Camacho Watcho

Go Uruguay! Today we went to watch the national Uruguay team play Bolivia in futbol (soccer). I have never been to a soccer game of this scale and the experience was fantastic. The stadium, Estadio Centenario, where we watched the game has historic significance. In 1930, Uruguay won the first ever World Cup, defeating Argentina, in this very stadium. While I would not have given this a second thought before coming here, the experience and the culture here has defined this signficance for me.

Imgagine this, the day is beautiful, the stadium is imposing, it is a scene of light blue, yellow and white, and the fans are chanting…Uruguay (clap, clap, clap) Uruguay (clap, clap, clap) Uruguay (clap, clap, clap). It’s contagious, right? (I know you’re chanting.) The players take the field and within the first five minutes, Uruguay scores!!!!!! Hoorray!

The game continued this way, with Uruguay defeating Bolivia 5-0. One shot below was taken just before Uruguay scored their last goal. The Uruguayan player’s nickname is “loco”, so after he scored, the whole crowd stood and, waving their blue, yellow and white flags in the air, began singing, “Ole ole ole ole…Loco….Loco”. To the rhythm of…oleeee, ole, ole, ole (clap clap) loooocoooo (clap clap) loooocoooo. You’re singing again, right? I know that I am.

In this moment, looking around and listening to the fans, there is a reality check. I am in Uruguay, in a culture where futbol is the sport of choice, a passion is how everyone describes it. Amazing. I can’t wait for the next game!

Last night we went to watch a band called Moe play at Bar Shannon. Moe is a cover band and they played all sorts of great songs from Travis, U2, The Cure, The Beatles, you name it. The lead singer of the band is a guy that one of the other Fellows works with, so this was pretty fun to watch them perform. As you can imagine Bar Shannon in a British pub; yes, a British pub in Montevideo. We had a great time and I just wanted to share a quick picture of my band debut. They were in need of a tambourine player I stepped in. It was so much fun and I ended up playing for several songs. My hand is very bruised today, as expected, but it was worth it. I knew I would be “discovered” in Montevideo!

This is more of a comment and a mental picture than an important aspect to life in Montevideo. But, being that I am a Camacho girl, and I do love my shoes, I feel I must say something.

Shoes. There was a time, believe it or not, when I did not enjoy shoes as I do now. Somehow in my teens I did not latch onto my mom and aunt’s love of shoes. My sister caught on to this and to date, I believe she has the most impressive collection of shoes that I’ve seen. Although, my friend Kate has the most impressive organization of her shoes (polaroids on the outsides of the boxes…how can you compete with that?). Anyway, sometime after college I started appreciating shoes – they are both a necessity and an accessory…es perfecto!

So what does this have to do with Montevideo? Let’s just say that shoes are not the most practical fashion accessory down here. The streets are older, cobblestone in most cases. The sidewalks are this way as well. The women of Montevideo are very practical and they do not wear designer heels and fancy shoes because of the wear and tear and the impracticality of walking on the cobblestones. Enter…Katie. I brought several pair of shoes down here and only one pair of work shoes. Heels. These are almost unheard of down here for any reasons except to get in a taxi and go dancing…not walking on the street.

So, I leave you with this mental imagine of me on a typical work day. The historic buildings, the cobblestones, the plazas with their beautiful statues, the street vendors selling goods, the rain (unfortunately)…and me, with my heels, hobbling through it all. En el nombre de la moda! (In the name of fashion!)

The Chivito. Where to begin? It would probably help me to explain what this is. The chivito is a food specialty in Uruguay. This does not mean that it is a high class of food, rather it is a specialty in that it is a regional type of food. An example would be like our jucy lucy’s in Minnesota. If you are unfamiliar with the jucy lucy, you should try one…amazing.

The chivito is a sandwich…but not just any sandwich. Before coming to Uruguay, I spoke with a friend from Buenos Aires and he said that I must try a chivito. When I asked him what it was, he said that it was a sandwich with meat, vegetables, egg…anything and everything you could think of in a sandwich. To me, that sounded like an experience, but not something particularly good. I have tried two different chivitos since being here. The first was at a restaurant in la ciudad vieja on the Plaza Matriz. That experience was good, but I was not as impressed as I thought I should be given all the hype. Given this, I will not comment on that chivito much.

