Boston, December 2008

We are on our first big trip together since Uruguay, so I thought it was an appropriate time to revive the blog. Currently we are visiting our dear friends in Boston, MA. It is my first time to this state, and my hubby hasn't visited since he was little.

We are having a great time thus far. Today we talked the Freedom Trail, ate near Quincy Market, and visited the Aquarium. Tomorrow we are off to Salem.

It has been great to share our current adventure with our friends, who are graciously hosting us. Meals have been especially wonderful. We have enjoyed the delicious home cooking and also some of the best sushi we have ever eaten. We also had Taiwanese breakfast - a new treat for our taste buds. It is our chance to cook tomorrow. So we will see what we create!

PS We are bracing for cold weather! So far we have enjoyed a pleasant 45 degrees. New Year's Eve is supposed to be 18 degrees plus 8 inches of snow!!!!!!

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Just a quick note to say...

We finally got home safely. 10:45am on Saturday we landed at LAX airport and were greeted with happy smiles and warm hugs. The weather was gorgeous and sunny. Off to eat sushi and miso soup and then off to bed. It's nice to be home.

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May Doom and June Gloom

Other possible titles of this post:

My luck ran out a while ago….

I must have broken a mirror or a glass sometime late April. I am sure I have been granted 7 weeks bad luck.

Why the past month has been the hardest.


As the half of the world was welcoming Spring, we in the Southern Hemisphere were starting to bundle up to guard against the cold. Unfortunately, I had to stay bundled both outside and inside the house. The heating in our building was turned on later than most apartment dwellers I knew. When it finally did heat up other apartments, ours was the only one left without heat. Something wrong with the pipes that held the hot water, or whatever…I never got a concrete answer, because even after a week of calls from the owner, the architect of the building, and ourselves, no one ever came to fix the heat. Thank God, our dear friend Gaby lent us a space heater, but we still woke up every morning not wanting to get out of bed due to the freezing cold floor and air.

Around this same time, ET went to Buenos Aires. It was a decision we both made, that he would go for two weeks while I stayed in Montevideo in order that we could go home in June. Unfortunately, that same week our internet service ended, and it was super challenging to communicate with ET via our house phone. The connection was bad and the calling cards were expensive. Antel, the internet company, refused to renew our contract for one month more with out making us start an entire new contract complete with the inscription fee. Funny thing about contracts in Uruguay, they don’t seem to always hold water. Our provisional contract had an explicit renewable feature, contrary to company “standard practices,” and those “practices” won over the contract.

So those things were hard – no ET, no internet, and no heat.

A trip to Salto soon after ET came home was a welcome treat. However, it was slightly peppered with disappointment, as our favorite onsite restaurant was closed half the time we were there. Food being one of our most enjoyed comforts, we were obviously disappointed in having to eat at the near by “tenedor libre” or all you can eat buffet.

Then came June.

June 2nd was a Saturday. Five days before we were due to fly home. Our realtor called on Saturday and requested to stop by to drop our deposit. Well, she wanted to drop most of all deposit and keep $400. To us this did not make sense, as $200 was more than sufficient to cover all of our bills to date. To make a long story short, this Saturday afternoon visit turned into four days of hell – arguing over the phone and in person, consulting with escribanas (paralegals or notaries), friends, other real estate agents, friends of friends, etc. Our priority became winning this war, and getting out of the apartment as soon as we could with our security deposit that was due to us. The results:
We had to leave a day early than we expected, as the realtor claimed the contract ended on the 5th rather than the 6th
We ended up having to represent ourselves, as we could not find an escribana (notary) to come at the last minute. The defensor de consumidores turned out to be very hard to get a hold of and once contacted, rather unhelpful. I get the impression that if you had A LOT OF TIME to wait-for-them-to-get-back-to-you, they may be of some service.
We had to pay for some things that we didn’t agree upon such as an extra month of “gastos communes,” cleaning of all the window curtains, and an 8 hour cleaning of the house. (None of which will probably actually be done but were used to “extort” money from us. Apparently someone moved in the next day.)
We paid no more than $200 for the bills and all listed above, just as we had originally suggested. Thus, she did not walk away with $400, and everything was settled that day.

