Tag Archives: Food

Not All Is Rosy

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Today I hit the wall. Not literally of course, but I hit the “I’m freaking-out-could-this-be-culture-shock” wall. I think it was more just general stress with lots of weird things compounding.  There were lots of tears involved, but fortunately a very supportive husband who along with Baby G gave me some much needed hugs. 

Sorry for another list.  We’ve has a bunch lately— 

1.) Pablo is sick. I’m not going into the details but it has to deal with his bowels and said evacuation. We thought it may have just been a stress related issue for him, coming to yet another new environment, but since it continued through the weekend, we have to call the vet. So, sick dog. Gross. Lots of cleanup involved. Plus, dog who loves people and toddler who loves dogs are hard to keep apart.

2.) VERY willful toddler. That goes without saying, I guess. She’s our first, though, so we’ve just never been in this stage before. She is testing us like crazy and is still not extremely stable on her feet. A tall baby with a big Dutch head is just asking for trouble! It is taking constant vigilance to keep her safe. (Thanks Paul, you warned us!!) Not much unpacking, cleaning or cooking is being done. Email and blog posts are happening only during naptimes and after bedtime. I am full-time mommy, which I have never been before.

3.) Child safety standards are different here (I knew this before we arrived) and while I want to bring Geneva to the parks to blow off some steam, they scare the bejeebers out of me. Baby swingThink wooden baby swings with no crotch rail that are 4.5′ off the pavers/concrete slab below. Or slides that have a small patch of sand at the bottom with a ring of bricks to keep the sand in. I envision kids cracking their head open at every turn. It is not unlike the types of playgrounds Brad and I remember from our childhood. My mommy instinct to keep my child free from harm is in overdrive. Thank god that Brad reminded me the life expectancy here is the same as the US. I was wondering how anyone made it to age 10.

4.) After the first two days of no water in the house at all, we now have water seeping from both sides of the plumbing wall, into the kitchen cabinets and the bathroom. We saw the water in the bathroom late last week and didn’t think too much of it (“Hey, maybe I left the shower door open a crack.”). But the water kept coming back at random times, from the area between the floor and baseboard. We couldn’t figure out what was causing it. We reported a small amount of water to our rental agent on Thursday via email, then called on Friday to follow up. Within minutes, the owners agent called us and told us that a plumber would be here on Monday. Cool. We could deal with that. Late Sunday night though, I walked into the kitchen at about 1:30 AM to find water dripping from the front edge of a base cabinet (from the wood above the toe kick) and the musty smell that I originally detected was overpowering. The sink pipes were fine. This water must be coming from the wall.

Everything I know about construction says this is no good at all and we could have a serious mold issue. But wait, this is poured concrete/block construction with plaster. There is no wood framing, no sheetrock and no insulation for mold to feed on. The only “food” for mold here is the cabinetry. It seems like there must have been water before to cause the original musty smell that I noticed upon move in. I shot short videos of the water and Brad got a hold of the rental agents this morning. A plumber was over at noon and checked all of the exposed pipes and then turned everything off and checked the water meter out front.  No movement at all, so no internal leaks. Then he turned on the spigot to a drip, the meter started spinning. He said that our water issue is actually from the building next door and not coming from our wall. He confirmed that this building has had a problem with the adjacent building’s water once before.  No more update as of yet as to the solution but the cabinets are still wet and the smell is horrible, so we are staying out of the kitchen until we have this resolved.

We’re pushing for new base cabinets and a full clean-up of that wall. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of that. We knew not everything was going to be rosy in paradise, but the last few days have been stressful indeed.

Thankfully the vet is two blocks away and is coming over tomorrow. One issue down. Yippee for small victories!!

Chivito

So tonight I just had to go out.  We went for a short walk, then enjoyed an early dinner. I had a crazy-big Chivito and a glass of wine to decompress at “Chivitos Marcos” (Corner of Louis de La Torre and Sarmiento). While the photo is not my exact sandwich, it is close, except mine was goopier and included pickle and hot pepper and was without fries. It was excellent and I will definitely be back again. Nothing like comfort food after a rough day!

A Trip to the Supermercado

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Disco Supermercado I just went to the grocery store this afternoon. We’re always walking so I can’t buy too much each time I go to the store. I tend to go there almost every day for a little something but it’s two blocks away from us, so not a big deal. Today I wanted to have a “Te Completa”  (tea or coffee with croissants, cakes and little sandwiches) at home and needed some little bakery goodies to do that.

I thought I’d share my shopping list with you to give you an idea of some food costs here. Granted this was a trip of little items, including some frivolous items, but still should be worthwhile to see. Prices are based on an exchange rate of 24.5 UY pesos to $1 US and rounded up to the nearest cent. Price in pesos is listed first with no symbol (although they use both the $ and U$ here for pesos) and dollars listed second in parenthesis.

