Holiday 'taint

It aint Christmas any longer and it aint New Year yet. That's why this week seems to be the taint of the holidays; a sort of in between if you will.

For the big night, we had par-tay at our place, deciding it was big enough for everyone and easiest for me to escape in case I become suddenly "out of charm" as the always charming Mathew Rosenberg has been known to say. Big shout out to Matty and Sally, I do miss those guys.
Anyway, it's easily debated whether I had the charm to begin with, but here it was held and there were no surprises.

Flopa was great and looked fab all while keeping things on a low boil. Keep up the good work.

 Luca has made peace with what passes for a Christmas Tree here. He was pleased with his gifts and talk of some days at the beach. Cross fingers and toes kids.

 Ama was holding up well. I shuttled her home after midnight (I saw dozens of people just like me doing the same), but for 90 not a bad night.

















Ceci and Matius. No fuss from this guy, he was enjoying the party or asking questions all night. Well, in his own way.

Ama (caught off guard but alert) with daughter Janine and grandaughter Florencia.

 Vincent was super excited about the whole thing. As soon as the fireworks were finished he was doing something else.

I loved Jani's groovy Christmas outfit. Hope to see more of that, rrrrahhhhr! 

Here, Ximena is also amazed

at something. Maybe those canapes are frightening her.

Merry Christmas everyone and to all a good fight.

Summer's here

It's nicer every day, school is winding down, warm clothing packed away....ahhh, it's summer again.

 This kiosko is in 'Ciudad Vieja' the most downtown you can get I suppose. There is 'El Centro' too, which is city center, but it's more for everyday shops and offices. The old city has the port, Teatro Solis and lots of high end and specialty stores. It's the most visited by tourists. The 'peatonal' is a small thoroughfare just for walking that winds it's way around all the shops, bars and points of interest.

I know a guy who sells jewlery and tokens from a small set up on the peatonal. I like to give him a visit every couple of weeks you know.

  Not just rare, odd and beautiful, it's working! I saw this thing again the other day and with those wheels so 'tucked under' it looks like it's gliding around on a track or something. If it wasn't cute enough, how about the colors?

Friday, I was off to the graphic artist to work up the final details of our signs. Marcello hooked me up (see the results on Coffee Shop) and it was an easy bus connection back.

Waiting, I happened to be just in front of another Montevideo beauty. These single family townhouses are getting harder to find each year. Restored, sure there are a few, but if you want to fix one up yourself, better get crackin'.

Shaping up nicely

Spring has sprung Here in Uruguay just as our friends and family in the north are preparing for their turn at bundling up. Lots of relief as people head out to parks or the Rambla on sunny days to take it all in.
The only drag is that it's allergy season and some days it can really slow me down. A tree or the nut? of a tree here called Platanos is everywhere. About the size of a cherry, it explodes into a powder of pollen that looks something like a dandilion. I hear everyone cursing these things, so for while allergy pills will be a necessity.

It's been a while since my last post. Just too busy these days as we are coming close to finishing up the renovation on our new venture Coffee Shop.

Meanwhile, life goes on as usual. Luca turned 14 on Sept. 18th. Here he is with a few friends for cake and coke. No request for a field this year. The kids are preferring a movie and big sleep over these days. It seems they play enough futbol during the week. Girls are entering the picture lately; he's already been to a few dances.
Oh  boy.

The two big teams in town are Penarol and Nacional. Something like Yankees and Mets. You must be one or the other. Only an 'estranjero' like me can go to either. Seriously, I offered a spare cap to a friend to cover his head for painting. He refused. Wear a Nacional cap? Are you serious?

Luca is Penarol and we go to games when he's not there with friends. I will add some footage of the loyal cheering section from a game. You won't believe the singing, it's impressive.
Black and Yellow is Penarol or 'Manya' (pronounced man-cha) or Carboneros. Don't forget it.

Naturally Vincent is red, blue and white of Nacional. Naturally.




Vincent has been plenty busy too. Most weekends are sleepovers both nights and mostly away. We only step in when he looks like the walking dead. To much protest he gets a quiet night at home to catch up on rest.

 
This weekend he went of to Tacuarembo with his new rugby team. That's right, RUGBY.
Some friends play and now he's got the bug. With only a practice or two under his belt, he was tapped to come on this road trip as two players were sick.

Here he is with the new garb including mouthgard.

It was a long trip, six or so hours, so to save money they left at 2:00am Friday, played Saturday and returned around midnight. Exhausted, bruised and slightly sunburned.

He told us of a touchtown, yeah! and taking down a much bigger guy. He was asleep before he hit the pillow.

We are weeks away from opening Coffee Shop. Check it out if you can. Saludos to our family spread out across the globe and thanks for reading.

C-c-c-c-cold down here!

What heat we've got is working full time these days.

