RUST!

One of the disadvantages of living near the beach is rust, the second is sand, carried by the wind it tends to cover everything. The sand I can take care of by dusting and sweeping daily. The rust that corrodes anything metal is a bigger problem for us because both Wally and I hate to paint!

So, instead of painting our old garbage can, we arranged to have it replaced with a  55 gallon drum (the garbage can style of choice here) with a new one. That project was way overpriced, I feel. A new can from the feria costs about 800 pesos and the Louis pair wanted 2500 pesos. Still, my old can would have to be removed, un-welded from it's stand and a new one installed. I also had upgraded the design years ago by having another Hierro guy add a lip or flat rim around the edge so that the can would close firmly.  This way I wouldn't cut myself on the thin edge having a rim installed. This new Hierro guy said he could use my old rim and give me a new installed drum can with it.

I wish I had asked the iron worker if he could have made me a new rim as well but I was trying to save money by having him use the old rim, (it was newer than the original can). I would have liked to have known, what he would have charged me for "my design" totally done up new. Most cans here, don't normally have that type of edge added. I guess I'm feeling kinda of petty right now because although the people of Uruguay are not particularly materialistic in the same way as back in the States (USA) I just noticed that today, my next door neighbor just got a "new trash can" from these same guys and they added "my trim design" to their new can. I don't know what they paid for it but because their can included a new rim, right from the beginning, not a cut out version, re-tacked onto their can. Their can looks so much better than mine does! The edge seams are not as ragged looking as mine. My neighbors also unknowingly have me to thank for another upgrade that I probably paid for them.

A few days after my can was installed, I went to dump my trash bag into it and I noticed, the title of this post, "RUST!" Again! This time the rust was inside the can. If unstopped I'd be right back where I started from. The workers had painted the outside green and I thought that the inside was coated with a silver paint as it was mat-like and looked painted.

I waited for a few days, after some rainy weather passed and bought some paint for rust prevention, a red paint sold here and also a spray can of silver paint to spray over the red paint when it dried. Remember, that I hate to paint! Well, when I went out to finally do the deed, that's when I saw my neighbor's can being installed, the neighbors were at work during the install. Well, I called the workers over, this time Louis the father was with his son and I showed them my rust problem. I said that the same thing would happen to my neighbor's can and that "they should have theirs also painted inside". The workers mentioned that they should "up the price" in the future to include that. I showed them my tiny can of red paint and the father offered to paint the inside bottom of the can with it. I then offered them 100 pesos if they could go and buy a bigger size can of red rust preventive paint and completely paint the inside for me, top and bottom. I mentioned that the neighbor should have their can painted as well. So off the father went to the store. Apparently, the bigger size can and his labor, cost me 150 pesos more (about $8) but it was worth it to get everything done. I asked if they had change for 200 pesos, they said they did, but then, could only find 40 pesos in change to give back to me. Then they painted my can and the neighbor's can completely inside. Something that I know, they had not intended to do for the neighbor as I saw the can installed and it was without paint inside of it, like mine was.

1) My neighbor's new can. 2) My can. 3) A  3rd. neighbor's can, standard original sharp-edge, rimless design. 

It's the weirdest thing how my mind works. I can be oddly generous and petty at the same time! How sad! I don't mind that I actually payed for the inside paint job of my neighbor's can, unbeknownst to them. I am glad I stopped a big future problem for their can. I am only "kind of miffed", that their can is so much more, better looking than mind is because of "my design" being incorporated new from the start into theirs. Their old can did not have this design feature. However, the really "petty thing" on my part is that I'm actually mad that I got shorted 10 pesos or .50 cents! Go figure? However, I guess if I really put things into perspective, it's really all just rust and garbage in the end. I think I'll go to the beach and remind myself of why I enjoy living here in Uruguay!

***July 20th, COLD, COLD, COLD!

This isn't worth adding an entirely new post about, so I'm linking it with this one.

Starting Thursday, July 18th, we were put on "Orange Alert" through Tuesday, because of an Arctic Cold Blast of weather. I sometimes forget, how close we are to Antarctica!  You can click on the link and read the newspaper in Spanish about what's expected to occur each day (Good practice if your moving here). I decided to load-up on my indoor firewood stock, so I wouldn't have to go outside during the night.  Normally, I just keep a few logs under the stove, not on the entire living room floor.

