Getting Our Bearings....
¡Hola! [ 15 November 2012 ]
Our adventure here in Uruguay has a first phase (September 1st - October 31st) and now a second phase (November 1st going forward). We stayed in a cottage at a small chacra (farm) near the beach town of Santa Lucia del Este for the first phase, and moved into a farmhouse of our own on November 1st. We are now living in an agricultural area called La Palmita, inland about 10 kilometers north of the Atlantic Coast town of Atlantida. The Rio de la Plata (second largest river in S.A. after the Amazon) leaves a lot of sediment for the ocean to absorb there. Atlantida is sleepy most of the year, and then becomes a bustling tourist haven for the summer holiday season called The Temporada - December through February. Preparations are being made all over town right now, as most of the year's money is made in those three months. This will be a new experience for us, as we have always come to Uruguay in either the spring or fall.
Living in a more intensive agricultural area is nice most of he time, and yet it sure is a lot noisier than being out in cattle country. We were spoiled with wonderful quiet and privacy at our last home. There is a vineyard next door with all of the attendant activities, and crops being grown on several fields to the south, with lots of tractor noise and dust being generated. We continue to look forward to being in the Sierras.
Phase one was about culture shock and the beginning of acclimation. We prepared for it, read about it, discussed it, researched it ad finitum, and yet the reality of living (not vacationing in!) a new country is way beyond what we imagined. After two+ months my ear is finally hearing and my eyes are reading much more Spanish than when we arrived. We can shop in the supermercados using kilograms and pesos. We can buy common diesel in litres and get change for US dollars (which are used here, pretty weird) in Pesos. We have opened bank accounts, bought a truck (the Mahindra Cabina Doble), and got insurance for it. We got our shipping container through the Port on a Thursday afternoon just before a Friday holiday; the perfect time, as no one at Customs wanted to "really" inspect a container that day. They opened one door, looked in, closed the door, and all was well. Whew! I have heard horror stories about getting through the Port.
I have graduated! I can now drive through Montevideo, a city of 1.35 million, and navigate the boulevard system and the round-a-bouts like a pro. My first attempts were sheer terror. "Rules of the road" as well as signs and pavement markings carry no weight. Only ones courage and aggressiveness gets you to where you want to go. The police have no interest in controlling drivers or giving tickets. Driving is a wild and exhilarating experience of anarchy at its most free. And I really mean that. I never even think about a cop coming up from behind and pulling me over for some perceived violation that makes his quota for the day. Yesterday at an intersection with (it seemed, anyway) three lanes of traffic, there were 4 other cars and a motorcycle lined up with us. Whoever is quickest to the lanes ahead, gets the space. No problemo! It's usually me!
We are learning that there are very deeply ingrained cultural norms here that make absolutely no sense to a gringo….. nor to anyone else…. anywhere. Resistance is futile. You must just go with the bizarre flow. Logic and linear thinking is not a philosophy that has gained a large following in Uruguay. It can be maddening or not, depending on your state of mind. The bureaucracy is something else to behold. It, also, is pure anarchy, for which I am both grateful and not so grateful. The managers of State owned banks and State agencies make up their own rules, so you need to know who is "less fussy" and who will make you jump through incredibly unnecessary hoops to get your papers approved. So called rules are merely "guidelines", to be followed or not depending on…… whatever.
While we have been here, two private banks have told their US customers to clear out, due to the IRS's and State Department's interference in the banks operations. If a bank has a US citizen's account, they must files reams of paperwork to let the US Government know where that citizen's money is, how much, and in which currencies or precious metals. Insane. We have begun our residency paperwork. It will take about 18 months to get our Cedula (Sed-you-la), and then another 3 years before I can..... well..... that subject is for another time.
Climate change came to Uruguay in a big way since we got here. First there was an "extremely rare" South Atlantic cyclone (the 6th in recorded history!) that hit on September 20th. The 150 kph winds toppled ten of thousands of trees all over coastal Uruguay, several on the farm we were staying at. We were not sure that our thatched roof was going to stay on or cottage, so we packed to be ready to leave. Power was off and on, and telephone service and wireless internet was spotty for several days afterwards. A couple of weeks later we got hit by another mini-cyclone that took down more trees, and spawned an "unheard of" 1 kilometer wide tornado east of us about 75 kilometers. We also had a period of very cold and wet spring weather that everyone said they had never seen before. And…. last week we had several days of "unheard of" temperatures of 36C / 96F in early November. So, the "unheard of" weather changes are here, too! We do like the humidity much better than we thought we would. And I am liking the regular rainfall, clouds and occasional costal fog more than the 6 month long, dry summers in Southern Oregon. There is almost no need to water gardens or irrigate orchards.
