We are ready for a new adventure, most likely temporary but we don’t know. All signs are pointing us toward San Carlos de Bariloche,  Argentina. We plan to be there for the low season of October through December. If you don’t know Bariloche, it is a very different type of place from Montevideo. Located in the mountainous area of northern Patagonia, spring is the low season there with skiing being the main draw in winter and hiking/water sports in the summer.  Since we have never lived in the mountains but would like to, this area really appeals to us.  There are other towns nearby such as San Martín de los Andes and El Bolsón that we plan to explore and the variety of outdoor activities in this mountain/lakes region is incredible.

One challenge with our plan is how to live in a more rural area without a car.  The Bariloche area has a great bus system that runs a loop from downtown to the main roads, with other buses running long distances from Bariloche. While we explored living within the city proper, we were told in no uncertain terms that while the city has all the modern conveniences, the city is not why people come to live in Bariloche. Now we are researching temporary rentals on the main bus loop or within a decent walking distance to the city center.

Our flight is booked for September 25th, our current landlord is notified of our lease termination and we are starting the purging process all over again.  There is no turning back now!

Our list of things to sell will be coming shortly. It is amazing how much you can acquire even when you live in a furnished  rental and never really purchased much.  Alas, we have plenty of housewares, toys, clothes, books and cloth diaper supplies that we will be selling.  The plan is to come back to Montevideo during/after high season 2011 but we don’t want to store all our extra stuff, so away it goes.

Wish us luck!  This extended vacation will hopefully be just the thing we’re looking for.  New things to learn and explore within a beautiful, restorative environment.  You can’t forget the great German architecture, handmade chocolates and artisan beers produced in the Bariloche region!  Sounds like my kind of place!!

We have day jobs and a family and sometimes those other commitments interfere with our travel blogging.  Honestly though, we could not be where we are in the world without the types of jobs we have created for ourselves.  We are actually working on two new business ventures that will allow us to escape the work day and make a more independent income.  More to come on that.

The group that we most associate ourselves with is the growing number of LIP’s across the world (Location Independent Professionals / Location Independent Parents).  Although we love Uruguay, who knows if we’ll stay here. Our jobs can allow us to go wherever our hearts desire.

While we realize this is a little late in coming for our travel blog, here is a little more about us:

Brad’s love is travel, and after 14 years in the industry, he launched Pangaea Travel. Pangaea specializes in planning complex itineraries and round the world trips, as well as student, teacher and group programs (and it turns out there is a great market for booking fellow expats, their friends and family!) Brad is also known as the “Airfare Guru” on Brilliant Trips – which is a very prestigious association with a well known travel site. As you might have known with all of our previous posts on Technology, Brad is a tech geek and he works via high speed internet, VoIP phone and a love for the latest tech solutions.

Brad’s newest addition to the Pangaea family is Pangaea Insure: an online travel insurance comparison site where you can search the major travel insurance providers and come up with the best quote for you- all in seconds.

I am an Interior Designer who has focused my work on kitchen and bath design. I’ve been working independently at Lisa La Nasa Design, Inc for the past 6 years. Moving abroad has provided some fun long distance projects that prove nothing is impossible with the right technology!

My love of kitchen and bath design is brought to life in my newest project, laNeva Artisan Tile. After focusing for years on interesting tile designs and having installers tell me ‘You can’t do that!’, I created a tile line the way it should be offered: Accessible to both designers and the public, made to order, handmade, lead-free, custom design/layout assistance, tons of combinations and our signature Rift Series blends of two colors on one tile.

Our service jobs: Pangaea Travel and Lisa La Nasa Design are technology based and time based. While we can do them from anywhere, and already are considered LIP’s (Location Independent Professionals/Parents) we have to put in the hours to make an income.  Pangaea Insure and laNeva Tile will allow us to be more independent, spend more time with our family and travel this beautiful world as we can maintain incomes with a little less time at our 9-5 day jobs.  We are so excited for the future!  Bring it on, 2010!

We just signed up for a new Rioplatense program called “Bueno, entonces“.  This is in addition to our normal private tutoring in Uruguay.  ”Bueno, entonces” is a completely irreverent, crass, cheeky language program that makes you laugh out loud- along with learning.  They describe themselves as Rosetta Stone meets South Park.  Word of warning: this is not for the easily offended. If you think you may be offended, you probably will be. If you want to check it out, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

We think it is funny, interesting and certainly will not put you to sleep.  After the first few lessons, we’re hooked and can’t wait to see what happens next.  Kind of like a steamy latino-telenovela: very fun and a surprise at every turn.

