Author Archives: Lisa

Remate- The Craigslist of Uruguay

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Except in Uruguay, it is a physical location and not an online ‘for sale’ ad.

You can find any assortment of thing for sale at these remates (or auction houses). There are everything from antiques, to rugs, small appliances, farm equipment, architectural salvage and even cars.  Yes, you can even buy ‘normal’ furniture and housewares, which is a great resource for an expat trying to set up a household here.

One of the best remates that I know of is Castells. I’ve been told this remate is most often frequented by Uruguayos, and as such, is not as expensive as some of the extranjero remates.

Castells is located at Galicia 1069.  It’s about a 10 minute cab ride from  the Pocitos/Punta Carretas area. The main furniture sale is every Tuesday at 2 PM. When I’ve been there, this sale has been very informal and in a large back room. The front main auction room is full of antiques and fine art pieces, with everyone sitting down and was what you’d envision of a ”civilized” auction. The back room was with everyone standing, crowded around a given piece of furniture and the auctioneer on a small podium. You can visit early on Tuesday or on any other day to see the sale items ahead of time. Occasionally the rooms for the separate sales are reversed, so keep your eyes open.

There are other rooms as well, one upstairs and another in a garage area, full of items that sell on different days. Some is household goods and small appliances (upstairs) and outside has everything from architectural artifacts, to farm equipment to cars and all sorts of random junk.

There are no numbers or paddles for bidding, you just raise your hand. If you are the highest bidder, someone will come over to you and take your information and a deposit on the piece (30% of the sale price).  You get a receipt and can pay the balance and pick up your purchase the same day or within 24 hours.

A few notes before you hit the remate:

  • The auctioneer shortens all his numbers for speed so the current bid may come out as “ochen” instead of “ochenta”.  Be aware- especially if your not so fluent in Spanish yet.
  • The upholstered pieces can occasionally be of questionable quality and I have heard stories of items having bugs. Check out a piece carefully before bidding/buying. You wouldn’t want to get it into your house and find out that you have 10,000 new friends.
  • There are taxes added to the final sale price, to be paid when you pick up your purchase.  This is  a total of 16.5% unless otherwise specified.

Even if you’re not in the market for new stuff, the remates are a great place to go and experience a part of Uruguayan culture. Have fun!

A Week (and a half) in Review

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Spring in Montevideo is coming in fits and starts this year. Cold and rainy one day, 70 degrees the next. I’m amazed at how quickly time here is passing and we’re keeping busy with lots of different activities.

Dia del Patrimonio was a great family day. We went to Ciudad Vieja’s Plaza Matriz and toured Club Uruguayo (Uruguay’s most prestigious private social club, founded in 1878), the Cathedral of Montevideo and the Spanish Embassy on Sunday. All were very beautiful old buildings, with the Embassy being an eclectic mix of traditional and austere contemporary architecture. We wanted to get out and see more places on Saturday, but we had a spring festival on the farm with the preschool class, so we were otherwise occupied with kids, animals and lots of food. Saturday was the nicer of the two days so I was happy that was our day outside. Sunday was cold and rainy and a perfect day to dash from one building to another, which is exactly what we did.

We’re busy planing our trip back to the USA in December and all of the festivities there. Early December brings us our little girl’s second birthday and a baby shower for my sister-in-law and first niece. Later in the month we celebrate Christmas with multiple families and try to equally split our time, which is not always easy. We fly back to MVD on the 28th, which happens to be on the same flight as another family we know who is moving here!  We are so excited and can’t wait to have them join us in this fair city.

This past Saturday we went to our first wedding in Uruguay!! It was a beautiful church ceremony- very formal and very late. The invitation stated a start time of 8:30 PM. We were advised not to get there before 9 PM, and the ceremony started at about 9:15. A few differences: there were no attendants, no ushers, no programs. We also learned that it’s customary for there to be two or even three sets of invitations sent out: one to the ceremony only, one to the reception and sometimes one to the after-reception. Receptions usually last until dawn or later. We went to the ceremony only- but had a great dinner out afterwards by ourselves at a funky little restaurant/interior design studio called Innove.

Wedding

As if we don’t have enough going on, we’ve been in our house for 6 months and are already thinking of the lease end. A unique opportunity has presented itself and we are weighing our options. A family that we know and love is moving to the USA for a year, and renting out their house here in Montevideo. It’s in the Cordon neighborhood, and is close to the jardín, hospital we belong to and many other services. This is an area we have been considering for our next house here, but since it is not the “normal” expat/tourist areas of Pocitos or Punta Carretas, the furnished rentals are very limited. This house is furnished and quite a bit larger than our current house for hopefully about the same monthly rent. Brad and I could each have private offices within the house! The lease terms don’t quite match up so we all need to talk more- but it’s an exciting prospect!