Phase 2 began as we settle into this farmhouse for only 6 months. It is for sale and the owners (Americans from Alabama) allowed us to rent while they get the place more ready to sell and get their shipping container over to their new farm. We are setting up house but only taking what we need to get by out of our container. We will need to find a longer term rental in the Sierras where we will live during the "next project". It looks like we could be building a new house again. Some of the properties we are looking at are off-grid. We are meeting with Rolando, a renewable energy guy next week (we met him a couple of years ago), to price out a utility trailer with solar panels / 4 small wind generators / backup generator / inverter / and battery bank all on the trailer with cables and outlets ready in minutes. It will be interesting to work in centimeters and meters. I'm relearning the Sketch Up drawing program to use for this project. I am more than a little amazed that I might do this, but then again ….. That will be decided in the next weeks and months as we explore the possibilities.
Summer is on its way, with daily temperatures of 25C / 77F. A holiday season in T-shirt and shorts is just what I ordered. And, Carnival, in February, will complete our initiation. The adventure continues! More to come.
¡Chao!
I Gotta be go'in!
The EXIT! [ 31 August 2012 ]
We were scrambling right down to the very last minute (literally!) to complete every necessary task before we left Ashland, Oregon on the 31st of August, 2012. I was operating on pure adrenaline, a fair about of coffee, and my will to keep things moving forward. I ended up putting off several tasks that I could do at a distance, because I just couldn't fit them in.
On the morning of the 31st we made our way through the Rogue Valley International Medford Airport (yes, that is its actual name), and with Zia (10 year old Portuguese Water Dog) in the belly of the 737, left at 6:30AM for LAX. It was the first little bit of what could be called rest in many days. The flight was easy and we arrived in LA on time. Because we were transferring to the International Terminal, we needed to gather all of our baggage (two suitcases, two large duffle bags, two large carry-ons, the laptop bag, and Zia with her crate), and move it several hundred meters with baggage carts. Even that went well.
Our time waiting in the LAX International Terminal was amazing. Zia was an excellent ambassador for us (as well as for PWDs), as almost everyone in the LAN airline queue visited her and there were lots of fun conversations with the other passengers. Everyone was smiling, and it made the weight of what we were doing that much less heavy. Then… the LAN personnel came out and another round of visits and conversations began. The counter people, the baggage people, and even the manager of the LAN Operations at LAX came out to meet Zia. She was a star. Long story shorter… the Manager took personal responsibility for Zia, and spoke to the pilot that he was also to be personally responsible for her. We couldn't have been in better hands and we felt wonderful. The next two flights went flawlessly, even with an unexpected plane change in Lima, Peru. We learned from no less than three of the flight attendants that the pilot actually did go to Zia in Lima, gave her water, and made sure that she had been transferred to the next plane. What an airline!
Upon arrival at Carasco Airport in Montevideo we all passed through customs with ease, got our car, loaded it to the gills, stopped at a SuperMercado for groceries, and made our way to Santa Lucia del Este, where we had reserved our month long rental. I hadn't slept for almost 48 hours. We met Claudia, our host/landlady, unpacked into the cottage, made some dinner, and fell into bed for over 13 hours. I stumbled around the farm the next day listening to exotic sounding birds, and feeling like I was in a dream. Then I slept for another 12 hours. It took several days to feel recovered enough to venture out into our new world.
It turned out that renting that cottage was one of our best decisions, as the owners are South African, have lived here for three years, and speak English. There is also another couple who are expatriating from South Africa who stayed there at another cottage. We all got together from time to time for coffee and biscuits (pastries) on the veranda in the afternoons to talk about living in Uruguay, buying property, the local customs, etc. It was so valuable on many levels. We were only going to stay for 30 days, but ended up staying a month longer, which gave us time to find a long(er) term rental.
Uruguay is not for everyone. It is raw and very rough around the edges. But it is a very good fit for DiAnna and I. We feel like we have stepped back into a much simpler time, mixed with a much simpler present day. It is a good combination for us. We have been making new friends easily; both expats and locals. Our limited language skills are growing by the day, and everyone is helping us with it (as we always ask them if they will). We thought that we would encounter problems finding foods that would take the place of the things we had become used to, but we have been completely surprised at how much is available that wasn't here two years ago. We are having wonderful meals every evening. We've begun to make even more of our staples from scratch, and will expand that once our shipping container arrives with our kitchen tools.
We've been visiting the towns and villages that drew us in last trip, and they still have the same attraction for us. It will be hard to decide which place to choose. Prices are continuing to climb, which is crazy and we have watched as properties we could have, would have bought two years ago, are now out of our budget. So we adjust. We look further away from our first target areas, further into the in interior, further into simplicity and integration.
