Lunch At the White House

 Casapueblo from Punta Ballena

Today (Saturday June 12th) is our second anniversary in Uruguay. It is not a great time of year and we almost didn't do anything special, today, because of the dark and stormy skies. But Denise pushed and I gave in. So we headed up to Punta del Este to visit Casapueblo, at Punta Ballena.

Casapueblo is the house of noted Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. He has a place in Argentina, and this incredible house, built and designed by himself, over the years. In his youth, he hobnobbed with the great and near greats. There is a photo of him and Picasso from his time abroad, as you exit the galleries.

The cost of walking through the "museum" is 120 pesos ($6 US) and it is well worth it. The art was fantastic. But the house is another world. It goes on and on and on. Photos really can't give you a good idea of how extensive it is. And today was not even a great day. We were enchanted with the setting and could only imagine going there on a bright, sunny and warm day. We plan to do just that, because you could visit this place over and over again. You only get to see a small portion of the place, since the artist resides there still from time to time and a hotel has been added, as well.

We were hosted by that couple from Nebraska, Shawn and Mari. Their house is just minutes from Casapueblo. If location is everything, then their house has everything. After looking through the galleries and seeing some of the sights, we stopped into the little restaurant for a quick bite to eat, a coffee and then we were off.

Visiting Another Expat.

Now, that Winter is a creeping in, I am faced with ways to keep myself from feeling house bound. So I emailed another expat that I would like to come a calling! I didn't realize that she doesn't have internet yet and that she wouldn't get my self invite but that's okay because unlike the States (USA), Uruguay really is about friends and family keeping strong physical ties. People here really do enjoy each others company, they share ideas, stories, recipes, recipe books (thanks, Gundy), novels, movies and lots of food. On any given weekend I am surrounded by yummy asado aroma from all my neighbors. Visiting with friends is away of life here in Uruguay and it is great!

Even people coming to scope out Uruguay as a possible retirement destination seem to know the importance of visiting with people. We have had more visitors from other states here, than we did when we actually lived in the USA. People from New York, Hawaii, Georgia and a few days ago a couple we posted about from Memphis Tenn. are just some of the different States we have seen represented. Still it is always good to give a holler out to the ones who have actually taken the plunge and moved here, lock, stock and barrel.

As a side note, if you're wondering why I'm suddenly a talkin' like a hillbilly, (not that there's anything wrong with that) with such phrases as"a creeping in, a come a calling and a holler out to" I think it's because with the winter comes heating the house with wood fires and we have just started to have a few cold nights where we needed to keep a fire burning all night! I feel like we're real country folk (just another country). So I apologize for the venacular. Wally was about to caerse de risa so I need to stop.

Back to my expat visit, I decided to visit Candi despite the fact, she probably didn't know I was coming. She had no clue but welcomed us with open arms and amazingly with hot from the oven chicken wings! We really didn't have ulterior motives by dropping in around lunch time, honestly but what great timing! She even had an expat specialty Ice Tea. I have asked many local people and while tea and of course maté is drunk a lot, drinking cold/iced tea, sweetened with sugar and lemon juice is considered a North American drink.

Candi moved here from Washington State as we did and she (like us) is still learning Spanish. She lives in a balneario outside of Atlántida. She bicycles everywhere and doesn't intend to get a car. She loves that her local store delivers to her house the giant bags of dog food she needs to feed her huge Mastiff puppy named, Honey. I am glad we stopped by and she was too despite not having advance notice of our visit. She's fitting in just fine people-wise. I mentioned to her my newly learned Spanish word for the day, anfitrión a noun meaning host. It comes from a Greek word. In Greek mythology Amphitrion was the King of the Greek city of Thebes and he was famous for his lavish banquets.Spanish adopted this word. Anfitriona (without the accent) is the female form. This word might be hard for me to remember as I haven't heard it before. Candi was una buena anfitriona yesterday. Can anyone please tell me the word we use in Uruguay to say host/hostess? Is it el anfitrión?, if so I'll start practicing now. Spanish language insight needed por favor.

I recently provided an interview about our blogging experience to a website called bloginterviewer.com. You can see some of the reasons why we started to blog by reading my interview. I want to thank Mike and bloginterviewer for this opportunity.

Talk To The Hand

Visitors from Tennessee, this week, forced us to finally visit Punta del Este, after being here in Uruguay for 2 years. Imagine, being less than 2 hours away from one of the most desirable vacation spots in South America and not even visiting there once, in two years. I think this gives you some idea of just how lazy I am.

David and Debi from Memphis, Tennessee have come down to "scope out" Uruguay as a possible retirement destination. We met them and had dinner at Don Vito's (an expat hangout in Atlántida). They are spending 6 days looking to see if this is a country that would provide a safe and stable environment for their later years. They tell us that Memphis is not as secure a place to live as you might think and that "after dark" it is best to stay at home, rather than roam the streets of their city.

