Happy New Years!!!

We wanted to be the first to wish you a Happy 2012!!! Wow that feels weird to type. Wait until I have to say it out loud. We are thinking of all our friends tonight knowing you will read this tomorrow.

Big city girl? Not! Tracie day 7

We said goodbye to La Pedrera today. We put the new car key in the ignition and off to Punta del Este. Everyone goes to Punta Del Este. I say good for you. Yuck-o. I don't like all the people and all the crazy traffic. I just wanted to get out of the city. Next stop, shopping. We went to a place called Punta Balline. They have some vendors and I bought a couple of things. Then we drove through lots of little beach towns until we arrived in Piriapolis. it feels like we are home. Charro cooked millanaise, which is pounded, breaded and fried meat. Ours tonight was chicken. Her cooking is amazing! I told everyone that the food part of the trip has begun.
Well, I need to tell you about our trip to the zoo. We arrived at the estancia and we were all pretty tired. Allen was laying on the bed and I asked if we could go to the zoo. He perked right up because remember, that is the home of the capiaburr and the ñandú. The zoo is pretty laid back. There is only one employee and he sits at the gate to welcome visitors. We are walking down labyrinth #1 (thank God #2 and 3 were closed) and we get to the cage with some kind of animal that is a cross between a raccoon and an anteater. Remember the phrase labyrinth here. Winding path, trees like a jungle, vines overhead...anyways, I noticed at this animals cage...ghee, these little things could squeeze right out through this part of the gate. Hmmm. Should have held that thought. We are walking towards the next cage and I see one of those critters on the OUTSIDE of the cage digging trying to get into the cage that had a bird in it. I did not really know that there was a bird in it, because I was out of there, but not Allen and Emily. No sir. They were running towards the wild animal. What was Emily thinking...it is so cute? Last time I looked back, the critter was on top of the cage still on the outside. Who goes to a zoo and sees animals that are loose outside their cages? I guess we do.
Allen's highlight was seeing and TOUCHING a ñandú. He even has a feather.

Day 7: Emily-New Years Eve

Today was moving day for us. We are now at the second stay of our trip. This new place has been very welcoming and is extremely huge, it was an old coach station from the 1700's. Right down the road is a quaint little zoo. Mom was going to make us walk, but thank goodness we didn't! It would have been the 14th "death march" since we've been here. While we were there we found an animal that had escaped, and I don't think I have ever seen my mother so scared (it was a cute little raccoon looking thing)...she wanted to turn around and go back to the beginning, hilarious. We saw a leopard, a puma, alligators, mandú and plenty of birds. It is new years eve and I am almost ready for bed (it's 9) :) Cheers!

One more hour-Tracie

So we have been told that the car key would arrive in "one hour" for the past 24 hours. Emily, Allen and I went to meet the bus at 10:30 last night to catch the "pacquette" but the bus was late. When it finally came, the conductor told Allen minyaña. (remember we have bad bus karma) We walked to the car to properly lock it up and then took a stroll down the main street of LaPedrera. It was fun to see all of the nightlife. Families were out eating, kids were playing, the street and restaurants were busy. We got home at midnight with not a key in hand.
Today is Thursday and Allen has walked to the bus office four times.the first time he came back home without a key, but we were all happy because he brought a fresh selection of pan (bread) for breakfast. After many calls to the car rental agent named Martin, (lucky Martin, he got the short straw because he spoke English) we received a second key to the car at 4:30 p.m. I am happy to say that the big white whale is parked in our driveway right now. The key is in the house.
Emily is sick today. She has a cold. I went to see the friendly town pharmacist and she is now all hopped up on Uruguayan drugs.
Mom and I are taking our last hours of sun because tonight we retire the swimsuits to our luggage. Tomorrow we will start the "tour of Uruguay" that Emily wanted instead of the beach. *see blog Tracie day 1
I bet she complains about the tour and no beach tomorrow...
We are all exhausted but we have to go out to dinner and pack the house up tonight. Next stop-Piriapolis!!!!!

Day 5 "wish I would have known I was running a marathon, would have worn a bra" Emily/Sweetpea

I knew deep down today was going to be a quiet day that I was going to have to force myself to read a book to make the time go by, not that it's a bad thing I'm just traveling with a pack that likes to read. So we are up and at em way earlier today then usual (first warning sign)...and dad rips the car to the store to grab us breakfast, which wasn't our regular breakfast (second warning sigh) which was not as fabulous as the regular one is.

We pile into the car with our usual beach stuff and (thank goodness) travel only about 2 miles to the beach we decide to lay on. It's a beautiful beach, dad boogie boards and we all lay in the sun under umbrella #2 (remember mom lost umbrella #1, if you don't recall scroll down to "day 3" ...hilarious) We lay on the beach and realize our tummies are rumbling and were all ready for lunch, we pack up the circus act and walk to the car. Once we get there dad asks for the key and lone behold it's no where to be found. We then realize the key to the house is in the locked cars glove box (awesome)

1. We walk to the information station. With beach chairs, boogie board, all our crap!
2. Explain to the girl there what has happened and in our broken Spanish the girl thinks we were robbed and takes us to the police station
3. We meet Dumb and Dumber there (the beach police). *For some reason people didn't understand what KEY was in English. Hellllllllllo!!!! We have explained it and hand motioned it 500 times and no one understands
4. We walk to the restaurant right across the way and disturbed a lovely couples lunch to see if they an interpret for us. (you would think after my parents did a 9 week immersion school they would know some Spanish) :)
5. Dumb and Dumber find us a locksmith to come jimmy the door open, thanks to the fine gentleman at the restaurant interpreting
6. They told the locksmith that it was a "white van on the beach". The end, no location, no address, no license plate number, just the obvious fact we are on the beach...there is SO much beach space In Uruguay and of course we are parked in a tiny ally off the beaten path.
7. Mom and dad walk to the car to wait for the locksmith to search them out, what is he, a crime dog? and Grandpa Grandma and I go to that restaurant across the way to eat lunch while we wait. We order our water and lunch and we started discussing everything. While we are waiting for food we devise a plan, we all knew the locksmith wasn't going to find him so if he drove by, I would hop in with him and the grandparents would meet us up at the information station..what do you know, that second the locksmith drives right on by.
8. Faster then anyone could blink I grab my water, throw my iPod to my grandma and take off running. Let me remind you were in our beach wear...so all I had on was a swimsuit top and shorts.
9. Locksmith takes the road by the beach so I take one before that so I can meet him on the other side, we cross paths and I flagged him down. Reminder: it's pushing 80+ degrees and I ran 1/2 mile flat no stopping, flips flops and with out a bra thank you very much!
10. Locksmith would make a great group of "three stooges" if we out him in with Dumb and Dumber. He does not speak a lick of English so I RUN him the rest of the way to my "madre y padre" which he didn't even understand
11. He doesn't get what we're saying to unlock the door so we go find someone to interpret again. This happends to be a hot lifeguard, good find mom. In Uruguay, everyone says they don't speak English but I would say they are fluent almost. One girl said she was "rusty" ...that's a great describing word.
12. Life guard is helping the locksmith, while a beach bum on a motor cycle comes up to help. These two grab the locksmiths tools and take matters into their own hands.
13. The beach bum actually opens the door, they pretty much made my day.
14. Walk home with the key in the glove box, call the car rental place and they put a key on a bus!
15. It is now 9 and we are waiting for the bus to get here from Montevideo with the key that should arrive sometime between 10:45 and 11:15.

