Holly

Uruguay’s charm still has me completely enamored! I visited friends in the popular beach town of Punta del Este, about two hours east of Montevideo by bus. It’s supposed to be winter here, but on Saturday the temperature was 30ºC and I actually got to enjoy the spectacular playas without the crowds. Later, I met up with my friends Francisco and Silvana and we had mates at a pier overlooking the most beautiful sunset, ever!

Silvana y yo. She was one of the Uruguayas that I met while studying Portuguese in Brazil. She offered me a place to stay and I graciously accepted. This is Latin American hospitality at its finest!

Sipping mates with Fran, the Porteño transplant doing his masters in Montevideo on MercoSur Law.

And then there were some sea lions just hanging out. Chillin…

The next day the three of us met up again and started our afternoon with an amazing pasta lunch!

We then went to Punta Ballena (Whale Point). It offers an amazing view of the South Atlantic where one can see whales along their natural migratory paths.

¡Silvana!

Casapueblo is a working art studio and museum built by artist Carlos Páez Vilaro. The house is also a hotel and a beautiful masterpiece dedicated to Uruguay.

La Mano. This is a gigantic hand made of plastic by Chilean sculptor Mario Irrazábal.

I have spent the past three nights in a hostel back in Montevideo, but I am getting ready to leave right now for Minas. Minas is a little town in the mountains, and I will be visiting one of my best friends from Argentina that now lives here in Uruguay. It is starting to get cold, but I imagine it is going to be beautiful! I’ll be back to Montevideo next week for one more day, then I am going back to Buenos Aires for my last weekend in South America! One week from Tuesday I will be… home?

Montevideo is such a beautiful city. The architecture in blend of old and new, and gives the city a personality distinct from its Rioplatense neighbor Buenos Aires. Here are some photos I shot in downtown and Ciudad Vieja:

I love the juxtaposition of new reflecting old.

There is a fountain with a legend that states if a couple carves their initials into a padlock and locks it around the fountain, their love will be locked forever in time. How precious, no?

And then I saw a couple doing it!

Street Artisans in the struggle for art and the right to autonomous work

Palacio Legislativo, the Congressional building

Uruguay´s beloved author Mario Benedetti passed away on May 17, and his body was on display for people to come and say goodbye. I am glad I had the opportunity to go.

Teatro Solís, Montevideo´s historical theater

Right now I am in Punta del Este, a beach town about an hour and a half outside Montevideo. I am staying with friends and will be here for a few days, and then I will return to Montevideo before I go to Minas to visit another friend. ¡Hasta pronto!

I have been in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, for about two weeks now and I have officially fallen in love with this city. After a short visit here the last time I was in South America, I knew that I had to spend more time here. I have been staying in the historic neighborhood of the city called Ciudad Vieja (Old City), and every day I become more fascinated with this place. Ciudad Vieja is adjacent to the official downtown neighborhood, so I am very centrally-located and I can walk to almost every place I want to go. My residence hall is one block off of a pedestrian street where there are tons of restaurants, shops and vendors selling artisanal items. The pedestrian street begins at Plaza Independencia where there is a huge statue of Jose Artigas on a horse, Uruguay’s national hero, and beneath the statue is a mausoleum that houses the general’s remains. Currently there is an art exhibition installed in Plaza Independencia of United Nations Buddy Bears. There is a bear for each country represented in the United Nations, and each one has been painted to illustrate some aspect of each nation’s cultural identity.

The United States bear is painted like the Statue of Liberty. It looks nice but a little boring, I think.

El oso de Cuba.

I had to take a picture of the Greek bear for the folks at The Continental, the Greek restaurant where I work in Seattle.

The bears are positioned around Plaza Independencia in such a way that they seem to be worshiping the statue of Artigas. It is almost comical.

The mausoleum of Artigas beneath the statue.

The words are a time line of important events in the life of the general and the history of Uruguay.

Birth of the General Jose Artigas June 19, 1784

Battle of Las Piedras May 18, 1811
Las Piedras was the Spanish headquarters during the revolutionary war to liberate Argentina and Uruguay from Spain. The battle fought on that day resulted in a triumph for the the revolution and was one of the most important victories during the war. May 18 is a national holiday here in Uruguay.

Exile to Paraguay September 1820

Death of the General September 23, 1850

Jose Artigas Repatriation of his remains September 19, 1855

Puerta de la Ciudadela – This wall remains as the original gateway to the city of Montevideo. It is at the end of Plaza Independecia and leads to the pedestrian street that I mentioned before, Sarandi.

The internet here is painfully slow, so that is all I have for now. There has been a crazy thunderstorm happening all morning, but I think it has let up a bit so I am going to wander out to try to find the only lady in all of Uruguay –and all of South America it seems to me– that sells peanut butter. I’ll be posting more photos soon, so check back!

Argentina is famous for many things:  Eva Perón, fantastic beef (too bad I´m vegetarian now), intricate wines (one must try Malbec), astonishing glaciers, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, repeated economic crises.  But, if there is one thing that could define the cultural identity of Argentina outside of its borders, it would have to be tango.  One need only walk down the busy Avenida Florida, visit a park on a nice day or cruise a weekend féria (street fair) to see authentic tango in the streets.

However, my previous experiences living in Buenos Aires did not necessarily echo this cultural sentimentality.  To my friends, tango is a touristy thing that is only appreciated by extranjeros.  Well, my friend Meg and I made a point to see a tango show while in Buenos Aires, and we decided to go to a famous Porteño landmark called Café Tortoni.  Appreciated or not, tango is breathtaking to watch! It is also important to note that tango is more than just a dance.  It is a genre.  Along with the dance steps, a person can sing and/or play music in the style of tango, and its sound is distinctly original and authentically Argentine.

