Our non-stop flights were booked months ago with Pluna but we learned two weeks ago that the Pluna permit was pulled by the Argentine government and Pluna was no longer allowed to fly into Bariloche. Luckily, the airline re-accommodated us on other airlines and we ended up flying Pluna to Buenos Aires and LAN from BA to Bariloche – after a 5 hour layover in Buenos Aires. It was late when we finally arrived in Bariloche and even later after we claimed all of our bags and the dogs, but we made it. Many thanks to our new landlord Jamie, who picked us up from the airport in his truck. We all just barely fit.

The house we are renting is exceeding our expectations and we even had a bottle of wine, a box of handmade Bariloche chocolates and a budín to greet us upon arrival. Fabulous! We are exploring every inch of the space and getting unpacked. The dogs already love having a fenced-in yard for the first time in their lives and the many plants and birds have been a huge source of entertainment already for our daughter.

The most spectacular aspect of the house is not the inside, but the view to the outside. We’d seen photos of this view before we got here, but it is even more breathtaking in person. It looks like a painted set in a play and it’s hard to believe it is real and we can gaze onto this very landscape every day we are here.

I think we’re going to enjoy being in San Carlos de Bariloche. We have a lot to do to set up our (temporary) lives here but we can’t wait to get out and explore.

In turn, I have gotten physically stronger, my practice has advanced in ways that I would have never previously imagined and I have an unquenchable thirst for more yoga knowledge. Not only a physical practice, I am inspired by the yogis I have met and read about. Of course, I have a long way to go on this yoga journey and I am, in fact just a beginner.

Brad also appreciates the time I devote to my yoga practice as I’m much more grounded and centered after I practice and in fact, I feel like I can be a better wife and mother as a result.

Another wonderful addition to the yoga practice is my increased knowledge of Spanish. I have learned Spanish words and phrases that I never would have ordinarily experienced without class. Between that and increased sanscrit knowledge, it is a language lesson as much as a yoga practice!

I look forward to yoga in Bariloche nearly as much as I do day-to-day life there. With the naturally beautiful environment comes and energy and a force that is perfectly paired with yoga.  As I imagine myself living in such a place, I cannot help but integrate my practice into the equation. T-2 weeks and we will be moving out of our house in Montevideo, with our flight out a few days thereafter. You can guess I’ll have my yoga mat in hand.

If anyone wants the contact information for my fabulous current yoga instructor, Cecilia, please email me. The morning studio is very small (with a class max of 4 people) but she also teaches higher capacity evening classes at a nearby gym.

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!!

You can read the whole article here.  A big thank you to Make It And Mend It for the fabulous site with so many amazing articles and resources. You can also follow them on their Facebook page for all the latest updates.

I knew it would be on it’s way, but not quite so soon. Last year this time was still warm and mild, a late summer after we’d first arrived here.  It was glorious.

Today, after two full days of rain, the winds really picked up.  I do love the leaves blowing about and the amazing pink-flowering trees that have been all aglow in blossoms.  I’ve intended to get photos- but alas, the high winds today have probably stolen my opportunity.  Much the same thing happened with some glorious purple-flowering trees last spring. We shall see them again, I am sure.

I really look forward to this winter with roaring fires in our fireplace (note to self: order more firewood), knitting in earnest again, crisp sunny days when I walk G to the jardín, and a plethora of warm beverages. After a year here, I am finally ready to take up the habit of drinking mate.  It makes complete sense to me now. Cool, damp, blustery days were made for mate.  Just to refresh your memories: Mate is the drink typical of Uruguay and Argentina that is served in a hollowed out gourd and carried with a thermos of hot water, ready for the refill.  It is a perfect way to maintain a toasty drink at the ready all day long and with minimal effort.  I’ve got a feeling that my winter will be much more comfortable!

Looking back on it, I am so thankful for our amazing getaway on one of the last perfect beach weekends this summer. Yes, I know, I still have two more parts to write about that saga, but hey, now that it’s cold, I’ll definitely spend more time indoors writing.  There’s just so much LIVING to do, it’s hard for me to sit and journal everything.

It all boils down to this: Another season, another change, another side of Montevideo.  We learned from last year.  We’ll do a few things differently this fall and winter.  Just try to avoid falling branches in this wind…

What a year!! We’ve had the opportunity to explore so many corners of this great city.  We’ve learned more Spanish and met lots of wonderful people- both Uruguayos and extranjeros.  As many Uruguayos don’t seem to understand, we like it here.  We have chosen to come here.  It was not a mandated move due to work or education, we chose Uruguay as our home and we really love this little country.

We’ve grown as a family over this past year and while we don’t have a baby on our hands anymore, she has grown into a very capable toddler. We still adore Jardín Caminito, our daycare, and how loving and supportive they have been for us.