I’m definitely feeling some of the ups and downs of life in Uruguay. The longer we are here and the more we learn, the more we like some aspects of life here and dislike others. That’s true with any place I suppose.  Some days I am really homesick (mostly for how “easy” it is to exist in a place you know well) but I do like Montevideo. This is a unique place with unique people that can’t seem to understand why we would want to come to tiny Uruguay “just because”.

Día del Patrimonio 2009

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Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of September 2009 are ‘Día del Patrimonio’ in Montevideo. This is a cultural heritage weekend where museums open to the public for free and many other usually-private buildings (such as embassies and the Antel tower) are open to the public for tours and/or expositions. There is quite a list of locations you can visit and the buses are also running pre-planned circuits of several sites.

Fore more information and hours grouped by city and barrio, you can visit the official site at www.patrimoniouruguay.net and click on “GUÍA de ACTIVIDADES 2009′ or for an easier view of all the happenings  in Montevideo (although not the official site) go to www.surcultural.info.  Have fun exploring!!

A Weekend in Buenos Aires

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We just spent a quick weekend in Buenos Aires, and it was a very nice change from everyday life in Montevideo. Since we’ve been there before and have already explored Recoleta and some of Palermo, a few highlights and notable details of this trip are:

Buquebus: We took the Buquebus shuttle from Tres Cruces bus Terminal in Montevideo to Colonia, then the ferry from Colonia to Buenos Aires.  This is more economical than the direct ferry from MVD to BsAs (and had a departure on Saturday AM instead of PM), but the journey takes longer. Because of the weather on Friday and into Saturday, I’m happy we did it this way.  The winds were strong and as a result, the waters choppy.

Waving goodbye to the Colonia port

Note: Do not expect to be able to get Argentine pesos at the Buquebus terminal in Buenos Aires.  The Cambio was closed on Saturday morning and the ATM’s were not working. Exchange your money in Montevideo so you don’t have to waste time in Buenos Aires- because there are no banks, cambios or cajeros near the Buquebus terminal.

Hotel: We stayed at a gorgeous little hotel in an out of the way area. The Lola House is rated 6 on tripadvisor.com out of 341 hotels in Buenos Aires and I can’t say enough good things about it. The rates were excellent and we were treated like royalty.  The Subte  (subway) stop is just a few blocks away and you can be in downtown near Calle Florida within about 10 minutes.  Taxis are also very inexpensive, but it will take longer to get across town than via the subway.

Starbucks: You knew this was coming, right? We stopped not once, but twice in 24 hours. The baristas were wonderfully personable, remembering our names from the day before and even giving us free milk for Geneva.  Not that I like the wastefulness of take-away cups, but man, this was really good.

At Starbucks in Buenos Aires

Feria San Telmo:  A fantastic mix of antique vendors and artisans with food and beverage peddlers, street performers and tango demonstrations mixed in. It’s a little touristy, but stay, eat and wait for the tourists to leave, there is samba drumming and tango dancing all evening long.  Takes place every Sunday south of downtown, on Calle Defensa between Av San Juan and Plaza de Mayo. We had a great time wandering and people watching.

We also dropped in to see a FABULOUS boutique hotel that Brad has been booking for his clients on the opposite side of town from where we stayed. We’ll definitely try this place out on one of our next trips to BsAs- and I’ll write about it then.  Contact us if you want to learn more right now.

After living simply for the past 6 months- and loving it- we were both surprised how our consumerism nature came rushing back when faced with all the material things not available in Montevideo.  Other than coffee and food, we bought a few personal care items and an inexpensive handmade bag at the San Telmo market, but thankfully we were strong and that was it for the purchases.

24 hours in Buenos Aires is not nearly enough time. I can’t wait to get back.  With a metro area of 13 million people, there is so much to explore!!

Dogs in Uruguay Part 2- Gear & Our Airline Experiences

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After the paperwork and necessary shots were completed for our dogs, we had to consider how they were to be transported and what was going to happen to them during the long journey to Uruguay.

We had previously looked into animal shipping companies that can handle all of the paperwork and logistics for you- including providing a crate for the animal and grooming before departure. These are door-to-door services, and as such, have a hefty price tag. We were quoted between $3500-4500 to ship the two dogs separately from us. We decided for that sort of price, we could go through the steps and handle it on our own.