Bueno, entonces is available in DVD’s or download to PC/iphone/ipod touch.

If you want to learn more about Rioplatense Spanish, click here.

Truth is, with inflation and the falling exchange rate of the dollar, it has become more expensive to live in Uruguay than it was when we arrived here 10 months ago and certainly when others arrived a few years previously.  Oh, why does the UY economy have to be so stable ?? (Unlike the Argentinian economy, which remains less stable  and as a result- a more favorable exchange rate from the US dollar). Great for Uruguay, not so favorable for expats!

We had been warned about the very common Expat Turnover and how it can go in waves.  We were just not prepared for quite the rush of people we know leaving Montevideo within such a short time.

We are very excited for the new friends arriving here on a regular basis, and more are sure to follow.  While it’s hard to build relationships and then have people scatter to all ends of the world, (or rather Toronto which is strangely where many are going, but also to Thailand and the USA) we look forward to welcoming the new people coming to Uruguay, and staying in touch with those friends leaving.

To those of you leaving: We love you all and will miss you terribly. We’ll keep up on facebook! Thank you for all the fun times, the support when we needed it and for helping us feel at home here in Uruguay.

With our Expat friends in UY, we have experienced: Piriapolis, numerous asados and pizza parties, birthdays, Friday lunches, Expo Prado, yoga, the beach and pool parties, zoos, movies, fubol matches, the parks, many exchanged notes, stories and recipes and so many other wonderful memories.  Thank you!

(Please note: While one rarely hears the word “Adios” here in Uruguay, it is universally understood, and well, I didn’t have a photo of “Chau” written in the sand!)

As with any toddler, her comprehension of both languages is more advanced than her verbal skills and she gets really frustrated when she can’t express what she wants or needs. I came to the realization the other day that I understand completely what she’s going through. I feel the exact same way about speaking Spanish and want to throw a tantrum sometimes, too.

In fact, Geneva’s comprehension of Spanish is probably better than mine. She learns so much at the jardín that she can follow all the instruction in Spanish and is learning more about Uruguayan culture daily. Just the other day, much to our surprise, she pointed to a honey-pot on her Winnie the Pooh-themed toothbrush and said “Mate!” (the preferred beverage of many Uruguayos that is drunk from a gourd cup). As you know, we’re avid coffee drinkers, so Mate knowledge doesn’t come from home. (Mate gourd photo from Wiki.com)

I studied a little Spanish briefly 10 years ago in college, but haven’t used it since. While I have learned a lot being in Uruguay for the last nine months, it’s been extremely helpful to work with a private Spanish tutor. It is invaluable to have private instruction for questions and very specific cultural information. We go over all the important details in a new language: How to describe what you want for a haircut, asking how to use a product at a store, why you pronounce the “J” in pajama here…  All the details that you can’t learn online or in most Spanish textbooks. We are using a text called “Macanudo” which is strictly the Rio Platense dialect of Argentina and Uruguay.

My tutor was born and educated in Uruguay and lived in London for 12 years, she teaches both English and Spanish here. She is very inexpensive by US standards for private instruction- $1000 pesos/month for weekly 1.5 hour classes (about $8.50 USD per hour).

There are so many frustrating moments in learning a language by immersion, though. It hasn’t happened often, but last week I had an experience where I was not understanding what a person at the doctor’s office was saying. I had just gotten done speaking with an angel of a woman and had came back to the counter to verify one final question. The second woman I spoke with was completely unintelligible to me and kept speaking louder and louder, saying the same phrase, just at a higher volume. Then she started muttering under their breath and rolling their eyes shortly thereafter when I still didn’t understand. It was a sad reminder of the many ugly Americans that I have seen do the exact same thing to foreigners. Note to self: avoid that person when visiting the clinic next time and have a few choice words prepared just in case

While language skills are so natural for a 2-year-old, it’s incredible how difficult it can be for an adult. I had anticipated that my Spanish would have progressed more than it has within 8 months. I’m still waiting for the moment when it all “clicks” and it becomes easier. That moment will come, right?

“People who live abroad are more creative; and the more time they spend away from home, the more creative they become. Thats according to a recent study done by William Maddux, an assistant professor of organisational behavior at INSEAD.“

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!

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 Geneva’s jardín, 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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pXFN_MTVQ

We’re busy planing our trip back to Minnesota in December and all of the festivities there. Early December brings us Geneva’s second birthday and a baby shower for G’s Auntie and first cousin. 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.

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”.