Kristina Argentina

Uruguay (pt 5 - Montevideo)

After epic napping Sunday afternoon on the beach, we went back to the hostel, and napped a bit more (boy were we full from that asado). Then I went downstairs to check my email. There were two computers available set up for the guest’s use. One was occupied by a small 4 year-old girl playing Barbie dress up. She was on the good computer, and I was on the bad one. So while I was waiting eons for the pages to upload, I was gazing absent-mindedly at her screen. She kept looking at me out of the corner of her eye. Then, in a very precocious manner she said: “hola, cómo está ud.?”, opening the conversation. We talked for a bit about skirts, and necklaces and hair-dos, but I had a really tough time understanding her. Later her mom came over and made her move to the bad computer, so she started crying and looked at me like I was an absolute devil and ran away.

About the same time, we were invited to the backyard for an asado. Although still full from before, we decided to be social. There was an interesting cast of characters. An Uruguayan, who I later found out was the hostal owner, and his Brazilian girlfriend, also the mother of the little girl. A colombian man just traveling though. A Mexican vacationing. Another Mexican who had just finished getting his wedding planning certificate in Buenos Aires and was picking it up in Montevideo. Diego - the manager of the hostal who was a very nice jolly Argentinian. Carlos - a poet who was giving a talk in Montevideo. Then as the night went on, a very hyperactive guy walked in - Sebastian. We soon learned that Sebastian was a vegetarian singer-songwriter who was in the midst of recording an album paid for by Uruguay (yes the country). He was an avid pot-smoker, and smoked prolifically when playing.

Sebastian played us some music. His specialty was cadombe - a style of music that is unique only to Montevideo. A mix between the African slave drumming, tango, and jazz; I really had heard nothing like it! He had a really sweet voice, something like you would find on a beach in Brazil, and the rhythms were unrepeatable, so you should probably just look it up!

As the night went on, the other guests went to sleep, leaving Diego, Carlos, Sebastian, Caro and I sitting around drinking wine. Carlos and Caro opened up a discussion about men’s passion for football. Which led to what women felt passionate about. Which led to what is passion and love? To what are the greatest loves in our lives? Love is subjective, is there a true love? A truly unique experience: speaking about love with a poet, musician, and one who lived a transient life. To commemmorate the experience, Carlos gave me a signed copy of his latest book. Truly a night to treasure!

Wednesday was spent on the beach, and trying the famous chivito: usually a sandwich (although this was a plate to share) with steak, ham, bacon, red peppers, olives, mayonaise - all on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, french fries and potato salad. We went instantly to nap after that.

Woke up to have a quick nail session, cause mine were chipping. The little girl from the night before was flitting around the garden with fairy wings, a magic wand, playing with a cat. I offered to paint her nails, and was instantly greeted with a smile and we were best friends again. Caro instantly recognized that the reason I hadn’t understood her was because she spoke portuñol, a mix of Portugues and Spanish. 

Spent the rest of the night eating dinner with Diego and Sebastian, and called it a night pretty early as it was raining and we had to get up early the next day.

So it also turned out that Sebastian’s mother was a dentist around the corner. He thought it would be hilarious if I went there and asked her to fix my tooth. I thought it would be awesome to get a free fix so instantly agreed. Unfortunately her dental chair had just broken, and she was currently with a patient, so instead we just tried the facturas, not as good as Buenos Aires, and Caro and I took off.

We left Montevideo to Colonia without a hitch. A very easy, relaxing bus ride became a nightmare when we got there. Before anyone could get off, a man got off the bus and said: “Your 4pm boat has been canceled. You can either stay on the bus and go back to Montevideo, or wait for the 9pm boat. Thanks”. Now, I could go all New Yorker on a bitch, but man, when the porteños are mad, you may as well let them go with it. Caro took the lead and gave the guy a piece of her mind. Then we managed to beat most of the line and get ourselves on the next boat for Buquebus Express at 5pm. She also thought to get us a note from Colonia Express to fight the charge. We made it on the boat, which was a pretty easy ride. Then got back to Buenos Aires in the daylight, and from Retiro instead of La Boca. Got the credit back on the 8th of December. Man is she good!

Never take Colonia Express!!!!