Dia de los Muertos

Another federal holiday in Uruguay! Today is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The idea is to spend the day being respectful and honoring those who have passed away. The Uruguayans I've spoken to said they don't really take the day too seriously. It is more a day of relaxing without work.


They also said they don't really celebrate Halloween which was this weekend too, but I definitely saw some children out trick-or-treating...unless those skeletons and ghosts weren't really children in costumes. Hmmmm. For Halloween I attempted to have a little party for the teachers in my conversation class, but the only thing that turned out scary was my cooking.

El Milongón

When my aunt was in Montevideo visiting me, we went to a dinner show--El Milongón. Although it was as touristy as touristy can get, it was a nice overview of the musical styles of Uruguay.


There was folk dancing, candombe, tango, fire spinning, and gaucho stomping. For a show in Uruguay it was ridiculously pricey (about 21 US dollars), but for a comparable 1.5 hour show of live music and dancing in the US you couldn't even come close to the price.

Enjoy a short video from the evening:

Election Results

Excitement is in the air. Even though Uruguay's presidential elections were yesterday, we still don't know who will be president next year. None of the candidates won a majority (50 percent plus 1 vote) to win the first round of elections, which means there will be a "balotaje" (runoff) in November.


Pepe Mujica from the Frente Amplio got 47.5% of the votes, Luis Lacalle from Partido Nacional (or Blanco) got 28.5%, Pedro Bordaberry from the Colorados got 16.7%.

I happened to make it to both the Frente Amplio and Partido Nacional celebrations in Ciudad Vieja. Kudos to the Frente for more fun-ness. Their supporters were a bit more in number and animation. People were chanting, waving flags, jumping, painting faces, parading down the street, and watching fireworks. They expected a big win last night, and were slightly disappointed to have to wait till the runoff to vote Pepe again. The Colorado celebration was a little more low-key, largely reflective of their typical demographic. I'm excited to see if the November 29th election will be a close one or not.


As with the presidential vote, neither of the 2 referendums (to annul the amnesty law or to let Uruguayans living abroad vote) got a majority either which means neither of them will pass. I am actually really surprised that the amnesty law will remain intact. It seemed like public sentiment swayed toward repealling the law, yet it only received a 47.36% yes-vote. I suppose visibility isn't always the most accurate indicator of voting behavior. Seems like most Uruguayans want to keep the past in the past, even if it means leaving a few human rights violations go unpunished. If the law were repealed there would be a BIG mess to sort out. (A mess just as problematic as not repealing the law? We'll never know.)

Election Day

Today is election day in Uruguay!

After months and months of campaigning, we shall finally see which party wins the election. Lately, there have been rallies all over Montevideo for each of the different political parties, and volunteers handing out brochures like crazy. I don't think I'll miss receiving 20 pamphlets after a short two-block walk down 18 de Julio.


It appears that there will be no clear winner in the election today. The race is largely between the two frontrunners, Pepe Mujica, former Tupamaros guerrilla fighter and part of the current ruling party, the Frente Amplio, and Luis Lacalle, former president and representative from the Partido Blanco. Elections in Uruguay are compulsory so everyone has to vote or face undesirable consequences.

In addition to selecting a president and a new legislature (through the system of a bunch of really long lists labeled with a number) Uruguayans will also vote on two "plebiscitos," namely whether to repeal the 1986 amnesty law and whether to allow Uruguayans living abroad to vote.


There have been many signs, graffiti, pins, shirts, posters, and whatnot encouraging people to vote "si" to annul the "Ley de Caducidad" which granted amnesty to those accused of human rights abuses during the dictatorship.

I am so excited to see the result of the election. The future of Uruguay will be decided today.

Way Up in the Sky

The Torre de las Telecomunicaciones is the tallest building in Montevideo, and in all of Uruguay for that matter. It towers over the rest of city and can be seen from quite a distance. The tower belongs to ANTEL, the state-run national telecommunications company.

From the tower you can see a beautiful overview of the city, port, and river. Every so often they give free tours to the public and let you ride up the elevator to the 20th floor where you can look out the massive windows from to see Montevideo on all sides down below.


The windows often reflect light and, at some points, make it seem like you are walking into an optical illusion. It is well worth the visit if you come visit Uruguay.


In the adjacent building there is the Museo de las Telecomunicaciones y el Auditorio which more or less takes you on a tour of telephones throughout the ages. I wouldn't recommend the museum unless you are telecommunications junkie, but the tower is worthwhile.

Sunday on the Golf Course

On Sunday, the Club de Golf de Uruguay opens its doors to the public--only not for golf.

The golf course is in the Punta Carretas neighborhood and you can see the Ciudad Vieja part of the Montevideo skyline from some of the greens and the beach as well. The course was impeccable, yet anyone (golfer or not) can visit on Sundays just to lounge around.

I could hardly believe it. At first I felt like I was desecrating holy ground by walking on a golf course with no golf clubs, no golf shoes, and no golf attire. But you don't need those things on Sundays! We came with only a bag full of bizcochos (bakery sweets) and yerba mate.


On Sundays families come to have picnics by the sand traps. Friends come to loaf around the greens. Students come to study in the grass. Nature enthusiasts come to spot newly hatched baby birds and watch bright green parrots fly from tree to tree.

I like the idea that an exclusive golf club lets people use their facilities like a park. It's a public good that just doesn't exist in the culture I come from.

86 kilos of meat

Seriously Uruguayans. How do you eat so much meat?


This article says the expected number of slaughtered cattle for this year will be around 2.21 million. Whoooah. That's a lot of cows. Further more:

Uruguay's beef consumption per capita in 2009 is expected to reach 58 kilos and 86 kilos of all types of meat according to the latest estimates from the National Meat Institute (INAC).

86 kilos of meat per capita??!!


No wonder why you can't walk into a restaurant around here and not find some form of beef on the menu. A lot of Uruguayans have told me they eat beef everyday of the week, and I'm not surprised after living here for 7 months. Apparently you can never have too much beef.

Alpargatas

Alpargatas are the traditional shoe of the gauchos (cowboys) in Uruguay. The soles are made of jute and the uppers of canvas. I discovered (with the help of Google) that "alpargatas" are the Rioplatense way of saying "espadrilles." And as we all know, every fashion guru owns a pair of espadrilles.


I gave my students the assignment to create an advertisement for something typically Uruguayan based on all of the principles we've been discussing regarding discourse analysis. Their ads were great. Among others I got ads for dulce de leche, towns to visit in Uruguay, beer, sneakers, a hotline, and alpargatas. The two students who created the alpargatas advertisment, also gifted me a pair of these traditional shoes. Thanks guys!

Apparently you can't get alpargatas wet or they will become too stiff, and then they are basically useless. So now I'm nervous to wear them. How can you not get shoes wet? Puddles have a way of finding me.