The next day we met and drove with them in their car up to Punta del Este. After putting this trip off for 2 years, I was amazed at how quickly we got there (embarrassingly so). And Punta is really beautiful. We came in the back way, through Maldonado (the nearby city) and immediately we could tell when we had entered Punta. It resembled any resort town in the US with luxury condos and lovely shops lining the roads.

We stopped at the famous "Hand In The Sand" monument. According to one site"

“The Hand”, as it has come to be popularly called, is a concrete and plastic work standing here since the summer of 1982, when the Chilean artist Mario Irrazábal was invited to take part in the 1st International Meeting of Modern Sculpture in the Open Air held in the City of Punta del Este.

 Naturally, they were working on the beach and heavy machinery has pushed the sand away from the base, and also there were chips missing from various parts of the sculpture. We will have to visit in "high season" and find out if it has been repaired.

As you can see, the water is a sparkling blue. Punta del Este is the first point where the River (Rio Plata) officially ends. From this point onward, the Atlantic Ocean begins. In actuality, even in front of our house, on nicer days, the water is nice and blue, even though we are classed as being on the "Rio".

You can see picturesque Isla de Lobos (Wolf Island) just off the coast. All in all, we had a fantastic trip and after seeing how easy it was to get there, we will be visiting Punta del Este more often.

Rest In Peace

It is with great sadness that I must report the death of my sourdough bread project. Let us have a few moments of reflective silence, as we mourn the passing of my late sourdough starter. Unfortunately it passed late yesterday evening, despite every effort that could be made.

It had a short life, unfortunately and not very productive. It had just become too much of a burden to care for it. With all of the pets we have, the care and feeding of the starter had become too much, and I guess I feel a sense of relief, after all. I will still continue making bread, but of the more traditional type.

Trees, a Better View or a Darker Day?

When I first moved to Washington State (our home just prior to Uruguay) I was amazed at the stature of the trees in Washington. Healthy and amazingly tall trees (Evergreens) were everywhere. The only other place I had seen such epic trees were the Redwood Groves located in Sequoia National Park, (Northern California). I mean, I've seen THE General Sherman Tree.


It holds the record for the "most massive living thing on Earth", over 2000 tons in weight and depending on the person doing the measurements anywhere from 272-311 feet tall (83.8-95 m) with bark some 3 feet thick. The general Sherman tree is, in the Congress Grove but it is not even the tallest of the Redwoods, other trees surpass it. Here's some photos to demonstrate what I mean!

When I found out a few months after moving here to Uruguay that the new owner of our sold house in Washington State had chopped down the giant pine tree on the corner of our ex- property, I was in mourning for a few days. The tree had been healthy, straight and majestically tall but obviously shaded the lot. I couldn't understand why anyone, would want to go around cutting mature trees down, that is until I MOVED HERE!

Eight felled trees later, on our land here in Uruguay, with two actually paid to be axed by our next door neighbor when I thought we had done our part by downing the six, I can't believe the change in my attitude. Yes, there are tall mature trees here including pines but mature and tall doesn't  necessarily mean pretty or safe. The pine trees here are scraggly and stupidly tall with no root system to support the height. The winds here are blasters, they come in gusts often with gale force.

A near gale force: is 32-38 mph. Whole trees in motion, resistense is felt while walking against the wind.
A gale force is: 39-46 mph wind. Twigs break off of trees, wind impedes walking.
A strong gale force is: 47-54 mph. Slight structural damage to chimneys and slate roofs. See our blog of  Feb.22, 2010 
I am aware that stands of trees actually help keep themselves up and standing when Nature pounds, still I am of the opinion that these pines are the wrong type to have been planted as a group in the first place.  In Carmel, California there are beautiful twisted, wind sculpted trees but they're not as tall!

You probably, have your own thoughts on cutting trees down, (yea or nay) but irregardless, these next few photos are of an all too familiar sight here in Uruguay.

This time my other next door neighbor had a tree cut down.
My attitude this time? Hey thanks, it improved my view!

 Is it my imagination? Or is the world a little gloomier today?

Baipa's In Atlantida

I have to tout the bakery in Atlantida, Baipa. There is a panaderia in Salinas and we will go there to get little coconut macaroons and sometimes a little chocolate cookie. I think these are called, in general, "masas". In Atlantida, however, we have found the best confitería around, Baipa. This group of "masitas" I purchased (chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and creme) to celebrate getting Denise's license, cost us 86 pesos ($4.50 US) and was worth every cent of it. After I perfect my bread-making skills, I will turn to these little delicacies, but I doubt I will improve on these. A fresh cup of cappuccino, and a couple of these makes a very satisfying dessert.

Licencia de Conducir, My Turn.

Last year, Wally blogged over several days about his experience in obtaining a Uruguayan Driver's License, ( Dec. 22, 2009), Now it's my turn! My experience isn't as exciting as Wally's was, so I won't take 2 days to write about how I am now (as of May 24) legally licensed to drive in this country.