  • Olives- pitted in a clear plastic pack 360 g – 44.50 ($1.82)
  • Empanadas- Cheese and Onion, pack of 6 premade – 68.00 ($2.78)
  • 12 medialunas (mini croissants)- from the bakery sold by weight – 46.96 ($1.92)
  • Frozen Pizza- 3 cheese, onion and olive – 104.00 ($4.24)
  • Whole Milk- premium baby formula (nearly double the price of regular milk), two one-liter bags – $72.80 ($2.97)
  • Pilsen Stout Beer, large 960 mL size – 45.00 ($1.84)
  • Beer bottle deposit – 9.90 ($0.40)
  • Plastic food storage container, large 1.3 liter size – 69.90 ($2.83)
  • Plastic food storage container, small 0.6 liter size – 41.90 ($1.71)
  • Paper towels- 2 small rolls which are standard here, medium grade- 49.90 ($2.04)
  • Pepper- whole peppercorns with bottle grinder- 134.00 ($5.47)
  • Salt- 500 g box – 18.50 ($0.75)
  • Wheat crackers 200 g bag – $26.50 ($1.08)
  • Dozen Eggs – brown (side note: eggs are kept out on the shelf here. Really freaks me out.) – 42.50 ($1.74)
  • Refund of 19.80 for return of 2 beer bottles (- $0.81)

Total UY pesos 754.56 (or $30.79)

You can live inexpensively here but that really depends on how and what you eat, among other things of course. I bought no fresh fruit or veggies from the grocery store today because we purchased a few things yesterday at the Villa Biarritz feria market (not sure if this is really what it’s called) and we still have bananas, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes and tomatoes left from earlier in the week. I find the feria prices are less than the grocery stores and it’s so much more fun to go to the big open air markets!

We bought a few small zucchini at the feria yesterday, along with a kilo and a half of both apples and oranges (3.3 lbs each) for a total of about 85.00 ($3.47).  Fruits and vegetables are plentiful and can be quite inexpensive. Purchase locally produced and in season produce and it’s even better.  This is perfect since we are a strictly veggie family at home.

Now off to crack open that big bottle of beer!

One hint: Bring a few of your own reusable shopping bags.  We have two that fold up when not in use and they are used every day.  All of the grocery stores and markets use small plastic bags, and many multiple plastic bags for each trip there.  We have tried to avoid plastic bags as much as possible (“Sin bolsa, por favor”), but still have them all over from when we forgot the reusable ones. Kudos to the Disco chain of grocery stores that has “Bio Bolsas” that are still plastic, but are supposed to decompose in 2-3 years. 

Shameless Plugs

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There are a few people/services that we have used here in MVD that have gone above and beyond and have been so wonderful to us, we have to recommend  them to the world:

Jorge Cassarino Etcheverry, Maria Jesús Etcheverry Negocios Inmobiliarios (rental/real estate agent) :  What is there to not to love about Jorge?   He goes the extra mile, is funny, fair and really, just a big teddy bear (wow, I rhyme, too!) Jorge was recommended to us by some peple who used him to find their house a year and a half ago. Now they are good friends.  Really though, what a nice guy, and his English isn’t bad either!  He showed us numerous places over several days and showed us some differnet options that we didn’t even know we wanted (we were all set for an apartment!). jc@mariajesusetcheverry.com www.mariajesusetcheverry.com

marti-aparthotelMarti Aparthotel:  Great neighborhood, big rooms, excellent staff. Ask for a top floor, they’re sunnier above the tree line.  The 11th is where we stayed, one level below the breakfast room (don’t worry, it is not noisy).  A small kitchen is included in the room, along with a decent sized bathroom with a tub. Every floor has a wireless access point. Federico is the contact for booking at the hotel.  He’ll give you a deal if you let him know you found them here! 3325 Jose Marti between Berro and Chuccaro.  http://www.martiaparthotel.com.uy

Then a few eating establishments:

bar-62Bar 62: I hear this place gets its name from the first trolley line in the city of MVD. Well, I can’t verify that, but it is some of the best food we’ve had here, and by best, we mean a 7:00 dinner of nothing off of the parilla because it’s not ready yet, because we’re out too early with a baby in tow.  Still, it’s been incredible. They have an eclectic combination of sushi/tempura (veggie tempura was light and not greasy- some of the best we’ve had.  Looking forward to the sushi!), mediterranean salads (we’ve had it served differently on two occasions, both really good though)and typical Parilla fare . The waitstaff is cool, the building is beautiful and we’re certainly going back for a real dinner (at the normal time of 10 PM) the first time we have a babysitter. Barreiro 3301 and Chucarro in Pocitos, 2 blocks from La Rambla. 

