Cost Cutting

It is amazing just how much money I have wasted over my lifetime. Living on a fixed income, as we are now, shows me just how much money I could have saved, if I had just been conscious of it. I just came back from the feria, where I try and buy as much of the week's food, as I can. But they don't sell granola, and I love a good granola for breakfast.

We used to by granola at Tienda Inglesa, but is a pretty expensive cereal (about $4.75 for 10 oz of granola). Just the other day, I wondered how hard it is to make granola. Duh! It is very easy, you control the ingredients completely and I make twice as much for about half the price. The local feria sells almonds (that I roast) for about $5/lb and even Tienda Inglesa sells rolled oats at a reasonable price. Add some honey, canola oil and vanilla and you have a pretty nice little granola. Next time I will experiment with coconut and raisins.

I think if I had been as conscious of the need to conserve in my younger days, as I am now, I would be much better off. Can't complain, though, since we are finding ways to enjoy everything we need, at more reasonable price. Just recently I have located a source of corn tortillas, which are not sold in this country. I have to drive to Punta del Este to get them, but some things are worth it.

Karaoke (Again)

We enjoyed our karaoke party last night. Everyone started wondering in, starting at 8:00. At 11:00 in the evening, a storm dropped about 4 inches of water, but until that time, the weather was very mild and we spent the first few hours of the evening on the patios. Denise found a little set of "bubbles" for the one child in attendance, who was a real joy, and we all enjoyed watching him blow bubbles and chase after them. It does not take much to amuse us.

Dinner was a mixed success. With help of Karina, serving, and Jorge, my assistant chef, the meal went off without a hitch. But looking back now, I should have provided some meat products. Uruguayans live for meat (myself included) and we thought that a nice salad, pasta with meat sauce and garlic bread would be fine. Nobody was really that excited about the salad, including the women (I should have known that). And since we added some red peppers to the meat sauce (as we always do), some probably thought it was a bit "hot". So next time I think I will have to provide more meat (that works for me). Of course everyone said they enjoyed the meal, but then they are very, very polite. I will publish my public apology for not being a better host and will make it up next time. I will make no apologies for the desserts, however. Jimena provided a delicious strawberry and cream cake and our carrot cake turned out to be fantastic (as good as any I have ever tasted).

The karaoke was a success. Due to the limited time we had to prepare, Denise and I only attempted one Spanish song. I don't think they could have found a faster paced song in all the list. We were horrible, but nobody was keeping score. However, we plan to download some YouTube videos for next time and practice a few of the songs. Fortunately, the video camera was not charged up and we have no record of how bad we did. Take my word for it, though- it was bad.

Eventually at around 2:00 in the morning, everyone wound down and headed on home.

*And Now for Something Completely Different

On a totally different subject, I would like to propose a change in the Spanish language. Now I know that Spanish has been spoken for ages and that there are many Spanish speakers throughout the world. In fact Spanish is the 2nd most popular language in the world, just after Chinese and before English. So I know I am treading on a lot of toes. But here goes.

Why are all nouns in Spanish (and also all romance languages) either masculine or feminine? Now every grammar books states that they are, but not why. Generally words ending in "O" are masculine and those ending in "A" are feminine, except for the many, many exceptions to the rule (and there are lots). Then, to compound the matter, adjectives describing these nouns must match in gender and number. So the question is- WHY! What difference if a house masculine or feminine? A house is a house. Some houses are more masculine than others, but all houses are feminine.

So here is what I propose. Let's just simplify all romance languages (including Spanish) and eliminate the gender preference on nouns. This would make Spanish much easier to speak and draw more people to learn. There are still 322 million people who speak English. Perhaps we can persuade some of them switch. Of course, I don't think Spanish will ever overtake Chinese, with almost a billion speakers, but perhaps more would join the Spanish speaking world if it were easier.

That's just my 2 centavos worth.

