Save these dates: November meetings, the 16th and 22nd

The location of our next Monday meeting is the red-roofed structure on the beach. Not the pool.

So we have two events coming up in November, one is our regular Monday morning gathering, on the 16th, at 11AM at the Club de Pesca, a very old restaurant on the beach, right across the Conrad Hotel, at Parada 3 of the Playa Mansa.

The Club de Pesca has a shabby-unchic style, a step into another, less glitzy time feel about it, that we cherish as a reminder of old Punta, prior to nouveau riche sensibilities where evereything is baptised with names evoking Miami, of all places.

Beyond the "let's steep ourselves in the real history of the place" there's the fact that the Club de Pesca has a fantastic terrace on the beach, overlooking the fishing pier. And a very roomy interior with fantastic views as well if we're rained out or weather is somehow uncooperating.

The next "megaevento" as they like to say in Punta del Este, is our "day in the country" potluck lunch/bbq at our home, on, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22. The address is a bit ridiculous, so the directions are easier: drive to KM107 of Ruta Interbalnearia --the highway to Montevideo-- and make a turn towards the ocean. Drive on this country road for 3 or 3.5 kms, past two little bridges, and when you can see the ocean, on your left is our house. the one with the fence, the shrubs and the dogs.

We are walking distance to the beach and there is a swimming pool as well, so do bring swimming gear.

Being a potluck affair, we will require food and beverage contributions from everyone. ... I am a firm believer that in terms of food, everything evens out in the end, so just let me know what you're bringing in case I need to "steer" the last pledges in any particular direction, and shoot for something that's your best or classic or whatever recipe... or if you're not preparing anything, you can just buy meats for the grill.

Start a business, take up pet sitting!

For over a year now I have received calls or emails enquiring about pet sitters. Virtually every expat we know has one or more pets, and not enough of a local social network to rely on when traveling to take care of their pets. Expats don't have family members to call on, or maybe feel they can't ask for such a favor of people they have known for a relatively short period of time.

Do I know any pet sitters? No, not a one. When I mentioned this word to my Mom yesterday she replied "A WHAAAAAA?" That's right, it's not even a concept that's very understandable to many. So how bout some expats out there with too much time on their hands start a pet-sitting business, or a nice pet B&B?

If you do, please let us know, I have a request for services in December, and more requests will likely crop up.

In the meantime, if you do have any household staff, they are the ones supposed to do your pet-sitting. The advantage of this mode is that a) the pet remains in his/her/its home, and b) there is human life at your home during your travel absences, making it safer from burglaries than an empty, closed up home.

Absent that, see if you find any kids in your vicinity willing to do it for a few bucks. There are not many chances of child employment in Uruguay, so they may be particularly enthusiastic about it.

A call to boicot taxis this Friday

Uruguay is awakening to community action and concern in the age of email, Facebook et al, and an example of this new awareness is the call to boicot taxis on Friday, Oct.30, in protest against the death of two young people in two separate incidents in which taxi drivers disregarded stop signs in Montevideo, ultimately causing the deaths of one passenger, in one accident, and of a young mother of two who was mowed off the sidewalk in another.

A third young woman has been in a coma for almost a month. The bitter irony is that her boyfriend, when leaving a nightclub, had decided to act responsibly and leave behind his own car, in favor of a taxi, because he had drunk alcohol that night. This is particularly ironic because the awareness of drunk driving being a killer is not something very ingrained in Uruguayan society, so it is particularly sad to hear of this kid dying as a result of such responsible behaviour, uncharacteristic of Uruguayan society.

Hence, the call to not take taxis on Friday. I don't know if the blame here is 100% on the taxi trade. Frankly, everyone drives like mad, especially in Montevideo, although I can say that in Punta del Este taxis show particular disregard for safety, speed limits and traffic rules in general. So although they are not the only one to blame in a society where safety is not such a great priority for anyone, I would personally participate in this boicot if only to call attention to the matter, and also to taxi drivers.

A weekend for the pious and the heretic both...

November 2, all saints day, the day of the dead, or however you call it, coincides with Halloween celebrations. It must all go back to the same thing, way back when, right? The point is that it gives us a long weekend, and with it cultural activities, high and low both.

The Maldonado Cathedral is offering a vocal/instrumental ensemble concert with a Bach repertoire (see poster above).

Meanwhile, Il Belvedere (Parada 29 of the Brava Beach, that hotel bungalows place) is hosting a grownups Halloween costume party on Saturday, Oct. 31, starting at 10 PM. Tickets are only being presold, no tickets at the door, so call Ileana at zero nine nine eight one one seven seven seven. Admission is UYU500 and buys you unlimited drinks (of what kind I don't know) and fingerfood, as well as a chance to enter costume contest to win unspecified prizes. Party on.