The second chivito that I tried was today at lunch on the Plaza Independencia at ‘jueves 5′ and this was definitely the experience for which I was searching. Now that my senses have experienced it, I will describe. As in any good sandwich, it starts with the bread. A good fresh bun, in this case it was similar to an egg bread. And the actual chivito? There are two kinds: common and Canadian. The common is the basic chivito, but by “common”, it is extraordinary….thinly sliced ribeye steak, hard boiled egg, red bell pepper, green olives, lettuce, tomato and mayo. That is the basic. The Canadian adds ham and cheese to that concoction. I have yet to discover why this is designated “Canadian” but I will continue to ask.

So here is the challenge – where in Montevideo should you go to get the best chivito? Stay tuned!

Another day and another adventure. The day began with the sun shining and perfect 75 degree weather. Un dia perfecto to go to the outdoor market that is held on Sundays in the city. The market “Ferria Tristan Narvaje” is named for the street that is closed down to house it. It is a plethora of smells and sights that is a great way to pass a lazy Sunday. It is about 10 blocks long and lines three aisles on the street. The collection of vendors range from fruit stands to spice vendors to clothing and accessory booths to food concessions. A lazy stroll is the perfect pace at which to observe and experience this fair.

Of course, we wanted to buy things so we tried out our Spanish to bargain, however, it is apparant that no haggling is done here, at least not for us. We asked “cuantos pesos?”, “120 pesos” so we said “60 pesos?”, “No, 120 pesos”. Esta bien. We were haggling over her original price of about U$S6.00 for a shirt versus our stated price of U$S3.00. No problemo.

We did buy a few things, amongst which were oranges, said shirt and a scarf, and cheese. Cheese. I love cheese. I miss cheese. So, to see the stands filled with fresh cheeses made my day, my week, in fact. It’s not that they don’t have cheese here in the restaurants, it’s that when you order it, it is almost always fried in some way. Delicious? Definitely. Satisfying? Not in the way that a fresh cheese plate – the perfect mix of buttermilk blue, drunken goat and manchego – is satisfying. Needless to say, the huge chunk of smoked cologna cheese that I took home with me is my treasure of the day. Cologna, to me, tastes like a mix of gouda and brie, with a firm but creamy texture. It was my dinner tonight with crackers, dried fruit and raw almonds and it was perfecto!

What is interesting about some of the cheese vendors is that they are housed in the back of an old truck. It’s hard to describe, so I have pictures below. The first picture is the front of the truck and the second is what the actual cheese vendor is like in the back. These are quite unique and definitely add to the experience. Another culinary delight we tried was a fried tortilla. I am not sure of the actual name for this, so I will call them “tortillas fritas”, literally translated to fried tortillas…I’m so creative. Anyway, these are like an elephant ear at the carnival, but without the sweet toppings. These were also quite good.

This was my day and it was beautiful. On another note, to close out the question of how a day ends after a long Saturday at el puerto mercado? It ends like this…nap, dinner, and then dancing until 3:00am in a latin nightclub….of course…Claro que si! Chau!

Today was a day for exploring La Ciudad Vieja (the old city) or what they call el Centro (the center). Years ago, the old city was surrounded by a stone wall that held protection for its residents. This wall was destroyed in the early 1800s and the only remaining part is the Gateway. This gateway is a tribute to the history of Montevideo and is located at one end of the Plaza Independencia.

Many of the streets in la ciudad vieja are now pedestrian streets that meander from plaza to plaza, with restaurants, craft booths and street artists lining the way. They are eternally busy both during the work day and on the weekends. Some typical streets and other plaza sites are pictured below.

Also lining the streets of la ciudad vieja are buildings with so much history and beauty that is just beyond a recent memory. The facades are rich in decor, but are slowly fading. This area was once very rich, but that was many years ago. It is recent that this area has seen some improvement, as there has been an effort to restore the buildings and to bring commerce back into the area. Storefronts are housed in what were once grand mansions and some buildings have been preserved on the historical registar and remain public buildings and in good upkeep. I plan to do more exploring in this area and will share as I see and learn more, but below are representative examples of this description.