La Taqueria: The little taco joint that we mentioned before.  We finally got there on the night that we moved into our house.  What a great day!! Don’t let the little taco stand facade fool you.  These guys know what they are doing (and with a little prodding, they can and make it HOT!).  It is a bit more expensive than a typical mexican place… but completely worth it.  As Brad put it in a recent email to two future friends from CA and their daughter who are moving to MVD in a few weeks: “We love spicy food.  We went to that Mexican place the other night (Tuesday to be exact).  They brought our the first salsa. We tried it…pretty much about as spicy as ketchup.  Then he proudly brought out the “mas picante” option.  Better, I can feel it a little bit now.  He said he could do one even “MAS picante” after a few minutes I went up to him and asked for it.  I saw the guys in the back mincing the chili pepper.  One of his buddies tried it before they brought it out. I heard him cough, turn red and reach for his drink.  They brought it to the table.  Lisa and I both filled up a chip.  It was great, but this is very much the exception”. We had the veggie burrito, chicken burrito, quesadilla  and some amazing chocolate torte for desert. Heaven!!  On Jose Marti between Benito Blanco and Chuccaro in Pocitos.

Culinary Discoveries

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I had read in some of the Expat forums prior to arriving here that certain products are either hard to find, extremely expensive or even non-existent in Uruguay. Specific spices, nuts (expensive), Goat’s milk and prepared “ethnic” foods like Mexican are a few examples that come to mind. I am so very happy to report that while preparing for the worst, we have been very pleasantly surprised.

The most common foods found here are an Italian/Spanish hybrid along with what most outsiders consider the “Argentine” Asado. We’ve been to one Mexican restaurant, Roma Tijuana, were quite pleased and know of only one other by Montevideo Shopping. Contrary to what some Norteamericanos think, Uruguay is NOT Mexico!!!  It is easier to find a Heineken or Stella Artois here than a Corona!

 

We packed a few things with us that we’d use frequently, like fish oil and flax supplements along with a hefty sized bag of TVP (texturized vegetable protein).  We thought it was such a specialty item, there was no way that we’d be able to find some down here.  We use it as a filler instead of meat for stews, chili, etc.  Well, lo and behold, today I found it.  

Market at Berro and Marti

There is a street market or Feria that sets up every Friday just outside of our hotel door.  Stretches one block down calle José Martí and two blocks down Pedro Francisco Berro and is mostly fresh fruits and veggies with the occasional meet, cheese, clothing or housewares stand.  I was walking through with Geneva today and wanted to get some fruit (Now which one of the 40 fruit vendors do I go to??) when I happened upon a lone vendor of spices.  He was jammed in between a few busy fruit stands and with baby in tow, I coundn’t muscle my way in to the stand for a closer look, but my superior height allowed me to see the labels of the items, including bags of a chunky, recognizable, dried product labeled “Protein de Soya”.  Bingo!  It’s here.  It’s around. Our bag will probably last us a long while but it’s good to know that reserves exist!

The whole atmosphere surrounding the discovery was made more wonderful by the old accordian player sitting on the corner.  As he hunched over his well loved instrument, I dug for some change and put it in his tin.  I am a sucker for the accordian.   

Later today, long after the market packed up and traffic once again took over those streets, we found that the Mexican restaurant down calle José Martí in the other direction was open for business.  After several days of watching and waiting while they set up, we can’t wait to try it out.  It is more of a restaurant stall, with a vey small but cute storefront and outdoor seating (picture to come tomorrow).  No matter, I’m sure we’ll end up there tomorrow to try out their veggie burrito (Brad) and some wonderful meat option (me) all washed down by a few lovely Corona….

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!

The Late Dinner Hour

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Baby at dinner

We’re having an issue with dinner hour.  People here seem to work late, then have a snack or “Te completa” (coffee/tea, light sandwiches and pastries) at about 6:00, then eat dinner at about 9:00 or later.  Most restaurants don’t open until 8 PM and don’t serve their complete menu until 9 PM.  How do people do it with kids?  When we were in our home routine in MN, Our daughter was in bed by 7:15 or so.  Now, we’re sleeping in a bit later in the mornings, but she still goes to sleep around 8:15 PM with two good naps during the day. 

We are trying to have larger lunches out and then dinner in our room for the time being.  Once we get into the house, it’s not going to be such a big deal, but I’m still curious….

 I’m going to have to ask how people here do it.  I’m told that kids come out with the family during the late dinner hour and we saw it when we were here visiting last year.  It’s just that our toddler is much more tied to her schedule now than last year when she was only 3 months old.  We took her everywhere then and she slept.  Those were the days!  I wonder if kids here take an extra nap during the day? Is it just habit for them?  I don’t know, but I want to find out!  

Nonetheless, we have gone to restaurants early and ordered a light dinner.  They may look at us a little funny since we’re the only ones eating when everyone else is enjoying coffee or drinks.  Oh well.  Strangers in a strange land.  We’re learning!!