#16sweetpea here. Wayne has been sent to bed so I don' kill him. After another delicious dinner that chef Allen made...spaghetti..get my drift? Tracie and I decide we had better walk down and make sure the car is locked. Wayne decides to go. Now remember it is7:30 and still hot. So we 3 trek the 2 miles down to the car only to find out it won't lock without the keys that are on a bus between here and Montivideo. So ole wayne says let's take the short way back along the beach. Yeah right!!!! With a very full bladder we trek miles down this sandy beach that is not an easy walk. Luckily he was ahead of us cause I am sure you all saw the steam rolling out of me. So rather then 20 minutes to walk home it took us 40 minutes via the beach. Plus we had a 5 minute walk thru the jungle that Em had already seen a snake and a guina pig on...gr...r.r.r.r Two hours to go to meet bus for key.

Tracie day 5 Dia del diablo!

Imagine this, it is a beautiful day and we wake up knowing that we are going to the beach. Allen has a boogie board and by golly we are going to get some use out of it. So we pack all of our stuff "towels, sunscreen, clothes, umbrella (the second one, remember we lost the first one) beach mats and all of our other items. Thank God we stopped at the public beach that is only 1 mile from home. (I swear it is 1 mile uphill both ways.) We thought about going to one of the beach roads that nobody would be at...
So after a great day in the full sun and some perfect boogie boarding we drag all our crap back to the car to find that we have lost the car keys. (We put the house keys in the glove compartment) We are so sunburned already...dehydrated and hungry. You don't have to stretch your mind too far to see where this is all going.
After a trip to the Information booth, we were hoping that they lady who oversees the rental would have another key to the house so we could at least change into clothes and take all of our crap home. Nope. Then it's off to the police station. After they called a Locksmith, Allen and I went to the car to wait for him to drive from the next city over. I decided to walk the beach to see if anyone turned in a lost key to the soda stand and then the lifeguard stand. I don't know if I have commented on how everyone who speaks a little English likes to practice...one easy question, has anyone turned in a car key? No quick answers....everyone wants to have a conversation.
There were at least 6 guys at the lifeguard station. All saying they don't speak good English, but they all do. When I say I don't speak good Spanish I really mean it. So after a long conversation with the lifeguards, and no key to show for it, I walk up to the car to meet Allen.
Next thing I hear is "dad, dad!" as I see Emily crest the hill, I guess there was a little car behind her that was the locksmith. We were expecting the locksmith to drive a van. So next thing you know, it is me, Allen, Emily and the dumbest locksmith ever. He really did not speak any English. We just though the would open the car but I guess he needed us to tell him how to do it.
I gave up and went back to the lifeguard stand to get some translation help. Again, you don't just ask for a translator and get one, you first have to converse about the type of Spanish they speak. Castillion I hear. So finally one of the guys walks up to the car with me. He brings his plastic lifeguard float thingy. So we find out his name is Marcello and he talks to the locksmith. Marcello the lifeguard decides that this is the dumbest locksmith ever and he grabs the coat hanger to try to catch the lock. Next stops in the beach bum Fernando. So now Fernando and Marcello are working to catch the lock with the hanger. Dumb locksmith is watching. Yippee for beach bum. He gets the car unlocked!!! We grab the house key and walk to the information station to meet mom and dad. Mom has now decided that Emily has been sold Into white slavery and is already hooking in Brazil.
Oh, one note to add. We don't have any Uruguayan pesos with us. Just U.S. dollars. Most places take U.S. $, but there is not a cambia in this town and remember mom and dad and Emily got here on Christmas.
Finally we are all back together and in our little cottage. We are thirsty and hungry. We have some water and then Allen starts calling the car company. They are very nice and they are sending us another key from the city via bus. We are leaving in about 1 hour to see if the key is on the next bus. I sure hope so. It will be nice to have our big white whale van back parked in front of our little stone cottage.
Another long story short, mom, dad and I walked to the car to lock it up. Dad decided it would be shorter to walk the beach home. Not! Mom is gonna kill him.

Quiet day 4

Today was another sleep in day. Breakfast of Media Luna's and dulce de leche. Then we decided to do a traveling circus act and go on the road. We gathered all our beach stuff (which we did not use), packed a cooler with beer (that we didn't drink) and put a watermelon on ice (that we didn't eat). We did drive through a couple of small beach towns and the small town of Rocha, oh yeah, we saw more ñandùs. What's better than seeing a ñandù? Eating a ñandù. Allen had a ñandù chevito for lunch. FYI, It tasted like a dark meat game bird.
We had a pretty lazy afternoon. Mom, dad and I read books and Emily and Allen went for a quick beach walk. Pretty sunny day here in Uruguay.

Sweetpea day 3

Another quiet day. Too much sun yesterday. We went to beach but the only thing uncovered was our legs and one nude man. He ran after our umbrella after throwing on his shorts but lost our umbrella. That was our excitement for the day. Allen has a cold and Em has a sore throat. We went for a ride and found better beaches. Oh and I did manage to get some food this afternoon. We went to lunch at a little restaurant down town. Still wasn't the beef we have heard about. Anyway just a quiet day. Very enjoyable. On to tomorrow...

Emily: the blog Day 3

Rules of the blog:
1) Each person (Sweetpea, Tracie, and Emily) sits down at night to write an entry
2) What you write is not shared with the other three people until it is read with the group after its published
3) You publish your entry
4) We take turn reading each others blogs out loud with Grandpa and Allen present
5) Laugh hysterically at our day
* There is a possibility we all talk about the same thing from our own points of view...I'm guessing the three from today all might mention the "umbrella incident" :)

Now about our day:
Today was a beach day again. Only Sweetpea, Mom and I chose to venture to the beach while the other two stayed at home. (Dad was not feeling good today) We walked the 5 min to the beach where we planted ourselves. Mom brought the two beach chairs and I laid on a mat. Let me explain how windy it is by the ocean, it's blustery...dads hat has flown off a few times and when ever you pick up the mat thats been in the sand you have a chance at covering the person next to you like a walking piece of sand paper thats stuck to all the sunscreen.