Election results

Uruguay's coat of arms

The general elections held Sunday, where the Presidence and higher and lower chambers of Congress were elected was a display of civic culture that made everyone proud, but in which the two leading contenders came out as losers.

The left wing coalition and incumbent, the Frente Amplio, or Broad Front, appeared as the clear leader in the polls with between 47% and 48% of the vote, pending final counts, but crucially short of the 50% + 1 votes needed to win in the first round. Hence, the ballotage, or second round scheduled for November 29.

In addition to not reaching the outright majority, the FA showed the first decrease in voting percetange in its history, with final numbers not out yet, but in the vicinity of 2 to 3 percentage points. To top the sense of "defeat" that clouds the FA campaign, none of the two referendums sponsored by the governing party were approved.One proposed the annullment of provisions granting amnesty from prosecution to government figures who participated in human rights violations or crimes during the military dictatorship in the 70s and 80s. The other one proposed allowing overseas vote by mail to the hundreds of thousands of Uruguayans living overseas and presumed to be predominantly FA sympathizers. All together, the results produced a press conference with somber faces and a visibly irritated presidential candidate, Pepe Mujica, who didn't hide his contempt for the press and who, rather than make use of the free national broadcast to the entire country, rushed to dismiss the Q&A.

On to the front runner. The "Blancos" (whites) or Partido Nacional had a pathetic election, with a steady decline in votes over the last couple of months of the election, finishing below the 29% mark. Candidate Alberto Lacalle, who will now be disputing the presidential office with the FA's Mujica, gave a good, sensible speach, which some pundits accused of being too long, and managed a few tears in the end.

The colorados were the big revelation. Pedro Bordaberry voted way above pollsters' projections and almost doubled the party's percentage of the vote in the 2005 election. Bordaberry --well, he now goes by Pedro-- immediately announced his support for Lacalle, to great cheers from his own supporters.

The Independent party also made strides ending with 2.5% of the vote, but failed to get the wished-for senate seat.

The crucial issue of legislative majority is still undefined, it was that close. Should the Frente Amplio win the second round, it will win the majority thanks to the seat occupied by the Vice President. Otherwise, it may still obtain this majority from the division of "leftover" votes that is prorrated between the parties.

Maldonado coat of arms, ain't it cute!

In Maldonado itself, the Frente Amplio did worse than overall nationally, as it garnered just 40% of the vote, with the Partido Nacional reaching 31%, the Colorados 21% and the Partido Independiente 2.8%.

The FA also slid drastically with respect to the performance in Maldonado in the previous election, when it had managed 49% of the votes. The greatest advance was seen in the Partido Colorado, with more than double the party's votes this time around, while the Partido Nacional also lost hugely, 8 percentage points.

This all came about as the voting base in the department grew more than 12% over the 2005 election, when there were 108,000 registered voters, and about 28% over the 1999 elections.

Montevideo Swing performs at C Bistro on Friday evening

The trio will be performing jazz standards from the 30s through 50s at C Bistro (formerly Company Bar) located on 29th street between 20th and 18th streets. Across from the Tommy Hilfiger store... There will be a collection of 1920s movie star photos on exhibit as well.

A temporary halt to the free-fall of the dollar

Yesterday's news about the imposition of a tax on financial transactions by the Brazilian government put a temporary stop to the seemingly never ending slide of the dollar, which has been more pronounced in Brazil and Uruguay than in other regions. The IOF tax is intended to slow down the influx of speculative foreign capital going into the Brazilian markets.

Following the announcement, on Tuesday the dollar rose 1.5% against the Uruguayan peso and 2.1% against the Brazilian real, considered dangerously overvalued by many of those who supposedly know about these things.

Funny because just a few days ago one of our Karens was expressing her interest in getting into the Brazilian market. Well, now if she does, she will be paying a 2% tax, which as the Brazilian paper Valor puts it, is equivalent to parking your money in fixed income for 84 days, but with no return, or bringing down the benchmark rate to 6.58%. If that sounds very high, bear in mind that rates in Brazil have always been much higher than in developed markets, and that there is a reason for that.

Now, onto our concern, the dollar versus the peso, well, after yesterday's reversal the dollar is down an accumulated 14.65% so far this year, still a scary thing. It sounded worse when it was 20%, but there's no guarantee that we will not see that again soon.

In Brazil, the market is in an uproar, calling the measures an attack by friendly fire on the stock exchange, and noting that the action will now move to New York American Depositary Receipts, thus bypassing the new tax and still funding Brazilian companies. Hence, they see no lasting effect on the strength of the real.

Even the government there is not confident that the tax will be enough to stop the appreciation of its currency, and is assessing further, desperate-sounding measures. In sum, for the time being, nobody expects the dollar rebound to last very long, neither in Brazil nor here.

