Stray Dogs

This is not Gertrude, but imagine an even cuter stray.

Christie started naming the stray dogs she saw in Salto until that it became a bad idea. Haha. I guess it was too heartbreaking. Poor dogs.

There are little herds? gaggles? packs? or whatever you call groups of dogs wandering around the streets of Salto. Some look weathered. Some looker withered. Some mangy. Some starving. Some pathetic. Some adorable. Some mischievious. There are so many. Where's pet control?

Trip to Uruguay's Capital

I just got back from a trip to Montevideo to apply for a visa to Brazil.


Next month we have a regional seminar in Sao Paulo, but we have to have visas to enter the country. The fee for American citizens seems to be much higher than residents of other countries. Booo. What's up with that? Wouldn't countries want to encourage tourism from the US, and thus not charge more than $160 plus the hassle of getting the visa? I suppose the visa either does not discourage much US travel to Brazil, or they make enough off the visas to make up for the lost revenue otherwise.


Nevertheless, I enjoyed being in Montevideo. It made me excited for when I will move to there in almost a month now. It will quite a change to move from a city with a population of 100,000 to one with a population of 1.3 million. I imagine leaving Salto will be bittersweet experience. I have to make the most of every day that I have left in this little place.

One Laptop Per Child

In searching for materials (to help expand the English teacher's vocabulary in adjectives), I was surprized to find this Amazon ad in Time magazine. I took one look at the ad and said, hey! those laptops look awfully familiar. They're the same ones that the students at my school use--the XO.


Apparently in 2007, Uruguay was the first country to place an official order for child-friendly laptops from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative:

[OLPC] has a simple mission: to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each and every one with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.

Sounds like a walk in the park. But not all may be as rosy as it seems. This article has much to say on the topic. Among other serious problems, one powerful corporation is putting their weight against the internet provider contracted by the OLPC, Ceibal.

A major challenge for Ceibal, among several: the national telco monopoly, ANTEL, is not overly enthusiastic about free wireless internet. That is an understatement. Who will ANTEL get to pay their rates (4 times higher than in the US at 1/4 the GDP, thus 16 times more expensive than here!) when by using your kid's XO you get access for free?

Hurdle after hurdle the laptop program must face, but Uruguay is well on the way to achieving its goal of a laptop for every schoolchild in the nation. They only have Montevideo left to furnish with XOs.


Personally, I think the goal of laptop for every child is great. Even though the computers run extremely slow and teachers complain that the kids only want to use them to play games and download videos, I still think they have a lot of potential. Children have to learn to use the internet to be successful in today's world. Those without computer access are at a severe disadvantage compared to their peers in other countries. There is no way to escape the fact that technology has become a cornerstone of modern civilization, and children who do not have the opportunity to become versed in technology are missing a vital part of the education they need to be successful.

No Tirar Basura: Don't Throw Trash

A woman in a professional business suit walks down the street digging into her purse. She pulls out some old receipts, takes a look, crumples them up, and tosses them on the street. For a block she throws at least 5 pieces of trash from her bag leaving a trail where she has walked.

Yes. This happened. In fact I have seen similar behavior several times in just the past month. No guilt littering.


It disgusts me. I actually give the offenders dirty looks, because I can't help it. They have no shame whatsoever dumping their trash on the middle of the street. What ugly behavior. Of course not every Uruguayan litters, but there seems to be little social stigma attached to dumping used wrappers, old receipts, plastic bags, and other types of waste on the street and sidewalk.

I can imagine if somebody did this in the US another bystander would confront the offender. Or the litterer would be more secretive about their behavior because they recognize they are doing something wrong. I think there needs to be a "no littering campaign" here that makes tossing trash on the street an embarrassing faux pas for everybody.

Delicious Food

Mmmm. I had some delicious food tonight.


This week Anthony's parents are visiting Salto and they took us out to dinner at a local restaurant called La Caldera. Mmmm. I had pollo glaseado which was glazed chicken stuffed with ham, raisins, and onions, served with a side of warm apple sauce. It was delicious, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it. I think finding good food in Uruguay is a matter of knowing what to order (or where to buy your groceries). I was despairing for a few weeks when I thought the only things I could find were fried foods, gooey pasta, mayonnaise, and greasy pizza. The options are much more palatable now that I've learned the ins and outs of this South American cuisine.


Then for dessert Christie and I stopped by a nearby bakery to get masas (bite-sized pastries) for everyone. Most include dulce de leche in their ingredient list and all seem to be super tasty.

Batalla de Las Piedras

Today was another holiday in the wonderful nation of Uruguay which meant no school or work. Today was a celebration of the Batalla de Las Piedras (Battle of the Rocks).

The Battle of Las Piedras was part of Uruguay's independence movement, led by none other than the national hero, Jose Artigas, whom I mentioned earlier. He led a group of revolutionaries from the Provincia Oriental del Río de la Plata (modern-day Uruguay) to defeat the Spanish in 1811. And it was on the 18th of May that he uttered one of his most famous phrases, "Clemencia para los vencidos" (Mercy on the vanquished).


Of course, in celebration of Batalla de Las Piedras, I took a trip to the hot springs. I had intended to go one I had never been to before, but oops, I got on the wrong bus and ended up at the Termas Dayman again. Oh well.


Estaba bien. It was fine. I had a great time. I love the termas.


Being there at night was great too. The hot springs are different after the sun sets. They seem more toasty--but that could just be the visible steam wafting into the night sky.

Theater Show

Last night I went to a play at the Teatro Larrañaga in Salto which is beautiful. The name of the show was La Amante Inglesa which featured one actress discussing the psychological journey and crime of another actress.


I've decided that if I go to anymore live performances I am going to research the plot beforehand so I focus on the language without getting lost. Once you lose your place, it's pretty much hopeless for the rest of the show. Halfway through, I started thinking about how the actresses feet didn't get cold without wearing socks or about how I need to buy a watch.

You can't let your mind wander like that when attempting to enjoy a foreign language production. I tell myself if there had been more movement, more props, more actors, more gesturing it may have been easier to stay focused, but mostly it's just shame on me and my whirring mind.

Brrrrr, it's cold

When I first arrived in Uruguay it was late summer and so hot I didn't believe it when people said it would get cold here. I thought they were speaking in relative terms, as in brrrr, it's cold for me, but it won't be cold for you. Well I was wrong. The weather finally started to act like autumn, and I had to dig out my coat today.

There were thunderstorms earlier this week that are responsible for the cooler temperatures.


This is lightning from my window. You don't even want to know how many attempts it took for me to get this photograph. Luckily (unfortunately?) the storm lasted all night. There were plenty of opportunities.

Also, side note, someboday was BLASTING their television at 4:30 AM this morning. What is with that? One, who is up that early? Two, who turns on the TV that early? Three, who puts the volume at on full blast when staying in a hotel? Didn't they think the rest of world might be trying to sleep?