My fire keeping me warm. The sky at 10 am. Saturday!

It's going to be "the coldest week of the year". although 43 degrees F. to 46 during the days doesn't seem cold there will be frigid Polar cold waves. Seeing that it is now Saturday the 20th, I can attest to the fact that the nights are indeed not just chilly but biting cold! The sensation feels like 6 to 10 degrees below 0. Of course, that is 0 Celsius which means only from 24 F to 26 degrees F. Still, If it rained that would mean snow!  Argentina had snow one day about 5 years ago, Which was really big news!

I've used up 1 and 1/2 ton of firewood so far this winter as shown by the empty space.

I awoke to frost on my lawn. Even my cat who dashes out the door to escape whenever it opens decided he didn't need to go away today. He didn't even step on the frosty grass! Even Shila, my dog couldn't believe Nathan wasn't coming!

So this is what's happening weather-wise in Uruguay this week!

The Price of Eggs!

This is not some political commentary, it's just a much asked about;  price comparison list.

Many people who think about living in a foreign country want to know about the "nuts and bolts", the "nitty gritty" or among other things, the basic cost/price of things for sale. Usually, they want to know about food prices. Hence the title, "the price of eggs".

Remember that, 1 gallon equals 3.78541 liters, not quite 4 full liters.  100 grams equals .22 or under 1/4 pound. 500 grams equals 1.10 pounds, 1 Kilo (1000 grams) equals 2.20 pounds (.20 over 2 lb.). That's important to know because we use liters, grams and kilos in shopping here. We also count on exchange rates changing, when figuring out our living costs here.

Since many expats get paid in US dollars or get USA social security checks, we have to exchange this for local currency. As the exchange rate changes (drops or raises) changing money into another currency can mean getting back fewer pesos (when it is low) or we can receive more pesos in exchange for our dollar (when it's high), hence the buying power of the dollar changes,  for us expats. Lately, It seems that I always have fewer pesos given back to me in exchange for my dollar hence, it's becoming more expensive for me to buy goods as the exchange rate seems to drop more than it rises.

When asking, "What does it cost?" or "What is the price of eggs here?  The answer is not that simple!

What equals 1 US dollar is a little tricky to compute, when comparing it to a peso. It depends on the exchange rate! It can be worth 18.70 pesos (we were averaging that for a while, sigh). Worse, it can get you even less pesos, going down from that amount or it can suddenly go up! Giving you 20 or more pesos in exchange for your dollar means you can buy a few more things. This past 2 weeks it amazingly went up to 20.50 pesos per dollar, Yeah!!!. In times past, I have heard tales of $1 (dollar) getting up to 34 pesos in exchange. Five years ago, just before we came here, you got 24 pesos for your dollar. Oh, how I wish, we got that now. That would be good for us expats but bad for the country, I guess.

To make figuring out what things cost in dollars, a little easier, thinking and adding with a 20 to 1 ratio in mind is a lot quicker than figuring up partial dollars. You could of course, be constantly checking a bank daily for it's exchange rate. To be on the safe side in budget figuring, I use a middle of the road average, a 19 to 1 ratio. If a candy bar cost say, 19 pesos, it roughly costs 1 dollar , sometimes more, sometimes less than a dollar, depending on the exchange rate, that's why I said roughly a dollar. At 19 pesos to the dollar, if something cost 95 pesos, I would be paying about $5 (in US dollars) for it. At a 20 to 1 peso exchange rate, 100 pesos would equal $5, you get 5 extra pesos to play with. The higher the exchange rate the more spare pesos you get, thus increasing your buying power.

In comparing what I used to buy in the United States,  regarding amounts and money to what I now buy and pay for here in Uruguay, I use a bizarre "on the fly" method of money and volume figuring,  I would need to buy at least 4 bags of milk (a liter per bag) to approximate a gallon of milk, since they won't let me walk out of the store with 3 bags and a partial .79th of a bag. 4 bags of milk cost 62 pesos (@15.50 pesos per bag). So I pay about $3.26 US (62 divided by 19) for a (plus some) gallon of milk at a 19 to 1 exchange rate. At a lower exchange rate of say, 18.75 pesos to a $1 exchange rate, I would be paying $3.31 (US) for a plus gallon of milk. A 5 peso difference! At a higher exchange rate of 20 to 1, I'd be paying only $3.10. So depending on the daily exchange rate my 4 bags of milk could cost me an equivalent in US dollars either, $3.10 or $3.26 or $3.31 or more, or less!!! Exhausting and frustrating to keep up with budget planning for sure.

