As 2006 comes to an end it’s time to look forward to the possibilities that a new year brings. In the coming days I have plenty of photos to post but for today I want to close the year with twelve optimistic and positive quotes. Happy New Year everyone!

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.” ~ Zig Ziglar

“All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t — you are right.” ~ Henry Ford

“Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what’s possible and what’s impossible, what we can and can not do.” ~ Tony Robbins

“A man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.” ~ Charles M. Schwab

“Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.” ~ Ziggy

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~ Thomas Alva Edison

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius

This morning at 6:00 am I woke up remembering that I had an appointment at the British Hospital at 9:50 am. I set my alarm for 9:00 and went back to sleep. When the alarm sounded at the prescribed hour I hit snooze; three times. At 9:30 I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, threw some clothes on, and called a cab. I made it to the hospital with a few minutes to spare.

My appointment, so I thought, was for an echocardiogram. The receptionist couldn’t find my name so I double checked my PDA and saw that I was supposed to be in cardiologia which was down the hall. The receptionist at cardiology couldn’t find my name either. After a little digging she told me my appointment was “ashayr.” “Que?,” I asked? “La cita fue ashayr.” After being confused for a few minutes I turned on my “Rio de la Plata” Spanish translator. Ahh, she was say ayer; yesterday! I was a day late and they were booked solid for today. Friday afternoon I get to try again.

The British Hospital is about two and a half miles (3.9 km) north of my house. It was a cloudy but comfortable morning so I decided to walk home. The hospital is across the street from the Plaza de la Democracia in Tres Cruces. In the center of the plaza is Monumento a la Bandera; monument to the flag. It’s a huge Uruguayan flag sitting atop an equally large flag pole. I took out my camera and tried to snap a couple of pictures. No luck. Last night I had charged the battery and forgot to put it back in the camera when it was done charging. My day was really off to a bad start. It was my plan to take a bunch of photos today as my walk home was along Bulevar Artigas which is lined with some really incredible architecture. Oh well, I decided to enjoy my leisurely walk home anyway.

Back to the subject of this post; Hospital Britanico. Before I left Seattle I had put on my to-do list to join the British Hospital as soon as I arrived in Uruguay. I had done some basic research before leaving the motherland and determined that the HB would be my best option for medical coverage. After I got here though I was so busy I put it off. Then, as I asked people’s opinions about health insurance I learned of a half a dozen other good providers. I kept researching and putting off joining any of them. Big mistake.

One night I had roasted chicken from the deli department of a local supermarket. From 11pm until about 5am I was in the bathroom hugging the toilet bowl. I was so dehydrated and in such pain I asked JP to take me to the emergency room. Off to the Hospital Britanico we went.

The care I received was pretty good. After I filled a plastic bag with vomit in front of the attending nurse they stopped asking questions about why I was there and started treating me. They gave me an I.V. with fluids and anti-nausea medicine. They took two vials of blood and urine for tests. They did an echocardiogram and X rays. Of course they took my blood pressure and temperature every few minutes. Sometime around noon they said that the only thing the tests showed was an increased white blood cell count. Great, there’s nothing wrong but food poisoning. Just what I thought. Time to go home, survive on fluids for a couple of days, and get some rest. Wrong! They wanted to admit into the hospital me until they knew what was wrong. And they wanted me to pay a US$2,000 deposit first since I had no insurance.

You should have seen the doctor’s face when I told her that I had decided to go home to recover instead of allowing them to admit me. She couldn’t believe I was not going to be a good patient and obey the doctor. She wouldn’t sign the paper to release me so she had her supervising doctor come over and talk to me. He did his best to scare me into staying. They finally realized I was not going to change my mind and had me sign a form saying that I’m responsible for myself since they wanted to admit me. The cost for six hours in the emergency room and a half a dozen tests was about US$500.

JP got me home and nursed me back to health. I got better a couple of days later. That’s when he started vomiting. It was my turn to take care of him. Thankfully he didn’t get as sick as I had. After about ten days from beginning to end we were both well.

