Montevideo, Uruguay - Week 2 (The Very Faithful and Reconquerer)

Hello Family and Friends,

We have started our second week still embracing the national pastime of Uruguay, doing nothing. However, we are only here for a short time and need to get a move on exploring the city especially now that things have started to return to normal after the holidays. We decided to take the public transport system for the first time. Montevideo doesn't have a metro system, but they do have an extensive bus system that's fairly easy to use and figure out...minus a few details. We thought that when the internet said the bus system accepted card as a form of payment that meant a regular credit card. However, that isn't the case. There is a specific bus card that you have to physical buy or use cash. Also there is an app to help plan trips and view buses in real-time, but it was next to impossible to find the name of this app until we asked someone. So as we are struggling to break our large Uruguayan bill, we meet Fred.

Fred has been absolutely amazing! We didn't know that Fred would be the catalyst for meeting so many wonderful people. Probably should have known that a guy who offers to pay a stranger's bus fare surrounds himself with great people. Anyways, he heard us speaking English as we tried to figure out the bus fare and introduced himself. He has been escaping Canadian winters in Montevideo for the last five years. After we told Fred we were exploring Uruguay as a possible place to live, he instantly invited us to lunch to meet his friend Tiandra. She is from the states, but has been living in Uruguay full time for 7 years.

New friends: Brett, Fred, Tiandra and Danielle.

We met Tiandra in Ciudad Vieja (Old City) which is a very charming area in what was originally the boundary of Montevideo. It is common for cruise ships to dock for the day. On the day we were visiting, there were no ships in port and it was an absolutely perfect afternoon. Tiandra told us that when ships do come into port, most of the tourist stay on the main avenues and the foot traffic doesn't really bother her much. She also dispelled some rumors we had heard about Ciudad Vieja being a dangerous place to live. She showed us around the city a bit before having lunch. It was really great to meet another brown expat who is from the states and has done exactly what we are trying to do.

A few days later, Fred invited us to an authentic Uruguayan "asado" (barbecue) with some of his Uruguayan friends. The company was excellent and the food was the most tasty that we have had in Uruguay thus far. A Uruguayan "asado" consist of various cuts of meat cooked over hot coals on an open grill. We happened to find the two Uruguayans who also like spicy food, which made Brett very happy. He has been missing his spice ever since we left Mexico.

More new friends: Fernanda, Massi, Danielle, Atlas, Fred and Brett.

Fernanda and Massi gave us some good insights into the housing market of Montevideo. Massi is an architect and they have recently bought their home and remodeled it. The good thing about the Montevideo housing market is that if you buy a home that needs a little fixing up, it can be done within a reasonable amount of time. In Mexico, we were told to buy move in ready. We heard stories of people who years later were still unable to live in their homes because they were waiting on work to be done.

So now we refer to Fred as our Montevideo sommelier. He has introduced us to some amazing people. I'm not sure if his friendliness from his Persian side or Canadian side or even Uruguayan side. He's just a really great person who loves Uruguay and really wants us to see the great things it has to offer.

Now you guys know that we love to travel and explore new places. but it's the people that you meet along the way that makes a place great. Meeting all these great people has made our second week in Uruguay infinitely more enjoyable.