Foreigners

Yes, foreigners is what we are. And this Saturday, one of the local expats in Atlantida (Katherine, a former attorney from the US) arranged for some of us foreigners to get together at Don Vitos Restaurant. It was truly a dreary day, so our friends from La Floresta (Steve and Dianne) braved the weather in their trusty white steed and came to pick us up.

Interestingly, the VW Bug is a very well known and often seen car on the road in Uruguay. Since we have been looking at cars for a future purchase, we have earmarked several VW's to consider. We would prefer a 4 door, but the economy and ease of repair of the Bug keep it in our considerations.

We made it to Don Vitos at about 12 noon and we were among the first to arrive. We knew a number of the people there, but most were people we had never met before. Some were from Georgia, New Mexico, New York, California and numerous places throughout the US. There were also a number of returning Uruguayans who have lived in the US for many years and have recently returned here in retirement. It was kind of a cultural shock to be conversing so freely in English with all in attendance.

This picture was taken very early on and only shows about half of the people who eventually came in. Naturally, I forgot to take another picture, but I was quite surprised at the number and variety of attendees. A few were scoping out Uruguay as a possible home, but most have already made their decision and backed it up with home purchases and settling into the community.

Plans were made to hold this lunch several times each month. With the turnout we had, it wouldn't be surprising to see 20 or more each time it was held. Since you rarely run into an expat in your day to day activities, it was a pleasant surprise to find so many gathered in one place and get a chance to find out how they all came to be here. It will be interesting to see how this develops.