A Year in Uruguay

Uruguay in the news

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Bon Appétit has a travel feature on Punta del Este in their August issue. It features short reviews of several restaurants and as well as some nice pictures in a pdf file. Perhaps a nice romantic getaway for Governor Sanford?

Uruguayan jazz vocalist on public radio

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Our friend Maria Noel Taranto will be featured on the "Jazz Inspired" radio show on public radio stations across the US and Canada during the first week of May. (A list of stations and times is here.)

If you're interested, you can listen to several of Maria Noel's songs on her La Taranto MySpace page.

There are also short clips from her performances in some of my earlier posts.

Carnaval exhibit in Kalamazoo

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:42:00 +0000

I have an exhibit of photos from Montevideo's carnaval at my college's art gallery for the last two weeks in February. If you're in the area, please stop by.

We'll be having a reception on Saturday February 21 from 4-7.

Light Fine Arts Building
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo, MI
corner of Academy Street and Thompson Street
campus map
gallery hours Monday-Friday 9-5

Uruguayan microbrew

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:54:00 +0000

One thing I missed when I lived in Montevideo was the complex flavor of craft beers. I didn't have any complaints about Pilsen or Patricia but there wasn't much variety. After I returned to the US, a new microbrewery opened in Montevideo and when I visited this August I was able to taste their product.

Cervecería Artesanal del Uruguay brands its beer Mastra and they brew three varieties: dorada [gold], roja [red], and negra [black]. I enjoyed them. The negra is a thick, hearty traditional stout, as opposed to a dark-colored but relatively light-tasting beer like Pilsen Stout. The roja has a great malty taste; I could see it becoming my favorite. (I didn't have time to try the dorada.)

Is Uruguay ready for craft beers? No problem on the supply side-- these are high quality microbrews. On the demand side, it's questionable. Beer is certainly part of Uruguay's culture and I'm sure there are enough beer-drinkers with adventuresome tastes who would drink strongly flavored cervezas. The problem is the price. A small single-serving bottle (12 oz/355 ml) costs more than a liter of Patricia, which is going to make it hard to survive in the marketplace. It's tough to launch a super-premium product in an economically-stressed market. That said, Argentina has several microbreweries so it's possible this one could succeed in Uruguay by tapping into the tourist trade. I wish them luck.

Suerte.

Uruguay blog

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:02:00 +0000

I've been meaning to recommend A Small State of Mind for some time. It's written by Benjamin Gedan, a Fulbright scholar and journalist studying the Uruguayan media. I've been enjoying it for several months.

He writes on a broad array of Uruguayan topics from chivitos to supermodels to the dictatorship. He's also published articles about Uruguay in the New York Times

Monte de Ombúes

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:55:00 +0000

After staying in Cabo Polonio this July, we visited the nearby Monte de Ombúes.

An ombú is a native tree closely associated with gaucho culture and Uruguay's history. My mental image of an ombú has been a large, solitary tree surrounded by grasslands. (Not that I'd ever seen that; my actual experience with ombu trees was mostly of one particular tree growing in the middle of Boulevard España in Montevideo and a few others growing in city parks.) Ombú trees can have peculiar shapes with multiple trunks, merging branches, and frequent hollows.

The Monte de Ombúes promised something rare-- a forest of these unusual trees. The woods are on the shore of the Laguna de Castillos and the only access is by boat. Regularly scheduled tours depart from the bridge where the highway crosses the arroyo Valizas. Since July is the middle of winter in Uruguay, we were able to have a private tour.

Our boat floated slowly past pastures dotted with butia palms while gulls and egrets flew overhead. It's a great trip for birdwatchers; our guide pointed out ibis, teru-teru, chajá, cormorants, ducks, herons, kingfishers, and even flamingos. After about an hour, we reached the woods-- two groves of ombúes.