Earlier this month I had a follow-up visit with my allergist. His office is in the British Hospital though he accepts several different medical insurances. I asked his opinion on which once to choose. He convinced me to join the British Hospital’s plan (or Scheme as they say). “My entire family is with the British Hospital. It’s the best for the price.” I went from his office to the Scheme office to apply for membership. They scheduled my medical exam for a couple of days later. Last week they called me to schedule an additional test; an EKG. I could have sworn that they did one during the initial exam but who knows, my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Here I am two months after arriving in Uruguay and I still don’t have medical insurance. Hopefully after my test on Friday everything will be done and I’ll be covered. It’s really unsettling to be without coverage. Especially since I’ve arrived here I’ve had multiple attacks of intestinal irregularities, if you know what I mean. Hopefully my body’s building up resistance to whatever is causing this perpetual state of discomfort. We’ll see what the future holds. Maybe if I eat only McDonald’s food I’ll feel better?

Today we had perfect weather. Not a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the mid-seventies, and low humidity. Life Is Beautiful.

Okay, why the chain? Doesn’t this car have
an alarm like every other automobile in Montevideo?

Here’s what $3.00 will buy.

Cars here are so expensive . . .
the owner of this one is still making payments on it.

Heineken, Coca Cola, Marlboro, and
graffiti in English. What city is this again?

Christmas Eve in Montevideo must be the noisiest place on the planet. These pictures were taken a few hours before midnight when everything was relatively quiet. As twelve o’clock approached though it was a different story. Everyone in the city shoots off fireworks all at the same time. It sounded like the Argentines had decided to invade the country.

My dad is Catholic, my mom Protestant, my grandmother converted to Judaism the year I was born and then to Christianity the year I graduated high school. I was baptized a Catholic but most people think I’m Jewish (don’t know why but I take it as a complement). Add to that I have an Arabic last name which really confuses folks; plus I’m an atheist. Despite this state of religious and cultural ambiguity in my life I sincerely wish everyone of all faiths (or lack there of) the happiest of holiday seasons. Any reason humanity can find to celebrate life and concentrate on the good in the world, if only for a few days or weeks, is a great thing!

What I like to celebrate this time of year, in the northern hemisphere, is the winter solstice. Having lived in Seattle it’s a great feeling when the shortest day of the year passes and we know that the days are getting a little bit longer with each rotation of the earth. Since it’s the summer solstice here in Montevideo it’s time to celebrate the long summer days and the beautiful sunshine and warmth. I think I’ll take a nice long stroll on the Rambla and watch all the people happily playing fútbol in the sand and enjoying the breeze off of the “sea.” Life Is Beautiful!

Storms! They say that Uruguay is free of natural disasters. Lies, pure lies! I’m writing this offline since it’s storming outside like crazy. The wind is howling along with thunder and lightening. Now it’s raining but earlier it was pouring down rain. The ceiling above the stairs to the roof was leaking like a sieve. I used the dogs’ bowls along with a bucket to catch as much of the water as possible. In less than five minutes the bowls had about an inch of rain water in them.

This is the third storm like this since I arrived in Uruguay two months ago. Check out JP’s blog for an entry he wrote about Sudestadas. The last storm was about a week ago. It had 80 mile an hour winds coming off the Rio de la Plata, which happens to be across the street. During that one rain was coming through the windows in the bedroom. It looked like a pipe broke. Luckily a few days ago I took advantage of a dry day and sealed the bedroom windows. The sealing gun broke before I could finish but still I did enough that the bedroom remained relatively dry this time around. It’s still storming so I should say that so far the bedroom is doing okay.

The winds were more intense last time around. It sounds like a category 1 hurricane out there now. The last storm was more like a category 3 or 4. It was as bad as any hurricane I lived through in Miami. The day after my friends DT, LT, and I took a drive around Montevideo. In each neighborhood there were trees that lost branches and a few streets had lanes blocked completely. It reminded me of Miami after hurricane Andrew. (Miami, not Homestead, FL. Homestead was completely destroyed by Andrew.)