Continuing through the streets of la ciudad vieja, you come upon el Mercado del Puerto. When someone tried to explain this to me, the first translation they gave was that it is a “meat market”. Now, upon visiting it, this is ironic due to its dual meanings, which I will get to shortly. The market is located at an important port in Montevideo. Ships coming from Europe contained the materials that were to build a structure in Santiago, Chile however they stopped in Montevideo and stayed. Later, they did go to Santiago and created a second structure that is a “sister” to this one, only it is a “fish market” instead. Hopefully, I will get to visit that one as well.

I can best compare this to a cross between Faniuel Hall in Boston and Pike’s Market in Seattle….but with meat. Outside, there are bands, people dancing, vendors, and then you enter the building. Grill after grill after grill of meat, meat and more meat. Therefore, the first definition of “meat market” is attributed to the food. Basically everywhere there are grills with a bar and you just sit down and order some meat off the grill (parrilla) – a restaurant down here that serves grilled meat is called a “parrillada.” There are also restaurants here that you can sit down and order a full meal. This is what we did and you can see some pictures below. We started with provolone (warm cheese with herbs…yum!), a very typical tapa here, and some sausages (the light red are chorizo and the dark red are translated to “blood sausage”). That’s right, blood sausage. It doesn’t sounds good, but it is very good. Essentially these are sweet sausages with almonds, raisins and cinnamon (and blood). I couldn’t look at them or think about them, I just ate them, which is definitely the way to do it. They are delicious. After the tapas, of course, is the steak. I had un broquete de lomo (steak kabob), which was fantastic. So that was lunch, which started at about 3:00pm and went until 4:30pm…also very typical here.

The second description of “meat market” goes hand in hand with another discovery at el mercado del puerto….medio y medio. The translation is basically “half and half”, but that is not very descriptive. Before coming here, I asked a coworker what both halves were and this led to a 20 minute debate amongst several coworkers. One said it was wine and sprite, another said wine and sparkling water, another said wine and vermouth. Regardless, it is wine and something. My best description is that it is a sweet sparkling wine. This is the most common beverage besides beer that is drank at the market and the bottles disappear fast. Hence, the second definition of “meat market”…This medio y medio is very good and they bottle their own there at the market.

In closing, you might wonder how a day like this will end since I finished lunch at 4:30pm. This is typical, we will eat dinner around 10:30pm and then go out after. The nightlife here starts at 2:00am, which is when many of the discos and nightclubs open. It is probably not a surprise that a nap is required in the early evening to prepare for the night….Chau!

Upon arriving here in Uruguay, I felt somewhat confident in a few areas of language: greetings, introducing myself and my family, some small talk, the alphabet, numbers and a small vocabulary of verbs and nouns…or so I thought…

I quickly found out that in addition to the expected pronunciation difference, influenced by the dialect from Spain (i.e. “v” sounds like “b”…vamos is pronounced bamos), there are other differences that make a big difference in both Argentina and Uruguay.

The first in the pronunciation of “y”. In school, we are taught that this sounds like it does in English “y”. In Argentina and Uruguay, it is pronounced “sh”. So, instead of “yo” it is “sho” and it is not a hard “o” like mow, it is a soft “o” pronounced like “au”. So it would sound like “shau”.

The second is the pronunciation of “ll”. In school, we are taught that this sounds like “y”. In Argentina and Uruguay, it is pronounced “dg” (think of the word judge). So instead of “llamo” it is “dgamo”.

Therefore, to introduce myself instead of saying “yo me llamo”, it sounds like “shau me dgamo”. That changes a lot and definitely makes some words very hard to understand. Estroy aprendiendo. Esta bien!

I decided to go for it and I rode the bus home yesterday from work. It’s great and definitely the way to travel! Why? I will tell you why – there is no consistency in the prices of taxis. I was told you can bargain with the taxis, but that is with one caveat…that you speak Spanish pretty well.

The first day, I was not confident in the commute yet so I decided to take a taxi. I was told to expect about 50 pesos (a little less than $2) but when I got there it was 150 pesos (over $6). While I know this is not right, I did not have the skills to negotiate. I paid it and regretted it immediately. This morning, I overslept and was too late to wait for the bus…on a side note, one might wonder how this can happen since I’m in a culture that starts work no earlier than 9:00am, but what can I say?!?…I’m acclimating, especially to the work hours! Anyway, so this morning, I hopped in a taxi, told them “Voy a la Plaza de Independencia. Esta 50 pesos?” He said no, it was 90 pesos…I tried a little bit to say 70? 80? I lost. I paid 88 pesos (about $3.50). Better than yesterday, but I still have work to do. My lesson learned…wake up early enough to take the bus. It costs $15.50 pesos each way ($.65).