Sushi classes and tasting at Mantra with Argentina´s Iwao Komiyama

Argentina´s TV celebrity chef and sushi authority Iwao Komiyama will be at Mantra Resort on Friday, imparting his skills. For those interested only in the end product, Komiyama will be the guest chef at Mantra´s Indigo Grill on Saturday.

Tickets are available ONLY through Red UTS and cost $30 for the class on Friday and $80 for the dinner including soft drinks and sparkling wine.

Red UTS payment centers are available on several exchange bureaus throughout Punta del Este, including Cambio 18, Cambio Gales, Indumex and Cambio Nelson, all of them on Gorlero, at the bus terminal or at the Punta Shopping mall.

Punta Weekend, a party weekend for the younger crowd

Or for the young at heart, you know.

Punta Weekend is apparently on its second edition, a party weekend scheduled for Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1, that includes concerts by several bands at the beach on Parada 1 de la Brava (Onno Beach), a couple of dance parties at Ocean Club on Saturday and Sunday, and a fashion show at the Conrad Hotel.

Consistent with the meat-centered perspective in our region, the names of the brands or designers involved in the fashion show are not mentioned, they take second stage to the models who will be parading the clothes and who are listed by name. We know only that they will be modeling "emerging designers" as well as "established brands."

The bands performing are GIA, Tip for Tap, Chandie, Bungee and Dejavu. The bands as sampled in the PW website have more of a pop and dance flavor than the traditional ancient rock/metal favored in Uruguay and Argentina.

Way to celebrate the day of the dead, November 2...

Wine tasting, in pictures

Teacher Judith

Omar and Karen

Susana, Neal and Karen

Barbi and Alicia

Neal, Tim the pourer, and Susana

BQB airline to be headquartered in Punta del Este, start flights to Porto Alegre on Jan. 15

Buquebus airline, or BQB, will launch its operations from Punta del Este airport rather than from Colonia as previously planned, with seven regular weekly flights to Porto Alegre (Brazil) and chartered flights to Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario in Argentina, and Florianopolis in Brazil.

The airline was denied licenses to operate flights from Montevideo and Punta del Este to downtown Buenos Aires (Aeroparque), a route protected for Pluna. Its pilots are currently training in France.

The joy brought by a new airline operator to our area is tempered by widespread dislike for the owner of Buquebus, considered the Darth Vader of transportation in the region. Darth is accused by the general public on both sides of the river of "funding" the prolongued fake environmental conflict that has kept bridges from Argentina into Uruguay closed for several years already, resulting in huge profits for the near monopoly held by his ferry line. 

The guy is also blamed for a significant role in the left party winning the past election, thanks to the free ferry ride provided to many thousands of voters living in Argentina, most of whom vote the left coalition. He is repeating the feat this week, hopefully with a different outcome.

Uruguay per capita GDP climbs to 4th place in Latin America

Yes, according to Latin Business Chronicle, which quotes IMF recent figures, we nudged Venezuela and got the fourth spot, with something under $13k per capita. Imagine when we finally strike oil! (BTW, the drilling platform is still sitting still, at this rate it's going to take a long time...)


I can't access the precise GDP/pc figure for Uruguay, as LBC, a wonderful publication, is too costly for my budget and the numbers I can find online seem to be old.

In any case, it's interesting to note that Chile has risen to the top, with over $14k per capita, followed by Argentina and then Mexico. Which means that Venezuela has fallen several rungs from just a year or so ago, when its citizens were temporarily richer than Argentina's.

Cooking workshop festival currently at Conrad

I will blame the organizers for only finding out right now about it, since it started yesterday.

In any case, the Festival Aromas y Sabores runs for three days, with chefs from various countries teaching everything, from olive oil tasting to pastry baking and lots of other stuff. What can you still catch? I am pasting below the list of activities and chefs still to come, through the end of tomorrow.

Friday

14:00 a 15:30 – Diego Martínez (Uruguay)
bread and pastry chef, Latin American bread baking champion

16:00 a 17:30 – Mauricio Asta (Argentina)
Pastry chef – seen on Utilísima Satelital TV channel

18:00 a 19:30 – Jorge “Coco” Pacheco (Chile)
Chef specializing in seafood (“Aquí está Coco” restaurant in Santiago, Chile)

20:00 – Art and Carnaval workshop, traditional products tasting
Carlos Paez Vilaró (Uruguay) – artist
Wilfredo Camacho (Uruguay) – Cervecería Artesanal del Uruguay

Saturday 17 – Río de Janeiro Room

13:30 – Uruguayan olive oil tasting
José Claudio D'Auria (Argentina) –

14:00 a 15:30 – Coque Ossio (Perú)
Peruvian chef (Cuzco, Inkagrill, Map Café, Pachapapa, Geens, Blueberry Lounge and La Bonbonniere restaurants in Perú) and seen on Elgourmet.com

16:00 a 17:30 – Alvaro Verderrosa (Uruguay)
Chef (Radisson Montevideo Victoria Plaza Hotel)

18:00 a 19:30 – Francis Mallmann (Argentina)
Chef (Los Negros and Garzón restaurants in Uruguay, Patagonia Sur and 1884 in Argentina, Patagonia West in the US)

Montevideo-Foz de Iguazu with Pluna for $179 RT!