Pug in Suitcase

Our first questions for the airline involved the crates: We had two plastic dog crates, one large that can hold both dogs and one small. We would have loved to put both dogs in the larger crate together since they are always together and really quite attached, but it was against airline regulations. Dogs have to be the same breed and under 6 weeks old to be allowed in the same crate for international travel. Our pugs were 8 and 6 years old at the time of our travel to South America, so that plan wouldn’t work.

/>We sold our larger crate and went out to look for another small crate that would be more comfortable for a single dog and easier to transport. We found a great Bargain Hound crate that is perfect for airline travel.  Not only was the Bargain Hound crate sturdy and a perfect size, it had the following features:

  • Lockable wing nuts to secure the top and bottom together (some airlines require this)
  • Ventillation holes on all four sides
  • Carrying handle
  • Enclosed door pegs- some brands have the metal ends of the door latches exposed on the top and bottom of the crate, creating a potential danger for pets and children.  The bargain hound crate had this enclosed for safety.
  • Zip tie holes to secure the crate door during travel.  The agent at the airline check in will do this for you.  The bargain hound crate had dedicated holes for the zip ties, our other crate did not.
  • Pet travel kit with international travel stickers, water bowl and zip ties

We brought one crate to the airport for a dry run the weekend before our projected departure to make sure all of our questions were answered and there were no unexpected surprises.  I highly recommend doing this when you have pets and so much luggage.  The airline also appreciated it because they could make a note in our record of our discussions and expect us to take a while upon check in.

We packed the crates with a folded ‘mattress’ of fleece blankets with a towel as the core.  I figured this would keep the dogs warm when leaving MN and the towels would provide some absorbency in case of accidents. It worked perfectly. On top of each crate, I duct-taped a gallon size ziplock bag which contained the dogs leash, two meals worth of food in a smaller ziplock, a few extra zip ties in case the dogs had to be removed, a small water bottle to refill the bowls during transit and another ziplock bag with copies of all the dogs paperwork.  The top of each crate also had the international travel information sticker and the dogs name written in permanent marker.

We arrived at the airport the day of our departure to find that the check-in agents were waiting for us.  We had our own dedicated line for check-in and it was very much appreciated.  The agent asked at check-in if we were interested in a short-check for the dogs and we had never heard of this before.  Since we were flying from MN to Chicago, Chicago to Miami, Miami to Montevideo, we could check the dogs for all or only a portion of the journey.  Our longest layover was in Miami and since that was almost halfway according to the overall transit time, that would make the most sense for a short check.  We could claim the dogs in Miami, walk them and have them out of the crate for a while, then re-check before our flight.  We opted to check the dogs all the way through to avoid the stress on their part (and ours) to have to put them back into the crates for another check-in and long flight to Montevideo.

After all of our bags and boxes were weighted and tagged, it was time to take the dogs for a final potty break and get them packed up.  After I removed the dogs from the crates, a TSA agent came over to inspect both crates and bedding. I took the dogs to their approved area outside the entry (who knew there was such a distinction?) and came back to find the inspection completed and the agents ready to seal the dog crates.  One last kiss to the pups and in they went.  The crates were zip-tied, water bowls filled and away the Pugs went.

We all traveled safely and securely- and were reunited in Montevideo.  The dogs were happy to see us and anxious for a potty break and food.  Thankfully there were no messy dog crates, which I had feared.  We hired a truck at the airport to transport us and all of our things to the hotel- and our adventure in Montevideo began…

Next up in the “Dogs in Uruguay” series: Dog culture in Montevideo, licensing and the cost of dog food.

Expo Prado 2009

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Another day in Uruguay- another adventure. Yesterday we went to Expo Prado 2009 for their “Day of the United States’.

September 12 Prada

We hopped the 522 bus on 21 se Setiembre for 16 pesos each, which dropped us off at the edge of Parque Prado in half an hour. Thank you montevideobus for helping plan our adventure!

Expo Prado 2009 is a fair celebrating Uruguay, it’s rural culture (fitting, because ‘prado’ means ‘meadow’ in English) and showcasing artisans, manufacturers and even exhibits of other countries. This is the 104th year of the Expo and it has been held in the Parque Prado since 1913. It almost like a state fair in the USA- except at a state fair you don’t have buildings featuring Argentina, Brasil and Mexico. Since it was the Day of the United States,  the US Embassy had an area selling some products that we can’t normally purchase here, like donuts, Dr.Pepper and Starbucks coffee. Is that what the USA is all about?