Presently our two main tasks are to buy a car and get a long term rental; neither of which is easy to do in another language than one's own. I mentioned to someone here that finding our way is like doing a scavenger hunt in a new language. But…. we're getting there. Tomorrow we are visiting two different expat couples who have farms and know their way around, and may have rentals for us themselves. We are also looking at three others that we have spotted. So a new home will come soon.
The car is another challenge. Cars and trucks cost twice what they are in the US. However, they are amazingly well maintained. A truck with 150,000 kilometers (90,000 miles) is considered a baby, and barely broken in. So we are looking into an Indian truck called a Mahindra (see here:http://camioneta.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-403593976-nueva-mahindra-cimarron-4x4-_JM 0 ). A couple we met here last visit have one and swear by them. Later when we are settling onto our our property we'll need to get a second vehicle as living out in the interior with a vehicle that is not running is not a good thing. Repairs can take a long time, let alone getting a tow truck to take it to a mechanic. So, here is the type of vehicle we are considering for our backup, as well as for the long runs into Montevideo for supplies ( http://camioneta.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-404358304-renault-express-16-excelente-estado-_JM ). It's a good general utility vehicle, but gets very good mileage. I guess I should be calling it "kilometerage".
Upon arrival at Carasco Airport in Montevideo we all passed through customs with ease, got our car, loaded it to the gills, stopped at a SuperMercado for groceries, and made our way to Santa Lucia del Este, where we had reserved our month long rental. I hadn't slept for almost 48 hours. We met Claudia, our host/landlady, unpacked into the cottage, made some dinner, and fell into bed for over 13 hours. I stumbled around the farm the next day listening to exotic sounding birds, and feeling like I was in a dream. Then I slept for another 12 hours. It took several days to feel recovered enough to venture out into our new world.
It turned out that renting that cottage was one of our best decisions, as the owners are South African, have lived here for three years, and speak English. There is also another couple who are expatriating from South Africa who stayed there at another cottage. We all got together from time to time for coffee and biscuits (pastries) on the veranda in the afternoons to talk about living in Uruguay, buying property, the local customs, etc. It was so valuable on many levels. We were only going to stay for 30 days, but ended up staying a month longer, which gave us time to find a long(er) term rental.
Uruguay is not for everyone. It is raw and very rough around the edges. But it is a very good fit for DiAnna and I. We feel like we have stepped back into a much simpler time, mixed with a much simpler present day. It is a good combination for us. We have been making new friends easily; both expats and locals. Our limited language skills are growing by the day, and everyone is helping us with it (as we always ask them if they will). We thought that we would encounter problems finding foods that would take the place of the things we had become used to, but we have been completely surprised at how much is available that wasn't here two years ago. We are having wonderful meals every evening. We've begun to make even more of our staples from scratch, and will expand that once our shipping container arrives with our kitchen tools.
We've been visiting the towns and villages that drew us in last trip, and they still have the same attraction for us. It will be hard to decide which place to choose. Prices are continuing to climb, which is crazy and we have watched as properties we could have, would have bought two years ago, are now out of our budget. So we adjust. We look further away from our first target areas, further into the in interior, further into simplicity and integration.
Presently our two main tasks are to buy a car and get a long term rental; neither of which is easy to do in another language than one's own. I mentioned to someone here that finding our way is like doing a scavenger hunt in a new language. But…. we're getting there. Tomorrow we are visiting two different expat couples who have farms and know their way around, and may have rentals for us themselves. We are also looking at three others that we have spotted. So a new home will come soon.
The car is another challenge. Cars and trucks cost twice what they are in the US. However, they are amazingly well maintained. A truck with 150,000 kilometers (90,000 miles) is considered a baby, and barely broken in. So we are looking into an Indian truck called a Mahindra (see here:http://camioneta.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-403593976-nueva-mahindra-cimarron-4x4-_JM 0 ). A couple we met here last visit have one and swear by them. Later when we are settling onto our our property we'll need to get a second vehicle as living out in the interior with a vehicle that is not running is not a good thing. Repairs can take a long time, let alone getting a tow truck to take it to a mechanic. So, here is the type of vehicle we are considering for our backup, as well as for the long runs into Montevideo for supplies ( http://camioneta.mercadolibre.com.uy/MLU-404358304-renault-express-16-excelente-estado-_JM ). It's a good general utility vehicle, but gets very good mileage. I guess I should be calling it "kilometerage".
More to come as the adventure unfolds. The blog will begin to have pictures soon.
Thanks for coming!
