Uruguay

Okay, so we're really enjoying being in Uruguay, and it's not even nice weather yet! Just been a bit chilly and rainy, with some good sunny days mixed in, but we really love it here! Man...I feel like there's a lot to say, but we'll be here for a while so I don't have to say it all at once, I guess. So to begin with...

We love our ward, the members are really nice and welcoming. I love that the Church is the same everywhere, it's just such a wonderful feeling! The bishop made us stand up at the pulpit in Sacrament meeting and tell a bit about ourselves in Spanish, we did a pretty good job for being surprised with that.

Lot's of opportunity to speak Spanish. Most people don't speak English, so that's been good for us. We still have much room for improvement, but we're getting by and really enjoying it.

Mmmm...the cheeses here are DELICIOUS! And there's lots of beef, but we're not hugely carnivorous, so that's less of a bonus. Great chorizo, though, not as spicy as we like, but yummy. Grilling on parillas is the norm, and that produces some mighty tasty grub. We found a wonderful source for fresh-squeezed OJ, you just can't beat that...Oooh, and I found these awesome chocolate-covered peanuts! Okay, not necessarily Uruguayan, but my taste buds are very pleased.

The waterfront is gorgeous! We're two blocks from the "Rambla" which is the wide walkway along the beach through Montevideo. The beach right by us is actually on a river, the Rio de la Plata, but you wouldn't guess it, it has sand and dunes and no discernable current, and it's very wide.

We have cute garbage horses that clip-clop by almost everyday. They pull little carts behind them to collect the trash in. I love hearing them come up the street and then faintly fade away.

There are lots of street markets, or ferias, even in the winter. We went to one last Saturday and got some cute baby books. We also got a really nice wooden box for the babies' toys, good prices. As we were leaving, Nuala leaned over the side of the stoller and did a bomb's away with one of the books...it seemed very deliberate, she held it over the side and watched the ground until a big old flattened pile of dog poo came along, then dropped the book smack onto it. She has great aim, it was a Robin Hood-worthy bullseye, the rascal.

Okay, enough for this post! Have I ever mentioned that I love the internet?