The lease in our current house has been extended for another few months (was set to expire on April 20th).  So it is another winter in our cute but drafty home!  This time we won’t be so thrifty (jaja!) and we’ll be using our grocery store loyalty points to get a space heater.  This is a supplement the fireplace and bedroom electric units.

Come spring, who knows what we will do.  It’ll be a perfect time to travel a bit without the expense of an empty house. Maybe an extended stay travel with 3-6 months somewhere?  Maybe Bariloche, Argentina?  The world is our oyster and we are going to treasure every moment here!!

Artwork by Uruguayo Joaquin Torres-Garcia; Upside Down Map (1943).  Uruguay is located at the coordinates, near the top line.

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!)

(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

StrongVPN

The solution is StrongVPN. Love it! I can establish a virtual connection to the States, in our case. Currently, we’re “in” Washington D.C. I’ve found that it has the best/fastest connection for the best video streams. After following a quick step by step tutorial from StrongVPN you will automatically be able to connect with one click any time you want to stream video. It will slow down your connection a little bit but generally it’s fantastic.

The plan I recommend for most users is the 3 City Special PPTP US$55/year plan. It gives you access to San Francisco, New York & UK. I use the Lite Open and PPTP plan. It’s US$90 per year. It just gives me access to more cities and connection options. If you have a connection that’s not particularly fast one day to can switch to another. You’re allowed to change cities/servers 3 to 5 times per month without charge. You can also upgrade and downgrade without extra setup fees.

I have watched: various TV shows, NFL games (just caught the Giants/Dallas game) US Open Golf (it was a perfect Live stream in near Hi Def quality) The British and US Tennis Opens and many more.

Connect to StrongVPN and go to Hulu.com, NBC.com or where ever your program is available. Most of the video sites look like Tivo or YouTube. Use Firefox 3 as your browser. I’ve tried with Google’s Chrome and Internet Explorer 8, but Firefox is the best. Once you queue up your show, let it buffer for a little bit. Definition: Give the “Internets” a little time to load the show into the viewer. For Hulu, you will see a buffer gauge of one to five bars just like your mobile phone. The more bars the better. Once it gets to about 3 or 4 bars you’re usually safe to hit play. Sometimes you need to wait to 5 bars to get a good uninterrupted quality video stream. Hulu, Fancast, etc. usually run a 15-30 second ad every 10 minutes or so–a lot fewer commercials than you find on TV. The commercials are almost worth watching, since the advertisers don’t have the FCC breathing down their neck on the Internet. The ads might screw up the buffer, so you may need to pause the show for a minute. Once you’re buffered up again, you’re ready for your TV enjoying experience.

Quick Recap of what you need:

• A computer with XP, Vista or Mac (Sorry don’t know about Linux)
• Good internet connection. (i.e. not dial-up)
• A web browser. Firefox 3 has worked best for me.
• StrongVPN, Pick your plan.
• Hulu, Fancast, or other site that is otherwise blocked for foreign users.
• Enjoy!

StrongVPN: Other Cool Stuff

Pandora

Get Your Music Fix. Another little bonus is streaming music from Pandora.com. It’s closed outside the US, but thanks to my US IP address; I’m able to listen to 30 hours free per month. There is an alternative, Last.fm. It’s US$3/month to stream music without a US IP address. Although very much like Pandora–Pandora has a better mix of songs in my opinion. There are also some radio stations for both talk and music that are only available to US listeners. The stream quality of music is excellent and there is no notable difference compared to my experience in the States.

US Website Access

The reason I first looked into StrongVPN was to convince regular websites that I’m in the States. Since I operate a travel company, I need to shop the competition. I can’t have Expedia or Priceline thinking that I’m in Uruguay when I want them to believe I’m in the US. The sites are different abroad and you can’t always select a US version. I’ve also heard reports from Expats of rejected transactions by Amazon, PayPal , etc. even though their billing address is in the US provided through Earth Class Mail, family, or other residence. By using StrongVPN these sites always assume I’m in the US. It’s been great and is a small cost of doing business.

Email:

My email messages are less likely to go to spam folders when sent from a US IP address. It’s kind of important that my clients receive my emails. ¿No?

Poor man’s solution:

I do have a workaround, which is particularly helpful for live events that are not available online. I like to watch the Vikings. I can’t find a free stream online, so I’ve had my Dad fix his webcam on a TV in his office where we usually Skype. We start a Skype Video call and I am able to watch the whole game. The quality isn’t perfect, but last week I was able to watch Brett Favre rip his old team the Packers on Monday Night Football. It was glorious.

I’ve tried several solutions and StrongVPN has been the best and serves the purpose of both business and pleasure. I’d love to hear any other solutions people have for watching their favorite shows while living or traveling abroad. Please add your comments.

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.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pXFN_MTVQ

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.

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”.