Anyways...three girls at the beach with a large umbrella. What do we do? Point it the wrong way in the wind. That thing lifts off like a rocket. Mom hops up out of her chair like a jumping bean and sprints towards the umbrella. This umbrella is hauling ass, so is my mom. I've never seen that woman run so fast in my life. The whole scenario looked like a old black and white movie...an umbrella rolling in the sand with mom hurdling after it. Once the umbrella slows down for the slightest second so does mom. The wind picked up again the umbrella catches speed and mom throws her hand up in the air and takes off running again. After her attempt I would give her a "10". She gave Jesse Owens a run for his Olympic gold medal.

We then see the nudist guy the next sand hill over look at what we were doing. He had the courtesy to put on his shorts and haul after it as well. He didn't catch it either, some one in the next town over has a new nice white umbrella. I think that was the best 10$ mom ever spent. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time.

Love you mom,
Emily.

Tracie day 3

Well our chauffeur/cook was not feeling well today so the day started off pretty quiet. That was okay though, because the rest of us look like lobsters, some more like crabs. I guess the day at the beach yesterday was too much for us. Mom, Emily and I (wrapped up like a mummy, except for my legs) went to the beach. I am sure you will hear about that from Emily.
After the beach, we drove into town for our first restaurant meal. They had a pizza oven so I figured that was they way to go. We have found that the tourist town food is not very good, and today was just so-so. Then we drove to the nearest "town" La Paloma. It is a bit bigger than our La Pedrera, but about the same other than that.
Allen needed to eat, so he made ravioli and sauce for all of us for dinner. Thank goodness he needed some sustenance or we might all starve.
Pretty quiet day, but beats being home, that's for sure. I am starting to like our little stone house...

Tracie here...day 2

Two people can be ready to head out the door in 20 minutes. I guess it takes 2 hours to get 5 people out the door. We went to the beach and now I am burned. It's pretty bad when a person enjoys being sunburned because they never see the sun at home.
Emily tried to take a shower but the water was not really working. The plumber came to fix the sink around 1:00. Dad was the smart one who left the beach to let him into the house. Now we have a new faucet and lots of water.
We have learned that it is very disorienting when you move into a new town. I expected yesterday to be tough on everyone, but today should have been good. If you know Emily, you know that she is not very adventurous. She likes her home and she does not like change. I was ready to slap her when she announced while we were laying on the beach that she doesn't even want to be on the beach. She wanted to "tour" Uruguay. She is feeling much better this evening. She just needed to work some things out.

Emily's turn:)

Highlights thus far:

Sweetness explanation on "abbreviations"....she just takes some letters out. Flites=flights

Grandpas comment on our empanada dinner ..."pie crust with grass in the middle" (which was spinach in the middle)

Sweet pea: "This isn't a vacation I'm worried about counting calories"
Tracie (flabbergasted): "You should be!"

My mothers douse of SPF 4...followed by intense sunburn, she thinks she's a local :)

Corva saying Um in the email Jo sent

My first taste of the ever so popular "Yerba Matte" ...tastes like poo. Dad drinks it daily.

Sweetpea second day

Well guys it has been another fun day in the sun. Think I am finally getting over the jet lag. Woke up late, had bread for breakfast. Then we went to the beach. Wayne had to come back early as the plumber was coming and you know Wayne..had lots of questions. Didn't get many answers tho, plumber didn't speak English and Wayne doesnt speak much Spanish. We ate lunch..bread and cheese....are you getting my drift yet? We then walked into town in the heat of the day. After walking home in the heat, Em Al and I had a little problem with our tummies. we are feeling better now. Then comes dinner. Tonight was scrambled eggs with salsa. WHERE IS ALL THIS DELICIOUS FOOD TRACIE AND ALLEN ATE.....they must have been lying. But in all fairness Allen makes a great scrambled egg.
It is 9:00 and still light. Tomorrow we may explore little beaches. Everyone is burned except me. We are having lots of fun and laughing a lot. Until tomorrow.....

Tracie's turn

Okay Emily, it is time I told you the truth. It was more than a four hour flight and there is no Santa Claus. Sure does not feel like Christmas here, which is fine by me. We woke up early because I still had not if finished packing. We have spent two days getting ready for the arrival of the family. Shopping, renting the car, buying lots of beer and making sure it was cold and ready on ice. We even spent an extra hour at the local cell phone company getting a chip to make sure Sweetpeas iPad would have 3G. We had four boxes of food and beer, beach umbrellas, a boggie board and our luggage. It is a good thing that we had to upgrade to the 8 passenger van.
We got to the airport and greeted them with the Uruguayan kiss. They better get used to those.
So off to the cabana. I am still a little worried about this part of the trip. This is their chance to get sun. There really won't be anything more to the next 6 days. After that, ladies and gentlemen start your engines. We will be eating and greeting at 100 miles an hour.

Sweetpea here

Well as Em said it has been an exciting day. Passed thru customs with no problems. The airport is beautiful. After driving 3 hours we arrived at our beach home. Well..a 5 minute walk to the beach with Allen cutting our way thru the brush with a kitchen knife. It is rocky and very big waves. We can drive to another beach that is much calmer
We ate lunch at home. It is dinner time now..9pm. I think al and tracie have been lying about the food. Tonite we.....Wayne's comment... Ate grass with pie crusts on the outside. So much for the great meals. I kid. Today is our day to acclimate. Tomorrow will be great. Beach sun and warmth.

Emily is here, the blogging can begin!

Im going to have to give my mom a run for her money with my blogging! She's a pro. We, (Sweetpea, myself and Wayne) arrived here after 18 hours of flight time! Alaska is way too far away from everything. The only way my parents got me here was by telling me the flight from Miami to Uruguay was 3 hours. Big fat liars, it was 9! I couldn't turn back in Miami, we were way too far. I did get a idea it was longer then 3-4 hours after looking at Jolee's map on her shower bath curtain and measuring the distance with my hands. It's about the same from AK to Miami as it is Miami Uruguay. My parents think they are funny!

