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
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
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
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
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)