Costa Urbana!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Road Not Taken

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

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

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

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

Robert Frost

The Rio de la Plata!

The Rio de la Plata between Uruguay and Argentina.

In our blog, Wally and I often mentioned the water view that we can see from our terrace. While it looks like the ocean to us, it is really considered a view of the Rio de la Plata (a river).

We often get asked about this river so using a recent comment as a jumping off point, I thought I'd post about the Rio de la Plata.

Anonymous said...
Hello Denise,  What do you see from your window, the ocean or the “Rio de la Plata”?
I just wonder if the “Rio de la Plata” is really a river or rather a gulf. I guess it is a mixture of saltwater and freshwater otherwise it would not be considered a river, but for me it is hard to understand how the freshwater can prevent saltwater penetration... it is more than 200 km wide at its mouth!

Best regards,Geraldo

Well Geraldo, people say, we see a river from our house. The Rio de la Plata (River of Silver/money) is considered the widest river in the world. The Nile river is the longest in the world although the Amazon river is also contending with that spot. The Rio de la Plata is not very deep though. It averages 5 meters deep unless you factor in the artificial channels dredged into it then it's around a 10 meter depth average. If you click on the Wikipedia link above you can see a Google satellite photo of the true river. The river (proper) lies between the banks of 2 countries, Argentina and Uruguay.

Overnight ferry, crossing the Rio de la Plata from Uruguay to Argentina.

 Geraldo mentions an interesting point,  "I just wonder if the “Rio de la Plata” is really a river or rather a gulf. I guess it is a mixture of saltwater and freshwater otherwise it would not be considered a river, but for me it is hard to understand how the freshwater can prevent saltwater penetration..."   

The America Heritage dictionary says that the word Gulf means "a large area of a sea or ocean partially enclosed by land."  The Rio de la Plata has a large estuary system (wide mouth). This estuary is why some people consider the Rio de la Plata not a river since salt water does mix with fresh there.   While the mouth of the river (that meets at the Atlantic ocean) does lies in a gulf-like estuary system the reason it is also considered a river is because it also has an inner section with upper and middle reaches that are shallow and devoid of salt water intrusion. In other words the ocean is not the only water present.

The Rio de la Plata river is fed by two main rivers, the Paraná river and the Uruguay river which contribute 97% of the freshwater to the Rio de la Plata. There are also many smaller rivers and more than a hundred streams that flow into the Rio de la Plata. The river is funnel shaped with the beginning at it's source, being only 2 km wide (1.2 miles) its mouth widens to 220 km (140 miles), where it then flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It is 290 km (180 miles) long. With a surface area of some 35,000km (14,000 square miles).

 The wikipedia states that A submerged shoal, the Barra del Indio, acts as a barrier, dividing the Río de la Plata into an inner freshwater riverine area and an outer brackish estuarine area.^[6] The shoal is located approximately between Montevideo and Punta Piedras (the northwest end of Samborombón Bay). It is the freshwater of the inner area that causes many to describe the Río de la Plata as a river.^[4]" 

An interesting characteristic that results from all of those fresh water sources flowing into the Rio de la Plata is sediment. About 57,000 cubits meters worth of sediment enters the river each year. If you look at the google photo (on the wiki site) you can see how muddy the river looks and is. The Rio de la Plata although meaning silver or money (plata) has earned the nickname "The lion colored river" because of its brown colored waters. The brown color is attributed to the 90% suspended clay particles and the other 10% to sand and silt. Because of the large amount of sediment, the river would not be navigable except for the dredging projects that keep the main channel clear, allowing ships to pass. Generally, the river is quite calm except when the gales of the Southeast blow. As mentioned in my Alpha zone post, people say that because of the buildup of sediment in this river there are parts of it that some people claim, one can walk upon. 

About once or twice a year the winds or tides or something other will unbalance the freshwater mix and cause a backlash of extra salt content, then all along the coast the result is lots of dead fish.

Now the problem about whether "I" have a view of the river or of the ocean from my house on the coast comes about in regards to the river's length. The maritime maps show the river as not only between the banks of Argentina and Uruguay (it's width) but also spilling out into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a Y(or T) shape. Once the river leaves it's mouth between the banks of the countries of Uruguay and Argentina it meets the Atlantic Ocean but it then travels or flows both up to the left and down to the right, along this stretch of Atlantic coastal line for a while, after leaving the mouth, as clearly seen by the physical brown colored water. So the answer or key in understanding this question about the river and my terrace view of it, comes in the form of the range and extension assigned to this river by observation, laws and legislation, once it spills into the Atlantic Ocean. 

My view of the "river" and the Atlantic Ocean far beyond it.

FREPLATA, is an agency that was assigned a project study of the Rio de la Plata river and its maritime front. One objective was to collect and disseminate data about this river and its surrounding area and maritime use.

They have on their website outlined the legal treaty for the river's use.

Chapter 1 discusses the jurisdiction of the river and article #1 explains its agreed upon area definition.

ARTICLE 1. The Rio de la Plata extends from Punta Gorda parallel to the imaginary straight line that joins Punta del Este (Eastern Republic of Uruguay) and Punta Rasa del Cabo San Antonio (Argentina), in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Uruguay River Limits of April 7, 1961 and the Joint Declaration on the Outer Limit of the Rio de la Plata from January 30, 1961.

ARTICLE 2. Establishing a range of exclusive jurisdiction adjacent to the coast of each Party on the River. This coastal strip has a width of seven nautical miles from the outer edge of the River and the straight line linking Cologne (Eastern Republic of Uruguay) and Punta Lara (Argentina) and from this last line to the parallel of Punta Gorda width of two nautical miles. However, its outer limits will be inflected as necessary to avoid exceeding the edges of channels in the shared waters and remaining channels including access to ports. Such limits shall not be approximated within five hundred meters from the edges of channels located in the shared waters and will turn away more than five hundred meters to the edges and the mouth of the access channels to ports.

Did you notice in Article 1, the use of the word imaginary line. This imaginary line joins Punta del Este, Uruguay the river's designated coastal end (or limit assigned to it) to Punta Rasa del Cabo, Argentina ending the other direction that the river flows to along the coast. Those are the agreed upon left and right outer coastal limits of this river. So by law and maritime charts, I have an outer coastal limit river view. The land mass of Uruguay curves at this point so I have a diagonal view of the river not the traditional view of its width between the 2 countries ( from one of its banks). I look at the brown water spillage into the Atlantic, I look diagonally across this (legal entity) towards the bluer Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

Montevideo, the Capital of Uruguay sitting on the Rio de la Plata

Notice how brown the waters are in this photo! This is a photo of the capital city of Montevideo that actually does sit on the bank of the Rio de la Plata it sits at the mouth of it, towards the Atlantic Ocean. Still, that brown water clearly marks this as belonging to the river.

I have a confession to make, most of the photos that I take of the water view from my deck are done on what I call blue water days! The water in front of my house although facing what seems to be the Atlantic Ocean definitely is still influenced by the Rio de la Plata. The only thing that keeps our retirement area from being a true beach paradise is the brown water, instead of having pretty blue water as shown in typical idyllic post card beach scenes.

The brown water from the Rio de la Plata running along the coastline.

In this photo of a fishing boat, taken from my terrace, you can see a very brown line of water in a sea of more brown water. The coastline of Uruguay has many bay-like indentations that result in calmer waters along its coast. This water, right off the coast from my house, is not too deep due to a lot of sediment deposited on its bottom. The water here is very calm with little wave action (it does have some strong undertow in places).  Everyone agrees however, that starting at around Punta del Este in the northeast, the true Atlantic Ocean, free from the influence of the muddy waters of the Rio de la Plata begins. The water at Punta del Este is much bluer and the surfers are out in force riding the Atlantic waves.

So Geraldo, the water view from my terrace is the "brown water" belonging to the Rio de la Plata but if I look past this brown ribbon I see the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Either way, I enjoy my view immensely!

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.