The good thing that came out it? A reminder that we had such good friends that were more than willing to lend a hand, offer advice, and support us as much as they could. It was also a great reminder to GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING, and that in writing should be DEFINED (for example, cortinas sano? Sano could mean intact. In the end it meant, “just like new”) Second, if you are renting in Uruguay: 1. Have an escribana present while doing in the inventory when you move in and sign the contract. Have that same escribana present when you move out. 2. Do not leave your deposit in the hands of the owner or the immobilaria, but open an account and deposit it. Anyone can do it, and it costs about 4 pesos.

Then came June 6th.

I woke up and it was blue skies, but by early afternoon the fog had rolled in. I didn’t give it too much thought until the same blanket of thick fog was present on June 7th – my birthday and the day of our departure. We left Montevideo without a hitch. We were completely on-time and air bound for only a half hour. When we landed our pilot mentioned there would be a slight delay. So we waited….and waited….


And waited….


And, well, we are still waiting.

I am writing from the “Red Carpet” (trust me, not very glamorous) business class waiting room in the Buenos Aires International airport. It is 3:00 am. I'm going to curl up and try to sleep...I'll be back to tell the rest.

10AM 8 June 2007 -- The fog effectively shut down the airport last night. We were unloaded from the plane after waiting aboard 4.5 hours with little but water and pretzels.

Once off the plane, we arrived to immigration and customs to find no one able to answer any of our questions about what we were to do. We finally decided to enter Argentina to try to get in touch with a United representative because the American Airlines reps were thoroughly unhelpful telling everyone that they had to travel into Buenos Aires (about 30 min away from the airport) without luggage and pay for all expenses themselves because carriers cover nothing if flights are cancelled for climate issues.

United stepped up to help us when we located them by offering their Red Carpet Club room to sleep in and by providing snacks for us to eat. (Dinner: mixed nuts, apples, and crackers. The staff, some of whom were off duty, went the extra mile making “pizzas” out off cracker-toast, cheese, dried oregano, and a microwave.) They also found the key to the potent potables cabinet. =)

We have slept about intermittently for about 4 hours and are using the free wireless to communicate with you and check the weather forecast. We hope that we will be on a plane tonight granted the fog lifts. (For the record, they tell us this fog is unprecedented for its effect on Argentine aviation. Que suerte)

Honestly, this has been more of an epic than an adventure with all the ups and downs of this past month. Needless to say we are more than ready to be home. Perhaps I wanted to be home too much. Perhaps I jinxed us both. Who knows. I remember when our friend left us in mid- April, thinking it would have been nice to be on that plane with her. But lessons have been learned, friendships have grown deeper, and memories (good and bad) have been made.

Don’t get me wrong…I am still looking towards our next trips. Mexico, Hawaii, Australia, and Spain are all calling out to me. And those are just in the near future. I have big plans for us to travel the world for the rest of our lives.

And to repeat, the kindness of our friends has been more than amazing. People invited me over to use their internet, someone brought me a heater and offered a better functioning phone. Several friends offered their apartments for the two days we had no place to sleep. We were treated to dinners, given going away presents, and received kind words. Friends alone would be a good reason to visit Uruguay in the future. But perhaps we will go during the South American summer….and crash on couches rather than try to rent.

The blog will end soon now. Thank you to all our readers, we have enjoyed keeping in contact.

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121

I have mentioned the 121 bus before, and it is my trusty method of transportation El Centro y Ciudad Vieja. I usually only take it Monday thru Friday, but as ET was not coming home from BA until Sat night, I decided to do a little shopping downtown.

I have written about the ferias, where you can find clothes, leather goods, and antiques. Then there is the shopping malls which are identical to something you would find in the states. The other alternative is the Galerias on 18 de Julio. Here you can find affordable every day wear from shoes, tops, pants, and scarves. I picked up a beautiful pashmina scarf in black and grey.





I also took a quick tour of the Casino downtown. I was a great place to stop and use the bathroom!



I also ran into a new health food store - El Naranjo A great place on 18 de Julio to find somethings you can't quite get at the local large Super. Grains, spices, tea, dried beans, granola, healthy snacks. I don't have the address with me at the moment (I'm at a cyber) but I will post it as a comment the next time I have a chance.



This weekend I also made the rounds at two of the best Ferias to pick up a couple things to bring home. It was a gorgeous weekend for the ferias...the sun was shinning so bright and it was pleasant enough to leave the coats at home. ET and I both picked up handsome leather wallets. We also bought a large jar of delicious organic Uruguayan honey. Our bags are going to be heavy!

