 and my ticket was 830. I figured I had to wait until number 83 showed up on the board. So I went home and came back. At that point it was 75, not too far away. At 83 I walked up to the window and the clerk got all flustered and told me no,no.no. I am like???? Someone in broken English told me that my number was eight hundred and thirty and that we were at 783. So another 1/2 hour wait till 830. They need to add another number to the board! Basically, I had to wait for 100 transactions to go by before I got to do mine!!! And, if you are not there when your number is called, you take a new number and start all over again. So, I learned, bring a book and work on my Spanish. Life is slow here and that is the way Uruguay likes it.

Stumbled to a great place to get my haircut by an Aussie/Uruguayan couple. Great because the Aussie speaks English. Cost all of $15.00 for a shampoo, cut and blowdry. I was all set to let my hair get very long but at that price, I decided a stylish cut might look better. Mark has decided to try to let his grow. I am not into the ponytail look so I will probably encourage him to find a barber!

Posting a couple pictures from a walk around town last weekend. It is still pretty quiet here so many of the restaurants are closed but it is slowly showing signs of life, much like Spring!



Pretty fencing and potted plants

They love their bulls here!



Where Western Montana Meets St. Tropez

Ola,

The title accurately describes the country.  The countryside is absolutely gorgeous and rural with goucho's riding horses, buggies, cattle, sheep and estancia's everywhere.   Uruguayans also grows olives and grapes so occasionally you will see a beautiful hillside with vineyards or olive trees. 

Punta del Este, on the other hand, is the St. Tropez of South America.  It is flush with casinos, shopping, restaurants, and in high season, a couple hundred thousand sunbathers and vacationers.  We have yet to be here for this time of year and I hear we are in for a royal treat.   Just don't try to get anywhere in a hurry, though, because the roads are jam packed. I think we will walk everywhere we go.  That will be alot easier.

As you can see from the picture, they DO celebrate Halloween, much to my delight.   I thought we might have to give up our traditional Halloween party when we moved here but looks like we will be able to resume---once we have enough friends to have a party! 

The other picture is the famous Hand in the Sand.   There is alot of unique art around the beach but this is by far the most visited and photographed.   Punta is very busy right now readying themselves for the onslaught of people.   The construction around here is everywhere--fixing the roads, sidewalks, painting the buildings and high rises.   It is absolutely the cleanest city I have ever been in.   People love to sweep around here!  It is also a very safe city.   I can take the dogs out for a walk day or night and never worry about someone attacking me.   People are so friendly here.   They are very helpful and many more speak English than I would have imagined.  We have been slowly practicing on our Spanish but hand gestures and talking very slowly seems to be working well at present.

The food is here is good.  Pizza is delicious, the piralla--all kinds of barbequed meat, is great, the fresh fish is so healthy and tasty and then there is the Chevito!  This is a couple of meals in between a hamburger bun!  It actually has a thin steak, ham, fried egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and I almost forgot, bacon, on this sandwich.  You really have to know how to order an old fashioned hamburger or you will get the Chevito or some version of it everytime.  I think we now have it under control along with a few extra pounds!

Today we went to a carpenter to have him make a sign for our casa.  In Uruguay, you name your home.   We were trying to find the place and a nice young man walked up and ask if he could help.   I don't think he took us to the place we were looking for but that worked out just fine.  We are going to make our sign out of old boat wood and the name will be, "Suits Us".  It has some significance as we had an old home on a lake years ago that had that over the door.  And we feel the same about this home so.... Suits Us is it!

This weekend we are going to the visit the museum and arboretum.   Will follow up with that info on next blog!   Have a wonderful weekend.   Mark and Janet

Great Evening Out



Great night out!  Great bar, great band and great food!

Friday night we went to a local bar to see a friend of ours, Ignacio.  His brother, Santiago, owns the bar and restaurant and he told us there would be a good band playing.  We arrived early in order to get a seat in this small establishment.   Of course, there was no one there at 9:00pm.   That is like showing up at 5:00pm for a dinner here in the US.  But we did accomplish our goal of getting a seat right in front.  It was the only table that was not reserved!