I will say, getting my Uruguayan National Drivers license was painless and quick, but through ignorance took me almost 2 years being in this country to get!

When we first arrived in this country we had a facilitator help us through the process of getting our Permanent Cedulas. I do and did appreciate being hand- held during all the steps it took, to receive this document. Not speaking any Spanish, overwhelmed with moving to a new country, a new hemisphere and not knowing the streets etc... was stressful enough, so yeah, I could now after 2 years probably do it all by myself but it was a benefit to me back then to receive help.

As most of you know moving to a new country involves lots and lots of paperwork, I even had to get our marriage license "translated" into a Uruguayan one, also my birth certificate, our immigration guide Peter, helped everything go smoothly. The problem was with the word "translation". Marriage and birth certificates do need a translation and years ago US citizens could get  USA drivers' licenses translated like the other documents, but the US Embassy now no longer helps provide this. I was told, I would need to start all over again and take a "REAL" drivers test, Practical and written and all in Spanish (which I don't speak). So I procrastinated, my original Washington State License was expiring and I was fast approaching one year of residency and still thinking why bother if I have to take the basic tests anyway?

Well, long story short, You do not need to translate a USA State Drivers license. The new word to learn is Homogeneous (uniform). If you have your Cedula, a current (valid) USA State Drivers license, a quick medical examination at a health clinic (SUAT for example) and have been in this country less than 1 year you can go to MVD (Montevideo) City Hall ( The Intendencia) and they "Homogenized" it or absorbed it or roll your existing license into a valid Uruguayan National one. Don't even bother saying the word Homogeneous. We saw it written on the paperwork, that's their pigeon hole for the process.

My experience was this: My Washington State license was able to be renewed online! They e-mailed me the option to renew online. Before I moved here, I should have (in person) walked into the DMV Office and given them a new mailing address or post box., because I didn't do this the renewed license was sent back as undeliverable even though I paid online. I was able to call them and request a replacement license which they informed me would not have my photo on it. It could not be used as a Valid ID because of not having a photo but it would be a Valid Drivers' License and they could then send it to my Sister-In Law (who sent it on to us). With this photo-less Drivers license and my now expired photo D. License, my next step was to leave the country and return. This would put a stamp in my passport that said I was now in the country less than 1 year! Wally and I went to Buenos Aires as you have read before.

The final advance preparation in getting my Uruguayian Drivers license involved my getting a small "okay to drive" examine from one of the approved clinics used for this Driving purpose.  We tried a nearby SUAT Clinic but they said MVD was where we had to go. They said, we would need to call first and make an appointment (an Hora) not true.  I took the #21 bus from the Geant Mall down to the SUAT clinic located in the Futbol Stadium and just asked for "the examine needed to obtain a drivers license"(Licensia de conducir) and immediately filled out some paper work then I went downstairs to be examined. It was a piece of cake! The Doctor asked me if I needed glasses, wore contact lenses or had any health problems. I said no! Then he took my blood pressure, next he had me cover each eye,  then while he pointed at an eye chart I said the letter he pointed at out loud. Finally the funniest test was the Hearing Test! The Doctor goes behind a screen an "whispers" a few numbers (like 1, 7, 6 Etc...) and you have to repeat it, first covering one ear then the other! He even spoke the numbers in English for me to make it less stressful/confusing which it wasn't. He wished me well, I went upstairs and paid $461 Pesos and was given the necessary paperwork to bring to the DMV Bureau.

Getting back on the #21 Bus, I went directly to the Intendencia (City Hall). Finding the appropriate room,  I waited in line (no ticket needed). I gave the girl at the window box everything! Passport with the new BA stamp, (Under 1 year), My Cedula, both my Washington State Drivers licenses (just in case)  and the clinic report/receipt. She stamped it all ( Wally saw the word Homogeneous on it).

Next, you have to wander around upstairs looking for the place to pay for all of this ($815 Pesos). I took a photo, then was told not to (by an armed guard), but here it is, so look quick!  Next going back downstairs to the original room but towards the back you wait for your name to be called. (no ticket, which was good as the machine was empty) My name was called and  I handed the man everything, he had me place my index finger on a machine which photo copied it into the computer (no mess!) Then He took my picture for the Drivers license. I was directed to wait with other applicants for our names to be called. Less than 10 mins later my name was called and I received on the spot!, My photo laminated, Republica Oriental Del Uruguay, Licencia Nacional De Conductor (Drivers License of Uruguay!)

I don't know if it's because I'm younger than Wally or because I had that renewed Washington State license but My Uruguayan license is valid till the year 2020! unlike Wally's  D. License which (this first time) is only good for 2 years! (2011) Next time he can apply for a 10 year one. Great for me!
 
Well this account of MY Turn, didn't take 2 days to blog but was so detailed it probably felt like it, so here's a photo taken outside of City Hall I thought you'd appreciate.    It's me of course showing you my Drivers License! What else would you be looking at?