We saw today was -25 at home so it's about an 95 degree difference, I'm sure glad to finally be here. We arrived, we drove 3 hours and I napped for 4. I ventured to the beach, saw a wild guinea pig and and ate an orange. It's been a wild and crazy day today (not really). We have empanadas in the oven and dessert to follow. I guess everyone eats super late here. It's 9pm and were just starting to cook. It's Christmas day but it doesn't feel like it at all. Santa is called "Papa Noel" which never gets old saying. Uruguay is beautiful and the ocean is large and blue, fancy that. It's nice to see my parents again after 2 months, guess they have to get used to my house rules after they get home ;) Faliz Navidad everyone!

blahbitty blah...Merry Christmas

Well it is Christmas eve and life is really good.
Allen and I have been grocery shopping, beer shopping and picked up the "white whale" rental van, all in anticipation of the arrival of mom, dad and Emily.
Our christmas eve so far has been a first course of chicken liver pâté. April made it today and it is really good. It is my first pâté. It was really good. My world is really expanding. I am writing this as we eat, and drink...maybe too much of the drink. Right now Leo is tending the parilla. Dinner will be served in many courses. I will continue writing as the courses come out. At this time I do know that we are climbing up on the roof at midnight to watch the fireworks display. I am hoping we don't fall off the roof. Right now is 7:30 and prospects of climbing on the roof are not sounding so good. Allen and Leo are both in proper attire, wearing Panama hats and smoking cigars. Second course coming up!
First course is out...blood sausage. Both sweet and salty. Yum! I know, sounds gross, but don't knock it till you try it.
Second course, chorizo. Yum. Then salad with tomatoes and onions and dressing. Dressing is a new concept for Uruguayans. They usually just go with oil and basaltic vinegar. Next to come off the grill is the asado ribs. Then the crowning glory, the steak. OMG!
Lots off good conversation...topics include green tomato chutney, followed by the benefits of women's waxing. The fireworks are starting... We are ready for yogurt cake. It is only 10:00 and we have two hours to go till lift off. The dogs are staring to get scared...
So. now gifts have been shared and Christmas is complete. Not yet...we are waiting to go up to the roof to watch the fireworks!!!
Allen is now a true Uruguayan. As a gift he got a fancy thermos. Now he has the whole set for mate drinking. The mug, the straw and the thermos. No one will pick him out as a tourist. He will look like the real deal. maybe he won't come home...Nine week vacation? Maybe not. Although I think Mecki and Leo will kick us out sooner or later.
Mecki and Leo gave me an incredible wool scarf and April gave me a really pretty pink rose quartz necklace. What an amazing adventure we have had in Uruguay. Life really is about all the people you have in your lives and we are very rich indeed.
It is not quite midnight, and the sky is exploding with fireworks. Up to the roof we go...
If you don't hear from us again, it is because we fell off the rooftop like Rudolph, although we did purchase good medicvac insurance.
Merry Christmas everybody!

Boy Toy

I kissed my future son in law today. I am not sure if I have talked about my "crush" on the young kid at Galles. Galles is the Casa de Cambio where we get our money exchanged. Xavier has helped us many times. We even gave him one of our Alaskan quarter magnets. He told us he showed it to his mama. Anyways, Allen said I could not keep him, but Emily can...wear a cute outfit Em, and dad bring some cash to exchange! We saw him outside on his lunch hour and that's when I got the kiss. (the greeting kiss) Allen only got a handshake.
Not much done today. Called some family, Skype is pretty cool. Ate lunch, dinner, dropped the laundry off to the laundress.....the usual. It's pretty hot and muggy. Going to stay hot I believe. Tonight there was a big concert down by the Rambla. They have been setting up staging for weeks now. We stayed for most of the ballet, but it was pretty loud and the next performance was a political singer, so we came home and are going to bed.

Last day on the road

We decided to drive to La Pedrera and check out the cabana. The best part about doing that today is that now we will be able to stay with Leo and Mecki for Christmas Eve. I hear that at midnight there is a huge fireworks display. Not an organized show, but everyone shoots a few off, and it really adds up. We are going to have a parilla dinner in the back terrace.
We started the morning in the city of Mina's. We went out to what we thought was an ordinary breakfast. Allen ordered grilled ham and cheese and got coffee and a scone. There was a table of 5 men at the table behind us, and they were in the age range of 60. When their breakfast came out on the tray it was five glasses of whiskey. Wow! Now that's a breakfast. It was only 9:30 in the morning.
We arrived at La Pedrera and had to wait two hours to get the key. We walked the main street (kind of the only street) and found the cabana. We found the path that led to the ocean. It takes about five minutes to walk. The cabana is nice. Clean and no bugs. Small but good. We will describe it all later so thats all I am gonna say now.
It was hot hot hot yesterday. Really hot. So hot we really can't stay out in the sun very much. Makes me wonder where the perfect place is. Too hot to be out in the sun, or too cold to be out of the house...hmmm, something to ponder. Allen would say the perfect place would be on a sailboat.
We landed at Mecki and Leo's house and met their friend April. April is visiting from New York until New Years Eve. We went t the disco grabbed a few things and had a great dinner at 10:00 outside in the terrace. We had bread, cheeses, veggies and salami and lots of wine, beer and good conversation. It is nice for both of us to converse with someone other than each other, including Mecki and Leo. Hahaha Thanks to April for adding to our table.
It rained hard last night while we were sleeping. It really pours when it rains. Pretty cool lightening and thunder too.
More later

The longest day

Today we left Tacuarumbo. I personally think that they had the best city square. We went out last night and watched little kids play wile their moms and dads watched and drank their mate.
We drove from North Central Uruguay down to South Eastern, through the towns of Melo and Treinta y Tres. We ended up tonight in Mina's. Our modus operandi is to drive to each cities town square, get out and walk around and drive a few of the streets. We also read the history of the town out of our travel guide while we are at the square. Weird but true, it seems every town has a zoo.
Well, Allen read something about the highest point in Uruguay being semi close to MInas. We set the points on google maps and pulled onto a dirt road. It was a really nice dirt road all the way up to the lookout point. I was a bit mad, because we passed a horse, cow, baby cow and a sheep that were all sitting right on the side of the road. Allen could not stop for pictures of these animals that I could have reached out and touched, but yesterday we stopped to take photos of every ńandu all of which were over 100 feet away.
Well, back to the lookout point of the highest point in Uruguay. Allen decides to climb the fence and then climb the rest of the way up to the top of the rocks. It was about a 200meter walk up hill. Meanwhile I sat in the car because ther were 1000 flies buzzing around. Now I know why cows swish their tails.
So, we take this dirt road down the hill towards Mina's. This is a short cut. The most direct route per google. The second dirt road started out bad and got worse. The rocks were sharp and I was worried about popping a tire. We started crossing cattle grates and found ourselves passing through WITH the cows and sheep. They were on the road, in the road and all around us. At one point it was hard to tell what was the road. We did see one person on a horse during the hour drive through the country side. I had to watch the blue dot on the google map to make sure we were on the route, and not in the middle of someone's pasture. I would have to say that since we made the drive without incident, it was very cool. I am not sure but I don't think I will ever be close enough to touch a mama cow and her twins. Kinda scary but cool. We also saw what looked like guinea pigs about the size of a small rabbit. Allen and I are fighting right now over the size of a regular guinea pig and I think these were bigger than the ones at Petco. I guess the pictures will prove one of us right. It seems Allen and Steve had giant guinea pigs growing up. I have only seen small ones. Pet store pigs are not full grown. Enough of the guinea pigs...we also saw armadillos and some big rabbits.
It sure is amazing to see the changes in the countryside. I just can not describe it.
Tomorrow more adventures!