Ignacio is a local realtor.  A young man from a very nice family.  We met everyone on Friday night.  His brother is the owner of the bar, his Dad is the cook and his sister and sister in law are greeters and servers.  We ordered the special drink, which we had no idea what it was.  Soon after, a fruity strawberry daquiri arrived with cute little straws.  Mark felt a little "girly" so he gave it to me and ordered a beer.  The beer was about three times the normal size.   And I though Japanese beers were big!

Later we ordered a pizza and it was one of the best we've had in awhile.   (We never did figure out where to get good pizza in NC!)  The band played from 11:00 - 1:00pm.  Mark and I were jamming all night.  He declared it was the best night he has had here so far and one of the best bands he has ever heard!  We are going there again tonite for jazz.

At the end of the evening we went to the front desk to pay our tab and were told that it was taken care of.  Our young friend, Ignacio, had paid for us.  That was a very nice gesture from a 25 year old young man--very classy.  Needless to say we had a wonderful evening.

We are continuing to cautiously proceed on our home purchase.  We meet tomorrow with the notary--sort of like a real estate attorney.  They handle the entire proceedings.  Most of our days are spent looking for lighting, furniture, etc.  Since we arrived here with approximately 8 bags to our name, we will need to spend quite a bit of time shopping!!!  (NOT THAT I MIND!)

Speaking of shopping--we went for a stroll down Gorlero St today in Punta del Este!  OMG, the shopping is unbelievable.  Everything from top designers such as Valentino, Loius Vittan and Fendi to Gap and Abercrombie.  It would literally take you a week to go to every store.   The home store and furniture stores are top of the line--a little out of our price range.   We will probably go to Montivideo for most of our needs.  Better prices and more selection. 

One last tid bit worth sharing......As we've been driving around, we've noticed a few ladies of the night out strutting their stuff.  They start coming out around 4:00pm in the afternoon.  Mark and I assume that prostitution must be legal.  It is a hoot to see them.  They are actually in a fairly nice area of town and not bad looking.   Just an observation, nothing more!

Today is gorgeous and we are sitting out on our rental deck sunning......Life is GOOD!



30 days of Canal 7

Finally, we have officially moved from our "dorm room" to a really nice apartment in downtown Punta del Este.  In our first apartment, we were only able to get one channel on TV.  It was a local station, Canal 7, which was in Spanish.   We used rabbit ears to get that channel in and it constantly faded from black and white to color.  So reminiscient of our childhood! 

That is truly the beauty of Uruguay.  It is like the 1960's or earlier.  As I mentioned, the gas station attendands, elevator attendants, etc.  Kids play outside in the afternoon and into the evening.   I don't believe we have seen many hand held computers/phones, etc. in the hands of even high school age kids.  They are living a really normal childhood and loving it.  They wear uniforms to school and always have a big smile on their face.  Going to the bank is a treat, too!  They are so back in the dark ages with big black books of records, etc.  Their computers take forever to bring up info and I do believe they could single handedly put the lumber business into the black!

Today was a big day!  We got the internet into our apartment.  No more going to the free sites around town.  We can actually sit at the dining room table and do our emails.  Oh, the small pleasures of life.  It seems almost normal again.  We have cable TV and are watching US movies in English with Spanish subtitles.  Mark is in the kitchen cooking.  Tonite we had shrimp cocktail as an appetizer and Mark is making grilled squid for dinner with cooked beets.  This kitchen is much nicer than the old one which we drew straws on who had to cook in that beastly room....  And, you simply can't beat the meat here.  Totally grass fed.  But not just the meat, the pollo (chicken) and cerda (pork) is hard to beat, too.  We had chevitas today for lunch.  They are a hamburger patty, a fried egg, ham, cheese, tomatoes, mayo, and any other condiment you can dream up on a hamburger bun.   Their hot dogs aren't bad either.   They are foot longs on a regular bun with about 25 condiments to choose from for dressing.  Junk food at its finest.

Everywhere we go, we strike up conversations with people.  Some are from Europe and some from the US.  Or they are from Uruguay but have homes in the US or their kids are in the US and they are here.   You begin to realize more and more that our move is pretty normal in the whole scheme of things.  Everyone is more than willing to help with anything you need.

Hal and Ollie are enjoying the new digs.   We have a very large patio that they can sit out on and sun.   It is still a bit chilly here.  The wind and rain continue as it is still the very end of winter. 

We are working on another home purchase.   Will let you know how this one goes.  It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath, big kitchen and living room, nice backyard, 2 1/2 blocks from the beach.   It is brand new, not quite finished yet, all for $180,000.00.  I don't think we would find that in the states, but you never know.  We are giving up our gorgeous view we had for more space and one floor and a nice neighborhood.  Not a bad trade off.  This is our second stab at a home purchase.  Hopefully this one will take.....

Adios,  Mark and Janet

Country Drives

As I mentioned in my last blog, we have been driving the countryside looking at chacra's (which are country homes, usually ranches.)  The countryside is high rolling hills, dotted with big boulders of granite.   Spring is just started to sprout, with pretty yellow wild flowers everywhere.  We stumbled on to the most quaint little home on 25 acres.  The entire acreage was outlined with a stacked stone fencing.  We drove up and were met by two large dogs.  I told Mark not to get out but he did anyway.  Of course, I was wrong.  The two of them snuggled up to him like he was there long lost master.  Ethel, the owner, came out to greet us and showed us around.  It had a gorgeous view, a small home, something out of a storybook.  There was a hired hand and 72 sheep.  I believe I would have bought right there on the spot if it hadn't been out of our price range.  

The infrastructure is very good in the country, except when you get off the main roads.  Then it turns into red clay with lots of bumps and potholes.  Our new car is certainly getting a good workout.  We had to buy an automatic.  Most people have a manual but my neck couldn't handle the constant jerking and I didn't even want to try to drive it.  We already had a little fender bender backing out of a driveway but hope to get that fixed this week.  It will cost about $140--not bad!

Our new best friends, Rosmaee and Emiio, have been helping us out every step of the way in Uruguay.  They took us on Friday to check out health insurance.   We decided to go directly with the Cantegril hospital.  Our cost is $132/month for each of us for the VIP insurance.  That covers everything you can imagine, including our funeral, if we should pass away here!  We go for testing on Monday.   Of course, we already know from our residency application that we are healthy so we should be good to go.  This is an awesome price for health insurance, isn't it???  Prescriptions are $5.00/each because we are over 55.  Otherwise, they would be free.  Our insurance includes cliniic as well as hospital coverage so we basically have no out of pocket expense other than our monthly payment.  We will pay all at once and get a one month discount.

Rosamee has also been helping us with real estate, even though she is not a realtor.  She has been in this country for 10 years and she knows the ropes and most everyone in town.  We were working on a condo purchase this week but it fell through.  When we got to the point of signing on the dotted line, we were informed that the owner, an Argentinan, wanted us to pay for some of it under the table so that he did not have to pay capital gains of 30%.  We, of course, refused ,so the deal quickly unraveled.  Now we are back to the drawing board, bemoaning the return to our dorm room.  We did stop yesterday while in LaBarra at a real estate office and met a Mexican woman, named Monica.   She speaks fluent English and is quite funny.  She has a condo for rent that we will look at today for rent.  Keeping my fingers crossed!!

We've been trying to shop around Punta as much as possible to get the lay of the land.  I have been needing some winter clothes because I mistakenly thought it would be warmer in the winter here.   It is warm during the day but the moment the sun goes down, it gets really cold and it is also very windy by the ocean.  Found some nice Seven jeans on sale that fit well and bought those.  Then Mark insisted I try on a bikini--not just any bikini but a Brazilian one.  Now start visualizing that and hurry to the bathroom!!!  Mark picked it out and made me try it on.  "PERFECTO",  he claims and buys it for me.  I asked the sales lady if the top was a medium because it was so skimpy and she said that is the way Brazilians where them.  The bottoms were a little baggy in the back.  I do not have a JayLo butt to fill it out.

