Odeliza Life of a US Expat in South America

Hola Chicos,

Around 7:00 a.m. today, Midori and I took a stroll around our neighborhood, Punta Caretas. The sun was already beating hot and not a cool morning breeze in sight. Fortunately for me, Midori is so much better about doing the do at her usual doggy park that I can walk around with her on the streets and not worry about cleaning up after her.

As we walked on one of the more major streets, Bulevard Artigas, a family in a car stopped and asked if they could ask me a question. I think they just did. Anyways, this conversation is  all in Uruguayan Spanish.

They wanted to know where the street called Paraguay was located. Sounded familiar but I was not about to give some direction in my Island style Spanish. So I had to apologize and say I was not sure.

This is not normal for me the whole some Latin person asking for directions. Usually its my other half they ask. He looks more Latin than I do even if I am the one that actually has Spanish decent.

I think it was Midori that made them think I was from here or maybe they could not tell where I was from because of my base ball cap and dark Hollywood style shades.

All in all I take it as a compliment, I think when tourist start asking you for direction than you are beginning to look like a local. Not that I want too or anything. I like looking like myself, but sometimes its best just to blend a bit.

Just a bit.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

Just the other day I went shopping for groceries and noticed that some of the prices of my staple food products slightly went up. Well, fortunately for me, my other half is a supper financial guru.

His predictions were on the dot and more, so I feel really lucky to have someone that knows about surviving and living a comfortable life while the economy is not so good.

I digress, so not only has the food prices and clothing prices gone up since the past few weeks the dollar has come down. Before, for every one dollar its 25.00 pesos. Now for every one dollar its 21.00 pesos.

Anyways, just thought I’d share that bit of information that is already widely noticeable so I can sound like I know a bit about money too. Which I really don’t know so much about it other than spending money.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

Midori’s birthday just past now she is 3 months old. Still cute as ever and quite the charmer when it comes to anyone on the street. She’s made some other dog friends at the doggy park my other half and I take her too.

I wanted to test the grounds with her, so I took her on a stroll to the Rambla. As always she’d stop and smell anything in her path as well as say hi to people on the streets.

It took us 45 minutes just to walk to the Rambla and 2.5 hours to walk on the sand. She has not quite gotten the idea that her mommy likes to push hard when it comes to out door activities. In the Pacific Islands we call it “heavy butt” of course roughly translated from another language. It means lazy.

I think she’s just a puppy so, she is not use to running or even jogging for that matter yet. But soon hopefully at 5 months she’ll prove to be a worthy jogging partner for her mommy.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

I started to come down with a cold the other day and it got me worried. Suddenly I had flash backs to earlier of this year. When I was bed written for quite some many months. No exaggeration at all. My other half had to call emergency one day because I was in such bad shape.

Apparently I was not alone. Almost anyone who was in contact with another person contracted the “flu virus”. It was awful.

I digress, so any hint of said sickness has my healthy defensive plans kick into high gear and pronto.

1. Wash hands
2. Don’t perform the Uruguayan “Hello and Goodbye Kiss” to anyone.
3. Take a Vitamin C chew twice a day
4. Take Multi Vitamins
5. Drink lots and lots of water
6. Don’t eat at any restaurants
7. Don’t touch your eyes, mouth, or nose after handling any door knobs
8. Get plenty cardiovascular works outs to sweat any of the bad toxins
9. Sleep tons, even if your not so tired

That sounds a bit like common sense, but trust me, its a good idea to keep those steps in mind when you start to feel something coming on. Or even when you don’t its just a damn good idea to keep some of the ideas in the back of your mind.
Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

Though not a big fan of “bad fats”, I occasionally like to use butter with my dinner rolls, jam and toast, and French toast. In 2006 my other half and I ventured off quite often for lunch and dinner in Montevideo, Uruguay.

We sampled most if not all the restaurants available in our neighborhood, Punta Caretas, as well as Pocitos neighborhood.

Well this is what promoted me to write about this particular topic today. “Its not butter!” That is what my other half said the first time he slabbed on a thick spoonful of “butter” on his dinner roll. He took a bite and looked at me with disgust. As if he was eating glass or something awful.

“Its not butter”, he said. Well, I took a tiny taste and started laughing. Its really bad mayonnaise that’s been sitting on their serving counters for what not hours. Not caring if we looked like tourist or not, I asked our waiter to clarify my assumption that it was indeed bad mayonnaise. The waiter happily replied that is was “Ricco” (taste good) mayonnaise.

Alright, as I’ve said before, I like to eat healthy and butter is really bad fat and so is mayonnaise. But I occasionally like to eat both. The later version with potato salads, tuna sandwiches, and some Japanese dishes. But on a dinner roll?