We entered the Expo for a mere 95 pesos each (adults) and wandered through the exhibits and buildings for 4 hours.

The most fun we had was seeing the animals. Since beef is a huge industry here, the cow was well represented, with some gorgeous Angus cattle and many other varieties, housed in three buildings. The many cows, horses and sheep that we saw were all impeccably groomed, both for judging and for sale. Uruguayos love their pork as well, but funny that there were no pigs, except the ones seen cooking…

Pork Roasting

There was a rodeo with steer-roping demonstration, an American football ‘game’ being played poorly, lots of farm equipment on display and plenty of food (unfortunately not on a stick).  It was a great time and so easy to get there and navigate the park.

The great thing about taking the bus and exploring some new areas of town is that you are free to look around and dream. The route to Parque Prado wandered through Centro and then headed north. The neighborhoods immediately surrounding the park are amazing, with gigantic homes built in the early 20th century. Many have fallen into disrepair, but are still really beautiful examples of the boom in Montevideo between 1900-1940. At that time, there was plenty of affluence and money and Prado was the place to be. I hear that the Uruguayan President’s home is also in the Prado area although we didn’t see it.

Even if you miss the Expo for this year, still wander through Parque Prado and the surrounding neighborhoods. I can’t wait to go back and explore.  The expo takes up only a portion of the park- so it’ll be great to see the rest.

Expo Prado 2009

September 9th-20th

9 AM-9 PM

U$95 adults

U$50 kids 6-12 and adults over 65

Free for kids under 6

Cattle Barns

100_6619 crop

Dogs in Uruguay- Prep for the Journey

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We arrived in Uruguay this past March with our daughter, all of our stuff and two funny little Pugs named Pablo and Paloma. The dogs were by far the most stressful part of the move, in part because we had never traveled with pets before.

Can't we both just go in this big crate? There are many details of traveling, boarding, vet care, food and licensing that we’ve encountered since our journey to Uruguay began. This will be documented in a multi-part Pet series.

Prep for the Journey:

We relied heavily on the Uruguay Connection forum for information on the pet specifics for the trip itself.  Uruguay has no quarantine for cats and dogs, and is pretty relaxed regarding a lot of import/customs requirements through the airport.  Since we didn’t know if we were going through customs in Buenos Aires or Montevideo, we had to comply with the customs requirements for both countries. The paperwork required to export a pet from the USA and import to Argentina or Uruguay is quite involved and required three trips to our local MN Vet and one to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) office to get the official approval.  All information on the export of cats and dogs, including specific country requirements, can be collected at the USDA website. For export from the USA/import to Argentina (the more strict location), a dog needs:

  • A 1-year rabies shot administered less that a year, but more than a month before traveling
  • A vet exam within 10 days of travel
  • Tapeworm medication administered by the vet at the exam
  • Paperwork completed by the vet in both Spanish and English

We also asked for a cold-weather waiver from our vet to allow the dogs to fly down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

The paperwork from your vet then needs to be taken to your local USDA APHIS office for review by the APHIS Vet and receive the official seal of approval ($48 for both dogs).  Our APHIS office in St. Paul was incredible with helping our local vet understand what is needed for import into Argentina/Uruguay and making sure everything was completed  correctly.  Please contact your local USDA APHIS office first and they can send your vet all the necessary information.

Ours was a somewhat unusual experience because we were flying with Pugs.  Pugs and other snub-nose breeds can overheat easily and as a result, there are tight restrictions on the temperature range that they can fly.  All stops along our route had to be within the temperatures of 32-75 degrees Fahrenheit (this can be different depending on your airline).  In March, it was cold in MN, but potentially above 75 degrees in Miami. Since we waited until the temperatures looked good, then booked our flights last minute, we also complied with the animal import requirements for Argentina, just in case that would give us a better route for the temperature limits. Thankfully we had the additional cold weather waiver  because temperatures were hovering around the freezing mark when we left. We ended up flying from Minneapolis-Chicago-Miami-Uruguay and even after the extremely long travel time, the Pugs came through just fine.

Be aware that there are also summer embargoes where due to the heat, animals are not allowed to fly.  Spring and fall are the best times to travel with pets when crossing the equator. Check with your airline about all requirements before booking your ticket.

Next up in the “Dogs in Uruguay” series: Necessary gear and the adventure at the Airport – including “What is a short check?”

Where’s the Temporal?