Friday night, we walked down to our local restaurant and bar for dessert and wine.  We met some people from Montividieo and there was a great singer/guitar player there that evening.  We ended up staying later than anticipated.   The owner brought out Lemoncello at 12:00AM for everyone, free of charge.We have a favorite waitress there, Joanna, who has been trying to help us with a place to rent.  We found out that she has spinal cancer and she is not doing well.  We want to talk to the owner of the bar, who is also her boyfriend, about doing a fund raiser for her during the High Season.  She needs money as she cannot get the proper care she needs on her insurance. (She doesn't have the VIP policy.) Hopefully, we can do something to help her out.  She is only 20 years old and has a three year old son.

On Saturday, we headed directly to the Mantra Spa in LaBarra.  This complex has a spa, a theatre, a wine and cafe bar and a casino.  Great place to spend the day.  We were only interested in detoxing from a night of heavy wine drinking and a sore neck from all of the traveling over dirt roads!  For $25.00/person, we had access to the spa for workout, swimming, hot tub, jazucci, dry and wet sauna, shower facilities, drinks, etc.  We stayed for a half day and it was well worth it.  I felt like a new woman leaving there!

Last night we stayed in the with the puppy dogs and watched Spanish TV.   We found our friend, Leah's twin!   She has a talk show.  But she really reminds us of Leah.   Maybe a long lost sister!

We are having a great adventure and we look forward to each day.  Hope all is well with everyone in the US.  Miss everyone!

Condo purchase, permanet residency application

Have found a condo we love.  View of the ocean with stunning sunset views.  Will meet with the owners today and work out details.   Hopefully we will be moving out of our "dorm room" soon but cannot be soon enough.  I think we have blown every electrical outlet as well as blown up a blow dryer, curling iron, lighted makeup mirror, dvd, and electric heater..  The toilet runs continously, you cannot turn around in the bathroom or the kitchen if you have two people in there.   The only good thing is Ollie and Hal have been allowed to run free as there is basically no damage of any consequence they could do.

Hal has taken to the beach walks.  He is allowed to run free but Ollie has to stay on his leash.  He wants to chase every bicycler, bird, car, person in SA.  We do love the birds.  There are so many different kinds.  The all greens are so pretty.   I think they look like overgrown parakeets.   I hear there are tarrantials in the hills so I may have to avoid hiking till I hear differently.

The country is so beautiful is so many aspects.   The wildlife, the lagoons, the countryside with all the cows and horses, the mountains, the ocean.  We could be outside all day.  My friend, Pat, reminded me of how many Sunday drives she, Mark and I  used to take as college students and I promised her many more once she gets down here!

We applied for our permanent residency yesterday which was fairly painless except for the blood test prickings!  We passed everything with flying colors and should be awarded perm. residency within 3-4 months.

Miss everyone!  Hope to see a few folks soon!

Casinos and More

http://www.conrad.com.uy/ is one casino to check out.   Designer shops, great casino and awesome movie theatre.  The theatre has booths with leather couches and a huge big screen.  They serve cocktails at your table.  We went to a style show and then on to see Wall Street 2. 

Others to check out are Mantra in La Barra and a great hotel, LasCumbres.  It was awarded a 5 star rating by Conde Nast in 2010.  It has a stunning view of the entire area from the hilltop.  A must see/stay. 

Taxis are all one color, cream.  They are either Mercedes or Toyotos, all new.  Very nice to get around Punta.

Lapataia is a cheese and dulche de leche shop.  They make great cheese and caramel.  It is out in the country and in the summer they have jazz festivals.

Went to the beach today.  Admired all the palm trees and the waves and the Big Hand in the sand designed by a Chilean artist, named El Mano. 

Earlier in the week visited La Barra, a quaint little beach town.  Went shopping in the afternoon and as we left a shop,  a Mother and son were offerring homemade brownies and cookies for sale for afternoon tea.  Mark pulled quarters out from behind the little boys ears.  The first of many instances to come in Uruguay.