The trees themselves were impressive. Since it was winter, they were nearly leafless, focusing our attention on the trunks. Some of the trees were over 30 feet around and many had openings big enough for a person, or even a whole family, to enter. It was almost surreal seeing two trunks emerge separately from the stump and then recombine 10 or 20 feet higher.

This strange growth pattern is part of the ombu controversy: "Is it a tree or a shrub?" Until this visit, I'd always taken the tree side. The shrub argument seemed like it must be based on some obscure botanical definition. (Similar to the argument: "Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?") Based on everything I'd seen earlier, the ombú was a tree-- tall, solid, long-lived, trunk & branches, with leaves that dropped seasonally. How could it not be a tree?

Now I'm less sure. In the forest, we saw fallen ombúes and they weren't like fallen trees. Instead of being made of wood, the inside of an ombú looks like a cross between particle board and paper mache. Definitely not tree-like. New sprouts from the broken stumps furthered my confusion since they looked identical to the pokeweed that grows in my backyard in Michigan. The shrub proponents do have a point.

In any case, it was an interesting place to see. It's definitely a low-key trip-- something for nature-lovers; it would appeal to those Florida vacationers who choose Ding Darling over Miami Beach.

Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:03:00 +0000

While I intended to visit Uruguay's National Museum of Art shortly after I went to the Museo Torres-García, I never made it during the entire year I lived in Montevideo.

Partly because I didn't notice it.

My mental image of an art museum is a grand classical building like the Art Institute of Chicago or the west wing of the National Gallery of Art or else I imagine something impressively modern like the National Gallery's east wing or the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

The Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales is located in Parque Rodó and I'd parked right next to it dozens of times without knowing it. The architecture reminded me of an elementary school. The courtyard was usually full of kids in their school tunicas which reinforced the impression. I didn't realize it was a museum.

During our vacation in Uruguay this year, I made up for my past omission by making the museum a priority.

The museum is small, about the size of my local art museum, and all the exhibits can be seen in about an hour. When we visited in July, they had a visiting exhibit of works by Spanish artist Joan Miró and a large exhibit by a Uruguayan artist in the style of Torres-García, in addition to works from their permanent collection.

Admission: free.
Tuesday-Sunday 12:00-6:00 pm

Museo del Carnaval

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:46:00 +0000

I'd wanted to visit the Museo del Carnaval before we left Montevideo in mid-2007 but its opening date kept getting postponed, so I was happy when we were able to see it on this trip. It has a great location right next to the Mercado del Puerto, making it a very convenient stop for visitors.

Like many of Montevideo's museums, it's small and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to see all of the exhibits. While it certainly isn't the same as hearing a murga or candombe group live, it brought back great memories of carnival. The best part was the hall of colorful murga costumes.

The Museo del Carnaval blog is interesting (in Spanish with lots of photos) and on YouTube there's a comprehensive video showing the creation of the museum.

Open Tuesday-Sunday
Free admission

Cabo Polonio photos

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:20:00 +0000

I uploaded a few photos from our trip to Cabo Polonio. You can see them here.

Bourdain in Uruguay video

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:14:00 +0000

Tony Bourdain's show on Uruguay aired this week. Here's a Travel Channel video showing him eat carne with his brother in the Mercado del Puerto.

Cabo Polonio

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:56:00 +0000

We had a really nice time visiting Cabo Polonio, a beach settlement about 4 hours from Montevideo. In some ways, it´s similar to Punta del Diablo. Cabo Polonio is harder to reach since there´s no road access. You can reach it by 4-wheel drive truck or horseback from Ruta 10.

This is very much the off-season, so we needed reservations to ensure someone would open the hotel. We were the only tourists in the entire town. In the high season (January) every room in every building is filled with artists, hippies, and miscellaneous visitors. Most of the casitas are very small-- merely beach shacks. A few are more substantial. We stayed at La Perla del Cabo, the nicest place in town. (Although it was still very simple-- 2 hours of electricty daily, hot water some days but none while we were there, and for winter a propane heater in the hallway and extra blankets for the beds.)