*A Monty Python reference

This Is No Yolk

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. I was just yoking around. No- now I feel really bad- I guess the yolk's on you. Now I've just got egg all over my face. Enough!

I am making a carrot cake, this morning for our little karaoke party tonight. I've managed to secure over 500 Spanish language karaoke songs. Yesterday I went to the feria for supplies and for the second time, bought eggs with double yolks. Last time I bought them, I thought it might have just been a fluke. But this time I asked the guy if the selection were "doubles". He assured me they were and they are. Now you might be able to buy double-yolked eggs in the US (I am sure they must be available), but I don't remember ever seeing them advertised or for sale in my regular store.

So I wonder if double yolks are a Uruguayan chicken thing, or are they readily available wherever you live?

In addition, I was able to make a delicious cream cheese frosting using ricotta cheese (so technically, I suppose it is a creamed ricotta frosting). The reason for this is cost.  2- 3 ounce packages of Philadelphia brand cream cheese cost about $8.00 (US). The same amount ricotta costs a little under 50 cents. Using a few spoons of yoghurt to cream the ricotta produced a satisfactory frosting. Not quite as creamy as using cream cheese, but the cost savings alone make it more tasty. I am becoming a big fan of ricotta, having made a very nice Italian cheese cake some time ago. Again, the grainy texture of the ricotta is tempered with some heavy cream or yogurt, but the cost savings is immense. When you are living on a fixed budget, it is nice to be able to have everything you want, at a price you can afford.

As you can see from the invitation that Carolina designed (our resident event planner), there may be photos or videos that appear on the web, for which we assume no responsibility. The last time we posted a video, I really got a kick out of seeing the Uruguayos singing American songs. We'll see if it is as funny when we try to sing Spanish songs...

Santa Rosa Storm and the Assembly

Today was the first time that I have seen the sun in a week. With that statistical evidence, Stephen Hawking would probably surmise that the sun doesn't exist, but that is another matter. I couldn't figure out why it has been raining since last Saturday, almost non-stop. Then someone mentioned the annual storm that usually falls around the "Feast of Santa Rosa" and then I remembered.

For the past month, we have been handing out invitations in our local territory, as have the others, throughout the country. And yesterday was the first day of our 2010 District Assembly. It poured rain in the morning. Naturally, we got everything together and slogged our way to the assembly- Not! Sorry. We decided to take in Friday at one of the following assemblies. They are held every weekend from now, through October at the Assembly Hall in Colon. However, it was reported that there was one intrepid motorcyclist who braved the weather to attend yesterday's session. All I can say is wow! But today was much milder, so we attended and we were able to receive a new publication.

Sitting through about 6 hours of instruction, with limited language skills is difficult, to say the least. I have a lot more empathy for immigrants to the US, many of whom come there with little or no English. We, at least, have a support system with our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom Hall. There are talks and demonstrations on various subjects. Some are of general interest and some will be of more interest to active Witnesses, but we are now able to get the theme of the talks and many of the points, though some of the parts just go right over our head. It is almost as if they are speaking a foreign language...

For any local readers who wish to see what an assembly is like, the sessions start at 9:20 in the morning, with a one hour lunch break and continue until 5:00 in the evening and 4:00 on Sunday. Entrance and parking is free and no donations are solicited (you can look carefully and find discrete boxes, if you wish) and visitors can come and take in any part of the program that they might enjoy. On Sunday, in the morning session, there is a full dress drama. Denise and I have participated in 2 of these dramas over the years. Just for fun, I have included two pictures of us in drama costumes. The one on the left (with matching hot pink outfits was from Hawaii) and the one on the left is from Guam. For some reason I was always cast as a bad guy who was either kicked out of town or stoned to death. I hope that is not type casting.

For those interested, the address of the assembly is:

Salon de Asamblea de Los Testigos de Jehova

Cesar Mayo Gutierrez 2645

ESQ. CNO. VARSI

Colon

Well, we are getting to bed early tonight, and hoping for sun again tomorrow (weather report shows a good chance). It looks like the Santa Rosa Storm is winding down. We will, however be wearing regular clothes and not our costumes.....