I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to quite a bit of other countries and I’d have to say that mayonnaise in replace of butter for a dinner roll is top. More so, warm to even not really good temperature mayonnaise in replace of butter can make people sick.

But hey, who am I to say? I asked my Uruguayan friend about this and she said she loves mayonnaise. She eats it with everything even spaghetti. I think a little bit of my breakfast just came up.

How does she stay so thin? She says its the smoking. Right, eat bad warm mayonnaise on everything and smoke a cigarette afterwards. Right, that is healthy.

I digress, word of warning for any of you out there that has some restraints and don’t use smoking as a dietary supplement. The stuff they put in your face is not butter its warm mayonnaise.

Oh yeah, and its not complementary either, they charge for the bread and mayonnaise in most restaurants.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

Spending our Christmas for the second time in Uruguay is going to be great. While its rather cold, snowy, rainy, and not so great in other parts of the globe I am rubbing it in by saying the weather here for the most part is rather nice. Sunny with a slight breeze and a cool warmth during the late evenings.

Already the fire works have begun and just last week there was a big show on the Rambla (board walk with a river that has sand but not a beach). And for the past couple of days there have been locals displaying their fury of fire works which keep us up all night to the early morning.

I especially appreciate the summer bounty of fruits and vegetables. The cherry tomatoes and strawberries are bright red and packed with flavor that my other half and I eat it as is.

It gets rather slow during the holidays in Uruguay. I mean “slow” is a word that is used to describe Montevideo, Uruguay even by the local Uruguayan people. But I’d say its even slower if that can possibly exists during the months of December through mid February.

Most of the locals go to the Eastern part of Uruguay (which is only a few hours away) and Montevideo becomes still. Many restaurants close down for the holidays as well as local shops. But the larger chains stay open so don’t worry, you wont miss out.

I found that there is a slight eeriness with a hint of old Europe romance during the months of December through mid February. Most of the locals that have stayed behind are much older so it really intensifies the charm of the Spanish influenced homes and broken brick and cobble stone streets.

One can get lost with a simple walk around the block in the Punta Caretas neighborhood. Tall old, and green brightly colored trees line most of the streets in this lovely little neighborhood.

Old ladies walk hand in hand with their families dressed as if they were just transported back from the 40s and 50s. Long simple cotton dresses, thin wool sweaters, with frayed sleeves, and a hat covering their faces. Men dressed in slacks, bow ties, wool vests, and simple cotton shirts and kangaroo hats.

This second Christmas will be just our little family, my other half, our puppy, and my self. I think it will be awesome.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Hola Chicos,

La Spaghetteria 23 (LS23) located on Dr.Scoseria 2584 in the neighborhood of Punta Carteas telephone number 711.4986.

My other half and I are regulars at LS23, our waiter’s name is George Daniel, he is knowledgeable of all the dishes offered, as well as off the menu items. Which my other half and I order from quite often as we are vegetarians.

George Daniel speaks great English and his working hours are every day. Tell him the Hawaiian says Hi with the tall Estas Unidos man.

The ambiance is of a intimate Italian mom’s and pop’s with a splash of class and romance. There is out side seating as well, which is covered with tall local plants where you will eat under large canopy umbrellas.

George Daniel will talk about his specials if you ask and he will ask you what wine you would like to have. His level of customer service supersedes any one I know in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Once you order you will receive a small shot of Lemon Cello on the house. LS23 makes their own and spike it with a pinch of pineapple. Don’t be fooled by the small size this home made brew packs a punch.

Their pasta dishes are perfectly el’ dente which is how Italian pasta dishes should be. So far this restaurant is the only place that can execute a wonderful Italian dish.

Even their desserts are high quality and presented wonderfully. Some times the phrase; “You get what you pay for”, hits right on the dot. LS23 is considered by the Uruguayan locals as “very expensive”, but for Visitors and most of the Expat community it is affordable.

When my other half’s family visited last Christmas we treated them there on their first night. They absolutely fell in love with the place so much so that his mother and father went on a date night there.

Now you know I have to say some sort of “negative” aspect in all my post as I have somewhat of a dark side.

So the only negative aspect I can contribute to this post is that we forewarned his parents that most other restaurants can not compete with the caliber of La Spaghetteria 23. After a few evenings of dining out they believed ever word we said.

For authenticity I rank La Spaghetteria 23 5, customer service 5, and execution of dishes 5.

Ciao,

O

Hola Chicos,

As I walked Midori this morning, I thought I’d stop by Sin Azucar. An artisan chocolate and pastry shop. I have written about this place in my previous posts and have recommend them.