Ñandu

Allen has a fascination with the nandu. They look like an ostrich but they are smaller, 2/3 the size of an ostrich. Today we drove from Salto to Tacuraembo. I was not watching the google map route that Allen put in and we followed the road signs so we missed the route that would have taken us by the Elvis museum. It's not really Elvis, his name is Carlos Gardel. He is the most famous tango singer in these parts. It's just one of the Uruguay/Argentina wars.
It worked out okay though, because we saw some great scenery. We had to stop every time we saw ñandu birds. One of them had about 20 babies with him. The babies were the size of a small turkey with long legs. Just googled the ñandu and it is the male that sits on 10-60 eggs and then raises the chicks.
We were on the road for 5 hours and only saw another car every 20-30 minutes. About 1/2 of the one lane bridges were on blind corners! They have a rule that the car in the lane going towards Montevideo has the right of way. It seems to work. There were also lots of vacca (cows) and horses in the fields. It was interesting to see the fields go from tan to green when we crossed over some hills. It was like there was an imaginary line. Brown prairies on one side and totally green with trees and grass and shrubs on the other.
I think we must have a little flu bug. Allen was not feeling good yesterday and I had a super bad headache this afternoon.
As far as food goes, I am entertaining restaurant owners when I order a cafe con leche and one vasso of heilo. Then I pour the coffee over the ice. The cafe's that do sell iced coffees make them with ice cream. Iced coffee sure does taste good. Allen is enjoying his Pilsen.
Off to Minas tomorrow. That will be a longer driving day, about 6 hours. 7 if we have to stop and watch every ńandu that Allens spots!

Salto

One day of driving and one day at a hotel with pools.
The drive was very pretty. Farm land and the one thing that I still can not get used to.
Pine trees next to palm trees. Other than that the drive was in eventful.

The next day, Sunday, we stayed at a hotel in Salto. It was posadas Siglo xix. The grounds were lovely with about 7 pools. They were all hot springs, bu they did not smell. You could even drink the water it was that pure.

Off to another smaller town and a museum of a famous tango singer, kind of like our Elvis.

Rain

Rain, rain, go away...
We cannot play croquet today:(
This weather is so weird. I was just sitting outside and all of the sudden it starts to rain. Not rain like gushing, just a good sprinkle. It is humid, the outdoor temperature is still 70 degrees.
We had our last class today. I told all of our teachers that we are the best cultural students they will ever have! At least that's something. We will all go to lunch January 5th. Nothing fancy, just a little shop we found that makes fresh empanadas. Not pre-made and frozen. The best ever empanada was filled with dulce de leche and chocolate. Wow! Second place for me goes to palmettos and Salsa de Golf. Salsa de Golf is a very popular mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. We heard that someone at the local Montivideo Golf Club mixed the two together and pronounced it "Salsa de Golf". It is very popular, Hellman's sells it in a squeeze bottle.
Last night Allen made dinner. He made a Hungarian dish that we learned to make from Frushi, a Hungarian exchange student. It is one of our favorite meals. Of course they don't have the right type of Hungarian spice, but we found something close. It is nice to live with Germans, because Leo showed Allen the proper spätzle technique. Yum. Allen has already amended his recipe to use the new spätzle recipe.
Tonight we are having fresh fish with Leo and Mecki and Francisco. We are going to make chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We brought chocolate chips from home. Chocolate chip cookies are pretty American. We just went to the Disco to get the rest of the ingredients and we could not find brown sugar. Hmmmm. The closest thing we could get was unrefined raw cane sugar cubes. They look brown. They are really hard, but Allen is going to rehydrate them. They cost $11.00 U.S. that should make four batches. We better make some cookies to give as gifts as we travel along. The pie turned out good, so let's hope the cookies do too.
It is interesting to find out what the challenges are going to be when doing a project. If I ever move to a different country, it would make sense to live there for awhile to figure out what I would need to import. If it was to be Uruguay, I would need Goop brand glue, brown sugar, Crisco, Franks Hot Sauce, and everything electronic. Tools, computers etc. I am sure we will have a longer list as we head out on our own. On the flip side, I am bringing home dulce de leche, grappa meil and I would love to bring home a cow. I might not eat beef at home again.
Tomorrow we are going to rent a car and head North! Not too far North though.

The glass is 2/3 full

Tomorrow completes the sixth week of our vacation. It is the end of our Spanish lessons.
This trip has been full of changes. We have changed host families, cities, languages, eating habits, seasons, cultures, attitudes and outlooks.
We have changed everyday from being "students" to being tourists.
We have changed from being "guests" to being family.
We have changed to a mostly beef and dulce de leche diet.
We have changed from winter to summer. It still shocks me to see a sign that says something about summer on it. It sure does not feel like Christmas either.
We have changed our attitudes. We are much more "laid back" and relaxed now. This is a country who lives by the motto "Es lo que hay" which translated means "It is what it is." this motto really mean that Uruguayan people accept things the way that they are. We have a slower pace of life. It is different than being on vacation though. We are gone from home so long that it takes away the fervor of trying to fit everything in. Bad weather? Who cares...we are here long enough that there will be more sun coming.
Today the weather has changed a jillion times. From 2 minute rain showers, to sun, to clouds. Sweater on, sweater off. Allen even put some pants on. Then he added a new item to his bucket list. One year without wearing pants, long pants. I hope he at least wears underpants!
I think today is a reflective day because tomorrow is the last day of lessons. More goodbyes. All of our goodbyes have been relatively easy because we are going to see everyone again when our family comes. We will see Buby, Augustine, Blanquita, Charro and all of our teachers again. But, tomorrow still is a big benchmark.
One thing that has not changed...we still don't speak Spanish! Would we change that if we could? No! If we had been true students who actually studied then we would not have had the experiences that we have had. The idea of going to school for three hours and then going home to study for another six hours is not what this trip is about. That would certainly not be an adventure.
A lot of the time I sit in class and think, boy these teachers must think I am stupid...they might be right. You might think that this has been a waste of money to take Spanish lessons and not learn how to speak Spanish. Today is the day of realization that my chances of going home speaking Spanish is not going to happen. Allen knew it before we even left Fairbanks!
But you know what? I do know a lot about how the Spanish language is constructed. I know what I will have to study when I do buckle down to learn how to speak fluently. (there still is a chance that it could happen in my lifetime) Coming to this school has made all of the above changes possible.
So goodbye to classroom instruction. I guess we are ready to spread our wings and be pushed out of the nest. It sure was comfy in our nest. Thank you to all our teachers who taught us so much. You have introduced us to your language, your country and your homes and your families. You have been our mentors and our friends. We have ended with the perfect combination of the Uruguayan language and culture experience.

