Category Archives: Culture

Why Uruguay?

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While planning the move and telling everyone about it, the first question, as the blog name suggests was “You’re moving WHERE??!?!?”, which was quickly followed by “Why Uruguay?”

For us, this answer was clear after a long list of considerations.  We wanted:

  • High standard of living
  • Relatively low cost of living
  • Similar time zone to the USA
  • Spanish speaking
  • Safety
  • Cultural opportunities/experiences
  • Good infrastructure
  • Good health care system
  • Stable government
  • Positive attitude towards foreigners

That list rules out our favorite place in the world, Spain, because of the time zones and cost of living.  It also rules out most of Central and South America for various reasons: either the infrastructure, standard of living, Portuguese language, governmental stability or safety concerns.

Here you have the opera, libraries and nice book stores (will be nice once I learn more Spanish!), the Louvre exhibit on La Rambla and those are just the few things that we know about.  There is also a dual public/private health care system which gets positive reviews and modern medical facilities.

Uruguay!

There are a few things that we are not wild about Uruguay, but these are minor for our living here:

  • Local wages are quite low.  It can be difficult for those who are coming here to make a good living without having some source of income from the US or elsewhere (or having multiple family members to pitch in for household income).
  • What we have seen of Uruguay really isn’t ethnically diverse.  Lots of Italian and Spanish Immigrants and… well… white people. Not at all like the indigenous population that I was accustomed to in Peru and Bolivia.
  • Along the same lines, there is a lack of international foods.  That is why we have been so excited to find good Mexican food and we know of one or two sushi places around the city (but careful, we’ve heard of some food-borne illness recently!)  We can’t wait to go to Buenos Aires in a couple weeks so we can scope out some Thai food.  I really miss it!!  (I used to have the phone number for Chang Mai Thai in Minneapolis on speed dial).

There is also a recent thread on the Uruguay Connection forum discussing a similar question, “Why Move to UY?”

And these are just our experiences in the three months that we’ve lived in UY.  It’ll be interesting to see how our perspective might change as we settle into life here and learn more about the country.

“It’s The Little Differences”

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Vincent: ”But you know what the funniest thing about Europe is?”

Jules: ”What?”

Vincent: ”It’s the little differences. I mean, they got the same sh*t over there that we got here, but it’s just, just, there it’s a little different.

Pulp Fiction, 1994. 

 

Well, that goes for just about anywhere in the world that you visit, whether it is Europe, or Asia, or South America. And it’s not that things are different as in “weird”, just different than what we are used to. 

1.) Bugs.  We come from a cold weather climate of MN.  Sure, there are bugs there like mosquitoes, ticks, flies and spiders, but this is a little different.  It is not like when we were in the Amazon in Peru, but here the creepy crawlies are still a lot bigger and scarier than MN.  I’m generally not squeamish, but when I turn the light on and two “things” that are about an inch-and-a-half long go scurrying for the cover of darkness, I get a little freaked.  Ewww.  

2.) Other warm weather differences: There are indoor/outdoor spaces here. Our back courtyard is nearly an indoor space, except it is open above.  Perfect for entertaining, for cooking on the large brick parilla, for the dogs and G to play in and for doing laundry.  Our washer is out there (no frozen pipes!) and there is no clothes dryer so everything gets hung up on the line.  Single pane glass on the windows is also different.  Not wild about this because it lets in more noise, but hey, we’re used to noise.  No window screens.  I could go on…

bagged-foods_edited-11

3.) Food in bags.  I’ve talked about the BioBolsa shopping bags from Disco grocery store, but food is also packaged in bags.  Milk is in liter bags, mayonnaise is in bags and olives also come in little bags. Plastic and glass recycling is limited here, and food packaging bags take up a lot less space in the landfill than the alternative of glass or plastic containers, I suppose.  Plus it would be less weight to transport.  I still don’t like plastic bags one bit and I’m working on finding other options. 

4.) “Industria Uruguaya” on almost everything.  How can a country about the size  and population of Oklahoma make so much of its own food/products?  It is incredible that so many items display these two key words so prominently. It’s the full gamut of foods and products, too, including but not limited to: flour, fruit, coffee, beef, wine, beer.  There are some imports as well and not surprisingly most are from from Argentina or Brazil.  

5.)  We really don’t need a car at all.  We only had one car for the past several years in MN (the beloved MINI), but here we really have everything we need within walking distance so a car is completely unnecessary.  I love that.  If we need to go further, taxis are everywhere and the bus system is extensive. We can also rent a car if we need a weekend away. 

Liter beer bottles next to a standard wine

6.) Smaller sizes of most products.  The US is a bigger-is-better, bulk society. Here, you buy 4 rolls of TP at a time  and 2 or 4 rolls of paper towels instead of 12 or more.  I have not seen 24-packs of soda (although there are 1.5 and 2-liter bottles of the big brands).  The only big sizes I have seen are beer (1 liter bottles are standard, at grocery stores and restaurants) and restaurant serving sizes are gigantic for nearly everything.  

7.) Vets making house calls and most everything can be delivered.  We had a vet visit Paloma when she was being boarded and Pablo’s medication dropped off for us once we got into the house.  SO nice.  Grocery stores also deliver, as do many restaurants, storefront fruit stands and food shops.  We have yet to employ those services, though.   

8.) Our microwave freakin talks to us!  In Spanish or English.  It is really cool and I’ll have to post a video sometime. 

9.) Bidets.  This is a bidet culture much like many parts of Europe and areas of the world. The US is not a bidet culture and in fact, in my years in the Interior Design industry, I have  had only one request for a bidet and at the time had a giggle about it (This was 10 years ago, give me a break!)  The bidet is an integral part of any main bathroom in UY and I am sure it would be viewed as odd here to not have a bidet as it is in the US to have one. 

10.) Other things we’ve explained before: the late dinner hour, rental process, etc.  

Really, though, these are all the things that make exploring a new country so much fun; Taking everything that you know and turning it on its head and finding different ways to accomplish the same thing.  These are all priceless experiences.

Daycare Options

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After much consideration and weighing the pros and cons, we have decided that we want Geneva in professional care outside the home instead of having a nanny.  The advantages of a licensed caregiver, socialization, language skills and a stimulating environment won for us. 

We checked out two Daycare/Early Learning centers today and were quite impressed.  ”Snoopy” (I doubt the name and likeness is licensed) came highly recommended by several people and “Humanitos” (Little Humans) was nearby and we wanted to check it out.  Both have highly trained personnel, great facilities indoor and outdoor play areas, and excellent pricing compared to what we are accustomed.  

The rate for 4 hours per day, 5 days a week (80 hours per month) was between $110-150 per month.  There are a few additional costs for materials and special activities, but considering we were paying over $800 per month for two full days per week (64 hours per month) of  in-home care in MN, this is an incredible savings. 

The two schools have a very similar format in that there are two sessions per day. Morning is from 8:30-12:30 and afternoon is 1:30-5:30.  You could opt to attend both sessions, but the above pricing is for one session only.  

Snoopy has been around for 30 years, and has this location and another one named Goody across town. It is a very popular program and as a result, very busy. The building is a renovated home (as is Humanitos) and was absolutely bustling with activity. I was amazed with how many instructors there were floating around.  They also had an indoor “gym” (possibly a renovated sunroom?) which was nice and bright in the back of the building in case it was wet outside, like today. 

Humanitos has been in existence for 15 years and was MUCH more calm, but with smaller facilities and fewer kids in each age group.  Very professionally run, the staff was extremely warm and friendly for our drop-in visit. I loved their indoor play area as well,  it was just within the interior of the building.  Both buildings looked very safe with the proper child-proofing measures in place. 

The integration process is incredible at both locations.  It can take up to a week where you bring the child in for an hour (with parent present) and stay so that they can get accustomed to the new environment, knowing that you are there.  The next day, you stay for a little longer.  It will probably help the parents as well as the kids, although I think Geneva will start playing and think “Bye Mom, this place is GREAT!” 

One thing that I was not wild about at first glance was the teacher-to-child ratio for the schools.  At Geneva’s age group (she is almost 17 months), it is 1/6 at Humanitos and a possible 1/7 at Snoopy (but 1/6 with current enrollment). For toddlers, this seems like an awful lot of kids to one teacher, in my opinion.  I looked up the MN childcare standards though, and much to my surprise, 1/7 is the limit for toddler care in daycare facilities back home.  

I do have to mention the cutest thing in the world:  The kids at both locations wear these sweet little “túnica” (smocks).  They are just so sweet when you have a room full of little kids together wearing all of the same smocks.  Can I get an “Aaawwwwwwwwww!”? 

I have a referral from an Expat to one other center which I am definitely going to check out as well.  I don’t know the exact location or format of the third center but I will add an update when I receive more info.

Locks, Keys and Security

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19 KeysI mentioned before that we received an insane number of keys upon move in. Well, we still don’t know where they all belong, but there is truly a key for everything (19 total).  Our back windows have keyed locks (2) each with its own key.  The back door as well, another key.  The storage/servicio room outside, another key.  Closet doors and bedroom doors lock, all with different keys.  We have three keys needed just to get in the front gate and front door.  

There are a few areas that do not have keys  though.  The windows in front that face the street front windows have wooden shutters that lock from the inside via a lever, so surprisingly, no key needed there (but there are also metal bars that are between the shutters and windows which is very common in Montevideo) .  The mailbox which is located at our front gate also doesn’t have a key, at least not from the house side.  