In my next entry I will begin sharing images from Uruguay.  Montevideo is such a fantastic city, and its buena onda is totally understated.  Yesterday, one of Uruguay´s most famous and beloved authors, Mario Benedetti, passed away at 88 years of age.  His body was on display at the Palacio Legislativo and I went to the Congressional building to pay my respects.  Today is a sad day in Montevideo.

Buenos Aires has one of the most famous cemeteries in South America called Cemeterio de la Recoleta. It is the permanent resting place of many prestigious and wealthy Argentinos, with Eva Perón being the most famous of all. It is a maze of mausoleums and intricate sculptures, and there is a large population of feral cats that patrols the cemetery. It’s free to visit and a beautiful place to practice shooting photography.

Oh this guy was such a poser… I miss my kitties!

I’m finally in Uruguay! I arrived in Montevideo last Friday and began Spanish classes on Monday at a school for extranjeros (foreigners) called Academia Uruguay. They have a hostel-style residence area and I am renting a room here, which is located in the downtown neighborhood of Ciudad Vieja. I love this neighborhood and I feel like I am right in the middle of everything! I live on the corner of Plaza Constitución which is adjacent to a pedestrian street filled with shops and restaurants. The only thing is that no one really lives in this area since it is downtown, so at night it is a little bit sketchy. The unusually warm autumn weather finally subsided, and the past couple of days have been rainy, dreary and cold and I’m totally loving it!

One of my priorities upon arriving in Montevideo was to immediately go to a dentist. The friendly people at my language school helped me locate an office and made an appointment for me, and today I went to the dentist… again. The Brazilian dentist told me I probably need a root canal, but the Uruguayan dentist told me that what I need is to have my wisdom teeth extracted. However, in January of this year I actually had a consultation for wisdom teeth extraction with an American dentist who told me I should absolutely NOT have these teeth pulled since they’re fully erupted and not causing me any problems. My toothache is not in my third molar and so three different dentists have told me three different things. The Uruguayan dentist also said that the pain could be caused by clenching and/or grinding my teeth at night and suggested an acrylic bite plate.

So what am I supposed to do? In the meantime, my tooth still hurts and I don’t know, something tells me no one has it quite right. And I’m also a little wary of the Uruguayan dentist’s diagnosis because he said all this before sending me across town to get ex-rays taken, then said basically the same thing after I returned with the films. The only really great thing is that my consult today cost $0. Seriously, zero pesos, zero dollars. I had to pay $330 pesos uruguayos for the ex-rays, which is about $15 dollars. The same ex-rays I had taken in January in Seattle cost $75 dollars, plus $100 dollars just for the consult. $175 versus $15. What is wrong with the United States??

I guess I’ll just keep up with my ibuprofen regimen for now. Maybe I’ll go to a different dentist here in Montevideo. This whole toothache problem is really starting to get me down.

Hola from Buenos Aires, Argentina! It has been awhile since I had consistent internet access. I really enjoyed my week in Rio de Janeiro with my friend Meg. It was such a drastic change from my experience in Salvador, and I definitely treated myself to the mental break. We arrived in Argentina last Friday and it has been so wonderful reconnecting with my friends and old neighborhood here in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow we are heading across the Rio de la Plata to Uruguay where I will begin the last leg of my study abroad contract. I cannot believe how quickly time is passing! I begin Spanish classes on Monday at a language school for foreigners called Academia Uruguay in Montevideo, so my little “vacation” in Rio and Buenos Aires is coming to an end.

Rio is a beautiful city! I absolutely understand why it is such a popular tourist destination. I had a great time exploring the different neighborhoods and practicing my Portuguese with the Cariocas (people from Rio). The weather was also a nice change from sweltering Salvador, and it only rained one time while we were there. We stayed in a hostel in Ipanema but managed to explore almost the entire city.

Rio de Janeiro from the airplane.

My friend Meg and me at the Feira Hippie de Ipanema, or Ipanema Hippie Market. We scored all sorts of cool handmade jewelry and things!

We met two nice ladies from San Francisco at the Hippie Fair and they invited us to have dinner with them. It was such a great time! You never know who you are going to meet traveling…

The next day we went to the statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) that overlooks the entire city.

On the train going up Corvocado on our way to see Jesus. My friend Karen whom I met in Salvador happened to be in Rio while we were there, her last stop before heading back to Vancouver, Canada.

The day started off completely gorgeous without a single cloud in the sky, but by the time we arrived it was totally cloudy and we really didn’t get to see the spectacular view at all.

This is what we were supposed to see…

The clouds parted for about three minutes and revealed the city below.

Brad, Karen, Meg and Jesus. We met Brad (also from Canada) while waiting for the train.

It was still a fun afternoon despite the disappointing clouds.

Ipanema beach…paradise.

Another beautiful beach.

The thumbs-up is overused in Brazil… and it’s contagious.

Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf). We rode the tram to the top where we encountered a breathtaking view of Rio, minus the clouds this time!

The next day we rode bikes around the lake and met this guy.

Jesus is everywhere in this city.

Studying Portuguese in Brazil was an amazing experience for me, but I have to confess that I am very relieved to be back in Spanish mode. I can’t wait to arrive in Uruguay tomorrow!

¡Hasta pronto!