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It appears that El Temporal de Santa Rosa has skipped over Montevideo. We had rain and a some lightning on Sunday night into Monday morning, and light rain every day this week, but nothing like the storm I was hoping to see.

As it is already September 3rd, I’m not holding my breath. Maybe next year…

El Temporal de Santa Rosa

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El Temporal de Santa Rosa is scheduled to hit Montevideo on Sunday Night or Monday, August 30-31st — Right on target.

The story goes that Santa Rosa of Peru prayed for a large storm to thwart an impending invasion.  Her efforts worked and the storm held off the attack. Although the feast day of Santa Rosa is celebrated on August 30th, the storm has been known to hit this area anywhere from the 25th of August to the 5th of September, bringing rain, high winds and hail.

We have el Temporal de Santa Rosa to thank for the amazing weather here the last few days. Today was 30 degrees Celcius (or 86 Fahrenheit), which is all due to the prevailing weather patterns this time of year, with the hot air from the north colliding with the Antarctic air from the south. Whether the Santa Rosa story of thwarting the enemy was invented because the storm happens to coincide with the saint’s feast day, who knows. What we do know is that the storm happens and with some regularity- especially in the last 15 years. In 2005 there was a tremendous Santa Rosa storm where 10 people were killed, many trees were lost and buildings damaged in Uruguay.

There is a thunderstorm forecasted for Sunday night and then possible rain all week through Thursday. While I’m not looking forward to a possible 3+ days and nights of rain that is forecasted, I take this all as a very good sign because el Temporal de Santa Rosa is seen as the start of spring on the Rio de la Plata.

Another recent write up of ‘El Temporal’ is in this month’s issue of Ola Uruguay, a site with some great Uruguay information geared towards investors and retirees.

Our ‘Noche’

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The ‘Noche de la Nostalgia’ festivities are done and while we had a little time to rest today, it’s not a US holiday so we both had to work today.  It is was an extremely quiet morning, as I think the whole city was asleep after the late night/early morning celebrations.

We had a great time last night but feel quite pathetic in comparison to the hearty Uruguayos who partied the night away. We can claim that we started early.

Our first stop was to the home of an Expat family. They always throw the best family-friendly shindigs and last night was incredible. There was a huge Asado, with plenty of food and dessert, but the element that puts this party well above any normal house party was the dance floor. The center of the house has a very high ceiling with a huge skylight (this is customary in many older Montevideo homes- it gives an atrium feel) and it was turned into a dance floor with disco ball, strobe light, confetti, smoke machine and a great mix of songs from the 80′s and beyond.

We were with these friends for about 4 hours, leaving at around midnight (we took Geneva home to meet the babysitter partway through). A group of six of us then took taxis to Centro and I was amazed by the number of people out on the streets.  It was the most people I had seen out in UY at one time. We have not been here for the Christmas parades down La Rambla but I imagine these crowds are a close second.

Alexander PosterMidnight is too early to go to the clubs so we grabbed some beers and sat down to drink some time away. We had tried to get into a few places just for drinks and they were all full, so we settled for an out of the way restaurant. At about 1 AM we went to Club Alexander, a large gay club (straight-friendly) on the main level of Palacio Salvo- the most recognizable building on Plaza Independencia. We had signed up in advance for tickets and arrived at the door with Alexander regulars so we paid out U$Y100 each entrance price (if arriving before 2:30 AM) and were inside within minutes.

The main floor of the disco was small with a bar that stretched nearly the entire length of the club. The crowd was predominantly young and Emo, both straight and gay, but there were people of all ages. Many of Alexander’s crowd were looking sullen with Flock of Seagulls hair and all black attire.  The music was electronica with some fun “nostalgic” mixes that got everyone dancing.  After about 45 minutes there, a sea of people flooded towards the doors- it was in fact- towards the stairs. They had just opened up the lower level.

The lower level was FAR better than the main level. The 20 foot+ ceilings and exposed foundation of the historic building made for some great architectural detail and nice acoustics. The bar was in the center of the room with dance space all around and up onto raised steps a the far end of the room. As we walked through, our hosts, the regulars at this club, gave greeting kisses to the DJ and we found a spot to dance.

Unfortunately, our time to depart came way too quickly and we had to leave as the party was just ramping up at 2:30. We walked out the door to find a mass of people waiting to get in and a line of cabs right across the street. It was a prefect set up and we were home to relieve the babysitter by 3 AM.

We definitely want to go back to Alexander when we can spend more time. It was a very fun night and I am happy to have experienced my first Noche de la Nostalgia in Montevideo!