Here we also have three locks on the front door, a security system with motion detectors inside and out, and cameras in the front and back courtyards viewable from a special monitor.  Pretty elaborate system and in terms of security, better to over-do it and be a bit excessive than the alternative!  

And all this in a great part of town.  Don’t read the above information wrong, this is a wonderful neighborhood with low crime.  In all of Uruguay, violent crime is extremely rare and the overall crime rate is low but petty theft is viewed as common.  If you leave something out, it may just find a new home.  We don’t want that so we’re using all of our security features available to us!  

When we lived in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis (not known as the best part of town) for 7 years, we had only one key that opened the front, back and garage-to-house door.  The windows “locked” with a standard window latch, not a key. We also had a security system with glass break sensors but we never left windows open and never considered bars on the windows because of fire escape reasons.  Different construction here. Different standards, as I have noted previously, make bars on the windows nearly a non-issue.  

Half-closed shutters

As we’ve seen throughout our travels, the differences between the USA and the rest of the world are interesting.  There is so much to learn in a culture.  We are just taking a fingernail to the surface right now.  Not everything can be judged from our USA eyes, nor should it be.  The best lesson we’ve learned: It is what it is.

May 1- Worker’s Day

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May 1 is Worker’s Day in Uruguay.  Similar, I believe, to Labor Day in the US except nearly all workers get the day off. All government offices and banks are closed with nearly all shops and restaurants closed as well. Thankfully we were warned of this ahead of time and I was able to get to the Supermercado and bakery yesterday. That in itself should be a post.  People were absolutely everywhere. It was as if the stores wouldn’t be open for a week.  

Empty Street- May 1Today was a completely different scene (above). I was out walking throughout the day today and it was like a different world.  Few cars on the streets, barely anyone walking.  I have no idea where everyone went, but it’s a great long weekend for most every Uruguayo to enjoy. 

This afternoon as I took Geneva to the park (no injuries, I am happy to report), I noticed that a few restaurants had opened and they were packed.   We cooked at home today, then got the baby to bed, and we had time to enjoy a “Pilsen Stout” (Dark Uruguan beer) and some US television.  Hopefully we’ll have episodes of 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother…. if we can get the stream to buffer.  Nonetheless,  a nice, quiet holiday Friday in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The VW Beetle. Everywhere.

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Coming from a family of car enthusiasts, I pay attention.  Not to engine details or cubic feet of cargo space- I’m an aesthetics girl.  I like the way certain cars look.  It’s like moving architecture.  The design and thought put into some models is mind blowing but other cars just seem to stand out in their simplicity. 

The VW Bug- A common sight in MVD

The VW Bug- Everywhere in Montevideo

The VW Beetle is one of those cars that happens to stand out.  The “Escarabajo” really are everywhere down here.  Sure, you’d see an original Bug now and then in MN, but due to the salt on the roads and the fact that they had not been sold in the US for so long, they were relatively rare.  Not in Uruguay.  I was really surprised when I started seeing so many here. Turns out that while most of the VW Beetle plants around the world closed in the 1970′s, the plants in South America stayed open another 10 years or longer:  The Uruguay plant closed in 1982  after a 20 year run, Peru shut down in 1987, and the Mexico plant was still producing the “original” Bug well into the 1990′s (some sources say up until 2003).  No wonder why you see them all over the streets here, and most in very good condition.  When I was out walking the other day, I counted a total of 7.  

Another story to come some day about the beloved MINI (we sold our 2002 MINI Cooper  just before moving to MVD) and the rebirth of iconic small cars.  Old MINIs are around in MVD, but even more prevalent are the gorgeous little original Fiat 500. Like the Bug, both the MINI Cooper and FIAT 500 have been redesigned and reintroduced, with much success.   I’m partial to the old models though and that’s what you see in Montevideo, so that’s what shall be written!

Language… Oh the Challenges!

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Learning a language while in a foreign land is a great way to do it because you’re immersed but extremely frustrating because you’re immersed. It is baptism by fire, being thrown to the wolves, complete trial and error.  

I ventured off today with the baby to visit the dogs at the house where they are being boarded.  Not a big deal.  I knew where they were and how to get there.  I had a few basic questions in mind that I needed to know: ‘Do they have enough food to last one more week?’  and ‘Have they gotten the flea/tick treatment?’ Both of these are pretty easy questions but to a person who doesn’t know much Spanish (Me) and another person who knows even less English (the lady who boards the dogs), the whole exchange was a challenge.  She ended up grabbing her daughter’s Spanish/English dictionary which helped immensely for a few key words.  ”How did Pablo get the scar on his leg?” I told her that he had surgery to remove a lump. “When will you be picking them up?” Next week Tuesday or Wednesday. “Where is the new house you’re renting?”, etc.  The visit ended after about a half hour and I was proud of the things that we were able to communicate.  We both tried really hard and had to resort to miming at points, but we got the point across.  Oh Marcel Marceau would be so proud!!