Hi Ho Silver! And Away We Go!

Saturday morning we donned boots and vests and headed up to Punta del Este for an afternoon of horseback riding at Lapataia, a working dairy ranch, restaurant and tourist destination, near Punta Ballena. This past year, it was the scene of the production of "La Traviata"(posted in a previous blog entry), performed by world famous opera singer, Luz de Alba. This was the first time we saw the local.

We traveled to Punta Ballena and met up with new immigrants (sounds funny to be on the other side of the "immigrant" line) Shawn and Mari. We also met Mari's mom (who will now be living here in Uruguay) and her sister, niece and brother-in-law, who accompanied the Mom on her trip here. Their neighbor Lucas, a 16 year old Uruguayan boy, who speaks flawless English, accompanied us as a guide.

Lapataia is just a short drive from their house and as you first enter, you can see it is set up to host loads and loads of people. There is ample parking and many displays of antique farm equipment, various gardens (no doubt used by their kitchen) and a nice walk down the road for the stables, where we would rent horses for a little jaunt to the edge of their property.

The horses rented for 150 pesos ($7.50 US) for 1/2 hour. When I was younger, my grandfather owned a riding stables in Castro Valley, California and in my early years, I was quite a rider, until well into my 20's. I didn't realize until thinking about it later, that it has probably been a good 30 years since I've been on a horse. But you know what they say- "It's like riding a bike- you never forget how to fall off". Anyway, I was dressed for the occasion and we selected our horses. I was proud that at least I didn't need extra help to mount the horse and soon the group was on it's way.

We took the little road up past the amphitheater (where La Traviata had played), a little display of local animals, and finally down to the end of the road. Riding back, we alternated between a walk, a trot and the horses even got up to a decent gallup. The saddles don't have a pommel, so there is nothing to hold onto (if you are a novice), but they are provided with a nice soft lambskin on the seat.

On the way out, I was thinking that a short 30 minute ride is really not enough for a seasoned rider, like myself, to enjoy. On the way back in, I thought that while I might be a seasoned rider, my legs and rear end definitely were not. Thirty minutes was plenty long enough. On the way home, I barely had enough strength in my legs to shift gears (a short nap has remedied that).

We stopped into the restaurant and looked over the menu. They had buffet lunches (featuring pastas and salads) for 400-500 pesos ($20-25 US). We opted for a milanesa and fries (very nice), but even that was way overpriced and nothing on the menu was very special. Still, somebody has to pay for being able to walk around and enjoy the grounds. You don't pay entry fee and can enjoy most of the ranch, bringing a picnic, if you wish, at no cost.

It proved to be a lovely trip and well worth the effort. I think, however, that the need to ride horseback, which I have been wanting to satisfy since we got here, is not as strong as before. I'm pretty sure that 2010 is covered. Perhaps next year, we'll try another 30 minute ride, but I don't think any long distance equestrian trips are in our future.

La Noche de Nostalgia

Last night, (August 24th) was a country wide party, celebrating "La Noche de Nostalgia" or for you Spanish challenged, "The Night of Nostalgia". Yes, you read that right, "nostalgia" meaning: a longing for something past or far away. In this case the longing is for the fun times and music of the early rock and roll days. It is the same word used for both languages or they just didn't bother to translate the word into Spanish because the nightly fun starts with English, yes the oldies rock and roll music of English speaking/singing musicians.

We have been limping along trying to learn to speak Spanish while the whole country last night was belting out Elvis, Abba and the Beattles songs in English and they all seemed to know the lyrics! I was ashamed to just be humming some of the songs. I've never really been sure of some of the lines. Which reminds me of a dear friend of ours from England, David P. who once said to us that he loved the group the Bee Gees and that his favorite song was "Bald headed woman?" Huh? Yeah, he never knew why they named it that but he liked the song! Well, we had a laugh when we explained the title really was "More than a woman!" So, we weren't the only ones who sometimes just guessed at the murky phrases we couldn't really hear over our radios while driving in our cars!