Someone from Washington State in the USA sent me a list of items that they buy and wanted to know how much they cost here. This is why I'm going into such detail.

Milk is sold here in little, 1 liter bags for 15.50 pesos a bag. You have to buy a separate container to stand the little bag up in. This container has a handle but not a lid. I hear that in Canada and other places they sell milk in bags too. As a hearty milk drinker I miss my gallon plastic milk jugs with their sturdy handles and little plastic caps. I am forever trying to carefully cut a small corner off the bag. I then seem to always spill some of it as I pour the milk, despite trying to carefully hold the container hoping that the bag doesn't flop out of it. It's a good thing that I actually get a little more than a gallon.

Butter cost 46 pesos for 200 grams (under 1/2 lb.), salted or unsalted ($2.37 US @ 19 to 1). The price has gone up about 1 peso a year since I've been here.

Eggs can be gotten in a six pack for about 22 pesos (a little over $1.15 US), in a 12 pack or in 15 egg packages.  At the feria the eggs are wrapped together in newspaper. That is great during the winter when we need newspaper to start our wood stove fires. The price of eggs can vary as they sell both white eggs and brown eggs and with the number of eggs in a package. One time Wally was even able to buy consistently some double yolk eggs. The seller must have known the chicken and its habits personally. Prices range from 45 to 56 pesos a dozen. ($2.37 to $2.95 US a dozen)

White Flour (wheat and bleached) can cost 34.50 pesos for a 1 kilo bag (2.2 lb.) in a regular store. I go to the feria and buy it for 23 pesos for a kilo bag. So I usually buy 2 bags at a time from the feria. I   look for the "0000" cut as it's a finer flour. You can also buy  "000". The price is roughly the same. Rice is about 25 pesos for a kilo at the feria.

Hamburger, I buy in a store at the butcher counter.  In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm very thrifty so I look for offerings that look fresh but are a bargain. I buy the "oferta (offer)"at 97 pesos a kilo (2.20lb.) versus 157 pesos. Hamburger is generally leaner here than in the states so the cheaper priced one suits me. I recently bought at the feria, a package of 8 hot dogs (73 pesos), 2 little pork chops and 2 chorizos (sausages) and the bill was under 150 pesos in total. I will definitely go there again!

Potatoes, you can get the ones with red skins or white potatoes also Yams and sweet potatoes which are a little higher priced. Usually they are from 35 to 45 pesos a kilo (2.20 lb.) This week, I got a great deal from a stand and I paid only 26 pesos per kilo. I got 12 nice sized red skin potatoes. The neighboring stand was selling them for 30 pesos a kilo so it pays to go from stall to stall not only looking for the cheapest price but for the best looking ones as well, I got both!

I have a basic "core list" of what I call expat items. These items are what I feel I need to buy to indulge my North American taste buds with when cooking at home. Some products like the eggs (huevos), milk (leche) and butter (manteca), flour (harina) and sugar (azúcar) would obviously be on anybodies list, Uruguayan or not. Still, as mentioned in another post some things like Peanut Butter would not be a normally, regularly bought item for a Uruguayo, but is a must have for an expat.

Sugar, yes, it is bought by many a Uruguayan, but expats also seem to have an odd need for brown sugar. In the USA you have your choice of "light or dark" brown sugar. Here you can only get the light brown and it's called "blond" or Azúcar Rubio (blond sugar). It is made here in Uruguay but it's one of those items that is not always available. About two years ago, expats were busy online asking each other and the local forum where did the brown sugar go? Where can I buy some? People started trying to concoct home made recipes but maple syrup or even molasses the main ingredient is not really available here either, so that didn't help.  It seems that the "blond sugar" mysteriously disappeared from off the shelf. I don't know if it was a strike or simply that they only make it when they have time off from making other stuff. That's the strange thing about Uruguay, items can be like shopping in Costco, if you see it, get it while you can.

Brown sugar is back! Expats now usually buy 2 to 3 bags of it at a time (their marketing strategy all along??). Well anyway, we've learned to stock up! It cost 31 pesos per 500 gram bag.