The town itself was very quiet. All the little souvenir stands, shops and boliches were closed for the season. One almacen offered snacks, fruit, and staples like dulce de leche. The restaurant attached to the hotel opened for us. Their fresh fish was great.

We climbed the lighthouse, which gave great views of the coast. On the rocky point beneath the faro, hundreds of sea lions bathed in the winter sun. We saw a lone penguin, apparently off-course from its annual migration to Brazil from southern Argentina. It´s whale season, but we didn´t happen to see any.

update:A photo album from Cabo Polonio

Back in Uruguay

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:19:00 +0000

It´s been very comfortable returning to Montevideo and we´ve been busy visiting friends, watching soccer, going to shows, and eating great food. Too busy to write any blog posts, until now.

Not much has changed in the city. A few businesses have closed and a few new ones opened. Some of the same graffiti is still on the walls.

One noticeable change: the depreciation of the dollar makes everything more expensive. For example, I bought 2 tickets for the new Batman movie yesterday for 180 pesos, or $10 US. That´s the same price I paid for 2 tickets in Kalamazoo, earlier this month. In economic theory, purchasing power parity predicts this; in equilibrium, prices for traded goods should become equal. In this case, I´d guess it´s probably just coincidence.

Volvemos

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:38:00 +0000

We're returning to Uruguay this week for a short vacation. I'm looking forward to all the good food including: chivitos, parrilla (at La Otra and the Mercado del Puerto), empanadas, churros, masas finas, and a simple pizza and beer. I'm sure we won't get to do everything on the "official" list of visitors' activities but I hope we have a chance to do some of them. We just missed el clasico, but we watched it on TV yesterday. If Copa Airlines gets us to Montevideo on time, we'll see a show at the Teatro Solis. Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing many of my friends in Uruguay.

We're leaving a North American summer for a South American winter but the forecast shows the low temperatures in Montevideo will be the same as the low temperatures in Kalamazoo. I can't complain about that.

And I'll have some fresh material to add to this blog, as well.

Ushuaia

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:34:00 +0000

In February, 2007 at the height of the southern summer, we flew a few thousand kilometers south from Montevideo to visit Ushuaia, "el fin del mundo" [The End of the World]. This Argentine city is further south than any other in South America. The end of the continent isn't abrupt; instead, the Beagle Channel runs through a series of mountainous islands. (There's a Chilean naval base on one that can claim the continent's southernmost habitation.) Whether in Chile or Argentina, the region is known as Tierra del Fuego.

It's a very interesting place and I'd like to go back again. Unfortunately, our summer is their winter and it must be pretty desolate then.

Between other destinations in Patagonia and carnaval events back in Montevideo, I never posted more than a few photos. I finally had a chance to put together a video slideshow from that trip.

You can see it here:

Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:24:00 +0000

Here are a few Uruguay blogs I've been following:

elretobao posts interesting photos of Montevideo with short captions in Spanish, frequently accompanied by Uruguayan music.

The next two links are new addresses for authors I posted about earlier:

Cool Uruguay has regular posts and a new forum in English and Spanish.

The Campbell Family blog has interesting but infrequent posts about life with a family in Montevideo.

And finally, a non-Uruguay blog for my friends who are interested in what's going on in Kalamazoo, I have a new blog, Kalamazoo Seasons, looking at nature's cycles in and around Kalmazoo, MI

Buenos Aires

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Although Montevideo isn't far from Buenos Aires, we didn't make the trip across the Rio as often as I expected. We did visit the bigger city a couple of times (and flew in and out a few more.) It's an interesting place.

Here's a video slideshow of some of my photos from Buenos Aires:

Uruguay viejo

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:20:00 +0000

Living in Uruguay, it was easy to see traces of its past: architecture from previous centuries, colonial fortresses, and antique cars still in use. Some are a bit worn, others in states of decay, and others fully renovated. In any state, they were interesting reminders of Uruguay's history.

