I'm legal

I got my cedula last week. I am a legal resident of Uruguay at last. In reality this hasn't changed much regarding daily life, but it is a milestone. I can flash that thing if I have to. Here, you are asked for this document constantly, but for extranjero like me, you can just say that you don't have one. Clerks and officials alike are stumped. They just don't know what to do, so they let you do whatever it is you're doing anyway; using a credit card or signing for something. Now, I will have the option to show my new card or fall back on "sorry, I don't have one".
It's been cold and rainy lately and last night didn't dissapoint. We had some friends over anyway.
Our fireplace is working well and often these days and sometimes we cook in it. Our friends came; Claudia with her children, also Mono and son. We made two pizzas from scratch (in the oven with a great pizza 'stone'), chorizos and a colita de cuadril in the fireplace. Janine had made some awesome chocolate chip cookies to seal our fate. Our house is alcohol free for a couple of months now, so many of our friends are working on this issue. The parties are just as good, better if you ask me. We lucked into something unusual for Mvd.; a high quality flower that was a delight. We cooked, ate, talked, ate some more. It was as good as it gets.
I have made some progress with my technology problems. I have a new phone, but no camera. I am still weighing my options, but a phone/camera just won't do for my needs.
The internet is working again at home and I finally removed and reinstalled Nero and can successfully burn the movies I've been downloading. I'm loving it.
Bye for now.
CORRECTION: A good site to get news and information on Uruguay is called 'Small State'. However the address is http://benjamingedan.blogspot.com/. I guess Small State at blogspot was taken. Sorry for the error, but please visit the site when you can.
JD

Latineada

Last night was Luca's latineada. Both 6th grade classes have a sleep-over at the school. They cook hamburgers outside, play games and get very little sleep. Every class has one each year. Vincent's turn is next week. The next morning is a breakfast for the parents.
We are experiencing unusually warm weather lately. It got cold for maybe a week or so (it should be much colder by now) and boom, we're back to summer. It was something like 80 yesterday. Great for the Latineada I suppose.
The weather here is already pretty great. The summer is long, winter short and very little in between. It's more like six months of summer weather, two fall/spring months and 4 of cold, rainy weather which nobody likes. I think it's a fantastic deal.
If only there was a little more business going on here. Just a little more would be nice, you know?
More next time.....

It's Cool

The weather is turning cooler now as we head toward winter. This is mild compared to what we're used to, but everybody groans anyway. Most days are still quite warm and I still marvel at the blue of the sky here. Seriously, it's beyond blue.
Everyone is doing alright. Vincent has a slight cold. The hardest part is to keep him inactive long enough to get completely well. Luca is having a 'pijamada' or slumber party this weekend. Six kids plus our two, and a long night for the parents.
Still plugging away on our house project (click this link http://sansalvadorhouse.blogspot.com/ for details) while starting some of the planning for our next project; Coffee Bar.
I have recently been relieved of my camera ( I thought I was being careful), so there will be few, if any pictures for a while.
Stay tuned please, get your "what's going on in Uruguay news" right here. For actual information beyond what the DeLalla's are doing, see http://smallstate.blogspot.com/.
For now, it's cool. The weather, the life and what's up the road.
thanks for reading,
Ciao

Janine and the Boys visit U.S.

The family took advantage of their flier miles and had booked a trip to NY a while back. They had about 12 days visiting friends and from all I've heard it went well.
A few snapshots of some museum trips and general hanging around.

Our House

Here are some pictures of our house "Villa Punk". That's our sporty little car parked out front. It's a bit of an industrial facade, but in a way it's perfect for here. Not inviting to robbers in appearance or access. On the inside it's comfortable and homey. Perhaps in the near future we can remodel a bit. I have some ideas.

Starting below left, then clockwise;
1.Top of the stairs landing. 2.The playroom. 3.Patio parilla. 4. Up the street. 5. Our Bedroom. 6. The kitchen. 7. The kid's room. 8. The guest room. 9. Frontage. 10. Down the street. 11. The galpon. 12. Kid's playing. 13. The bathroom. 14.Entrance 15. Garage door 16.Kid's beds. 17. Kid's closet. 18. Kitchen. 19. Patio again, kitchen and side entrance. 20.The dining area, stairs and the living room. 21. Patio toward front. 22. Upstairs landing.

The galpon, the huge space behind the house, is a part of the parking garage next door. The original lot included both the house and the garage. When it was divided, the city required the split off lot to be a minimum size, so the house got the 'galpon'. The kids are happy with a field to play a variety of sports.
They will have to give it up for a short time though. I am taking a little less than half for my new workshop and right now its' full of my stuff. When I slow down on San Salvador, I will build a wall separating the two areas and give the kids back some space. Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it.

So, that's it. Our house.