Odeliza Life of a US Expat in South America

  Mahalo Chicos,

Thanksgiving in Uruguay is not the same as Thanksgiving in North America, well, for obvious reasons-its not a holiday for South America, its just a North American tradition-. Even though, it is a North American tradition I still miss the feasts my mother would plan so well in my parents’ home. People would come over and than we’d go to relatives’ houses as well. It would be a non-stop-eat feast.

In Uruguay its only my other half and I, and he is mostly vegetarian and there is me who is more flexatarian. Anyways, turkey and gravy, out of the list to prepare -not that turkey is available here anyway-. I usually make my baked mash potatoes, lentil loaf, mushroom gravy, some sweet corn and beans, and some freshly made bread. Not to mention dessert, something fresh and fruity -since its summer time in Uruguay fruits are at their best-.

This year, I am thinking of having our Thanksgiving ‘feast’ out. I still have time to prepare these vegetarian dishes, but I am just not in the mind set to make them.

For those that are sitting at home waiting till count down to feast on a traditionally prepared Thanksgiving meal, I say “bon provecho”.

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

Ah, rental property. I believe I spoke sometime about this, but since I am once again in the market for rental property, I thought I’d talk about my trials with you.

Here is the site I often refer to the photos and descriptions in my honest opinion -but of course how else can say it- terrible! It is not tailored to the presentable more tailored to the just get the photo out there and see who bites appearance.

Anyways, I have noticed since 06 that the rental properties in Uruguay are shamefully over priced. More cheaply made apartment buildings are going up which to me means more people from other countries are coming. I have not seen any influx of Asian, South Asian, or Asian Pacific Islanders around. So far I am the only Asian Pacific Islander in Uruguay. I don’t mean that in exaggerated tones, honestly, this country is rather small and people know other people. Easily. Digressing here!

So, the suckey part of rental here the rental ’law’, you have to pay a deposit of one year’s rent to the owner or owner representative. Often times or actually it is so, the owner representative is your agent as well. So s/he recieves double commissions, which would clearly mean, s/he is not necessarily ’out to help you have the best deals’.

Recently, I’ve noticed that more and more agents speak English. It was not like that two years ago, actually it was rather weird. Picture someone that spoke little Spanish and two people that spoke no English, every time the English speaker would say something in Spanish, one of the two Spanish speakers would translate for the other than in turn translate in Spanish to the English speaker.

It’s funny. I’ve found that once an agent finds out your not a local they really jack up the asking price. Which is really unfair and annoying. 

Fortunately of the times when we’ve had to rent we only had two landlords and one agent -that speaks English-. One of the two landlords -to use my words losely- omitted certain important knowledge about the rental property and so did the agent to think about it which inturn translated to us to cut the rent short.

So to conclude this post, I’d say have someone you trust come along that speaks English and Spanish, always counter offer no matter what, don’t settle for anything less than what you want or else your stuck with it and may lose your deposit if you leave earlier than your contract, and once you see the place make sure you check how big the water heater is and how much water spurts out of the shower head and kitchen sink.

 Good luck.

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

I don’t get out often enough as I did in 07 and 06, mainly because I wanted variety in my meals that is not so abundant here and I have to honestly say, the offerings in restaurants in Uruguay lack in that department.

But when a restaurant comes along that offers a new flavor I like to review it and talk about it on my websites. I even go as far as have visited the kitchens and talked shop with owners about products and menu ideas.

I was sad to see Sat Nam - one of the more exotic type foods- and Rosti - Swiss inspired- out of business. You see, though there are a considerable handful of expats and embassy families in Uruguay it is not -from my professional opinion as a personal chef and caterer- enough to support more global cuisine. How sad and how disappointing. Growing up I was  taught to appreciate foods of different cultures than my own -granted I am ethnically diverse- and it carried on as a grown up. Personal irritation, food snobs!

Would I call the locals in Uruguay food snobs? Some yes I have said to their faces -which I have no problem politely doing-, some share my tastes for the spices that the world offers and some just don’t have a palate I can fathom.

So, what do people that are considering living in Uruguay or vacationing in Uruguay eat? Rustic and simply spiced beef, ham, and lots of french fries. Where can they go for Japanese food? No where. How about Thai food -my personal favorite- no where. And Chinese food, there is one down town - Centro Zona- but I must warn you, have an iron clad tummy, cause its not for the faint of heart. How about some Indian food? Honey, forget about it!  