Sad to say that Sin Azucar is no more. Their shop has closed down and I am not to sure when as I have not been there in a while.

I have observed in my one year and a few months living in Montevideo, Uruguay that quite a bit of Artisan and even larger chain shops close down after a year. Clothing boutiques, artisan foods, and even large meat restaurants close down.

So it did not surprise me that Sin Azucar shut their doors. Last year I was contemplating opening a small Thai Restaurant in Montevideo, Uruguay. I am so relieved that my other half opted otherwise, or else we would have been in a financial mess.

In stead I launched a personal chef business, for nine months it was great, had a lot of clients that were not from Uruguay, and made no money what so ever.

I put some thought into whether I should continue or not and I am really glad I opted not. Although I rather miss preparing meals for my clients I do not think I will conduct another personal chef or even catering business in Uruguay ever again.

You see, I don’t believe that Uruguay is ready for diversity in food. If one would visit for even a mere week, one would see that the food offered is the same through out the country.

There are no Thai restaurants, Indian, Middle Easter, Japanese, Vietnamese and anything else you could possibly think of.

Just meat and french fries, really bad ketchup, and more meat.

This country is just not ready. Maybe in 20 years if the Olympics is hosted in Uruguay more people with diverse taste would come. Then maybe, just maybe such diversity would be accepted.

Ciao,

O

Hola Chicos,

Midori was about one month old when we adopted her. She slept quite often through out the day and well into the late evening. At around 2:00 a.m. she’d be up and ready for our undivided attention.

Fortunately for her, my other half is a night owl, while I am a dedicated early bird. So far the new addition has been an interesting transition.

Well, first it was rather simple to put Midori back to sleep. Just set her down on a cushioned surface and she’d sleep. That lasted about one day.

Second, I thought of some bed time stories or rather, soft singing. Midori was so cute, just fell for my trick, and was fast asleep. That lasted about two or three nights.

Third the soft singing and bed time stories did not work at all, as soon as we’d put her down inside her “dog den” she’d wine, yelp, and cry. Desperate to keep her quite for the sake of the neighbors, I scanned my MP3 player and landed on one of Kelly Clarkson’s songs. She fell right to sleep. I set it on repeat the whole night and well into the morning. That worked for about four days.

Fourth and presently we’ve moved her to our bedroom and she sleeps right next to my bedside on a soft cushion. But getting her to go to sleep was a bit of challenge. She wanted attention and did not want to back down. So, we were both really desperate for some idea.

My other half’s family has a little doggy named Lira. When Lira’s friend would come by and stay for the weekend, she’d get a bit jealous that Alex gets a lot of attention.

The last time we visited his family, Alex was there for the weekend. In the afternoon he hung out with my other half and I. Lira quickly followed and saw that Alex got all my attention. She sat next to him and I, closed her eyes, and started snoring. Alex quickly followed.

Right when he fell asleep Lira got up and started playing with me. The snoring was her idea and it really works. Every night, I play “snoring” and low and be hold our little puppy falls right to sleep.

So far this is working. I only hope that this trick will stick because I am fresh out of ideas.

Ciao,

O

Hola Chicos,

I think its week three of our new arrival, Midori (yellow Labrador), she was trained to do her business out on our patio, but apparently she can’t do that any more. Something to do with bitchy downstairs neighbor.

Luckily, she can “unofficially go out side” our vet. suggested that we wait another ten days to ensure the shots flowed through her system. Circumstances takes us out a bit earlier.

Its really tough having a puppy that thinks the entire world including ones wrists, hands, bottom of pants, shoes, and anything else she can chew as her teething toy. But my other half and I already are in love with our little yellow Labrador so we grin and bare it.

I did not want to be an over protected mommy by keeping her on her leash, so I walked her at 6:15 a.m. (South American Time Zone) out side to the doggy park and around the block.

Midori did an impressive job by following along, doing her business, and impressing our doorman (Mario).

As I walked her around the block, I had to take a look at the real vintage Spain influenced homes.

Breath taking, its a far cry from the busy freeways and Mc’ Mansion I’ve seen in other parts of the globe. The home my other half and I lived in in California is considered to be in the upper class neighborhood. It was rather grand and modern. The house across the street tried to emulate a Spanish influence home. I thought, at the time that the architect accomplished a great job. But now, as I live in Montevideo, Uruguay I now understand what Spanish influence homes should look like.

It was rather early in the morning, so I had the chance to just walk with Midori and house-see. Most of the residence were still fast a sleep and we got to enjoy a nice quite morning breeze stroll.

With out a leash.

Ciao,

O