Uruguay: The Deep South

I am settled in my sixth new home since I started the job about 14 months ago! I am extremely happy to still be in South America, and Uruguay is definitely a completely different culture than Colombia or Peru. (But almost exactly like Argentina!) I feel more in Europe than anywhere else. The espresso is served with a small glass of water and cookie (Europe), the fashion is baggy outfits, scarves and cropped boots (Europe), the city roads and sidewalks are developed and symmetrical (ok, this is in a lot of places, but also Europe!), I look more like a citizen than Pedro (Europe), their accent is more Spain Spanish than Latin Spanish…you get the idea.

Instead of pronouncing the double “L” as in “ellos” with a “y” sound, they use a “j” sound. Speaking rapidly and more slurred, the Uruguayans are pretty hard to understand for me; the Colombian and Peruvian accents are much more sympathetic to a struggling Americana.

The city of Montevideo is beautiful, and extremely small and easily navigable in comparison to most capital cities. The entire population of Uruguay is a mere 3 million; everyone knows everyone – on multiple occasions I see people hugging on the streets and everyone I have met with in the government knows everyone else in the government and the private sector. People are active and energetic; a large bike/walking path lines the entire coast of the city hosting a generous stream of people daily. Despite the extremely cold weather in Uruguay right now (opposite winter/summer than in the United States) many people enjoy being outside and I can only imagine how crowded and lively it gets in the summer.

Futbol is the national obsession. Every corner I turn there is a new futbol field filled with either young teams competing, or old leagues keeping alive a sacred country tradition. Shirts all over boast “Yo soy celeste” meaning “I am light blue” (the country’s flag and jersey color) and I feel right at home pretending I am in my own little Latin Tar Heel nation. The first day we arrived, jet-lagged and our luggage lost, we trekked to “Mercado del Puerto”, a large warehouse-type open building at the south port of the city, housing many various “asados” or barbeques of hundreds of types of meats. The beef here is thought by many to be the best in the world, and little Uruguay has one of the highest cattle per capita in the world (meat and sheep farming occupy 60% of the land and is their largest export). We feasted on the country’s flagship meal and watched Uruguay take on Paraguay in the final of the Copa America, the Latin America futbol championship. Uruguay won easily, making it the number one team on the continent, and the crowd went wild, setting off fireworks and running to the main square. Pedro and I followed along a cheered with the crowds screaming from cars, balconies, and rooftops throughout the city. It was definitely the perfect first day in our new country, and immediately I understood the main passion of the Uruguayans.

Like I said, the noteworthy cuisine of Uruguay is beef, but other staples in the local diet include the likes of chivitos, milanesas, mozzarella pizza, ham and cheese sandwiches, and dulce de leche. Chivitos are huge steak sandwiches packed with vegetables, eggs, and mayonnaise. The locals here rave about them and I have been asked numerous times “Have you had the famous chivito yet?!” And yes, I like them (hold the mayo) but not every single day at lunchtime! Milanesa is breaded meat served at all restaurants all the time (a majority of restaurants are cafeteria, old-fashioned type places only serving the above items). Dulce de Leche is like a soft, sweet caramel that is put in all deserts that I love, but again, too much of it for me in the first week. Mate is the herbal tea I mentioned they have a lot of Argentina as well, and everywhere we go (shopping malls, pedestrian streets, bike trails) locals are holding their Mate mug and large thermos of hot water. You first put the Mate herbs in the special mug and then pour hot water over the herbs every time you take a sip from a large metal straw included in the Mate mug. Writing the description makes me realize that maybe it’s just something you need to see for yourself because I don’t think I explain this other national obsession quite so clearly.

I am in a constant attempt to find touristic activities/ways to spend the weekend in Montevideo, but again, it is one of the most relaxed and quiet capitals I have ever been too. Pedro and I went biking along the coast which was extremely refreshing and fun, and also have been taking advantage of the numerous “Tea Time” spots around the city. Teatime is as celebrated here as it is in England, with a full tea every afternoon in most cafes. Tea for two includes tea, media lunas (meaning “half moons” in Spanish – delicious little sugared croissants), ham and cheese sandwiches, scones, and alfajores (my favorites desert here and in Argentina – cookies filled with dulce de leche) – needless to say after an “afternoon tea” you don’t want to eat for the rest of the week, so we’ve only attempted this calorific activity a few times.

What else to talk about other than the reason I’m here: trabajo! We are working with a media that I am not familiar with: the magazine Wall Street Market Research, which is distributed in the United States. So we’ve been doing research making connections between the US and Uruguay, noting which sectors of the economy are most linked and which need most investment. Uruguay has many advantages: the least corrupt country in Latin America, free education through college, extremely skilled labor force, founding member of MERCOSUR, highest literacy rate in Latin America – so it is an extremely safe place to invest but the main problem is that people simply aren’t aware of the opportunities. So far we have just been meeting with the government and newspapers here to learn more about the country and gain their support, and this week we start with commercial meetings at various companies. So far everyone has been extremely open and nice, but speak far less English than in Peru so I have been improving even more exponentially, forced to use Spanish in most business meetings. We hope that everything goes smoothly in the project and because the country is so small, it could very possibly be a short one! But when has that ever happened...