Empanada

On the walk home, I was hungry so I stopped by a panadería (bakery) to get something to snack on when I got back to the aparthotel.  It was late in the day but I hoped that they would still have some empanadas (meat or cheese filled pastries).  The veggie options are sometimes hard to find but necessary for my vegetarian husband.  I pushed the stroller in and took a look in the display cases.  One Cheese/Onion and one Cheese/Olive Empanada left.  Perfect!  I started by asking the lady for “Empanadas, por favor” and it all went down hill from there.  She started asking me how many I want total (in order to get the right sized bag to put them in) and I thought she was talking about how many I want of each kind.  We stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say because neither of us was being understood.  I eventually understood what she was asking and told her I needed 4 total, then proceeded to place my order.   We got them bagged and she passed them to the check-out lady who asked for “Ochenta Pesos”.   I know that means 80,  I had exact change and handed it to the lady.  She counted it out onto the counter and told me “Ochenta pesos” again along with a string of other words that I didn’t understand.  After a moment of talking to me, they ended up saying it’s all good (in Spanish) and handing me my bag.  I was so confused because I thought she was asking for more money, but I think she was just counting it and saying that I had exact change and to take my empanadas.  I HOPE that’s what it was! How a simple exchange can be so confusing!! 

That’s the way to learn, though.  As much as it’s painful and I want to avoid those uncomfortable situations, I also want to be immersed in the culture and have real experiences with the Uruguayan people.  Through my whole day and those interactions, I think there were only two words in English!   I’ll be happy when I can start my Spanish lessons as I’m sure my language skills will progress quickly.  One can hope!

Easter in Montevideo

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We really had no idea what to expect for Pascua (Easter) in Montevideo.  Brad and I were in Sevilla, Spain for Easter in 1997 and it was a wild celebration with everyone in their Sunday best and parades in the streets.  Uruguay is considered a secular country, unlike its giant neighbors of Brazil and Argentina and most of Latin America, so we figured that the Easter celebrations would be pretty calm here.  Calm is an understatement.  

People here see holy week as vacation week.  We were advised to get any business done before holy week started because shops would be closing down and people would be leaving town.  That was definitely true.  Some places were closed for the whole week, others just Thursday- Sunday.  What I was very surprised about is that the restaurants were business as usual, and in fact they seemed busier than most normal Sundays.  The beach and La Rambla were packed because it was another gorgeous day.  An short article talking about the “Vacation Week” tourism can be seen in Uruguay Daily News.

There were plenty of Conejo de Pascua (Easter Bunnies) in the stores, but it seems like the holiday is celebrated in name and with modern customs only, at least that’s all I could see as a tourist-outsider.  Hopefully I’ll have more insight into the Pascua holiday in Uruguay next year!

Pocitos Beach

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We went to Pocitos beach today, a block and a half away from our hotel.  Since it is the first time we have had a baby on the beach for any length of time, we overplanned and overpacked but were prepared.  

The beach was crowded with all sorts of people: those who have seen much sun in their many years,  those who just stopped for a moment of sunshine while biking or walking by and those who were enjoying great family moments like us.  What I love most about the beach here is that everyone is welcome (including pale foreigners) and it really doesn’t matter what you look like.  One piece suits on women are something of a rarity and body issues seem nonexistant.  I love that!

I like being in a country that doesn’t care if you have love handles or a bit of a spare tire  around the middle.  You’re out enjoying the sun and having a good time, just like everyone else.

Baby at the Beach

“Mi Amor”

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Our Daughter is being exposed to so much Spanish love and affection by people that you would never anticipate in the USA…. EVERYONE!!!   Waiters and waitresses, delivery people and perfect strangers on the street coo and wave and talk to her like she’s their own daughter or granddaughter.  It’s amazing.  We encountered the same thing when we were here last year, but I figured it was because she was only three months old then.

Maybe it’s a result of the low birth rate here (lower than the US) and the aging population, but everyone generally goes through the same routine.  They want to know how old she is, what her name is, then they go on to call her precious, beautiful, etc. and try to get smiles and waves from her.  Geneva as a result has started to wave to nearly everyone on the street to try to get a response.  

We’re in the city, so there is a lot of opportuntity for interaction.  There are people on the street wherever we go and we’re eating out at least once per day so there is some quality time with waitstaff.  We even saw photos of our waitress’s little girl today, which we coo over in return!

Since Uruguay is the only South American country we’ve traveled to with the baby(with the exception of a very short stint in Argentina), it’s hard to tell if this is an Uruguyan trait or a South American trait.  We hope to add more as we travel in the coming months!