Page 19 of bobnkaren Travel Blog Posts



Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568They tell us this is a sad country and maybe that's why nobody seems to care enough to keep up these beautiful old homes or clean the dog crap off the sidewalks. Of course you can find places that are well kept, but you have to go to the very rich areas for them. The middle and lower class barrios are pretty sad.It's a very literate country with 60% of adults going to college, most wanting to be doctors or lawyers and most leaving the country to find work. An old person's country, since the young all leave, but when you think about its history, it's very young. Does that make sense? If not, it's very Uruguayan.They didn't declare their independence until 1825, thanks to the British who brokered said peace for simple access ... read more
Statue of General Artigas, Hero of Uruguay
Ready for Inaction
Death of a General


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568For anyone thinking of a language immersion class, I have a few words. Yes and no.No if you're married to your TV and your automatic coffee maker. No if you have to drive everywhere you go. Definitely no if you're uncomfortable with never knowing what will happen next.Yes if you have to do more than just read about how other people live. Yes if you're ok with freeze dried coffee and a bottle of warm water. Yes if learning new things is what keeps you going.You could go anywhere in the world to learn a language so this all is very subjective, but here's how we see it.We don't like the poverty we see, but we understand that we can't change the way they live. We can't make them keep their children in school ... read more


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568The passion for soccer knows no limits in Latin America. And the supporters are always boisterous in support of their team and sometimes even violent. The very first World Cup soccer match was played in Montevideo, Uruguay, and with great pride the Uruguayans will always let you know that they won the first World Cup.Although we didn't attend the futbol game Friday night between the Nacionol and Penarol teams, we got a report from Ryan, one of our classmates. It is when these two teams play each other that there is most likely going to be violence. In order to get into the stadium, each person is patted down to assure they are not bringing in anything that can be thrown onto the field, like a bottle of water; or a knife to kill ... read more


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568We're getting a lot of walking in as we go to these ferias--three so far this weekend. After we got back from this morning's shopping we ate lunch, then walked down to the river--about 10 blocks.... read more
Mateo Teaches Me My Animals
Bob Fixes his Shoe
On the Way to the Feria (Street Fair)


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568All night long we worried about it, not knowing the other one was awake worrying too. The bathroom sink wouldn't drain--or rather, drained verrrry slowly, like took 10 minutes or so. So, Bob, being Bob, put on his fixit hat and went to work. Translating badly, we figured we'd pour the sobre (envelope) down the pilota (pilot?), add water, leave for the night and repeat every 30 days--should the pilot live that long.There was no picture on the box so he wasn't really sure that was what he wanted anyway, but pretty sure. Sure enough to pour it down a stopped up drain in a country where he couldn't speak the language or read the directions or have ANY tools.We're up 3 and 4 times in the night EACH and the thing's not drained. ... read more


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568We've learned a little of the country's history in the short time we've been here--history you won't read in schoolbooks. In 1858 the remaining indigenous people were rounded up into a valley and slaughtered by the Uruguayans, consequently there is no indigenous population in Uruguay--a dark piece of the country's conscience. In 1973 Uruguay was taken over by a military dictatorship and much like today's Taliban the people were under strict rule regarding even their hair cutting and the shaving off of all beards. This military dominance and the horror of imprisonment of many notable Uruguayan people lasted until 1984. Andrea and her mother, Nala, told us about Nala's sister who was thrown in prison for no offense at all. They gathered up artists, the educated, the young—anyone they perceived as thinking contrary to ... read more


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568It started in the barrios bordering the Rio de la Plata-- wild, raucous, mean and sexual. Verbiage from the prisons mixed with passion from the ships ran riot in the streets of Buenos Aires and the river cities of Uruguay.Full of sadness and pathos—a tango is a a song of longing for the old country, longing for sweethearts, longing for love. Terribly tragic, the music sings of lost everything like a bad country western ballad.This tango, this erotic dance of passion and prostitution was born here in 1878 with sailors from Cuba and gauchos from Argentina and Uruguay. Not for ladies—this was a mean, sexual play of power between rough men and women not invited to tea parties. Fathers forbid their daughters from learning the dance, but daughters being as they are, learned it ... read more
My Mother's a Show
More Party Fun
Andrea and Mateo


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568Unlike the father you used to know, this one gets up somewhere around 8:00, has toast w/cheese for breakfast--with a packet of freeze dried coffee, says Hasta Luega to his new mommy and walks to school. It is quite a change. We're doing better at staying up late even though it tends to make us grumpy, and doing much better at sleeping in--sort of sleeping. Our room has a saggy bed, dim lightbulb, tight quarters, one outlet, and two shelves. Translation: It's morning and you want to wash your face and brush your teeth. So you go to storage/closet unit and find utensils in semi-light, go to bathroom.Do job.Forget towel.Go back to room to get towel.Or Do Job and drip back to room to get towel.Or get wife to get towel.But now you want ... read more
Window to Patio
Our Front/Dining Room
Stove w/Propane tank


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568Yesterday we and some friends from school went on a city tour. It was interesting and something we like to do when we're in a new area. It gives you a sense of place and all. Our last stop was at such a lovely point overlooking the river that five of us left the tour and stayed there for dinner, thinking we'd just walk back because our guide said it would only take us an hour.We had a great time laughing and enjoying the beautiful evening on this deck overlooking the beaches up and down the Rio de la Plata (pronounced plaht, plate or plaht-ah—depending on who you're talking to). After about a half-hour Vic dropped out and took a taxi (she has MS and can't walk far) and we continued on. Barbara and ... read more
Presidential Seal
Bob talking with the Girls
Graffiti Painter


Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568I haven't been on for awhile because we've been BUSY. We spent yesterday mostly in travel taking the Buquebus (ferry) from Buenos Aires across the Rio de la Plata to Colonia, Uruguay, and then the bus to Montevideo.For those of you wanting to do this I'll explain how it works. When you get to the expansive Buquebus terminal at Puerto Madero you enter a huge lobby with one desk up front that looks like it's where you should be, but actually we found we needed instead to go on inside further to a long counter on the far end with 10 or so lines—like an airline terminal. We found the one for Colonia, 12:00, and joined the mile long line for we knew not exactly what. It moves pretty fast though, and after checking ... read more
View out the window
Expansive Buquebus Ticket Lobby
Tourist Class on the Buquebus




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