The Cocina calls

Allen is back in the kitchen! (la cocina). Mecki told him the price for letting us stay here is to cook one dinner that he would cook at home. She knows him so well, he is like a dog with a bone. This time we are not spending all of our time at the ferreteria, (hardware store) we have been to every supermarcado in town looking for ingredients.
Todays dish is peach pie. It is durazzno season. Problem number one is that they don't sell Crisco in Uruguay. Anywhere.
We decided to go the old fashioned way and use vacca grasa. (Beef lard) I remember my grandma used to use lard. Allen also did not have a pastry cutter, so he tried smashing with a whisk, but I was able to convince him to use my grandmas method of "cutting" the lard and flour with two knives. Thanks grandma!!!
We are unsure how the pie will taste, but it sure looks like an Allen Gray pie!!!
Speaking of pie, tonight is a tribute to Allen's Uncle Bob. Allen learned how to make a pie crust from his grandma Bernice. Bernice used to cook one pie every day for her husband and two sons, Uncle Bob and Allen's dad Chuck. Can you imagine baking one pie every day? Now you understand why Allen makes the pie crust of an 80 year old woman. Anyway, I digress. We got a call form Baylie yesterday giving us the news that Uncle Bob was diagnosed with Lukemia. I am very sad that I am not home right now to be with Bob and Carol. Uncle Bob is very special to me. When I walk into the room and see him it is like we both glow inside and smile. We make each other happy. Aunt Carol will have new challenges to face and she will do so with the strength she has been building for a few years now.
So, Bob and Carol, this fresh peach pie is for you!

Yo quierro taco bell...NOT. Just trying to impress with my Spanish skills.

How is that for some excellent Spanish? Yesterday was my spa day! Juanjo is the stylist that I went to for my haircut. It started when Allen and I went to Italy on a high school trip. I walked into a shop full of old ladies with curlers under the hair dryers and got my haircut. When you don't speak the language you can not be to picky! It was one of the best hair cuts ever. So there my hobby began. I have gotten haircuts in Mexico and somewhere in the Caribbean and now Uruguay. So yesterday, color, highlights, an amazing head massage, a hair masque with hot towels wrapped around my head and a cut. It felt amazing. I feel like a dog that has a silky coat. I do not think my hair has ever felt this soft.

After that, we met with Mateo (the teacher who keeps getting the short straw) in his neighborhood. He says it is the best neighborhood in all of Latin America. I have to say it was very nice. Reminded me of Seattle. Young and trendy. We started off with...you guessed it. Food. We went to a cafe for tea. The cafe always has an artist showing and this artist was weird. The buildings in the neighborhood were really nice. Cement with scrolls and tall doors. You just never know what's behind the doors. Some houses have courtyards in the center or in the back. Google earth is.a great way to get a birds eye view!
We walked through an amazing park, Parque de Rodó. Uruguay has many different trees. It is weird to see palm trees next to different types of pine trees. I don't think I have ever seen that before. Walking through the city streets we saw a trailer spanning the street with a barbecue parilla going, young people talking and having fun. Turns out it was Mateo's cousins work Christmas party! I felt kind of bad for Mateo dragging two gringo's through the party. After much kissing, we wandered towards the ferria. (outside market) This market was really nice. You could compare it to the UAF Christmas bazaar. Vendors who make jewelry and purses and other types of things. Yes, I looked at a purse, even tried it on my shoulder, but stopped there. Really, do I need another purse? OMG Who am I???
We figure we logged another 7 mile day. We figure we learned 1 new Spanish word between the two of us.

I kissed a guy...and I liked it...by Allen Gaga

We have not talked about all the kissing that is going on here! It is customary for a cheek kiss on the right side. It's not a full on smack your lips on my face, but it is more than just a touch of my cheek to yours. Its a cheek touch and a kiss sound. (at least thats what we have been doing...no hickey's on the face please.) Glasses are a real pain because they get in the way and can get bent. It is difficult when the height difference between two people is too much, or when the angle of the lean in is off kilter. Men kiss men too. It is more than a handshake, and less than a hug. It is a greeting. It is actually an art to getting it right! We were on a city bus and a 14 year old boy got on the bus. He noticed a middle aged woman on the bus and he went over to give her a kiss. I don't think he actually said anything to her, he just went back to sit with his friends.That's more than a handshake and less than a hug. It does take longer than a handshake and the personal bubble does not exist, but it is really nice. Just another symbol of the laid back, "I have all the time in the world" Uruguayan attitude.
So watch out, and be ready cause when I get home you are gonna get a kiss. Allen might just give you one too! He is getting pretty used to it. I think he likes it.......hahaha I am so funny!

Entering the Twilight Zone...

Words elude me on how to explain our morning. Last night when we saw our hostess Bridgette, she told us that e could have the bathroom anytime in the morning because she was organizing a party for her tennis club. She would be out very late and she was not going to work today. Well, that was the interpretation of the conversation on our side anyways...
Side note-Huge storm last night, rain, thunder and the lightening was amazing. The whole sky lit up like daylight then you could see a big bolt. Pretty cool! End of side note, back to bizarro land.
We start school at 10:00 (son las diez). Our daily routine for the last week has been that we use the bathroom at 9:00. Well, today Bridgette is in the bathroom. I skip a shower and am brushing my teeth in the kitchen, when she comes out. Remember here, she speaks Spanish and Allen speaks some Spanish and I speak English. Bridgette points to the front door and swooshes her hands towards it. Then she talks, blah blah blah, then she motions suitcases. Huh? So next the phone call. It is Claudia on the line for Allen, because I always make him do the hard stuff. Claudia is from our school, but she does not speak English either. We pick up the part about school at 10:00, then something about Mecki at 1:00. I still have not been in the bathroom or had a cup of coffee, but we are figuring out that we are moving? Next phone call is Martha. Again, even though she has impeccable English I make Allen take the phone. Apparently we were staying only one week with Bridgette and she needed us to leave with our suitcases so she could have our keys so she could get to work. Well, we packed in about 10 minutes and took all of our belongings to school and we got there by 10:10.
I need coffee. I don't know what happened and the next thing Claudia tells us is that mañana school will be from 3:00 to 6:00. I looked at her and teared up bit and said "No!". I have my hair appointment at 3:00 tomorrow and I am not changing it. What else could go wrong???
Martha was in her office so when Allen got settled with Maria I ran away to go see Martha. Apparently we were only staying with Bridgette for one week. (Duh) Martha and Mecki had talked about us staying with Mecki, but it got confusing because Mecki has company that just left from Germany and has another friend coming for her Christmas holiday. Well, long story short, I had a very nice visit with Martha, you know you just miss your girlfriends when you are away from home. Allen is great, and we are getting along wonderfully, but ya just gotta have some girl talk. So, thanks to Martha and a good cup of coffee and a long chat I have been restored to my usual self.
We were welcomed by Leo and Mecki with open arms and a cup of the most amazing Leo coffee and life is good. Actually life is very very good. We love staying with Leo and Mecki!