I made a video slideshow of photos of artifacts from Uruguay's past. You can see it here:

Bourdain without translation (updated)

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:49:00 +0000

In an earlier post, I mentioned chef Anthony Bourdain's visit to Uruguay. Since then, I've heard a few bits and pieces about his trip, including a mishap with an armadillo that I don't fully understand. (I guess I'll need to wait and watch the show.)

In my post I included quotes from Bourdain that had been translated twice (into Spanish by Busqueda and back into English by me) losing, no doubt, accuracy each time. To make up for that, here's a quote from a Miami Herald article about Bourdain:

``I was just in Uruguay. It was one of those great discoveries. Montevideo is outrageously cool. I ate meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't think I saw a single vegetable for 10 days. Everything is cooked over roaring heaps of wood. They are burning down the whole world to feed themselves. I had armadillo. Hadn't had that yet. And some emu/ostrich varietal. But the big surprise was how good the blood sausage was. Maybe the best morcilla I ever had.''

But how good was the steak?

``It was better than I had in Argentina. People say the beef in Argentina is great. I prefer American beef to Argentine beef. But everything I had in Uruguay was unexpectedly great.''

And here's a direct quote from Tony Bourdain's blog without any intermediation:

URUGUAY: The Bourdain brothers journey to Montevideo, Punta del Este and the surrounding countryside in search of traces of their mysterious, Uruguayan great, great grandfather. Conclusions? Among other things--that Uruguay makes Argentina look like a vegan suburb of Berkeley. That they like to cook stuff over flame. LOTS of flame. That Montevideo is probably the Next Big Thing--or should be. And that the "civito" is the Greatest Sandwich in the History of Civilization.

More scenes from Montevideo

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:43:00 +0000

I made another video slideshow of everyday scenes from the streets of Montevideo.

You can see it here:

Semana Criolla

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:16:00 +0000

This week other Latin American countries celebrate Semana Santa and Uruguay enjoys its Semana de Turismo with events throughout the country. In Montevideo, gauchos compete on horseback during Semana Criolla. Riders, called jinetes, ride wild horses. They are amazingly good.

I put together a video slideshow from last year's Semana Criolla competitions. You can watch it here:

Earlier, I posted short videos of Semana Criolla at Parque Prado and at Parque Roosevelt.

Scenes from Montevideo

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Here's another video slideshow of photos from around Montevideo. This one shows scenes from everyday life without the landmarks featured in the previous video

You can watch it here:

Chef Anthony Bourdain visits Uruguay

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Anthony Bourdain, chef, author, and TV star was in Uruguay a few weeks ago to film a segment of his Travel Channel program, "No Reservations". He visited an estancia with friends of mine where they shot a scene for the show. My friends and one of the show's producers emailed me & said it was a great day.

Another friend sent me a couple of interesting Bourdain quotes from the "Galería" magazine of Monetvideo's news weekly,"Busqueda".

I've translated his comments on food in Uruguay as best I could. The English to Spanish to English translation undoubtedly is a weak reflection of his original statements, but I hope you'll get the idea. I've included the Spanish version, below.

Anthony Bourdain: “The first thing I need to talk about is the chivito, because it’s the best sandwich I’ve tasted in my life, including the venerated & thousand times described pastrami sandwich of New York and the mortadella and cheese sandwich from the market of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Really, the chivito is too good to be true; it’s almost impossible to eat because of how tall it is. Moreover, the idea of putting together beef, bacon, ham and cheese in the same bite, without counting all the other things it contains, is incredible. What’s more, in the US you could be arrested for daring to eat something like this. For me, any country that embraces this as its national sandwich is great!"