After 2 years here in Uruguay, we are starting to finally get into the rhythm (Ha ha) of this country. When we first arrived (June), we were here only 2 months when this country wide event happened. We missed doing anything and only read about Montevideo (the Capital) and it's many street parties. We didn't feel bad because we couldn't picture ourselves partying with the masses. The next years' August rolled around and we learned that local neighborhoods also participate. You can read our 2009 blog on our attending the "Oldies Night" at our neighborhood restaurant. We even had to book in advance! It's similar to reserving space during New Years' Eve back in the states.

This year (2010) we are old pros, anticipating the date and planning ahead and this year we were included into one of the many home parties.

There was a full moon last night and we decided to walk to our friends house. It was so bright we had our shadows accompany us. Then we realized we should have brought flashlights as the road was quite pitted with large pot holes and was dark, still we arrived safely. The party started at 8 PM. We old timers only stayed till 1 o'clock in the morning! They closed the party early and it ended at 2 o'clock in the morning (so we were told) quite early for Uruguayos!

It started with Tragos (Drinks/cocktails) as any proper Nostalgia night. I only know "Papa" took care of us and we had special drinks.

Luisa, our hostess (wife of Papa) had many hand-made pizzas ready and waiting to be cooked. We saw our DJ for the night Adrian, who we've met before, using a computer driven DJ program with songs and videos. Someone else brought a sound system and speakers to insure a rocking time. Since the whole country does this, there are no neighbors complaining about the noise or loud music, how fun is that! I was caught by the camera flash but behind me you can see part of a music video playing. Abba's "Dancing Queen" pounding out the beat behind me. "Foot loose", Olivia Newton John and John Travolta from "Grease", The Beattles and even Peter Gabriel (I don't think of him as an oldie but?) all played. Our host and hostess' son-law loves,  "Just an Illusion" by Imagination so that played.

People sang in English, swayed to the music then chairs were pushed out of the way and everyone started dancing! Of course, props always help to bring out the silliness.

As the night wore on people seemed to get even more energetic, conga lines and even a very short number of limbo tries were attempted!

Finally the group did begin to sing well known (to them) classic dance songs in Spanish! Some enthusiasic titles were: "Me vuelvo loco por vos", "Panchango" "Un rubio en avion","Muesa una cancion aqui para cargaria", "Fe aviso, te anuncio" I went around asking everyone what was playing so that next year I can be even more prepared for La Noche de Nostalgia.

P.S., Thank you Papa and Luisa! We had a great time!

Spring into Action!

Today is August 24th. Tonight, we will be attending an oldies theme "rock and roll" party, because if you  remember the country of Uruguay celebrates "La Noche de Nostalgia" So look forward to tomorrows blog on the post-party update.

We have both, just gotten over colds, first one gets it (usually Wally) then the other (Me) but we are fine now and enjoying our health along with the beautiful spring like weather. In fact although Spring is officially still a month away no one told all of the flowers that. I was first alerted to the change in weather by my Daffodils surprising me by their appearance. Then I looked up and saw spring was springing up all around me, so here are some flower photos to greet and cheer you as the real ones have done for me.

Realizing, that Spring is just about here, means we have to Spring into Action! (Yeah, a shameless tie in to my title) We have been saying, we want a vegetable garden out back for some time now but have been too focused on the house itself. Enough of that! We want to start really enjoying our property. We are going to finally get our vegetable garden in order and fill up our raised planters with soil.

Yes, we still have a lot of prep-work to do on our garden and we must rush to beat Spring's official date before our vegetable garden is in but I'm sure we will be ready to....... Nah, I won't say it again.

Instead, in keeping with the date, I'll just ask what's your favorite oldies song? because tonight, Wally and I will Spring into Dance!