Apparently I can wear a thong on the beach...

To sum up our beach experience today, Allen said "Just because I see a bikini on the beach does not mean I want to get a closer look." Thong bikini's everywhere but not where they should be. There needs to be some kind of test women should do before they decide that thongs are the way to go. Kinda like you should be able to bounce a quarter off your ass and have it return right away, not have it get stuck in cellulite, or maybe some kind of weight and/or age limit? In some ways we think it is sums up the Uruguayan attitude. Laid back, things happen when they happen, and mostly things happen after 10:00 at night. It is early if you eat at 8:00!
Speaking of eating, last night we went to dinner at the parilla behind Leo and Mecki's house. We were sitting in the outdoor part, and we saw Francisco and Jenny walk by. They saw us so they came over to say hello. Then, we all noticed Leo and Mecki and their two German guests eating inside. Wow. In a city that is huge we meet four people we know. Granted we were in their neighborhood, but we felt like the cool kids that were in the popular crowd. After dinner we all walked to an outdoor concert. By the time we got there it was over. We walked to Leo and Mecki's and had a glass of grappa. Grappa is made from distilled grapes. Basically it is rocket fuel. It is like Mexico has tequila and Uruguay has grappa. We ended up getting home last night 1:00 am. Pretty good for old people. Pretty early by Uruguayan standards.
We are sure we walked 10 miles yesterday.
Today is Sunday and it sure is a lot of work to do nothing.

How time goes by...

Yesterday was one of those days that we went to bed and thought, good grief what did we really do all day? We went to school and then went to visit Leo and Mecki. OMG Leo offered to make a cup of coffee and I could have kissed him, but he has quit shaving. I have been dreaming of his coffee for weeks! It is on our "to do list" to go find a French press. I found out Leo's brand of coffee so soon I will be all set. Gosh his coffee is good. I think it is the strict five minute time that he says it must brew for before it is pressed.
After our visit, we stopped by a store that sells blackberry phones, but also had the apple logo on their sign. They were amazing to visit with, but after one hour we still could not figure out how to use our Claro chip on our iPad for data. We are supposed to text from the iPad to #454 and then we should get to use our data. How do you text from the iPad???
But, we had a great chat with the guy who owned the store. People here are so friendly. I don't know if it is because they can practice their English with us, or if it because I am so congenial. Hahahaha. It is all about me I am sure.
We are back in the city so the food is amazing again. My theory is that the restaurant has to be good to get their client base. If they are not good, they will go out of business because they depend on "regulars". Kind of like on Seinfeld. Speaking of that, we found a restaurant around the corner that is one of those places. It was full of old people. I mean packed with old people. The noise would have been awful, but since we could not understand them, if was like we were in a hive full of bees.
Then off to bed for the night.

It is now Thursday night and I am getting ready for bed. We had another full day. I had a bit of a melt down this morning about school, but I recovered. School was good, and we went to lunch with Mateo, our teacher. He is a crack up! I really wish I could bring him home. He has this blog address, but he will never read it so I can feel free to talk about him. He is in his 20's and it amazes us that he knows so much about North American culture. He pegged Allen as Homer Simpson, he knows every movie line and song lyric and he even knows the slang. He is so dang funny!!! I will really miss him when we are done with school.
After lunch we went on a private tour with a man named Mario. It was really interesting. We have found that it is a good idea to go on a tour of each city to get your bearings and the highlights of the city. It was pretty funny, I have never had a tour director say..."and blah, blah, blah..." but he did. Twice! He was very nice. We saw all the old buildings, and heard the dates they came about. We toured a military museum and stopped for a double shot of grappa. That is distilled wine. It was in a bar that was over 100 years old. Blah, blah, blah.
After the tour we went back to the corner restaurant for pizza and salad. Gosh the food is good here. We are back in the city and it is all about the food.
I am very excited to go to bed because guess what???? We are going to go play croquette at 3:00 tomorrow. Leo said his car is leaving at three, so I will be waiting and ready at 2:30! That is son las dos y media for those of you who know Spanish. I can tell time. That's a good thing. At least I can do that.

Back in the saddle again...

Well we are back in the big city. We are staying in a one bedroom apartment with a gal named Bridgette. She does not speak any English, but left us a few written notes with our breakfast this morning. She showed us tonight how a friend had helped her write them in English via text message. That must have taken them awhile! Bridgette is giving us her room and she has a little cot behind her dining table. We are happy because we can still walk to school and she has wireless Internet!!!
Being back in the city is so different than the estancia or the city of Colonia. It is loud. We are two floors up and from our room we see the Rio de la Plata. There are many people walking the Rambla. Young, old,runners, bikers and us. We are not sure where we fit into the mix yet. They really need to endorse a "pick up your dogs poop" law. Maybe I will start a campaign...
We had our three hours of school today. Allen is getting pretty good, not great but light years ahead of me. Our teacher Mateo helped Allen navigate the lavaderia. He dropped off our dirty laundry, 1 1/2 loads and we can pick it up tomorrow for $7.00. Notice how I now have Allen doing the laundry...ha!
While they were working hard translating the laundry, I was with Martha. Start paying attention to names here. I am not going to repeat who is who.
Martha is the owner of our school.
Claudia is the secretary and our two main teachers here are Mateo and Maria. We have also had Maru and Ximena as teachers.
Back to our day, Martha was helping me with arrangements for mom and dad and Em's visit. We are going to spend New Years Eve and New Years at the estancia. This is amazing and I cannot wait for it. Well, I don't want it to come too soon, but the anticipation is there already. This is gonna make their trip. The estancia and maybe croquette. Martha is also helping us with accommodations for our Colonia stay. We are going to stay in a brothel from the 1600's. That had better be the only time my dad and Allen stay the night in a brothel!
Our big project of the day (no, it was not homework) was we rented a car for 11 days. Martha called one place for us to get a price. Then we stopped by Hertz. Hertz pretty much laughed at us. It is high season, they have zero cars available. We took a cab right over to the place that Martha called. Normally the car would be regular season would be $900. High season $1200. But we are in the high high season that makes it $2000. It will be worth it though, we have a lot of trips to make and busses are hard enough for two, five plus luggage...no thanks!
One funny story, Allen noticed that our apartment door needed a few new screws on the lock. Off we go to the friendly ferreteria at the mall. This is the same place we went to three times for glue a few weeks ago. I thought they would roll their eyes and say a hail Mary when they saw us back, but actually we had a lot of fun. Allen was all ready with the words for longer and fatter. I could see Allen take a deep breath, then the guy behind the counter took a deep breath and we mustered through it. It cost 7 pesos and I counted to seven in Spanish and hardware guy counted in English. I was glad that he got five wrong, because I got seven wrong.
We also got a sim card for our telephone and the iPad. Thank goodness most businesses have a English speaking employee. We have a Uruguayan phone number now. To be truthful I got it mainly so Francisco could call me back regarding my hair appointment I am trying to set up with Juancho. Well I guess it can be used for other types of emergencies if need be, but I am thinking my hair appointment is emergency enough.
So to recap the day...school, rental car, accommodations for our family trip, sim cards, screws at ferreteria, laundry dropped off...pretty good day. We better rest tomorrow. I think we need to buy a couple of beach chairs and spend some quality homework time at the beach. That is code for I need to keep my suntan going.

