Tag Archives: Expat

Living the Life, Bariloche Style

Posted on by
4

We made it into San Carlos de Bariloche late last night after a long day of travel.

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.

Our Next Adventure

Posted on by
7

Bariloche, Buenos Aires, Uruguay MapUruguay has been our home for the past 16 months and we love it. Through the ups and downs of adjusting to life in a different culture, we have been truly fortunate to find ourselves in such a place.

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!!

One Year Ago Today

Posted on by
Reply

We arrived in Montevideo on March 26, 2009.

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.

Living Abroad Makes You More Creative?

Posted on by
2

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.“

Remate- The Craigslist of Uruguay

Posted on by
2

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!

Expat Network

Posted on by
2

We’re so happy to have a strong Expat community in Uruguay to make our transition to life here easier. We have every intention of integrating into local culture here but in our months starting out, it is a great resource to have friends who speak your native language and have been through the same things that you are going through.

Through our network of fellow Expats, we’re received referrals for all of the people who work for us, as well as many of the services and resources we use on a daily basis. Our realtor, housekeeper, babysitter, Spanish tutor and daycare are all Uruguayos to whom we were connected  by other Expat families living here.

Look at this naan!!

Our social events are a little heavy on the Expat side right now, but have a mix of Uruguayo and both native-Spanish and native-English Speaking Expat families attending.  We attended a beautiful Asado at a friends home last weekend and had a wonderful time speaking to an older Uruguayo gentleman for most of the evening. Yesterday we were at the home of a Re-pat (an Uruguaya who returned to Uruguay after many years in the United States) to share an outstanding Indian dinner. There were 10 couples attending with more food and drink than you could imagine and we all had s great time. Brad and I were so excited to be a part of the evenings festivities, partially due to the lack of Indian food since we’ve been here, but more so the opportunity to get out together and learn about a variety of people- including (but not limited to) Re-pats, Brazilian, Argentine and native-English speaking Expats from Canada, the USA and New Zealand in yesterday’s group.

Thanks to all of our network here in Uruguay that has helped us in this transition. Hope that we can do the same for all of you who may be interested in this great country.

We Want to Learn About You

Posted on by
2

In the last 5 months, our readers have gotten a sense of who we are and where we are on our journey.  Now it’s our time to learn about you.  Please take a second and answer the question below.

This will be a regular feature on the urmovingwhere.com blog. Stay tuned for our next polls. We’re going to have some fun with this!

(polls)

Yoga in Montevideo

Posted on by
4

There are many Yoga centers in Montevideo, Uruguay.  In fact, there are three yoga centers that I know of within a few blocks of our home in Pocitos. Since my Spanish is not great yet, I felt intimidated just walking into one of those locations and taking a class…

I found the perfect solution: Yoga in English with instructor Charla Cooper.

Charla teaches an excellent yoga class that I have been attending for the past 6 weeks. The class is small so you can get a lot of individual attention, the location is great, and it is a fabulous mix of yoga styles with Kundalini, Ashtanga and Iyengar. I had never practiced Kundalini yoga before this class and while it took a little getting used to, now it’s a part of class that I really love.

Cost is UY$ 150 per class or UY$ 1000 for a month pass.

Please see the Yoga in English website for more details and any updated class information. You can also email ccooper495@gmail.com for more specific questions. Hope you can join us!

Another Great Uruguay Blog

Posted on by
1

We’ve had many people contact us through our blog and have made great friends as a result. One family in particular that contacted us through this blog before they arrived in Montevideo is now settled here and blogging about their experiences. They can be found at www.exploringuruguay.com.

Brian and Chrystal Johnson, along with daughter Zoë, currently live close to us in Montevideo. Zoë is just 5 months younger than G and the two girls love to play together whenever given the chance. The Johnson’s experiences in Uruguay are a little different than ours and you might want to check out exploringuruguay.com to see Uruguay through their eyes.

Some of the more notable differences about us/our blogs are:

  1. They live in an apartment, we live in a house.
  2. They are ultimately moving to the country, we’re staying in the city.
  3. They are from San Diego, we’re from Minneapolis.
  4. They’re foodies and meat eaters and report on the wonderful grass-fed beef in UY, we’re vegetarian (Brad) /semi-vegetarian (me).
  5. And the most exciting part….They are having a baby in Uruguay!

Brian and Chrystal also have some great photo and video links on their site about Uruguay. Enjoy!

BTW: Thanks Brian and Chrystal for the write-up about us…and a good format, too! :)