Powdered sugar is called, Azúcar Impalpable, which always cracks me up, as the word impalpable in English means; "that cannot be felt or easily perceived". Polvo means "dust" or "powder" in Spanish and "en polvo" means 'powered". This term is used for other products called powdered but not in this case. So by all means, add to my shopping list, "that which can not be easily perceived"!

Ketchup I buy the biggest bottle I can. The best price is at Disco supermarkets but it costs 234 pesos for a 64oz (4pound) bottle or about $12.32 US for a bottle! More people here use "Mayo" (Mayonnaise) and Mustard (Mostaza) instead. At restaurants I always have to ask for ketchup when served French Fries.

Soy Sauce (Soya) and Worcestershire Sauce are 2 expat staple items "not normally found" on a local's grocery list. Maybe expats don't need the worcestershire sauce as much as the Soy sauce. Regarding soy sauce, I've had some Uruguayo friends invite me for a "special" chinese dinner in which they used some soy sauce on vegetables and rice. It was a novelty to them. I use it often. Worcestershire is by the way spelled with a "cester" spelling not "chester" as I used to spell it.  I broke down and bought some "Heinz brand" worcestershire sauce instead of my usual "Lea and Perrin" this time because of the 20% more offer, resulting in a 12 oz. bottle for only 120 Pesos (slightly over $6 US)  instead of a 10 oz bottle. The Soy sauce cost 127 pesos $6.50 US.

Pancake Syrup costs a whopping 174 pesos or about $9.16 US a bottle yet it still flies off the shelf and then disappears for months at a time from our supermarket that caters to foreigners, (Tienda Inglesa). It's not a named brand either. At my store you have 1 choice, a HY-Top syrup made with 2% Real Maple syrup. When it disappeared for a while an expat homemade recipe was born and passed along to many an expat. A friend Debi, who lives in Colonia made some and gave us a bottle of homemade syrup. It  tasted like, what we had been buying. Wally says, he wants to start making our own. The only trouble is you need someone to send you some "Maple extract", a small bottle used for cookies etc... from the USA or brought in as a gift. Then with a few drops of that, you can basically cook up sugar water, browning it on your stove top and make your own syrup. Until I have some maple extract, I will still have to buy it at the store when I can find it.

Olive Oil I now buy at the feria in a smaller (non-virgin oil) 1 liter amount for 130 pesos or 180 for virgin oil. Otherwise I would have to pay 230 to 280 pesos for 1.5 liters (albeit Virgin oil) at the supermarket. Of course, quality varies according to brand and country but I use it in cooking when I can, as I think it's healthier.

Coffee 500 grams (1.10 lb.) cost 122 pesos or 6.42 dollars (at Tienda Inglesa, it's cheaper there).I think that coffee maybe tied into the exchange rate somehow because last week when it was higher the coffee price actually dropped in price, Kind of like 2 savings in one. Most expats don't like the coffee here (it's not Colombian). Instead the Industria Uruguaya roasts the coffee with sugar, Café glaseado. Since Wally and I drink our coffee with milk and sugar anyway, the way in which they roast the coffee here is not an issue with us. But most other true coffee connoisseurs seem upset with it. Many go out of their way in search of the beans to grind themselves but still have problems finding green beans that have not already been roasted with sugar. I buy the tienda Inglesa brand, Café glaseado (glazed) but other expats like Melita, it's also sold in Tienda Inglesa. It has a stronger coffee/Café fuerte flavor. Mate not coffee would be on a Uruguayo food list.

Toilet paper. He did not give a price for that but mentioned a 12 pack.  Normally here, a family sized package would be an 8 roll pack. Only a 1 ply tissue is sold at the feria. Paper products are very expensive here and the quality has no comparison. TP here is very coarse. The common grade is even a little grey colored like it is unbleached. There are now some softer tissues making it into the market. I even saw one printed with little teddy bears on it. I pay 80 pesos for 8 rolls, ($4.21 @19 to 1) a great deal.

So that's my core list. 4 bags of Coffee, Peanut butter, Brown sugar, Pancake syrup, Soy and Worcestershire sauce, Ketchup and Olive oil. Over $75 US a month for these few items but they are what I use and crave.

I hope this list gives you a better idea of a basic grocery list for an expat's taste. The fact is that Uruguay is not known for its cheap prices or cost of living but rather for its slower pace of life and its close knit friends and family attitudes. So, come here for the pace of life, not for an imagined cost effective one.

   

Peanut Butter!

Mani means peanut in Spanish

Uruguay, is starting to feel like home now. Still there are "a few things that we miss" and now realize that we took for granted when we were living up north. Because we moved to another continent, everything from our old life had to be shipped in at great cost when we first arrived. Any expendable item, has now been used up, after 5 years of living here (June 8th). That's why when any visitors say,  they are coming down to check out Uruguay as a possible place to live, usually they get asked to bring down, "a little tidbit" from our old life, like say, Garlic pills in gel capsule form.

low supply of soft gel garlic pills.

I have had to use up almost my entire supply of them, for my poor dog Barneys' ear infection. Pricking the soft gel open, then putting the tiny amount of garlic oil in his ear was the ONLY thing that stopped the infection. I made some garlic oil using olive oil and garlic but it wasn't the same strength and it didn't work as well. I tried the vets medicine, as well as some "Tea Tree Oil" (Melaleuca alternifolia) Pharmaceutical Grade brought in by an expat returning from a trip and shared as a gift, but only the gel form of the garlic capsule did the trick, whew! No more ear infection!

Barney

I miss buying giant bulk items from Costco. That is no longer a part of my life, as there is no Costco down here. No longer, do I have the mental security of having 24 rolls of toilet paper waiting for me in my garage. There are no Lowe's (formerly Eagle) stores here or Home Depot stores for building and garden supplies easily bought in a one stop local. No Joannes' or Michael's craft stores (I think that latter chain went out of business years ago) are to be found here. No Target, nor Pier One or Cost Plus stores for me to pop into for cool stuff either. Alas, while I still tend to mourn the loss of easily buying what I need, at a moments notice and at a great, even cheap price (things are expensive here), I have learned to gear down, really I have. Most expats, after years of living here, usually just really miss a few simple taste treats from up north, like good chocolates (chocolate chips for cookies), speciality spices and surprisingly peanut butter.

You can buy peanut butter down here, but it's expensive. It comes in tiny little glass jars (as shown in the title photo). For 200 grams worth (about 1 and 1/4 cup) you will pay $120 pesos or $6 dollars US or even slightly more with these current low exchange rates. For several years, you could only find these little jars of all natural peanut butter, the only kind they make here, at speciality places, like craft and food fairs that sold them along with garlic butter and other speciality butters.

The company that makes this, has now figured out, that there might be a wider market for the stuff than just those people who come to county fairs. Now, they are advertising about this "speciality item", on little flyers. Wow, imagine, all I had to do before to buy some peanut butter (as advertised on this flyer) was to go down to the Capital of Uruguay,  to Montevideo but only on a "Thursday or Friday" then go to the Plaza Cagancha where a semi-permanent tent is set up and they could sell me some. That's why it's so great that they are now also selling their product in 3 supermarket chains; Devoto, Disco (yes that's a grocery store name) and Géant, our equivalent down here to a Walmart. Maybe, it can also be ordered online too?

Manteca de maní means "butter from peanut" or peanut butter.

Nowadays, the big supermarket that tends to carter to foreigners, Tienda Inglesa, also sells those little jars along with some German and Swiss imported PB. I once lived in Germany and did not like the peanut butter there at all. It was tasteless and a little waxy(?), like they didn't really understand the concept of a "creamy" spread but aimed for a hard paste. To all German people, "sorry", but that was me, my friends and Wally's take on the taste of German peanut butter. We did however, love the bread and beer in Germany much better than the USA, so, I guess it was a trade off.

The expensive prices down here, as well as the inability to easily get items, has forced many expats to go to great lengths to stock up and attain their favorite food stuffs. One expat went to an Argentine source and bought 5 gallons of the stuff (peanut butter) and was selling off scoopfuls for around 40 pesos each ($2.15). Still, I think he'll have his 5 gallon bucket around for a long time. We did buy 80 pesos worth from him when he first got his bucket.

We finally decided, to just go ahead and try to make some peanut butter ourselves. As a side note, orange juice has been the same problem down here. Only a few stores that cater to foreigners sell it, usually only in machines and freshly juiced on the spot in the aisle of the store.  The juice is expensive, but oranges are not. Most expats buy oranges, take them home and juice their own orange juice. This place has a way of "forcing you" to be creative and "Homey".

Homemade peanut butter is easy to make!
5 minute recipe
Use a food processor or powerful blender

300 grams of unsalted roasted peanuts (2 cups)
1 teaspoon of sugar (or to taste, more or less)
1/2 teaspoon salt (to your taste)
1  1/2 or up to 3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Add just enough oil to make it smooth. (using Peanut oil would make the most sense, don't use olive oil, it has too strong a flavor).

Roasted unsalted peanuts

Note: you don't need to add salt, if you are on a salt restrictive diet.
Note: you don't need to add sugar. Some people use honey or even diabetic alternatives or NONE!

You must stop the machine from time to time and scrape down the sides. Once it turns creamy, your done. You don't want to overheat your machine.

We didn't bother roasting our own peanuts this time. We used already shelled and roasted unsalted peanuts because we didn't want to mess with those little red thin skins. Some people roll them in their hands to separate the skins from the nut and let the wind blow the skins away. Some people roll them by hand and then, let them drop down into a salad spinner and use the spinner to separate them.

If you are using a food processor you can drizzle the oil in while the machine is running. We put in the peanuts, salt and sugar then turned on the machine, then we stopped it and added the oil 1 tablespoon at a time.

Note that, we found out our little mixer wand container wasn't powerful enough to do more than crush the peanuts, so Wally dumped the whole batch into our blender. (Live and Learn).

After running the blender for a few seconds, we turned it off and scraped down the sides, then added our first Tablespoon of oil. Turning the blender on again and off this way but not  "pulsing it" just running it a little, turning it off and scraping it down, then back on again, adding oil as we thought necessary 1 tablespoon at a time during this process, it started to turn creamy. A recipe blog site said that Spanish peanuts have more natural oil in them but I guess ours were not from Spain but Uruguay, so we had to add up to 3 tablespoons of oil, (1 at a time) to get a good consistency.

The whole thing was ridiculously quick (less than 5 minutes) and easy to make. We know it's fresh and exactly what the ingredients are in it. In the time that I took to write this post several batches could have been made.

We got about 1 and 1/2 little jars worth (almost 2 cups). We had saved some now empty store bought jars and poured our brew into them. The pre-roasted peanuts cost us about $39 pesos for this batch, they were bought at our weekly feria/farmers market. A jar and a half from the store would have cost us $180 pesos ($9.50 plus). So for only $39 pesos (around $2) and some spoonfuls of additional cupboard items, it was well worth the effort (vale la pena). We stored it in the refrigerator and it stayed creamy.

What's more, we don't have to meet some guy, on some shady street corner saying, "Hey, do you want to buy my stash, I can hook you up with some of the good stuff." (we're still talking peanut butter here).
Instead of hunting high and low for a taste from home, we can now make our own, anytime we want.

Uruguay has just gotten, a little more homelike.

A Night Out On The Town!

Wally doesn't like to drive in Montevideo because of all the wild drivers who straddle lanes and buses that barely squeeze by you. He especially doesn't like going there at night! So I jumped at the opportunity to go with some others who were willing to do the driving.

You know me, always out for a bargain, I was thrilled to be invited to go to a "FREE" concert being held at the sports club , Club Bigua in the barrio of Villa Biarritz one of many Montevideo neighborhoods.

Most towns have a local social club/gym but this neighborhood has "some bucks". There are several high end neighborhoods in Montevideo and this one showed it belonged to their ilk, not just by its pricy high-rise buildings lining the streets but by its amenities like this huge sports center.

We didn't know if the concert would be held outside under the stars on the grassy grounds surrounding the place (it was a beautiful night) or inside. It didn't dawn on us that the singer would be accompanied this evening by the Symphony Orchestra of Montevideo, so yes, it was held indoors this night.

On entering, I noticed the unique 2 story basketball court with its bank of windows above where you can watch the people exercise and work out on the row of running machines. This sports club also had several Tennis courts (a very popular sport here) full of participants. This was a very active place.

The concert started at around 7 o'clock and lasted some 1 1/2 hours. It played to a packed audience (every seat was taken). The orchestra conducted by Maestro ÁLVARO HAGOPIAN played a piece in the style of the "Big band" era.

Then the main attraction came out, a singer named LAURA CANOURA.  She was hard to get a photo of because several bright lights shone on her and my camera washed her face out.

There were several children in the audience and amazingly the audience hushed them as they made noise.  I was impressed that this crowd really wanted to hear this singer sing.

I will try and edit a portion of Laura singing. If not please excuse the first few seconds of blurry pictures and babies crying, it seems to clear up quickly. I liked these song choices but others in my group had heard her on previous occasions singing livelier songs from her stage play in which she stared as "Pia". I don't know about that play, so one day I'll find out what that plays' story was about.

After the concert we located an Asian restaurant. It was down some dark street and it had no windows to the street. You had to be buzzed in. I felt like I was trying to get into a "speakeasy" one of those places to sneak a drink of booze in during the prohibition era in the "Roaring Twenties"(1920s') when booze was banned in the USA. This restaurant was primarily used for delivering Chinese food to people in the local neighborhood who called them up by phone. Foreign food is a novelty here so it was good to have a change of pace food wise.

Finally, before we drove back home, we stopped by 2 interesting sites.

I got to see "The Greetingman" The Greeting man is a giant statue in light blue of someone "bowing in greeting" It is a gift to Uruguay from a Korean artist called Yoo Young-ho. It was installed last year in October, 2012.

It's located alongside the rambla (a road that runs by the water) in the Buceo neighborhood of MVD and it is 1 block from José Batlle y Ordóñez (1 block before) if you are coming from the East.

It is lit up at night and highly visible.

It cost 200 thousand dollars (US). It weights 3 tons. It is 6 meters tall (19.69 feet).

Bowing is the Asian form and Korean way of greeting one another.

"Greeting is the first step in any relationship!"(Yoo Young-ho) That was the point of this sculpture.

The statue is blue so as not to reflect any racial skin color or prejudices and it is naked for the same reason. A dress style could prejudice one by identifying it with a social class.

It was given to Uruguay because Uruguay is supposedly the direct opposite globably to South Korea on the map.

According to El Pais newspaper the artist raised the bulk of the money for the Uruguay statue by selling 800 smaller stautes at $200 each

2 tourists "bowing down" to read the plaque!

Yoo Young-ho has an ambitious aim to put 1000 of these statues around the globe. He hopes to install a second statue between North and South Korea as a gesture of peace. He also wants a third one installed in Vietnam as a way to "ask forgiveness" for Korea's part in the Vietnam war. He believes a forth one should be placed between Palestine and Israel to serve the same purpose for peace as the one he wants between the 2 korean countries. So far, the only one that stands in reality, is in Uruguay.  He is calling this the "Greetingman project" because of his grandiose dreams.

Forgive me, but I thought this YouTube video that I posted below was funny. I never knew about the Greeting man before lastnight. As a side note, in thinking back to my visit there, the statue forces you "to bow in front of it" since the information regarding it is written on level ground in black granite and placed before the statue. Everyone coming up to the statue bends their head down, in order to read, what the plaque says.

The second site we saw was the refurbished Hotel Sofitel Montevideo Casino in the Carrasco neighborhood (another high end neighborhood). It is a beautiful french style classic looking building which has been declared a National Heritage site. It was gorgeously lit up to highlight its facade. The hotel part has 93 rooms and the casino is in the center of the building under a domed roof.

Since we only drove around it in the parking lot and didn't go in, I will have to look inside it another day. I don't gamble but I do enjoy peeking into places, especially beautiful architectural gems. So one day I'll try and snap some inside pictures of that Casino/hotel.

All in all, I enjoyed my "night out" and about in Montevideo very much.
 (photo credit goes to Loren Henry for the "Greetingman", casino and restaurant)

The Cinema in 3D!

The Costa Urbana Shopping Mall.

In a way, this is a followup to my Costa Urbana Mall and boardwalk post. In that one, I mentioned how I would be returning to this mall to watch a movie playing in their theater multiplex. I know they have at least 3 theaters. I can't remember if there was a fourth or not. 

As strange as it sounds, this is the first time that I've been to a movie theater here in Uruguay. I'm kind of glad that I waited and was able to go to the cinema with some experts.

These 3 are sisters, Melany, Katherine and Aphril. They know that I have a blog and wanted to become famous! Here they are giving an Hola/Hello! out to my readers. They were kind enough to invite me along with them this past Sunday to watch a 3D animated movie playing at the mall.

If you readers know anything about me it's that I love a bargain and also that I try to let my readers experience everyday life here in Uruguay and share situations vicariously through me and my expat eyes.

First of all, the people here are so considerate! We were all going to take the bus to the mall but they wanted to make sure we all traveled together. So even though I live in the opposite direction from the mall and from these 3 sisters, rather than risking the chance we might not meet, they had their father drive them back to my bus stop. I was given a time to wait for them and sure enough they all hopped out of their fathers' truck at my stop. Then all 4 of us waited for the bus to come and we hopped on together. They have student bus passes (a yearly pass) so we could only choose the two bus companies that accepted their passes. Still, we only let a few busses pass us by and then an approved one came along and off we went. I paid 29 pesos for a one way trip.

The 3D movie was well advertised, as the posters show on the mall's escalator. The cineplex is upstairs. In my last post I didn't show much of the inside of the mall so this time I took a few snap shots.

The second shot shows just a bit of the upstairs food court with that chinese stand "Canton Palace" that I mentioned in my last post. Prices for a meal (that serve two nicely) are about 210 to 350 pesos. That's kind of expensive ($10 to $15) but that's why I mentioned the large portions and it's a novelty food here. Yet, I digress! On to the movies!

Normally, the prices for a non-3D show are:

Friday through Sunday and Holidays cost for Adults, 170 Pesos (Viernes a Domingo Y Feriados). Children under 12 and senors over 60 get in for 130 Pesos. Senors need to show their senor gold card. 

Monday through Thursday showings cost Adults 140 Pesos and kids and senors pay 100 Pesos each.

Movies shown in 3D and yes, there are those 3D glasses handed out to you to watch the show with when you enter, those are naturally a higher entrance price.  A 3D movie costs 210 pesos for Friday to Sunday and Holidays showings. I didn't see a price break for children or senors.

Mondays through Thursdays showings cost 170 pesos. Again, I saw no discount written for Children or Senors.

Now here is where I mention that I was glad I had my "expert movie goers" with me. Apparently Antel, the telecommunications network for Uruguay sponsors promotions for their clients. They offer a 3D movie special: 2x1 deal for 210 pesos. It's the same price any day of the week but for that price not only do 2 people get in for only one price but that promotion includes pop (pepsi cola) and Popcorn!

The 2x1 promo included soda pop and popcorn with our ticket.

An interesting thing to note is that the popcorn served here is sweeten not buttered like in the states. One time I went to England and to a movie house there and they also serve their popcorn sweetened and with salt.  My experts were savvy enough to ask for a bag to hold our popcorn carton in, how clever! Any popcorn that falls just falls back into the plastic bag to be retrieved later. Not everyone knew to ask for a bag but we 4 had ours!

Normally, The popcorn/soda pack costs 120 pesos for a large soda with popcorn and 115 pesos for a medium soda size. I also saw an Apple juice box and popcorn combo offered for 94 pesos a slightly healthier option. We didn't have to buy this as it was included in the 2x1 deal.  You get a medium pepsi and popcorn with the promo but we were accidentally given 4 large pepsis instead. It wasn't until later and our drinks were half gone that we realized our cup sizes were larger than others. Oh, well! We must have looked thirsty.

I knew that I would probably get in trouble if they saw my camera inside the theater so I grabbed these two quick pictures of the girls and I modeling our 3D glasses and then promptly put my camera away.

Oh yes, this movie was completely in Spanish but since it was one of those animated ones it was easy to follow and I really enjoyed it! The only thing that almost tripped me up, language wise, was that I thought the female character was the guys wife when later on I realized she was his daughter! OOPS!

It was clear that I still need to work on my Spanish but I figured out my mistake quite quickly.

Most Uruguayos here have cell phones and they seem to be on them 24/7. However, It was great that these girls had theirs on them as well since in order to take advantage of the 2 for 1 deal you have to call up Antel and let them know what time the show is that you want to go to. They then call you back leaving you a message with a code to give to the ticket taker. The information is at the ticket counter on what to do but it would be better to do this before arriving at the theater.  Here's the information to use.

call on your phone        *789*2*2#send  confirm opt.1     you will receive a message with the code.

(llamada por teléfono)   *789*2*2#send  confirme opt.1       (Recibirás un mensaje con el código.)

After the movie let out it was dark and we waited together for the bus ride home. They got off first, at their stop, and I continued on for a little while longer than hopped off the bus and walked home under a clear and starry night. I was glad they had invited me. It was a fun night out with the girls/Las chicas!!!