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

Just recently I had the bad case of visiting the loo very often, to put it lightly, over the course of every five minutes and things were coming out of both ends rapidly. I just found out from an Uruguayan that the news report cautioned people not to do the following; don’t drink the tap water -because the water systems has a sanitary problem at the moment-, don’t eat the fruits and vegetables -because the chemicals used to preserve and prevent has a problem that was not made out so clearly-. So, apparently coming from my friend, there has been a great amount of people with the same sickness as I had and I think still lingers on.

Take it with a grain of salt or take it with caution up to you!

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

My other half and I have lived in Uruguay since 06′ and have rented from three different places. I have to say that it is really difficult to find a place that is furnished or semi furnished that’d be suitable and affordable.

When I say furnished I mean, lighting set in, walls are covered, the floors are repaired, stoves included, fridge included, sink, and some furniture and utensils. Semi furnished would mean the lesser of the first. Then there is the non-furnished places which would mean everything I mean everything is stripped from the rental.

If you are using a real estate agent you have the ‘protection’ of a legal contract. If you are renting straight from the owner there is a likely hood that you may get one over out of your deposit. And deposits here are not first, last, and damages. It is for the amount of anywhere from one year and up which will not go towards rent payments.

I have to say that from my experience with rental agents some will see that if your origin is not South American as an opportunity to make ‘more’ commission so therefore not work towards helping you get the best price for your budget. Some even have you sign a ‘contract’ to say that you have viewed a place and have decided that the rent posted -which sometimes or often times fluctuates depending on the season or what the owner will think they can get out of from you- is what you will pay if you are interested.

Real estate agents also broker for the owner, so they get twice the commission which for me seems not so good. Because how would I know if I am getting the best deal if agent is also the agent for the owner?

Just from what I’ve heard from Expats, most had a hard time getting their deposits back because the owner’s find the smallest problem or excuse and charges for it. At least with the agent you have a better chance of getting your deposit back.

The places for rent are not that great they go from dated settings to barely nothing at all shag on the walls and stains from no wall at all.

If you are willing to pay an incredibly large amount for rent and have that same amount multiplied by 12 months and more, you can find a place that is okay and somewhat close to the standards you are use to from living at either one of these areas; Europe, North America, Canada, some areas in Asia, South Asia, south of the hemisphere that is not South America, and so on. But you would not be getting a deal once you’ve seen that your neighbor has paid twice or three times less than you.

Of course you can go outside of the capital -Montevideo- and prices make a bit more sense not all of course. So good luck to you and remember, try not to get played.

Here are some websites that we’ve referred to:

www.casas.com.uy

www.apartementos.com.uy

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

When my other half and I arrived in Uruguay and signed a rental agreement we did not realize that we’d have to go through such a hassle to pay our utility bills and rent. You can’t just send a check or pay a bill online.

First if you are paying in anything else other than Uruguayan pesos you have to change it at a ‘Cambio’ unless that particular bill place has an appropriate change section. Bill pay places don’t have reasonable exchange rates as an actual cambio place.

So, I would suggest to go to a cambio first. Usually there is a sign outside of the facility that says the word cambio and a list of buy and sell rates for the Pesos to Dollar, Argentina Pesos, Brazil and the Euro.

Abitab is a place you can pay your utility bills, but their exchange rate is terrible. Hope that was helpful.

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com

Mahalo Chicos,

I had to replenish my Clinque stuff so I stopped by Punta Caretas Mall, Montevideo, Uruguay and was really delighted to see this year’s Christmas decorations.

Their design team really took the time to create an elegant theme for Christmas. They used real life sized adorable polar bears, white and blue colors, and a giant Christmas tree that followed their theme. The front entrance of the mall had a rolled out blue carpet along with hanging ornaments of the same colors.

It was a step outside of the normal red and green that most see during the Christmas holidays. So I was pleased. You see for those that are not in South America the weather reflects Summer time more than the usual snowy or chilly Christmas so it’s nice to have a bit of that here even it’s not quite the same.

I really appreciate when the weather is Warm and Sunny, but there are times when I like the feeling of cold Christmas Holidays. Just like having mash potatoes and biscuits during Thanksgiving and watching a scary movie on Halloween.

Ciao,

www.odeliza.com