Sun day

Sunday was literally the day of sun and the first serious studying session we have had. We worked on some flash cards of vocabulary nouns and verbs. We did go into town for a lunch at a chevito stand a purchased a few things for a light dinner. But that was the extent of our day. We watched a little television and went to bed early. It is Monday right now and again we are saying goodbye to another wonderful group of people. Adoios to Seniora Blanquito who is a very classy woman. The title Doña sums up my description of Blanquito. Augustine, the walking encyclopedia, is another amazing person who has touched our lives. He is very fun to be around and always has an interesting conversation with Allen. You all know how hard it is to converse with Allen...I told Allen he is welcome to blog anytime, but he is not, so he can't defend himself! Charro is the maid and she has my heart. She and her sister work here and they are both amazing women. Charro has worked on our Spanish with us and has made sure that our stay was comfortable. I am really hoping to come back for a night or at least to come back for a lunch of Charro's zapallito torte and empanadas.
Off to the bus to use their onboard wifi to catch up with our correspondence and to return to yet another new host in Montivideo.

Seaside

Yesterday we travelled by bus three times without incident! We got a ride to the terminal then we took a bus to Punta del Este. It is supposed to be the point that the river is on the west side and the ocean is on the east side of the point. This is the ritzy area where they hire disk jockeys for parties and pay them $30,000 per night. Yes, I said thirty thousand U.S. don't know who told us that but that is my story and I am sticking to it. There is a man named Slim (who does not live up to his name) that owns most of the telecommunications in Latin America. We saw his mega, mega, mega yacht last spring break in La Paz. I guess he brings his large jet to Punta del Este for "the season".
Allen and I were not impressed with tis city. It is a big city full of condominium high rises. That's all we saw. In Montivideo there is a line of high rises, but right behind them it breaks into neighborhoods and restaurants and stores. We did not see any of that in Punta because it was all high rises. Of course we did find the marina...I guess Punta is just a place to go and "be seen". I saw...I was not seen. Punta del Este, been there, done that.
The last two days I have worn pants and socks. It has been stormy at night but cooler during the day too. Today is much nicer and I am sitting in the sun now in the courtyard of our ranch. It really is unbelievable. This ranch might just rate up there with Isla Holbox and Aitutaki. When I am here it feels like I am in another world, transported back in time. The trees, isolation and the buildings are incredible. Again, movie set type of unreal sensations, visual and audible (birds, horses and roosters).
When I got dressed this morning I noticed the pants are just a tad tighter...I am eating dulce de leche and bread for breakfast every morning and now we are not walking to school because out teacher comes to us at the estancia. Dulce de leche is like sweetened condensed milk turned one more step into a brown caramel delicacy. Yum! I think today I hit an all time low when I used my finger to clean out the serving bowl.
So...we decide it is time to walk. 1.5 miles down the road is a zoo. We walked to the zoo and through the exhibit. All museums here are free. We saw lots of birds, pumas, leopards, ant eater type things and Allens all time favorite the Nandu and the Capaburra..
After the zoo, we walked up a hill to visit the castle that was built by a man from France named PIria. He founded the town. Well after walking all the way up this long driveway we get to the doors and there are two government employees there to tell us that the museum was closed for renovations. It seems when one employee is enough there needs to be two. I myself would have posted a sign at the beginning of the long uphill drive, but that's just how I roll, not how Uruguay rolls. I guess I was just hot and cranky. The grounds were very pretty.
Martha came to do our lesson at three o'clock, but we turned our lesson into a shopping trip to the grocery store. We bought pan (bread). Tonight we are serving Allen's smoked salmon and cream cheese to Martha, Augustine and Señora Blanquita. Allen is cooking dinner with Charro tonight. They made an Uruguayan rendition of shepards pie. It was excellent! Mix and cook hamburger, onions, red peppers, raisins, garlic, green olives, salt, pepper and a spice called adobo.. After cooking these ingredients put it on top of a layer of mashed potatoes. Top with sliced hard boiled eggs then cover with another layer of mashed potatoes and top that with whipped eggs and shredded Parmesan cheese. Cook until the top is brown. You should see the kitchen in this house. Allen was in heaven. I hope to add a few pictures.
Everyone was duly impressed with the salmon and Allen's cooking. I am getting a complex. I don't cook, I don't smoke salmon, I don't fix things and I can't speak a word of Spanish...poor poor me. I do think the teachers are going to do an intervention and either make me learn or kick me out. Can I be kicked out of school??? I really need to apply myself but it is just too difficult with all the diversions. Food, sight seeing, people who are becoming friends, food...
One thing to top the day, we told you how much Uruguayans love their dogs...check out the picture of Calypso at the dining room table! The photo won't be posted until Allen gets the pictures uploaded, but check back. It will be worth it. Jaw dropping!

Another day in paradise

Today Martha and Augustine took us to an island off of Punta del Este. I am currently sitting in bed after a hot shower drinking a glass of wine blogging to recap my day. The ending of my day is as perfect as the rest of the day has been. Augustine told us that there is a world famous rally driver who is Uruguayan and that he drives the same kind of car as Augustine has. I think there is a bit of a rally driver in Augustine! He sure knows this area and took us on a fabulous driving tour. We stopped on a point that had vendors. I bought my first non-food, non map related item. I got a really pretty necklace. Allen purchased some cool marbles.
After the shopping pit stop, we stopped for sandwiches to take to the island. The sandwich shop was pretty cool, but I can only describe so much, so off to the island we go.
It was a 15 minute boat drive over to a practically deserted island. We ate sandwiches under a palapa, skipped rocks in the ocean, walked, talked and got a bit of sun. What a great day...but no, it gets better.
If you have not already guessed I am going to talk about food again. We stopped at a lovely spa/hotel overlooking a lake. We stopped for "tea". "Tea" consisted of a course of items served individually. First fresh squeezed orange juice, then a plate for each of us with two different waffle cone type cookies and a small scone. Then came the coffee or tea, and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off of course. Wait...there is more. A plate of bom bom de creme and brownies, then it was time to choose our dessert. I had chocolate fluffy something or other and Allen had apple torte. After all that we were served water, sin or con gas. I am a sin gas person. Allen likes the bubbly water. Over here the bubbly is the main drink, I have to order special for regular water. Life is good.