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!