| Apr 5, 2006 - Montevideo, Uruguay
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 | | show all 57 | | Montevideo's Rambla | | People fishing out on the rocks | | Lucia's bike on the Rambla | | |
| | From Florionapolis I had another 18-hour bus ride crossing the Brazil-Uruguay border and arriving in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, at about 5am. This also marked my reentry into Spanish-speaking South America after 6 weeks of slowly getting used to Portugese. Therefore it took about a week of readjustment until I finally stopped confusing the two and accidentally thanking people with "obrigado" instead of "gracias", and other things like that. I guess I never mentioned it on this site yet, but I did become somewhat comfortable with Portugese in its most basic form after a few weeks in Brazil. For one, it is very similar to Spanish not just in vocab but also stucturally. Also I was able to ask Tanner, who speaks very well, whenever a question came up or to explain some of the differences in key words that would help me get by. Then it was just a matter of time and enough exposure to hearing it every day until I had enough of the raw basics to be able to hold minimal conversations in a very butchered form of the language. Anyway, this all became irrelevant once again as I got into Uruguay.
Most Uruguayans would hate to have me say this, and I do expect an email from my friend Lucia, but Uruguay is very similar to Argentina. At least to me, who granted only spent a week there, the culture, language, style, and general air of the two countries seemed just about the same. Cultural nuances that I originally thought were unique to Argentina, such as their variations on Spanish, obsession with Mate the herbal tea drink, and pride in their steaks, were equally present if not even stronger in Montevideo. Due to Uruguay's small size and proximity to Argentina it cannot help but be influenced by its looming neighbor, but most Uruguayans object to the comparisons and are offended by the jokes that their country is just another suburb of Buenos Aires.
I arrived early that Wednesday morning, checked into The Red Hostel downtown, and slept for a few more hours. In addition to just seeing a new city and coutnry, and the fact that Montevideo lies directly on my return path down south, my main reason for coming here was to visit my friend Lucia. Lucia worked with me at Squaw Valley when I was living in Tahoe, California 3 years ago, but is from Montevideo. Like Flor and Sole who I had visitied in Buenos Aires in February, I had been in touch with Lucia ever since I decided to do this trip but had not seen her since those Tahoe days. And originally, f you remember, I had decided to spend Carnaval with her here in Montevideo since she is a performer and I thought it would be a cheaper more realisitc option. Well all that got thrown out when I met the boys, and I certainly do not regret my Salvador Canraval experience obviously, but so I needed to come back down here or Lucia would never forgive me after almost a year of making plans back and forth through emails. I spent most of my first day walking around the city and its different plazas, then met Lucia at night for dinner. We caught up the past 3 years as best we could, made some rough plans for my week there, and then she lent me her bike to use as needed which became one of the best parts of my visit. I also got to meet her wonderful dog Bonnie.
On thursday I took Lucia's advice and biked a large section of the Rambla. A rambla is basically a boardwalk/sidewalk beachfront type thing, and Montevideo's is probably the city's biggest attraction. It is a beautiful stretch of many miles leading to further beaches out along the coast that become packed in the summertime. On lunch breaks or any free time Montevideanos flock here to sip a few more gourds of Mate, smoke a cigarette, or just sit and enjoy the fresh air blowing in from the Rio de la Plata. I spent a few hours peddling far out then turning around and coming back, taking my time while snapping photos all along the way. At night Lucia, her friend Chechi, and I tried to see the US movie Palindromes at the international film festival which happened to be going on while I was there, but that specific movie was cancelled so instead we just made dinner and chilled in her apartment for the night.
Friday was a very relaxed day with nothing much of note, similar to a bunch of other days on this trip when I have nothing specific to be doing. I walk around, get a better feel for the city, get some food or cook something, and hang out with people from my hostel. It also allows me to take care of any business-type stuff, such as today when I got my hair cut and did some laundry.
Saturday I met up with Lucia and Chechi again and we went to the Saturday street fair at Plaza Constitucion, complete with our Mate and a thermos-full of hot water slung on or shoulders, to listen to some live music and lazily stroll the different stands and vendors in the market. For lunch we went to Montevideo's other famous attraction, Mercado del Puerto, and had some of that brilliant barbeque. I don't think I'm enough of a beef conoisser to make comparisons, but the steak I had was certainly just as good as those I was eating in Argentina. One other crazy experience happened here too. We were eating and Lucia's boss walks by who is from the US since since Lucia works for a US-based company here in Montevideo. I started talking with her about where we were from and stuff, and when I said New York the friend that was with her said "Oh really, me too, what part?" Long story short, that afternoon the Mercado del Puerto was home to the meeting of two former Scarsdale residents and Scarsdale High School alumni, albeit a couple decades apart. Crazy. When I met Dave Weaver from Kingston, NY on his bicycle on a dirt road leading into the mountains of Peru, it was funny. When Harris and I bumped into a guy from Mamaroneck, the town bordering Scarsdale, at the baggage check in Santiago's bus terminal, it was strange. But this, this was just amazing. And it continued. That night in my hostel I was talking to a guy from New City, NY, and not only did he know two people I knew from Scarsdale who had gotten married, one of which I had carpooled with as early as nursery school, but he had even been at their wedding! Small world I guess. Later that night I went out with Lucia annd some more of her friends to just walk around and see some of Montevideo's nighttime scene.
My remaining two days there continued to follow the super laid back routine. And in Montevideo this usually included one of the day's meals being the traditional Chivito, a steak sandwich with just about anything that you want on it and tons of condiments. Most of Sunday I strolled around the massive Feria de Tristan Narvaja market, taking pictures and talking with locals, and hung out with Lucia for a bit as well. Monday was my last full day, and another with beautiful weather, so I took Lucia's bike back down to the Rambla for another long ride. The Rambla was probably the best thing about Montevideo for me, and if I lived here it would be my favorite place to go. I took a few more hours and few more pictures as I spent Monday afternoon cruising the shore.
While Uruguay certainly does resemble Argentina quite a bit, I began to notice some key differences as well, which Lucia and Chechi helped me realize. Most importantly, Uruguay only has a total population of about 3.5 million, because there are another 3.5 million Uruguayans living abroad in foreign countries. Then, of that 3.5 million, half of the national population lives within the borders of greater Montevideo. This fact shocked me since, for city standards, it still seems rather empty. This also means that the rest of the country is made up of very small towns, such as where Chechi is originally from. She explained that, to her, Montevideo with its nearly 2 million residents is a mega metropolis. And so imagine her impression the first time she visited Buenos Aires, at 8 million people a city whose population more than doubles her entire country's. We then agreed that one day she would have to visit New York, and I would have to be there to see the expression on her face.
Tuesday morning I got up and had some final Montevideo time, then in the afternoon started my over land and water journey back to Buenos Aires. Montevideo is a great blend of capital-city urban life and a small town slow paced feel. People bop around in suits and go out for expensive business lunches, yet everyone still has their personal portable hot water for constant Mate consumption and the Rambla is always full of people taking some time off. At night, like most cities, some of the poorer residents can be seen sifting through the garbage for discarded gems and recyclable treasures, but then hauling their find in bulging plastic bags thrown into the back of their horse-drawn buggies that rumble on alongside the cars on the city streets. I really enjoyed my time in Montevideo, and it was great to see Lucia again. I had a real good feeling about Uruguay, and was sad that I didn't have more time to explore some of the country's lesser-known areas. Yet again, I guess I'll just have to go back some day in the future. |
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