“De lo primero que tengo que hablar es del chivito, porque es el mejor sandwich que probé en mi vida, incluso es mejor que mi venerado y mil veces descripto sandwich de pastrani de Nueva York, y que el de mortadela y queso del mercado de San Pablo, Brasil. De verdad, el chivito es demasiado bueno para ser cierto, es casi imposible de comer de lo alto que es. Además la idea de juntar carne, panceta, jamón y queso en un mismo bocado, sin contar con todo lo demás que puede contener, es increible. Es más, en Estados Unidos serías arrestado por solo osar comer una cosa como ésta. Para mi cualquier país que abrace a este sandwich como nacional, es genial!"

He continues, “Today at noon we went to the Mercado del Puerto. I swear that in this city I ate more meat than I’ve ever eaten in my life. In the parrillada they served us an enormous brazier with five pounds of meat—with sausages, blood sausage, sweetbreads, lamb, asado—and didn’t stop until I finished it all. In Uruguay, they have the best blood sausage, better than the French and whatever other I have tasted, particularly the sweet. I tip my hat to societies like yours that don’t pay attention to cholesterol and the crazy idea of healthy eating. Even more, when I don’t see anywhere the @#$% fast food chains like Burger King, Starbucks, Chicken McNuggets, or Wendy’s. All that I see speaks well of the country. I like countries that aren’t in love with American fast food."

Y continúa: "Hoy al mediodía fuimos al Mercado del Puerto. Juro que en esta ciudad comí más carne de la que he comido en mi vida. En la parrillada nos sirvieron un brasero enorme como dos quilos de carne -con chorizos, morcillas, mollejas, cordero, asado- y no paré hasta que acabé con todo. En Uruguay también tienen la mejor morcilla, mejor que la francesa y que cualquiera que haya probado, sobre todo la dulce. Me saco el sombrero ante las sociedades como la suya, que no prestan atención al colesterol y a la loca idea de comer sano. Más aún, cuando no veo por ningún lado las malditas cadenas de comida rápida tipo Burger King, Starbucks, Chicken McNuggetsd o Wendy's. Todo lo que veo habla bien del país. Me gustan los paises que no aman al fast food estadounidense."

The Uruguay episode of "No Reservations" is scheduled to air sometime this summer or fall (Northern hemisphere seasons). I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Montevideo images

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:41:00 +0000

In something of a follow-up to my earlier Montevideo videos I made a video slideshow of photos from Montevideo. The focus is on places a visitor is most likely to see-- Mercado del Puerto, Plaza Independencia, Estadio Centenario, Feria Tristan Narvaja and other familiar landmarks.

You can see it here:

Beaches

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:58:00 +0000

In Michigan, January and February mean lots of snow and this year has been no exception. It's been great for cross-country skiing and my daughter enjoyed several days off school because of snowstorms. In Uruguay, January and February are beach time. I must admit that when the temperature dropped below 0° F (-20° C) my thoughts turned south to summer on the Río de la Plata.

Here's a video slideshow of my photos from the beaches of Uruguay. From Montevideo to Punta del Este to Punta del Diablo:

Off the wall

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Stull) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 03:31:00 +0000

Montevideo, like most big cities, has its share of graffiti, mainly indecipherable scrawls on dumpsters, houses, and statues. Our Uruguayan friends told us that graffiti became much more prevalent after the economic crisis of 2002.

As an economist, "The economy is the cancer of the world" caught my eye, but even more striking was a conversation, of sorts, painted along the wall of Pocitos beach. An exuberant Christian had painted several city blocks of the wall with a stream of religious statements in bold letters. An atheist had responded to every saying with cursive spraypaint, so walking along the beach, it read "GOD LIVES" "inside your stupid head" and a dozen more couplets.

Other graffiti was spray-painted support for soccer teams (Peñarol and Nacional being the most visible) or rock bands (many US and European groups from various decades). Some of it was political, either party slogans or independent outcry. And some were declarations of love or simple declarations of the writer's existence. There were two genres of artistic graffiti, over-sized NYC-style paintings and smaller, and often more interesting, stencil work.

Here is a video slideshow of my graffiti photos from Montevideo: