SEMANA CRIOLLA!

I've been nursing a cold, meaning staying at home for a few days and generally taking it easy. Still, when I suddenly remembered that this "week of tourism"(march 24-31) also included a week of Criolla days or Semana Criolla, a celebration of the Gaucho in it's 88th year, I felt that I should attend.

This event that started in 1925 and is organized by the Intendencia (city hall) is held in Montevideo in 2 separate places in the city during this week. One place, where the Gauchos (think cowboys) meet to perform their skill set such as roping etc... is at the fairgrounds called the Prado. I've been there at those grounds several times before. In September, a similar event is held at the Prado which is a little larger and I seem to prefer that one a little better. The one held in September seems to me, to be a fuller event . That one has more participants and more high end vender booths and cows and other farm animals appearing. It's more like a country fair. Still, September is a long way away, so I decided to go for the day to check out the happenings this month.

As I mentioned, this event is held in 2 places in Montevideo, the second place is in a park called Franklin D Roosevelt Park. He seems to have been a popular US president here as a stretch of the rambla or city beach road is also named after him. This park is located right across the street from the superstore (a Walmart type) called Géant. The trees are nice, it's a mini forest across from a shopping mall so that's cool.

I've often thought about wandering through this park but it seemed to contain only trees with no real trails or benches that I could note. It does have a front section called the" infantile park" or a playground which has some nice climbing structures for the kiddies.

I have heard from others that this locations' event, the one held across the street from the mall is the "poor cousin" to the one held in the Prado fairgrounds so I thought that this site would be more to my speed. The word funky springs to mind just now. I was in a "Funk" because of my cold and didn't want to travel to the Prado and make a big deal about the day and this site was just "funky" enough to match my mood (slightly depressed, mine cold-related) there are several different definitions of that word funky so take your pick, except for the foul oder. I have always found that Uruguay generally smells really nice even flower scented at times, where ever I go. So I'd choose definitions 2 and 3 for this occasion. I just wanted to peek at the FDR park. I had never been to that 2nd event site. The bus was an easy ride, it cost me 38 pesos ($2.00) to get there, oddly it only cost me 29 pesos to return home. It depends on the bus company you get.

Metal wall setup, surrounding the pay to enter, Gaucho exhibition.

This site had 4 things to recommend it.
1) Entrance was free (except for the cowboy event).

 2) There was a professional "amusement ride" section set up this occasion for the teens and kids.

3) Lots of typical snack foods.

Several 33 gallon drum, homemade BBQ's scattered around grilling stuff and other food offerings.

4) Little pony rides for the children.

My first pony ride was in Griffton Park, Hollywood Hills in California, so I know that those types of memories can be special for the tinniest of people.

My camera decided to need recharging so I didn't bother going into the actual paid event. That event was a demonstration of a  concurso de Jineteadas.  "Jineteadas" involving  2  categories of Pelo and Basto. Pelo international and Argentino Basto. Jineteadas (check on for a u Tube video)

After wandering around for a while, I felt I could hop back on the bus and return home feeling satisfied  I had checked out this 2nd gathering. I always think that pictures are worth a thousand words, so I hope you had an interesting glimpse into this low key location.

A World Wide Invitation!

Wow, I can't believe how quick another year flew by!
Next week starts, Semana Santa/holy week. It's that time of the calendar, when I want to invite everyone to this year's celebration of the "Memorial of Christ's Death". We hold it only one time a year. I'm giving you a 1 week heads up, to plan to attend.

The date for this event is next Tuesday March 26th, 2013/ El Martes 26 De Marzo de 2013. The time is after sunset. Every congregation of Jehovah's Christian Witnesses has been busy this entire month going door to door and inviting people to this free gathering in memory of our Lord and Savior. On the invitation you will find the address of your area's local congregation and the hour the service will be held.

You don't have to be a Jehovah's Witness to attend. No donation plate will be passed! Just bring (if you want to) your own copy of your Bible to follow along the re-telling of the night that Jesus Christ met upstairs with his Apostles and broke bread and passed the wine to them, this represented his body and his blood that would be poured out in behalf of them and us. The Scriptures will be read from the platform in case you don't have a Bible. This short service will not only mention what took place that night but also emphasize, "Why", Christ had to die and "Why" it's important for each one of us to remember him. Also, how his death helps us.

Here in Uruguay, in the town of Salinas, the local congregation is located on the north side of the ruta on the street/calle Yamandú e Zapicán y Magaluna en Salinas. It will be held at 18:30 (6:30PM)

In Salinas you have your choice of times to attend this evening. Either at 18:30 (6:30PM) or 20hrs. (8PM). Whichever, is the most convenient for you to attend. The service will simply be repeated.

Directions: Basically, go to the main Arc/arch in Salinas, cross the highway/ruta at the traffic signal. You are now standing on the north side of the town. Go up (north), only 1 block, it's the first street you see (there's an Abitab or redpagos? there). Turn on this street to the left (towards MVD) stay on this street and walk 4 blocks or so? The Kingdom Hall is on this street, on the right (north-side).

The city of Atlántida has it's own congregation which will present the same program. It is located just past the medical clinic in Atlántida, "Medica Uruguaya" no more than a few blocks. You should be able to "see the hall" as it is only a few buildings off of the ruta. Sorry, that I don't know the address or time for that meeting. So be on the lookout for your free invitation. The meeting is after sundown.

It's good to remember this week as not only a vacation week but as an opportunity to appreciate your spiritual side. As one modern language translation of the Bible says (the"New World Translation")  "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need..." (Matthew/Mateo 5 verse 3).

I hope you can attend!

A Uruguayan appetizer!

Okay, I admit it, we first learned about this starter course, technically in Brazil not Uruguay. It was in the border town of Chuy but Uruguay was literally right across the street! There is no need of a visa for "this town", it is sort of, "shared" by both countries. You can literarily stand with one foot in Uruguay and the other in Brazil, by simply standing in the middle of the main street. You can freely shop the entire town in either country, in any of the stores on either side of this dividing street. Brazil has some great bargains.


Bring and use your passport as ID, if you want to take advantage of the great prices in the duty free shops. Since the restaurant we ate in was on the Brazilian side of this said street, I will credit Brazil with introducing us to this hors d'oeuvre of melted cheese. We ate it, we liked it, and then didn't think about it again, until some immigrating new expats invited us out to dinner at a restaurant and ordered it, some months later in Uruguay!

Brazil on the left, parked cars in the middle and Uruguay on the right.
This border town has no visible dividing line between countries.

Our friends, asked the waiter if they served the Provolone cheese dish in this restaurant and the answer was "Of course!/¡Claro que sí! Ah! we finally learned what type of cheese was used in this melted concoction. I mean yes, any cheese can be melted from cheddar to swiss, I think fondues use Gruyere as it's main base but now we knew what type to use for this appetizer dish of apparently both Uruguay and Brazil.

As a side note, the restaurant they took us to was Don Vito's. Don Vito's is a local expat hangout in the city of Atlántida. I think it's because it is open 24/7 even in winter, when many other places are closed. It also has an extensive menu. For several years many of the "Expat luncheons" were held there. During this winter the first Expat meeting for the Canelones area will be Thursday March 7th, at 1 PM/13:00 hrs. held at Jerry Brunner's "Hotel Via Park" right on the rambla in Parque de Plata near the intersection of calle 11 (street 11). The hotel Piroska has closed down for the winter, that is where the expat meetings were being held this summer.

Getting back on tract about the cheese dish, being forever frugal, Wally and I just had to learn how to make this cheese dish at home and it's incredibly simple to do. First, buy or get an oven proof dish, very shallow. The food stores also sell a dish for this purpose to use for parties. It has several little shallow indentations in it, so you can just use little morsels of cheese to melt as bite size appetizers. We bought a little saucer plate, that was oven and microwave proof. Note: they sell 2 slices of cheese to a package at our supermarket but we only use 1, so we save the second slice to make this again on some other night. What a bargain!

Recipe: Use a shallow ovenproof/microwave dish.
             Provolone Cheese (a thick slice or round)
             Oregano dried or fresh.

*Lay the cheese slice on some oregano, coating it as shown, or according to your taste (both front and backside of the cheese).
*Put the oregano coated cheese slice on the dish (there's no need to coat the dish with anything).
*Bake at 350F/175C. for about 15 minutes or until melted and just slightly bubbly.

Use 2 spoons and ladle it onto your plate as shown. Enjoy with bread, crackers or whatever!
Now, we are enjoying yet another taste treat of Uruguay and being thrifty at the same time!

I Blew It!

Well, here we have yet another tree post! Uruguay has been experiencing some really odd weather patterns lately. A couple of weeks ago, we had our 4th big wind storm. The temperature was HOT, HOT, HOT! Up north near the Brazilian border, a friend from Artigas reported that it was 104 F/ 40C degrees and that an "Orange Alert" had been raised by the weather center. We had about 95 F/35C degrees down here by the beach and we were supposedly in a "Yellow Alert". High winds coupled with lots of rain and thunderstorms were expected! Yes, the winds came, true to predictions and indeed it was a scary night. Wally slept, I paced the hallway.

So, besides the weather blowing strong gusts of wind, how did I blow it, you might ask? Remember, that post I wrote about "Good neighbors"? My neighbor, had just newly tiled the roof of his house and had offered to pay us to cut down our 2 towering pines trees, looming on our property. Well, after showing us pictures of fallen trees, we agreed to let him pay and have them cut down thus giving him peace of mind. Well, lo and behold 3 weeks after they were cut, a giant wind storm came and did blow down many neighborhood trees. Boy were we glad, we accepted his offer in time.

Well....... I blew it this time because 2 years prior to those 2 pine tree offers, he had offered us the same deal to cut down our giant Eucalyptus tree. At that time, I said no! My reason was that I love trees. This Eucalyptus cast such beautiful shade. It looked like the trees often featured in Maxfield Parrish prints (my favorite 30's graphic artist/illustrator). So even though the 2 pines were gone, (bye bye) I had let the Eucalyptus stay.

Recently, some tree cutters came by, representing themselves as working along with city hall (la intendencia). They said that they were going around cutting branches near power lines and dangerous trees down and that the neighbor had called them.  Most of my other street neighbors liked my tree, I actually had 2. The other neighbors said, I could have Eucalyptus trees cut partway down and that unlike pine trees they regrow beautifully. So, thinking that the trees were on city property, we agreed to let the workers partially cut them to 3/4 height (our suggestion). This would keep them less dangerous but manageable. The order was given and they were scheduled to be cut during the next week. They were to be thinned and shortened. A good plan but guess what, before they were cut, before the next week could arrive, a giant wind storm hit a day later and this happened!

Our Eucalyptus tree broke, Our neighbor's worse nightmare.

Needless to say, our neighbor's wife was pissed! She keep running around saying, "we asked them, we asked them, les pedimos". We wanted that woman (referring to me) to cut them down but she said, "NO!" (me again) and now looked what happened!

New tile roof  with our wind blown tree on it's roof.

This happened during the night. Wally and I had heard one bang. We lamely looked through our closed shutters into the night but we really didn't see any thing and no other noise occurred. Wally and I shrugged, then we continued watching, "American Idol" singer contestants trying out for a spot on TV.

Newly installed automatic fence now damaged!

The next morning, Wally saw what had happened and slunk on over to the neighbors while I hid out. Trust me, "woman to woman", "head to head" discussions never go as smoothly as men discussing what's to be done. Wally apologized, too late, for not taking them up on their offer. He said that we would just go ahead and remove and pay for both trees ourselves, to be cut down completely. This was to show how sorry we were.

A worker hidden among our tree cutting it down at our cost. 

So I blew it! By not accepting 2 years ago an offer to have a tree cut down and paid for by our neighbor, I instead choose a tree's benefit and mine (beauty and shade) over a neighbor's and ended up paying for that decision big time!!! We have to pay for his gate motor and repair, $1500 US dollars!

Other cutters had, "way bigger" ropes than these guys did!

The tree fellers were called and they came right away to start the guided process of bringing 2 trees completely down. Hey, this way we will never have to worry about them coming down again. The neighbor has home insurance to pay for his roof but we paid for the tree removal.

It cost us (a ripe off price), $8000 pesos or about $400 US ($4000 Pesos/$200 dollars a tree).That included clean up and hauling away the wood. We could have used the wood to burn in winter as it was Eucalyptus but the cutters would have charged us more. They resell the wood as part of the price. Our other neighbor recently had a tree cut down and he only payed $3000 pesos a tree for cutting and clean up. So we paid $1000 pesos more for each tree. Still, the idea was to get it done as soon as possible (cuanto antes) and out of sight, so as not to be a constant reminder to us and our neighbor of our haughtiness or lack of foresight? Either way, we were glad to see some workers taking the tree down off of our neighbor's roof. Thru binoculars (yes I am a chicken), I saw about a dozen new roof tiles broken, and an awning. Their roof looked otherwise intact. But their new security, automatic gate was crunched with one post leaning out. Our neighbor's house insurance doesn't cover his new gate. We don't have the $1500 dollars readily available, so now we are in debt and owe him.

Plans are being made as I write this, to settle our one and only debt. At least, we had the cash available to pay the $400 dollars US needed to get the trees cut and cleared away.

The whole experience was a wakeup call to us. We have 3 towering pine trees in our own back yard that could easily come down on our roof during the next big wind storm, which lately seems to be about once a month. Wally never would have spent the money to cut them down before this happened. Since our bedroom is right next to them, I would sleep a lot better in a storm knowing that they were gone as well. We are currently asking around for prices from various cutters. The trees are too close to our roof and our other neighbor's roof and our block wall. They will have to be brought down very carefully to avoid those 3 things.

I have been quoted $30,000 pesos from the guys we have just used.  They have now offered $20,000 for the total of 3 when they saw my eyes bug out at the first price. I am looking around for people with  thicker ropes and a slightly lower price, as $20,000 pesos is about a little over $1000 US.

Update, I think we have found someone, recommended by our wood supplier, to cut all 3 trees in our yard for some $16,000 pesos total or roughly $800 US. He will come with workers in 3 or 4 days. I honestly don't think I want to be on site (at home) for that cutting job. So don't expect pictures and yet another tree post. I will just go and visit a friend up the street while Wally stays behind and watches the process. Our backyard is cramped and I just want to know when it is over and if our house is still standing and our roof is in tact.

I have already gone to see our "other neighbor" and let her know that the 3 pine trees will be cut down. I mentioned to the woman that 1 giant tree limb will probably fall in her yard across the fence while the trees are being cut down. She seems, "okay" with it, since that means the trees will be gone before winter. This way, she can sleep better during all these wind storms too.

Our neighbor with the crunched fence is glad we are taking care of our backyard trees first, before getting to pay our debt to him. He was afraid, those trees would one day come down on his pool or something. Basically, he doesn't seem to like our trees! They came with the house and seem to resemble all the other trees in our neighborhood but it is safer to see them go. As was proven with this incident.

I really miss my front yard trees, as mentioned it is very hot and I loved my shady Eucalyptus trees. However, learning my lesson, I am just hoping me and my neighbors stay safe, here in windy Uruguay.

The First Full Moon!

Wally and I were feeling a little bummed out because of some recent events that I will probably blog about soon in an another upcoming post. So we really needed something to come along and take our minds off of things. We needed a mini vacation and we feel we got one in a surprising way. We learned that a vacation is really a "state of mind" and a slightly different venue is all it takes to effect this.

There are some newly imported expats who have a killer view of the water and sky at their place.  Yes, I must admit, even better than our view of the water. They only live 10 minutes away from us but we really felt we had stepped into a different world. They invited us to watch the "rising of the moon". Not just any moon but The First Full Moon of this year, 2013.

Sunday, January 27, 2013. The First Full Moon of the year!

We feasted on some salmon, Philadelphia cream cheese, red onions, capers and homemade bread. I was offered a Margarita drink which I accepted (it's been years since I had one) and then we had a mixed salad, a main entrée consisting of pork chops in a sauce with mushrooms and a helping of quinoa which was the first time we had ever tried that side dish (I think it's a rice-like grain). For dessert we had a custard, plum tart concoction. Yum, Yum! "Thank you guys" for your hospitality and "Thanks", for being such good cooks! That dinner was a great start to our vacation like evening.

The weather was deliciously warm and mosquito free. The pictures don't do the moon justice as it was a bright orange color, what I normally would have called a harvest moon but that's in a different season. It was just a spectacular color.

As we watched the moon rise we heard the sounds of drums beating in the distance and quite literarily the natives were getting restless. Okay, the native Uruguayos were about to start a concert and were warming up! Drums play an important part in the Uruguayan music culture and on most weekends you can hear groups of people playing the drums together in some park. Others, will actually parade up and down the streets playing together as a group. How much better for youths to do that as an activity than just pitifully hanging out in front of some local 7-eleven store like the youths often do back home in the States in most small towns across the USA.

This was the 6th year of a free to the public concert. The festival of the first full moon of the year held at  the Santa Rosa Fort or in Spanish, Fiesta de la luna llena del Fortín de Santa Rosa. There were no religious ceremonies involved. It was simply "a community event" enjoying music under the bright moon light. I had forgotten how much light a full moon can cast. Even though the concert started at 9 o'clock on a Sunday night everyone was out for the evening. Grandparents, parents, kids and even some dogs were playing and enjoying the music. It was a real family/community event. The event was started by Marcelo Rivero Stefanovich as a way for the community to come together and meet the year together. So Sunday/domingo January the 27th was an evening enjoyed under the stars and under the pine trees.

An open air amphitheater near El Fortín de Santa Rosa. Concert in the moonlight.

El Fortín de Santa Rosa is a hotel that was an old Fort. It has an old defunct cannon out front of it.. The neighborhood is named after this fort. There is also a park here above and next to the beach that has a natural amphitheater/anfiteatro natural.

Several bands played in this area that night. The first band up was the Silvina Gomez Gamarcia group. It was a mix of drummers, a guitar player, someone even played an accordion during 1 song and the lead was the keyboard player and singer, Silvina Gomez Gamarci. It was a cool jazzy/ brazilian sound. Very easy to listen to and I even understood some of what she sang in Spanish. She was very clear in her tone and singing. A big thumbs up from me.

The Silvina Gomez Gamarcia Band ,with Javier Sopra Viera Olivera (in hat)

The Diego Lacuesta trio played a few songs. They were worthwhile hearing while waiting for a  popular Brazilian group The Brasilereses. A singer named Rossana Taddei 3rd (Wally's now favorite)  and Gustavo Etchenique.

Rossana Taddei 3rd (Photo from Facebook site)

The woman Rossana was a chatty story teller singer that got the audience to chime into various songs with group hoots  and  during one song about estancia/farm life a few moos and goat sounds. Spanish cows go "Muu", English go, "Moo" .Wally compared her singing story telling to Joni Mitchell, although at the end she sang a Janis Joplin song in English called "Mercedes Benz' (Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz). Wally wished he/we spoke better Spanish so we could have enjoyed her obvious many tales during her performance. We were up on a bluff looking down at the stage and amphitheater. Wally says we will try and go closer to the stage next time when we can't understand what's being said clearly. There were no assigned seats, just the stairs, the ground and whatever chairs you brought in yourself.

The last group to play to a thinning crowd at 2 O'clock in the morning was "Charlie y La banda del Perro" ( perro, means dog in Spanish) His group was fun and more "rockish" than the earlier Brazilian jazz sounding groups. Our dinner hosts had actually met the young man Charlie earlier that same night while he was playing away on his guitar practicing for the concert.

Wally and I slipped away from the concert for a few moments to walk along the beach, which is much wider than ours is. We saw that this neighborhood has a new metal lifeguard lookout station compared to the wooden one located at our beach. This community also has a new wooden boardwalk leading down to the sand. Our beach has some concrete steps that end halfway down, enough to get you to sand though.

We couldn't help feeling that we were on vacation,  It was a different vibe. It's funny what a great dinner, enjoyable hosts, a moonlight concert and a 10 minute distance can do to revive the spirit.

Membrillo, A Sweet Treat!

Truck at the Feria selling fruit dulces.

Slowly, little by little/poco a poco, I am trying to discover and taste, foods that typify the "comfort foods" that Uruguayans like to eat. By comfort foods, I mean the type of foods that one would fondly mention in conversation as a childhood favorite or that they would miss if they ever left Uruguay. For instance, I think someone from North America might speak fondly of "Mac and Cheese" (Mac = Macaroni) or PB and J (Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches). By the way, when "I" was growing up, we just said, Peanut Butter and Jelly, this need for abbreviations is the result of the newer, younger Micky D's (McDonald's) computer/twitter generation. Yeah, I'm turning into "an old fogey" but I'm trying to keep up!

Of course, the obvious symbol of Uruguay would be Mate, the herbal tea-like drink that uses Yerba/herb leaves and twigs from the Mate shrub/tree. You steep the dried leaves and twigs in hot water like you would a tea. People here put it into a traditional hollowed out gourd and drink it through a metal straw called a bombilla. It is a community drink, as the same cup is shared and passed among many people (your friends and family) at one occasion. This drink is carried along literarily wherever one goes, that together with a thermos of hot water held snuggly under the arm or in a leather holder thrown over the shoulder by the majority of the population.

Stand selling Mate accessories (gourds, etc.) and leather goods

The second favorite can't get enough of it, comfort food is Dulce de Leche. That is a sweet caramel-like, tan colored substance. At first, upon arriving here in Uruguay, Dulce de Leche inundated my taste buds,  I felt every dessert contained it as an ingredient and I couldn't avoid it. I used to make it "my aim", to find desserts without it, like lemon bars and chocolate cake.

Of course, I had to be prepared for it to be drizzled or layered into those dessert flavors as well. The good news is that I finally got hooked on Dulce de Leche, as much as the rest of the country, so now I'm fine with it. I too, have even been known to sneak a teaspoonful of it, straight out of the container from time to time for a quick taste. I'm still biased against the mate, sad to say. It tastes like drinking straw water, to me at least.

Okay, enough ranting and on to the good stuff. Besides Dulce de Leche, in another post I have already mentioned the tasty treat of Garrapiñas, sweet covered toasted peanuts and have given the recipe on how to make them.

Membrillo

I'm now adding to the list of fondly talked about foods something called, Dulce de Membrillo.

I must admit that, when I first saw a block/slice of it (pictured above) in the area of our supermarket near the cheese section, my stomach turned queasy. The absurd reasoning for that reaction was that I didn't know what it was and it looked like some jellied meat fat to me, like the jelly from a canned ham but firmer and colored. I think the reddish color made me think it was meat related.  Other expats, have also said in horror, "What is that?" Of course, that's because we were all idiots and couldn't speak Spanish. If we could speak better, we would have seen the word "Dulce" attached to the name which means "Sweet" in Spanish, better still we should have asked! 

Membrillo means "Quince" in Spanish and Quince is a fruit, NOT a meat product, not some weird membrane like the word looks like to an English speaker trying to make sense of foreign looking words. So this strange looking block of stuff, is a sweet, soft, fruit jellied substance and I love it! Click on the above link for a Google translated recipe on how to make your own. Beware that sometimes the blogger or Google (?) mistyped the word liquid as squid. No fish or actual squid is used in this home made brew, just fruit, sugar and liquid (water). I liked her post because the steps are shown in photos.

left: Zapallo/squash and right: Batata/sweet potato Dulce

The reason this Dulce was near the cheese section of the store is that these flavors compliment each other. Of course, we all know that wine and cheese go together as well. We once had a German friend that told us a saying, "Don't tell the farmer about pears and cheese". This was because the taste of the pear fruit with a cheese slice would be so delicious that the farmer after tasting this combination would then hoard these two products from his farm and orchard, never selling them to anyone again so he could eat them all day by himself!

Apparently, here in South America (also in Spain) the favored combination is not pear and cheese but quince and cheese. This cheese and Membrillo (quince flavor) combination is so well known in Uruguay and Argentina that they have a special name for this appetizer. It's known as a "Martín Fierro". Martín Fierro was a fictional character in an epic poem called "The Gaucho"' written by an Argentine named José Hernández. The cheese of choice recommended is called Manchego. I have no idea what that cheese is or tastes like. Really just about any sharp cheddar cheese (or any cheese you like) goes with this quince/membrillo. Don't forget the crackers!

Besides, being made with quince fruit/ membrillo, there are other flavors of this Dulce available. Such exotic names as Batata meaning sweet potato and Zapallo which means squash in Spanish.

Cheese, crackers, and wine along with Batata and Zapallo dulce,
a great appetizer combo.

Wally doesn't really like squash or sweet potatoes even as vegetables so he buys them only because of me. I love the Dulce de Zapallo and the Dulce de Batata but Wally wasn't won over, he didn't like those flavors in the dulce/jelly form either. Then he gave it one more try, and bought the Quince/Membrillo Dulce and pronounced it good! Quince has a slightly bitter sweet quality, a little like Cranberry and he liked the tone-downed flavor. 

I have seen a new stand at the feria selling many other flavors as well. The title photo shows that family stand. I talked to the woman in the photo. She is named Flavia (a common name here). She showed me their blueberry block and her strawberry slab and said that they were the most expensive speciality flavors that they sell. They sell  the standard flavors including the Batata and a Batata with some chocolate swirled in. There is a peach favored dulce that sounds yummy. I have yet to try that one. They also sell a green apple dulce which Wally was the most excited to try. So I came back the next week to buy and try the "Green Apple" dulce. Wally liked it as well. It was a little less sweet, like the quince flavor. That's why I think he likes the green apple flavor dulce as well.

The Apple and Quince flavors that Wally likes!

They are easy to make without using too many ingredients but they take hours in cooking them down to this solid state. Just google them and you'll get several recipes, like the link I included. As frugal as we are, even we, can afford to buy the package outright. Unless, we get a quince bush/tree in the future, Wally says, he doesn't want the bother of making it since we can buy a long lasting slice for a buck or two (20-50 pesos) depending on the flavor and amount you buy. We now often buy this delicious treat.

So except, for the mate drinking, we are enjoying and trying, these yummy tastes of Uruguay.

2013!

December 31st, 2012

Well the Mayan Indians weren't such forward thinkers after all, their calendar ended last month but we didn't! Yeah! That's the good news. The bad is that I'm afraid 2013 won't be that great of a year for me.

John Lennon (of the Beatles fame) was once asked why he was attracted to Yoko Ono who became his wife. He said it was because when he met her at a gallery opening her exhibit spoke to his soul. Her art installation consisted of a long wooden stair case with a telescope like piece mounted at the top of the stairs. When he climbed the stairs and looked through the eye piece what he saw made him know she was a woman he wanted to be with. What he saw was the word YES. It was a positive message and very powerful, just one simple word but with great possibilities.

So, I too usually try in my posts to be positive and upbeat when I can. I hope this new year's post doesn't turn any of you permanently away but I'm just hoping that this new year doesn't suck too bad.

December 31st. ended with the usual neighborhood fireworks show. We have at least 3 competing neighbors who go all out in their displays so we stayed home to watch. Earlier in the day it had rained so we nixed the roof and I just ran out at midnight and peeked from my own backyard to watch.

My neighbors' fireworks display, as seen from my backyard.

January 2013.
We found my favorite street dog dead this morning. Whenever, I would see him, I would give him some food. He would wander up our stairs and I'd give him something to eat. I always keep water in front of our stoop/stair case for the street dogs. I have called around for homes whenever I've seen abandoned puppies but the grown dogs live in packs and are usually caring for themselves, being feed by various people in the neighborhood. This dog was probably some summer pet abandoned by vacationers after their vacation ended a few summers ago. He was sweet but way too large to take in. I have 2 of my own (dogs and 1 cat) and a husband who won't allow anymore pets than what we already have, given our limited budget.

Wally pulled the poor thing out of the road. He died, I believe from parasites. Wally next, went to the Intendencia (city hall) to see if they pick up large dead animals.  The guy in the office said yes they do. He took Wally outside to see the 4 pickup guys standing around who have motorcycles and bags, then he left Wally with them. We have a little map showing how to get to our house along with instructions on what streets to take pre-copied up. This usually makes finding and getting to our house a snap. We even have a picture of our house on it. Wally handed them the map. The four guys then debated for a full 10 minutes on where our house was. They related how at one time, on the old city map our street was named after a sea creature  or mussels/ Los Moluscos. Then it was called, Calle Uno (# 1) but how now it was back to being named like the old map said but it could also be something else. Then they discussed how sometimes the coastal road is called the Rambla but others call it the Costanero and a third word was also used. Although city hall is only 10 minutes away, I'm hoping the dog is removed some time in the next 8 hours.

This 2013, I am reminded that I no longer have my neighbors' photogenic pine tree to admire anymore against the waves, so I am angling my photos now slightly to the left. The pine trunk is still there, the tree is just decapitated, sigh.

As a reminder to whom it may concern, January is usually when you are supposed to pay your Contribución Immobilieria (property taxes). If you pay early and in a one lump sum payment verses splitting the payments and paying every 6 months instead, you get a hefty rebate! We bought booze with the change back. Vermouth which is called a Martini here because of the company brand name and some Vodka which helps in making Long Island Ice Teas (if we ever find Triple Sec, Where, where??) at least made our tax payment with it's cash back more palatable.

January is the 2nd month of full on summer, down here in South America but this January is surprisingly cool. I'm sort of glad, because among some very strong winds that blew, December had mosquitos and a day that went from 92 degrees F. to 102! So cool and Mosquito free is good.

January 2013

Because of the wind and rain, the water outside at the beach is very brown and choppy.

Wally and I had a fight. That's very rare for us. Still, it left this transition between saying good bye to the old year and welcoming in the new one quite sour for me, but he says he's sorry and will try and do better. One thing I got out of his repentance is that he says he will help me a little bit with my struggling Spanish. I've been very depressed about my lack of progress. Can you tell? Conversing, actually speaking full sentences in Spanish, comes much easier to Wally than it does to me. I know more rules and grammar than he does but that hinders me, more than it helps. Wally knows a few phrases and is able to turn them in a variety of ways so that it sounds like he is speaking full on Spanish. He is now trying practice conversations with me. We started to watch some old Spanish movies and then review them in a mock conversation. So while I am still pissed at him, I also am kind of glad, he's finally helping me with one of my valid complaints! Viva Luchas!

Well, no matter what the coming year brings, I promise that the next post will be more upbeat and positive. May your year bring you, more Yes than no's!