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Permanent Interruption in Internet Service

Sorry folks, but we lost our battle with Antel, the main internet service provider in Uruguay, to extend our provisional service for another month without having to pay an extra month and a half "connection" charge on top of the already extraordinarily monthly charge.


Uruguayan communications companies (Antel, TelMex, and Dedicado) are horrible for the short-term visitors not staying for a year or more and don't have internet already provided at their apartment. (Brings to mind a song from Nirvana's last album) Antel likes to gloat of its power over mere residents by playing Sinatra's "My Way" while you wait, and wait, and wait on hold. At least that's how it feels to me. These are the same people that take a week to set up service and cut it off about a week early.

Here's a post from an Uruguayan's perspective on Uruguayan services.

Calling from Uruguay using a calling card, both internet based (Nobelcom.com or any other) and what you buy off the street, costs 6x what it would for someone to call from the United States.

We are greatly disappointed to say the least. We'll keep in touch the best we can, we are creative people, though it will probably be a little less frequent.

Suffice it to say, we love you all very much; we've enjoyed keeping in touch; and we'll be ecstatic back in "the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" (Fdo's favorite taunt to travelers calling him) soon!

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Interruption in Service

Unfortunately our internet service is not working. We're working on getting it reestablished so that we can keep you all updated.

Type Rest of Post Here

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One month and three days.....

and we will be home! We are looking forward to repeating the above picture with large crashing waves, hot sand, and bathing suits instead of shoes and sweaters.


ET and I are doing well. Both continuing to be very busy. But we are looking forward to seeing all of you in the beginning of June. Have a good Cinco de Mayo!

P.S. Speaking of which....next trip MEXICO

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Potty Talk

Uruguayan bathrooms do not have toilet seat covers - something that us North Americans are not always used to. However my recent house guest was able to find travel size ones that she could keep in her purse! Got to love Target.


There are some name brands that just crack us up.

Example # 1. Snob toilet paper:



Example #2.
TITS clothing store for women. And no, they don't even sell lingerie!!

Oh, I am sure there are more...much much more!

For more on "potty talk" go here.

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Gastos Comunes

Besides our monthly rent bill, ET and I pay a monthly "gastos comunes" which basically translates as shared or common costs. Every apartment receives one, and they are adjusted according to how much you use certain utilities during the month. However, the cost of the 24 hour security, aka the portero (or doorman), cleaning expenses of the downstairs lobby and elevator, and heat throughout the building are all fixed prices for everyone.

I like central heating. I like feeling the warmth on the floor under my feet and the sense that the heat is distributed throughout the rooms evenly. When I lived in London the radiator would take a long time to heat up the room, and even then some parts of the house stayed chilly.

But there is one small piece the equation that is missing in order to enjoy the luxury of central heating.
It only works if it is on!! At first we thought the Portero just didn't know how to turn the heat on. But it turns out that the building is going through a heating change and currently does not have functioning heat.

Lovely.

Somehow that little radiator that I used to huddle around while the rest of the room was chilly isn't looking so bad.

The hot water heater is another story. That is part of our electricity bill which is separate. 15 minutes of a hot shower and that is it. Poor ET...I just used up 14 minutes of that water and he is going in next.....

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Doesn't this look like Sunset Blvd in LA?

But it's not!

Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest cities in Uruguay, was founded by the Portuguese in the 1680. Today, tourists and locals alike are intrigued by the cobblestone streets, small artisan shops, and antique heritage of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.


We had been meaning to get out to Colonia, just two hours west of Montevideo, for sometime. On our way home from Salto we took a detour and drove to the old city and stayed the night. At just $30 US a night, we booked a room for the three of us which included a breakfast of pastries, fresh squeezed o.j., tea and coffee served in a sunny room by a friendly staff. The room had no frills, but was quiet and clean. I would recommend Hotel Romi for an easy, affordable stay in Colonia.



Besides almost getting eaten alive by mosquitoes at sunset, we did enjoy our meander through the cobblestone streets of Colonia. It was quite a bit more touristy than Salto, but provided us with a good transition to the activity of Montevideo.

This is a picture of the Buquebus leaving the port of Colonia del Sacramento to Buenos Aires. (Though a little longer, it is a more affordable route to take the bus to Colonia, and the Buquebus (water taxi) to BA.




Colonia was formerly a walled city. You can see some of the old wall in this picture:



Other picturesque shots of Colonia...

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