Adios, Chow,

Mark and Janet

Back to Blogging

Quite a delay in our first blog--had to start over!  Now, if I can only remember everything that has happened in the last week and a half!!  Had a great trip over.  Intl airlines treat you with free movies, food and drinks so after a couple of naps, viola`, we were in Montivideo.  Their new airport is fabulous.  It won an award for best new design in 2010.  Can't say as much for luggage delivery -- had to wait almost a week for four of our eight pieces of luggage..  And, that, BTW, was all we brought!  Ollie and Hal made it.  I have to admit I was worried.  I found them at the luggage carosel when we arrived.  They were happy to see us but feeling a little out of sync.  I got them some water asap and apparently didn't get the door shut all the way on Ollie's crate and the chase ensued!  Thank goodness this is a country that loves dogs!  Everyone helped us catch him.  He was just looking for Mark.

We met our realtor, Charlie, at the apartment.  Boy, was that a disappointment.  We are living in a what I would consider to be a dorm room.  Granted it is on the ocean but it leaves much to be desired!  Determined right there and then you have to be careful who you trust.  That will be the last we see of good ole Charlie. 

Over the last week and a half, we have opened a bank account and bought a new car--Volkswagen Boro.  That was a challenge but we succeeded and feel very good about that accomplishment considering the tiny bit of Spanish we speak.  Words of wisdom--do not use your credit card to make purchases.  They charge you a foreign transaction charge every time you use it.  Next challenge will be getting money wired to our new account.  Hopefully, I can get that done soon.

During the day, we explore the area.  It is so beautiful here and all the people are friendly.  We have been looking at condo's and casa's.  There are so many to choose from it is difficult.  This area is really growing.  There are at least 20+ high rise condo's being built and they are all gorgeous.  The prices range from $30,000 on up to tens of millions.  Can't wait for the high season which starts in mid December.  Punta del Este will go from 10,000 people to about 200,000.  All enjoying the beach, restaurants, shopping, etc.  Rentals during Dec. 20th - Feb. 20th are considered summer rentals.  You can rent your home for about 5 times what you normally pay.  Alot of people do that and it pays for much of their expenses during the year. Thus the $260,000. houses with pool, 6 person hot tub, fireplaces, poutdoor parillas, and FURNISHED by the way, rent for $8,000. a month those two months. Check http://www.capurroinmobiliaria.com.uy/ for 2 houses. There is no MLS here. so you have to basically check with each realtor in area of homes and apartments.

Winter is just ending and spring is starting to sprout.  It's just like March in the US.  Very windy!  Ollie, Hal and I walk the beach every morning.   Wonderful way to start the day.  Guess what Mark does????  You got it.  He hops in the car and goes driving around looking at properties!  Then comes back and shows me what he found!  We have met some real characters looking for homes.  The other day, an elderly gentleman demonstrated how to use the other bathroom fixture besides the toilet.  I think they call the bidette??  What a treat!

Punta del Este and Uruguay, in general, are much like the US in the 60's.  They still have attendants who pump your gas, people who help you park your car on the street, elevator attendants!!  Remember them??
The country is clean, the infrastructure is good, the countryside is beautiful and of course, so is the ocean.  The people seem to be very happy here.   I am sure they have their problems but so far we haven't seen anything too bad.

Hope to be settled in to either a new place to rent or purchase soon.  Everyone around here pays cash for their home.  Very little to no financing so that limits us a bit.  But it certainly makes for a more stable economy here.   

Have met some great people here already.  Many people are from other countries and are anxious to share their experiences and knowledge of the area.  Rosamee, my new buddy from France, has helped us tremendously from car purchase to looking at homes.  Also have a new tech guy, Gustovos. This weekend, their is a party for expats that should be fun. 

Surfers are out in groves in wetsuits.

Went to see Resident Evil 4 in 3D. All movies are in English with spanish subtitles. Best 3D glasses ever and theatres are very nice. Salty and Sugary popcorn is available separately or cobined. Leather seats that are staggered so the persons head in front is off to side. Also can get a martini, etc. at the bar at theatre.