Visitors From the US

This past week, we had more visitors. Steve and Dianne (4th & 6th from left) our local tour guides from La Floresta, brought visitors to us. With their help, we have not had to go out and find people to visit- they bring them right to our door. It helps having a car, and when we see a little vintage white VW beetle pull up the street, we know that a treat is in store for us.

The primary visitors were Andy and Brendan, cousins from Georgia and New Hampshire. They are 1st and 5th from the left. Which one is Andy and which one is Brendan still remains a mystery, but the 1st on the left is from New Hampshire and 5th from the left is from Georgia (he is the one who had a time share that they traded for vacation in Punta del Este). One wants to escape from the harsh winters of New Hampshire and the other just wants to escape the U.S.

Steve and Dianne also brought Eddie, an expat from Atlantida, hailing out of Germany. He is quite the entrepreneur and is growing an import business which will cater to expats, as well as locals. Among other things, he is importing woodburning stoves, a much needed commodity, here. He is known as "Lucky" on the expat forum (Southron Society) which has been of immense help on providing information on Uruguay.

Today our iron worker is installing sliding bars on the kitchen window. He has brought grinders, welding equipment and the most important tool in Uruguay- hot water and yerba (maté). We had not intended to install bars on all windows and doors, but the reasonable costs and added security seems to be worth it. We will improve and lock the large wooden shutters, so the main view windows will always be clear of bars, but the rest of the openings are going to be very secure.