On September 21st, 3003...

Yes, Montevideo is modern—but not that modern...

Welcome to our apartment! Leandra's grandmother (abuela), Herlinda, told us St. Joseph would help us sell our home. He did! So, we brought him with us to bless our new home. He did it again!

First, here we have the kitchen (cocina)...gas? No, everything's electric...

Next, this is the living room...mm-hmm, cable, about 50 channels...

And here we have the dining room...we use it as an office too...

Here's the door to the master bedroom! Do you call it a master when you only have one?

Long before we arrived, Justo was scouting housing. He made sure it was modern, furnished, affordable, was located in a great neighborhood, and came with an optional lease in case we want to move. The man can plan! Well, yes, it is small. For example, our door, hallway, stairs and elevator share a four-foot intersection…oh, and here's the bathroom.

Oh, that thing? That's a bidet, it's for uh, ummm, well it's very European. Everybody has one here. And, right here by the elevator are the stairs, in case of fire, but we prefer to use them most of time anyway--it's only three floors down.
Little by American standards, but we love it--easy to keep clean, and better yet, no yard! It's perfect! Before we take a tour outside, let me show the views...

In window #1, the avenue to the beach, and a sunrise every morning!

Window #2 is perfect for people watching!

The #3 window, in our bedroom, offers a perfect view of our famous corner restaurant!

Tranquilos Bar serves delicious pizza and pastas. In fact, alongside asado, Italian cuisine dominates Uruguay. And people eat late! This photo was taken on a weekday at 1 a.m.! They usually have customers til 3 or 4 in the morning...every night!

Let's go for a walk and check out our new neighborhood, Pocitos, shall we?

In Montevideo, every block is like a town. Every shop and service you need is near. Try and identify each one. Besides looking closely for clues, many business names have common origins with related English words.








































Study the pictures closely and you figure out why today's title is "On September 21st, 3003"...

But, besides stores (tiendas), our neighborhood has a public market.

Vendors set up stalls Saturday and Tuesday in the park by the local recreation center.

It's mostly clothes, but they sell arts, crafts, other practical or fun things, even CD's and DVD's and video games.
That stuff? Oh, that's mate--"mah-tay"--it's like a strong tea. Everyone drinks it here, carrying thermoses and cups...

Hehe. Now if the "The Simpsons" don't prove that Uruguay is modern, than what will?

Well, that's about it, thanks for stopping by...who? them?
These people have horse drawn carts and go around scavenging from the big green dumpsters. Between Uruguay's free garbage collection system and these people, who basically separate the recylcling from the trash...


...they have a pretty symbiotic relationship. So, no one causes problems and everyone mutually benefits. Plus, each horse (caballo) usually wears a cute little hat.
Now, if they could just pass a dog poop law...

Thanks again for visiting. We have to get ready for our trip to the coast in Rocha!