Sumo gets toasty

As I've posted, many houses have no heating systems. Fancy homes may have hot water radiators with a gas furnace, some oil burners may still be kicking around.
Most, use any combination of space heaters (electric or gas) and a type of wood burning 'stove' that is incredibly effecient. Those heaters are iron boxes that take a small cut of split wood. It's kept closed off and I think the restricted air influx keeps it burning a long time. A friend has one and says it's  eccomical and efficient.
No small concern considering we pay around $3 pesos per kilo for wood, buying the minimum 300 kg for a delivery. This price has risen steadily since we've been keeping track, so we try to use it wisely. $900 pesos is about $45 dollars and depending on how cold it is, lasts us from 3 weeks to a month.
Working in concert with the fireplace is our handy 'estufa'. It's a little wheeled appliance that carries it's 13kg. tank of gas around behind it. We have two of these and it's the same type of  tank that powers the stove. We groan and order a new 'garrafa' or tank every week (or few days) or few minutes it would seem. They are around $320 pesos or U$16.
I don't know what this all adds up to, but we juggle cost and comfort for what feels like a very long winter.
First order of the morning is to fire up some heat so the family can wake up slightly more comfortable than I did.

Our kitchen

Feisty Uruguay
Here's a link to a great article about Uruguay and it's prospects for the future. No sales job here, I'm just saying that as the US credit rating slips, tiny Uruguay is on the rise. I'm just saying.

Coffee Shop
Life is a little whacky these days as Janine and I are super busy attempting to start a new business Here in Uruguay. If you follow that blog, you've witnessed some of the process.
We are exhausted, nervous and excited. When will it be finished? How will it be received? Will we make a decent living? How will I manage with my Spanish?
Everything is falling into place. So soon we will see.

We hear the Eastern Seaboard is experiencing a rare hurricane. Good luck to all our US friends and family on riding out the storm.

Our niece Natalie is out in the world again, this time learning how to teach and polishing her Spanish in Peru! You can keep track of her travels on her latest blog. She's in Arequipa and fighting to stay positive.
First world, meet the rest of the world. Rock on Natalie.

That's all.

It's All Good

Just cresting this latest hill and with no time to rest, we are poised to start up the next incline. 
I've just finished with a large closet and shelf unit (squeezed into a tiny hallway) and can now begin in earnest on our long awaited COFFEE SHOP. You can keep track of that adventure by clicking the link above. 
We are all very happy about finally securing a space. Here's Janine looking satisfied. Let's see how long until opening day.

I had to head into City Center (El Centro) to a specific Abitab to score some of the few remaining tickets to a big Penarol match. They are in the quarter finals in something called 'Libertadores' against a team from Chile and the stadium sells out for things like this. 
I found myself right in the middle of a protest march. I think it's the sanitation workers. It was loud, but peaceful and completely snarled traffic for a while. 
People take to the streets often here when they need to make a point.  
 Right On.

This impossible looking jalopy is a Ford Consul, made in Great Britain in the 50's and 60's. Yikes, it's odd but beautiful. I checked collectors on-line and naturally there's a whole society and when restored they are quite impressive. Meanwhile, here in Uruguay, this is just someone's car. Es lo que hay.

Lastly, here's Vincent (self portrait) attempting to prove some win or high score to his gaming buddies.
I can see a little "In Your Face!" in his face here.





That's the latest from us. Thanks for reading.

Fall, girls

I had the chance to go to La Pedrera a few days this past week. It's a beach town, but we're a bit passed beach weather right now.  My friend and fellow carpenter Chero needed a hand with a small project. It was warm and sunny and despite the hard work, was a nice respite from routine life a.k.a. Daily Uruguay.

These are the ladies of La Pe, artist unknown. Who's your favorite?


Since my last post I've managed to secure my Uruguayan Drivers License. Some other ex-pats living here had blogged about the old switcheroo; turning in their current US license for the R.O.U. kind. Thanks to Denise and Wally Glass writing 'Retired in Uruguay' for this tip. I started the process a little late, my New York license expiring on April 29th, but made an appointment for a necessary check up just after Tourismo week. I needed a hearing and sight test only. 
The hearing test was very low tech. I stood in the corner, facing left then right, trying to hear the doctor whisper numbers. The doctor was really nice and we all laughed a little at the procedure, but it works. I didn't do well with the vision test and my 'reading' glasses will be required for driving. 
When city hall opened up again, Janine and I went first thing Monday morning. We were afraid they give me an appointment and I would expire. I mean the license would expire. I brought everything just in case, but it was super easy and fast. We made it with a one hour bus ticket (unlimited rides with in 1hr. and 5 min. for $18 pesos, less than a dollar!). 
I was pretty happy with that. This thing is good for 10 years and they forgot to include the glasses restriction. Just as well, I never wear them, driving I mean. Hell, until we manage to buy a car, where I am I driving anyway?

Vincent, he's 12

Although Vincent turned 12 on March 26th, his party was this past Saturday.
Standard operating procedure: secure futbol field, invite all the boys from his class, make a zillion burgers.
It went well with the exception of one injury.

Balta recovers bravely.