So what is the bus like? It is very good and easy to use. The loop that I use is easy so I am definitely grateful for that. I got a little lost finding the bus stop, but the little Spanish I know did get me around the block to the appropriate bus stop. I was so proud! As expected, given the crazy driving, they do not slow down much for passengers to get on and off, so one piece of advice – just go for it or they’ll leave you behind! One interesting thing is that there are two people working on the bus…one to drive and one to take the money. Another lesson learned…I got on the bus and immediately tried to pay the driver. He looked at me like I was loco, so I sat down. Then an older man sitting down looked at me and reached out his hand for money. Ahhh…that makes sense. So, that was that. I met another very nice woman on the bus and she pointed out all the sights, gave me tips and helped me with other bus routes.

Tomorrow, I will need to wake up early and get to the bus so that I do not have to worry about bargaining for a good price with the taxi driver!

I have arrived! Five weeks from my original blog post and now I am here! The trip went well and I feel I have a lot to tell, but I will attempt to be somewhat brief.

I arrived here safely although delayed by 3 hours. Not bad for a multi-connection, 12 hour trip. The trip to Miami was very good. I managed to sleep 6 hours (thanks to my new travel comforts) and not leave my seat. We landed in Buenos Aires and I experienced my first cultural difference. Upon landing, the passengers all applauded the pilots! It makes perfect sense – we put our lives in their hands and they deliver us safely at our destination. They deserve a round of applause. I like it!

The Buenos Aires airport is very nice, clean and commercial. Although many international terminals are commercial with their duty-free stores, this one is particularly impressive with its lighted promenade of goods ranging from perfume and chocolate to golf clubs, diamonds, crystals and cars. These are all displayed by model-esque women in bright, scant outfits. Of course, I immediately got out my camera and took a picture and then was promptly informed by a uniformed security officer that pictures are not allowed. Cultural lesson numero dos. I did get the one picture, which is below, although it’s not as impressive of a picture as it is in reality.

The next interesting thing that happened was before boarding my flight to Montevideo. They made an announcement at the departure gate and suddenly all the passengers stormed the podium. I knew they had not announced the flight yet, so I was curious as to what the commotion was about. The man had announced that a snack was being served – soda and sandwiches. While this does not seem interesting, what I was intrigued about was the type of sandwiches. Apparently sandwiches are a hot commodity here, and not just any sandwiches, I will describe. They are essentially Wonderbread (without the crust), meat (bologna is my best guess) and a cheese like substance (somewhat like velveeta). I tried one and it was okay, so I did not understand the hype. However, since arriving in Montevideo, I have visited a grocery store and these same sandwiches are displayed in the prepared food section (the specialty food kiosks in the deli area) and apprear to be quite popular. I am still intrigued, although I have no desire to eat anymore.

The 29 minute flight to Montevideo was uneventful and we landed amidst another applause for the pilots. I was greeted by a new coworker and we went to the hotel. I did a little exploring yesterday. I found a mall, some restaurants, the money exchange and some banks. All in all it was a good trip and I am excited to be here!

Today was my first day at work. Everyone is very nice and very helpful, although I know they wish I knew more Spanish. I will need to learn quickly. I met all my coworkers (all 80 or so who were there today) and greeted them in their custom – right hand on their left shoulder and one kiss on the right cheek. This is followed by an “encantada!” or “mucho gusto”!

I will stop there for now, but I will include one quick picture (I apologize as I know it is fuzzy). This is the view from a conference room in the office onto the Plaza de Independencia. I plan to explore this much more this weekend and will include more details. It is truly beautiful and is a center of business, shopping and restaurants. The statue you see is of General Jose Gervasio Artigas, father of Uruguay and the leader of its independence movement.

The last cultural lesson of the day is how they say good-bye…it is not “adios”, as expected, rather it is “chau!” pronounced similar to the Italian “ciao”, as most people are descendents of Italy and Spain.

Buenos noches y chau!