For those of you who are geographically challenged like myself, Uruguay is sandwiched between the southern tip of Brazil and northeastern part of Argentina. The country has a population of ~3.3 million people (less than Los Angeles) and ranks #1 in democracy, peace, lack of corruption and quality of life among South American countries. Montevideo (where I’m staying), is the capital and largest city of Uruguay, located along the southern coast of the country.

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Life here definitely beats at a different pace compared to the states. Everything is much slower and laid back. Uruguayans will work hard, but also leave a good portion of their day to relax. The city tends to become very quiet after 6 pm, similar to the SF financial district in the evenings. On the weekends, you will also come across many shops that are closed or have very limited hours. For example, my go-to shawarma/kebab spot is only open for 6 hours Monday-Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. The struggle was real on Sunday.

Things in Uruguay also tend to start a bit later. People eat lunch closer to 2 pm and have later dinners that begin around 9 pm. On Fridays/Saturdays, it isn’t uncommon for locals to take a 2-3 hour nap before heading out at 2 am. Similar to nightlife in New York, most bars/clubs won’t close until 6 am. While I have yet to make it out until dawn, that is definitely the goal in the near-term.

Although someone in the program has already gotten jumped (two guys hit him from behind while he was outside the bar by himself) and got his iPhone stolen, I would say that Montevideo as a whole is quite safe. All of my interactions with locals thus far have been very positive and welcoming. Random locals have literally walked/escorted people (in our program) home when they thought it was unsafe for them. When I play basketball, they also like to talk trash, which always keeps the game light and interesting. Guárdame! 

During my first week here, a few things stuck out to me:

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Playa Ramirez is the brownest beach I have ever seen. Apparently, the water is brown due to the beach’s proximity to the port and river, which I assume are the sources of pollution.
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You can’t walk a few blocks in Montevideo without seeing someone drink mate, which is  essentially a highly caffeinated tea that people drink with a metal straw.
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There is street art everywhere in Montevideo. Most buildings in the neighborhoods are tagged to some degree.
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The quality of meat in Uruguay is on par with the U.S and much better than Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. This makes sense when you consider that 1) meat comprises ~30% of the country’s exports and 2) the cow:human ratio is 3:1.

Other Interesting Tidbits:

  1. I haven’t been eaten alive by mosquitos like in Puerto Rico, Colombia or Brazil.
  2. Weed is legal.
  3. Women and men do not “partner” dance at bars/clubs.
  4. 2-3 inch platform flip flops/shoes are very popular among women.
  5. There are actually quite a bit of gays/lesbians (same-sax marriage was legalized in 2008)
  6. Communities gather a few times a week at the park to dance.

Anyways, that’s it for this post. If you have any feedback, fire away!

-Curtis