Baltazar took an elbow to the nose. We have word that it was indeed broken. He handled it like a champ and was right back on the field the next day at another party.

Gabriela and Amalia were there to help out.

We cooked burgers on the parrilla and Janine had some great cakes, but the real star was the field. We celebrated at Defensor Sporting our club, where the kids do their sports. The field is large and lit for night playing and as usual they couldn't get enough.

You can hardly talk to Janie when she's working a party.

Can you notice how sweaty some of the kids are?

Fun for all and another one in the books.

Rocha

We lucked into a friend's house in Valizas for the last half of Tourism Week here in Uruguay. 

We'd had a great time in La Paloma, but Valizas is way up into Rocha, the department (or county, sort of) that holds all the really good beaches.

The farthest town in Rocha, before Brazil, is Chuy a border town that's know for duty free shops and deep discounts. A kind of SA Tijuana. I haven't been that far yet.

We have made it to Punta del Diablo which is nearly as far and awesome. This blog's cover shot is from there. We checked out the old fortress  of  'Santa Teresa'. Built by the Portuguese, taken by the Spanish and eventually dealt to whomever the waring powers favored during the land divides of the mid 19th century, it ended being abandoned and covered over by sand. Check the link for more.

This groovy street sign even had a map.

But Valizas has always held a special charm for us. We've been coming here since I was brought to Uruguay in 1995 and for Janine, uh, I probably shouldn't say when she started coming, but it was a long, long time ago.

It's very quaint and decidedly unpolished. Homes range from really decent places that would be nice anywhere, to cute little get-a-ways like the one here. 

There are a few ramshackle dwellings to round things out.





However, one of our first orders of business (after the direct path to the ocean) was a trip to the Dunes. This unmistakable landmark is what's unique about this part of Uruguay.

These huge sand dunes front the ocean and are accessible by foot, but it's no stroll in the park. You'll feel it by the time you reach the top.

While walking up, I was imagining those guys reaching the top of Everest. You can see your companions, but with the wind you can't really hear anything and the blowing sand seemed like snow. 

It was very cool, but all that sand killed the camera so these were the last shots I have from this trip.

 

On the way we spotted this likely sick Sea Turtle. The sea animal rescue squad was on their way, we were told. Something like 35 had come ashore for reasons unknown.

These guys were ready for the trek, but by weeks end they will have walked enough. 

Later in the week  we walked the shore to Cabo Polonio: just 4 hours! Cabo is my favorite beach here, accessible only by four wheel drive trucks, it's a rare place. I wouldn't venture there in January though;  apparently it's special to a lot of jet-setters too.

Climbing.

So off we went to climb the dunes. 

They feel a lot bigger than they look here.

Yes, it was surreal.

Vincent had his pal Manuel and Luca brought Santiago, whom you may recognize from our La Paloma vacations. 

They were wild, but mostly well behaved. Throwing water balloons around town at night and running home for cover when they got caught, things like that. 

Hey, we asked for it.

Up at the top the view was spectacular and the back slope was very steep. The kids tried to sand board, but that was a tall order for these inexperienced sand surfers. Plenty of fun sliding around though.

The back slope was serious.

So they had to jump. They had to.

I wish I could show some of that walk to Cabo Polonio. I've been asked about a million times how many kilometers it was, so I'll have to find that out. It was a lot, just ask my barking dogs.

I am still tired from this trip, but in the best way.

Today is Luca's first day, back for his second year of High School. This 6:00 am is gonna take some getting used to.

Later.

Eighty Nine

     
 We had a little get together for Ama's Birthday and with all the vacationing and coffee business, it was somehow passed by.

 
Here we are at Don Pepperoni's. It's a big Argentinean chain, maybe like our version of TGIF's. 

Paulina stole the show as usual. Xime, Matias (of course) with Jose Luis stopping by near the end. We met quite early really. Joaquin and Magdalena, Tia Flo shown here with Pauli. 
  
This would not be her only party. Amalia's pals took her to lunch another day as well. Can you be 89 and still have pals? I guess you can.

More La Paloma

This Summer was full of fun for everyone.

Black Bikini Club

As you can see, nobody had any fun before I arrived.

I don't know about that highlighting move, it's supposed to be blue type with, eh whatever.

good view from the porch

Claudia has still got it. She's single you know.

I like Cacho because he's worn, like me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'El Emi' is Emilio

Gabriela can still bring it too.

Gabriela Darre is responsible for most of these photos, not for instance this one of her. She always says her photos are not so good, but as you can see she can use the camera as well as anyone. That's her son El Emi.

Where's the fire?

If you're getting sick of these two and their fabulous tans, your not alone. They did make fire, I mean, a fire. Oops.

The beach was always the place to be.

It seems so long ago already. It's been just a month and the world seems different. Vincent goes back to school next week, Luca shortly thereafter.

Onward and upward. If we take our progress in the slow doses our suffering was ingested, we should be just fine.

Thanks for reading.