With any luck we’ll have a long stretch of dry weather when this clears up. I’m sure with Christmas and New Year’s Eve next week it’ll be next to impossible to get anybody to fix the roof.

As I post this it’s about eight hours since the storm ended. We survived okay. The lights never went out, the place dried up nicely, and the sun came out in the afternoon. Life Is Beautiful.

The adjacent block to my house is taken up mostly by an art museum and it’s beautiful courtyard. Next to one of the entrances to the museum is an ugly house that almost looks abandand. It’s definitely in need of a paint job. The day I looked at my new home Lucia (my realtor and now friend) and her associate Sofia took JP and me over to that house. Here’s what we saw inside. The pictures don’t do justice to the beauty and scale of some of these statues. When I learn more about the artists I’ll post again on this incredible place. I also want to check out the museum. So far I’ve only seen the courtyard.

As of yesterday, December 22, 2006, I am no longer a tourist in Uruguay. Which is cool since I haven’t really been doing much touring. So far I haven’t left the city of Montevideo.

My current status here is “Residencia En Tramite” which means that I’ve applied for a resident’s visa and I am waiting. Though the requirements and process for obtaining residency in Uruguay is easier than many other countries it’s still a lot of work.

As for the residency process itself, there are several types of visas. The one I’m applying for requires showing a minimum income of US$500 coming into Uruguay each month (they’re not very strict on showing proof upfront but I’ve heard that they may request proof that you’ve been bringing the money into UY before renewing the visa after the first year). In addition to proof of income I had to provide a legalized copy of my birth certificate, an FBI report showing that I don’t have a criminal record, a certificate of health, a copy of my passport, two photos, and I had to surrender my tourist visa.

Everything is done except the FBI report has to be sent to the Uruguay consulate in New York to be legalized. Also, we had problem registering my birth certificate with the local registry. The copy of my birth certificate that I have does not list my parents’ names and they require their names in order to issue me an Uruguayan birth certificate. Luckily I brought a copy of my baptismal record which lists their names and we’re hoping that the registry will accept that. If not I’ve already ordered another copy of my birth certificate which will need to be certified again by a consulate in the US. These are just minor details. Once all of the paperwork is to the immigration department’s satisfaction I’ll receive my visa and national ID card (cedula).

In order to bring my shipment of furniture and household junk into the country I needed to provide a legalized statement that I’ve lived outside of UY for the last ten years (note: this is not correct see this entry), a legalized copy of the inventory of items I’m receiving (in Spanish of course), and they require that I deposit in the national bank enough money to cover any taxes I would have to pay on the shipment if for any reason my residency visa isn’t approved. When I have my final visa the money is released to me.

My shipment from Seattle was scheduled to arrive in the Port of Montevideo yesterday so we got all of the paperwork done just in time. One of the pieces of paper immigration gave me yesterday must be provided to the customs office in order to receive my shipment. Having all of this done is a major stress reducer. Once I have my furniture in the house I’ll really be able to breath a sigh of relief.

Yesterday was the summer solstice and it was Bamm-Bamm’s third birthday. No, I’m not one of those people who throws birthday parties for their dogs but I did give both Barney and Bamm-Bamm some special dog food that they sell in the refrigerated section at the supermarket. I don’t want to know what’s in it but the dogs loved it so that’s all that matters.

As the very strenuous year of 2006 comes to an end I’m really starting to feel at home in my new country. I’m looking forward to what 2007 brings.

Our new home is a townhouse is just off of the Rambla. For those of you who don’t know, La Rambla is Montevideo’s waterfront promenade. It starts just outside the Port of Montevideo in the Old Town and stretches all the way to the eastern-most neighborhood of Carrasco. I’m not sure if it goes beyond the city limit or not since I have yet to leave Montevideo! One of these days I’ll venture out of the metropolis into the “interior” as they call the rest of Uruguay.

Here’s a picture of the house from across the street

It’s a townhouse in the old-fashioned, traditional sense. It has a small entry hall, then a cozy sunken living room that used to be a garage. From the living room there is a nice wooden staircase to the second floor. Or should I say the first floor since here they don’t consider the ground floor to be the first floor. Well for now let’s say that the floor you enter the house on is the first floor and when you go up the stairs you’re on the second floor. I’m planning a future post about difference between the Motherland (aka United States of America) and Uruguay.

Entrance hall

Living room with garage doors

Living room with JP in the backgroundStairs to the second floor

Past the stairs is a dining room with a real fireplace, and a good-sized kitchen (for Montevideo) with a huge skylight or claraboya two floors up. Off of the kitchen is a small bathroom (half bath). From the kitchen there are stairs down to the basement. It’s a full basement which is great. I’ve got the humidifier down there drying the place out. Most of it is carpeted and it’s painted so it’s usable. Part of it will be for storage and the rest I’ll use as a TV room.

Dining room with fireplace

Kitchen. The crank above the sink opens the skylight

The master bedroom is on the second floor in the front of the house. There’s a small balcony over-looking the street and small bay windows. The bedroom has a nice view of the sea (okay, it’s really a river) through the tops of trees. Off the master bedroom is a bathroom with a shower, toilet, bidet, and a beautiful sink built into an old dresser.

View from terrace off of the master bedroom

Master bathroom with shower and bidet

Sink built into a dresser in master bathroom

There are two more bedrooms. They’re both very small. One will be used as a guest room and the other as an office. There’s also another bathroom with a shower. There’s a pretty steep staircase going up to the roof (Bamm-Bamm’s afraid to use it). The roof is beautiful. The front part is open; perfect for some potted plants and for lounge chairs. The center part has a peaked roof with Spanish tiles. It also has a counter with a sink, a built-in barbecue (huge!), and space for the washing machine and a central hot-water heater. The back part is taken up mostly by the skylight. The skylights here are very big. this one is probably six feet by nine feet. It’s on tracks so it can be opened partially by a crank in the kitchen. The other part of the back section I’m setting up racks to dry the laundry. Maybe I’ll do more potted plants back there.

Roof-top terrace

View from terrace

That’s all for now. I took all of these photos before moving in so the house is obviously very empty. So far it’s still empty. We bought all of our appliances, a mattress, a coffee table, and a couple of beach chairs for the roof. I had a very nice lady, Celia, here yesterday measuring for curtains and shades. It’ll probably take a few weeks before they’re all done since it’s the middle of the holiday season and she’s going on vacation next week. Tomorrow my things that I shipped from Seattle should arrive here in MVD. Who knows when I’ll actually receive everything. I’ll post more photos as things get done around the house.

Since deciding on moving to Uruguay I’ve been asked over and over again “Why Uruguay?” Well, most people outside of South America first ask “Where in the world is Uruguay?” Or, “Isn’t that part of the former USSR?” Or, “Isn’t Paraguay really dangerous?” You can read my first post for a little geography info about Uruguay or check out the Wikipedia entry.

Now that we all agree that Uruguay is in South America on the Atlantic Ocean between Brazil and Argentina let me try to tackle the “Why Uruguay?” question. I moved here on November 1, 2006. Previously I was living in Seattle, Washington (State), USA. I’ll save my reasons for leaving the USA for another post. For now let’s suffice it to say that I’d been thinking about living a life outside of the USA since the presidential elections of 2004. My original thought was to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is just across the river from Uruguay.

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Okay, let me interject here that I don’t intend to offend anybody who lives in any of the places I decided against moving to. They’re all really great countries and cities otherwise I’d never even had considered them in the first place. All right? Peace, okay?
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I’d never been to Buenos Aires. Actually I’d never been south of the Equator before. My decision was based purely on research. I’d heard so much about the beautiful and cosmopolitan city of B.A. for so many years. In the beginning of August of this year I was packing up my things to move to B.A. I even contacted an immigration consultant in Argentina to help me with the complicated visa process. The consultant was traveling and she couldn’t help me until the end of August which was fine. While selling and giving away most of my possessions I decided to continue researching my choice for a new home. The more I read about B.A. and Argentina the more references I saw to Uruguay; Punta del Este, Colonia, and Montevideo mostly. I must admit that before August if you had given me a blank map of South America and told me to fill in Uruguay, Bolivia, and Paraguay, I would only have been able to guess which was which.

All right, so there I was packing and getting ready for life in Argentina. I’d been following some blogs of other expatriates in B.A. and one thing that was discussed frequently was crime and safety. There were many threads about how to blend in and not look like a tourist. How to hide money on you so that when you’re mugged they won’t take it all. How to call a taxi instead of stopping one in the street since a taxi driver is likely to mug you. How to protect your home from break-ins using big dogs and bars. Well, all of this really got me thinking about whether or not B.A. was the best choice for me. That’s when I decided to look at other places just to be sure.

Since I already speak some Spanish and English is my native language, I decided to look at only English-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries. Okay, okay, I’m from New York but I really do speak English. It’s not the same as the Queen’s English but at least I left my New York accent back on Long Island where it belongs. So language was a consideration. I didn’t want to have to learn Portuguese or Italian so I quickly ruled out Brazil and Italy. Here’s a list of countries I considered: Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. I don’t know why but the UK and Australia have never really interested me. Also, I never really considered Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica. Maybe because there are too many gringos there already. Back to my list.

Canada is a great country. I love it! I’ve been to Montreal and Vancouver many times. I’ve also seen Windsor and Victoria. It’s really a great country. Liberal and friendly people, beautiful cities, and lots of culture. Since I really don’t like freezing cold weather and winter sports never did anything for me (I refuse to learn any sport where “How to fall down without killing yourself” is the first lesson), the only place I’d consider in Canada would be British Columbia. Since I was living in Seattle a move to Victoria or Vancouver would have been much easier than any of the other places on my list. So why not Canada? First is money. A low cost of living was very high on my list of requirements and Canada is as expensive or more expensive than the USA now. Second, I wanted to be further away from the USA (more on this when I post about why I wanted to leave the USA). And finally, I wanted to experience a different culture and Canada, while very different than the USA, is an Anglo-Saxon, English-speaking (in BC at least) country. So with that I also ruled out New Zealand.

Spain was kicked off the list quickly because of cost of living and difficulty immigrating there legally. I lived in Colombia before (yep, another future entry) and I really loved it but there was always a sense of danger. It’s such a beautiful country with really nice people. It’s so sad what the “War on Drugs” has done to it. Since safety was one of my considerations I ruled out a move back to Colombia. Now we’re left with Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Chile looked pretty good at first. Low crime rate, low corruption rate, okay cost of living, etc. It got kicked off the list when I checked out gay rights and gay life there. According to my research (again, I’ve never been there), it’s still a very Catholic country and the Pope hasn’t really encouraged his followers to embrace gay folk with open arms. That kicked Chile off the list.

Now we’re down to Argentina and Uruguay. B.A. was the first city in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage which was a major plus in the Argentina column. B.A. also has a good gay night life but I’m at a point in my life where that doesn’t interest me at all. Uruguay is the most secular country in Latin America which is a plus since I’m atheist. The population of both countries are very similar; mostly Spanish and Italian immigrants. The version of Spanish they speak is very similar. The cost of living is similar though maybe a little less expensive in Argentina. So here’s where Uruguay edges out Argentina for me: less perception of corruption, less crime, lower percentage of the population smokes, no smoking in public buildings (restaurants and bars), more stable banking, easier residency visa requirements, easier to buy or rent real estate for foreigners, less formal (clothing especially), more laid back, and less crowded. When I started looking at real estate listings online Uruguay just knocked Argentina out of the water.

Wow, I am so glad I wrote this post. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to explain all of this when people throw the “Why Uruguay?” question at me. Now I can have cards printed with a link to this post and just hand one over when asked. Ah, life just got a little bit simpler!