Costa Urbana!

It's been 1 year since the Costa Urbana shopping mall has been built. You might be saying "So what?" What does it matter that a new mall has been built. However, recently I was watching an episode of "Royal Pains" a TV show and I was reminded of how some people picture Uruguay. I'm pretty sure that the writing staff made a blunder. A female doctor (on the show) was going to a backwater place (with no doctors) to help out. The show said she was going to Uruguay into the bush! Well, as the University here is accessible to everyone, we actually have "a lot of doctors" serving this country and the health care system is excellent! Wally and I just looked at each other during those episodes and laughed at how little is known about this country.  Needless to say, I think the writing staff finally figured out that Uruguay wasn't some backwater place and "suddenly" she was in "Uganda"(Africa) in the bush serving as a doctor. Ah!, that was more like it. I mean both countries start with a "U" but other than that what a difference!

The building of this mall, located in Lagomar (lake and sea), had quite an impact on the community because it was built over and alongside a major throughway. Lagomar is one of the beach communities just outside of Montevideo in the department of Canelones on what is considered the gold coast or Costa de Oro.

The reason I wanted to write about this mall is that the builders added a feature to this site that I recently took advantage of. Uruguay touts itself in tourist ads as "Uruguay Natural" with an emphasis on maintaining green belts. So one day as I had to go to Lagomar for some banking and it was a nice day I decided to ver off the straight and narrow. Don't worry, I just decided to check out a side path.

The mall straddles both sides of a busy main road with a connecting skybridge.

 As shown in this picture, I could have walked straight ahead, directly to the mall. However, this was no ordinary sidewalk but a "wooden boardwalk" that gave you 2 path options to take to the mall. I decided to take the meandering one, the one less traveled.

An off to the side detour takes you down alongside a wetland area with a lake view of the water and Pampas grass growing on its shore.

The sound of frogs and of crickets is really loud here. On a sunny day it was relaxing.

The end of the little jaunt leaves you at a playground that is quite professional in comparison to others that I've seen. It's well lit, so it can be taken advantage of at night. There were quite a few children and adults using this cheery space.

You can see how it might be a great place to hang out for husbands, while their wives go shopping in the mall. There is an upstairs food court with believe it or not a Chinese food stand, not common here.

As mentioned, this mall has 2 sides to it that connect together with a skybridge. Your supposed to use that upstairs portion to cross the busy street but most people take their chances running across the road.

Since the mall is only a year old (in March) everything inside is shiny and new. The floors are a polished white. Hey, If you ever wanted to see the inside of a ladies restroom, here's your chance. I just thought you'd like to see that we don't go in the bushes here.

There is also a multiplex cinema in this mall. This Sunday afternoon, I will be coming back here to watch a 3D animated movie with some friends. It's actually the first time in 4 years that I've been to a movie here. I promised my friends to take their pictures and put them in my blog so I'll make a small report on what it was like going to the movies here. I think the movie will be in Spanish.

So next time you think about Uruguay don't think about a underdeveloped place but about how this country is trying to match urban development with a nod to nature. Right now, in reflecting on this mall trip I'm reminded of my own expat journey or path to Uruguay and also of the poet Robert Frost and his poem, "The Road Not Taken". I wonder how many people haven't bothered to take this little side walkway, is it "the one less traveled by"?

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost