Toddler Equipment

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Lisa

We have found that with baby stuff, having the proper equipment is essential, especially when traveling. We wrote about our BabyEssentials list previously, but we have some revised observations now that we’re past the baby stage and have a very tall 2-year-old.

Since we don’t have a car, we walk a minimum of 5 miles per day and about half of that with the stroller. Our small umbrella stroller, which we loved, broke just before we left for the USA in December, so we brought another one here that we had in storage. Unfortunately with our daughter at the upper weight limit of this new stroller stroller, it is impossible to navigate these treacherous sidewalks and our daily travels are a pain, not to mention increasingly dangerous as the wheels like to get stuck. Thankfully, we’ve found a great alternative and we’ve picked up a Mountain Buggy Urban Stroller holds kids up to 70 lbs (I will need serious help if I am trying to push a kid that big, bit it’s great for our 33 pound/15 kg 2 year old!). I am so excited!

One thing that we planned for perfectly is a car seat (~that unfortunately doesn’t get much use here). When our daughter grew out of her sweet little baby seat at 9 months, we graduated directly to the Sunshine Kids Radian80 Convertible Car Seat which is FAA approved for airline use, the only foldable car seat, and the only one with a steel (rather than plastic) frame. This amazing seat fits kids up to 80 lbs. No need for a larger seat or a booster, which new studies are finding are not much help in a crash anyway.

Yes, we bring this car seat through airports and on the plane with us. It’s heavy, but it makes for a well-behaved kid in her own, familiar seat. When not in use, we fold it and store it in a suitcase. Can’t do that with any other car seat!

Surprising as it may seem, the Radian 80 also fit rear-facing into the back seat of our Mini Cooper when we were living in the USA. I wasn’t sure that the combination of a tall car seat and a small car would work, but it did and at 5′-10″ tall, I could still squeeze into the front passenger seat.

We learned our lesson with the stroller. Montevideo sidewalks are a beast to navigate and very hard on strollers. Our first stroller had a good run of 9 hard months here. Kids equipment to purchase new in Montevideo is expensive and many times not the best quality. Plan ahead and purchase in advance (before you get to MVD) when looking for the big items necessary to travel with babies, toddlers and even older kids.

A Weekend Away

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Lisa

We are planning to take a series of short road trips- just a long weekend each time to explore more of this great country. Having been to Colonia, Piriápolis and Punta del Este already, we’re looking towards the eastern coast before it gets cold and the interior with possible trips to the hot springs and a wine tour in the fall. We wanted to pose the question to our readers: Where should we go for a short exploration trip this month??

Where To Go For a Weekend Getaway?

(polls)

“Bueno, entonces”

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Lisa

The challenge of learning the language in Uruguay is that you have to use a local tutor, text or program. Rioplatense is the local dialect of Uruguay and parts of Argentina. There are some big differences between the Spanish here to that spoken in Mexico or other parts of Central and South America. You cannot learn Rioplatense from the huge online language program Rosetta Stone, or books published for other areas.

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.

Expat Turnover

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Lisa

We have learned that not one, not two, but 7 families that we know in Montevideo will be leaving within the next 5 months. Nearly all are leaving for work or educational opportunities, but some for a new adventure or economic reasons.

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!)

We’re Back!!

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Lisa

We were in the USA for nearly four weeks for the holidays and had grand plans to keep writing, but alas the writing fell to the wayside. Our time with family and friends was all too short and we had to take advantage of every second. After a glorious time celebrating a cold, snowy, traditional Christmas in Minnesota, we are back in Uruguay, with the energy and enthusiasm that a beautiful summer brings. We promise to write more frequently, dear friends!! In fact, we have a few posts in the pipeline already- so no excuses!

While away, Brad got more thumbnail photos loaded to “dress up” this new site a bit. We hope you like it! We’ll continue to work on updating the older posts. There are a lot of them!

We’re also working on two new business ventures and we’ll be adding those shortly to our information here. This is such a productive time in our lives!

As always, if you have questions, comments, or just want to say hello, comment here or send a note on the “Contact” page. We’d love to hear from you.

Uruguay’s Beef

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Lisa

While we are not usually beef eaters, we can appreciate the quality and protective practices of Uruguay’s beef industry. There was an excellent article published in yesterday’s edition of Ola Uruguay that I wanted to share regarding this topic: Ola Uruguay, A Look at Uruguay’s Booming Beef Industry, By Suki Davis, Issue 39.

“Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo….”

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Lisa

(click to hear “Going To The Zoo” song by Raffi)
We visited the Zoo in Montevideo in June (and again last weekend) and the Zoo in Piriápolis in August. Both are great options but I highly advise that you visit now that we are in the warmer months!

In Montevideo, the Zoo Villa Dolores has a great location, close to the heart of the city. Many of the animals were in hiding when we first visited on a cold Sunday morning- but were out enjoying the sun on our second visit. The displays and animal enclosures were actually quite nice compared to what I remember in the USA as a kid. Zoo Villa Dolores has all the usual suspects: elephant, hippo, lion, giraffe, zebra, along with tons of monkeys, birds (including flamingo and peacock), goats and sheep. There was a separate reptile/spider building, a kid’s play area and plenty of other diversions in the park. We had a lot of fun with the standing scenes that you put your head through… whatever they are called…

Location: Avenida Gral. Rivera 3245

Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 9 AM- 7 PM

Cost: $20 pesos. Free for under 12 and over 70.

Free for everyone on Wednesdays.

The Zoo in Piriápolis is in a different league completely. It is relatively new and I have heard that it is partially a zoo and partially a local fauna breeding center. It’s built into the hillside of Pan de Azúcar (Sugar Loaf Mountain), a 400 meter high granite hill with a 35 meter high cross on top that you can climb up into the arms (after another 100 steps). All of the animals at this zoo are housed in “natural” settings and it is a fun maze to wind though to find the animal enclosures among the trees and flora.

This zoo was free to enter and had some beautiful and unusual animals, mostly on the small side and many native to this region of South America. The largest of the animals was a single tiger who was maybe a bit too vocal, and in fact, a little scary. There was also a reptile/spider building here and a true variety of settings as you walked from lake/marshland to heavy tree cover, to prairie setting. It was beautiful. My favorite, the capybara. There is a restaurant nearby and a huge play area and park for picnics. Pack a lunch, as our wonderful friends did for us, and take a hike up the Sugar Loaf “mountain” when you’re done. The path leads up from the zoo.

Location: 6 km north of Piriápolis on Route 37, at the foothill of Pan de Azúcar

Hours: Daylight

Cost: Free

Give Us a Few Days

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Lisa

As our daughter would say, “Opa!” (Meaning “whoops” or something along those lines…)

We are migrating the Urmovingwhere site to a different format- one that should be more reader-friendly as well as functional on our end. Please bear with us for a few days as we get the new site set up and running. It’s going to be fabulous!

Language

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Lisa

We have a 23 month old daughter who is in a stage of extreme language development. She can say many words/phrases in both English and Spanish and is learning more every day.

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, our daughter’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?

Living Abroad Makes You More Creative?

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Lisa

Here’s an interesting video discussing how those living abroad tend to be more creative- possibly tied to language skills and adaptation. Interesting studies!

“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.“

UR MOVING WHERE?!?!

Adventures of an Expat Family in Uruguay…err Bariloche, Argentina…um Córdoba.