,
This will just make my life easier. I used to spend countless hours trying to dissuade every extra-regional visitor from trying to go see the Iguazu/Iguassu waterfalls, a trip to a remote middle of nowhere for a few minutes of a nice post-card view.

Previously, this involved getting to Buenos Aires and from there flying to Foz. I can now say "Sure, you can fly directly from Montevideo! With Pluna! For just $179 round trip!"

That´s the promotional fare, it may not last. Flights debut on October 18. I´d personally still rather do a road-trip anywhere in South America, but I don´t need to argue anyone out of it anymore, now that it´s easy and relatively cheap.

On the other hand, anything making Uruguay more attractive as tourist destination, we´re for. And this no doubt will be a plus for all those Europeans who dream of seeing the waterfalls. I´ve heard many Europeans pine for Patagonia, often unaware of what country it´s in, for the Iguazu waterfalls, and for Machu Pichu, those are the three locations in South America that capture the masses´ imagination, so at least we´re directly linked to one of them. Another, Trellew I think, was sabbotaged by the Ks right before it was supposed to debut. The third, well, I would not be surprised if we were to see an announcement in the near future. Not so dumb this guy Matías...

And if you don´t see the big picture here, what´s in it for Punta del Este? Well, the more extra-regional visitors we attract to Uruguay, the more frequencies we´re likely to have from U.S. and Europe, the easier and even cheaper to get in and out of here. Making Uruguay a hub for South America, if he manages to do it, will be good for all of us.

Tourism slightly up through Sept., cruise ship arrivals to jump 36% this season

Our business thermometer translates pretty well the overall activity in the Uruguayan economy and in Punta del Este in general. We knew the winter was ghastly and most indicators are down through July and August, but thanks to the notorious spike seen in September, the total number of tourist arrivals is already up 2% for the first nine months, and we can expect it to rise even further before year end.

Another encouraging bit of news buried in El País today is that the number of cruise ships expected to make a stop in Punta del Este this season has jumped to 114, almost 36% higher than in the 2008-2009 season. In Montevideo, conversely, cruise ship stops will fall 17% over last season´s arrivals, to a total of 81.

Admittedly, everything written in this blog comes from the perspective of "economic and financial health of the country and Punta del Este = good" although this viewpoint may not be necessarily shared by all.

One day seminar on the history of furniture

OK, this one is in Spanish, but what with the visual aids, the similar terminology, etc., maybe even non-Spanish speakers can get to learn something or enjoy it. The seminar covers everything from antiquity to the 20th century, and it is conducted by architect Daniel Martinez Fuentes, an expert on interior design.

Plus, there´s waffles involved! The seminar will be held at L´Auberge, on Oct. 29, and it starts at 1:45 pm, running until 8:30. If you're interested, get in touch with fellow member Graciela Smink, gracielasmink at adinet com uy.

And we´re off to the races...

So the season is officially open in Punta del Este. It used to be that this past long weekend -- Columbus day, or Día de la Raza -- would provide an indication of how busy or quiet the summer season would be, based on the number of rental agreements closed. Now that indicator appears to be muddled, as Punta del Este was completely packed, but realtors claim to have closed relatively few rentals.

Then again, this is the time of the year when realtor associations come out to gripe about all the factors that are threatening the success of the summer season. This year, as usual, there is a problem with the exchange rate, as the dollar plunges to new, scary lows; the greed of home-owners who prefer to raise the rent and end up with an empty property than to rent it for a reasonable price; and as usual, calls for a greater commitment from the government on security issues. Ah, and the still unresolved issue of bridge border crossings with Argentina. But nobody mentions that one anymore.

To us, the almost euphoric levels of activity seen this past weekend -- the shopping activity had a frantic, like-there's-no-tomorrow quality -- portend another blowout season. It will be hard to top the 2008-2009 summer, but things look like they will be close, a gigantic achievement in light of the equally humongous global crisis.

In addition, with the general growth of "Greater Punta" and changes in visitor dynamics -- shorter stays, increased number of hotel stays versus renters, higher spending per person, continued growth in partial residents staying for three to nine months -- you can be sure that things will get lively in a couple of weeks, and outright busy at the beginning of December, before going bananas after Xmas. The empty aisles at Tienda Inglesa that surprised us on the days prior to the long weekend will be hard to come by until April or May again.

As for the English speakers, many are back or arriving soon, so our November bbq should be fun. Speaking of which, if you would like to attend the wine tasting this coming Friday, please RSVP urgenty. Otherwise, we'll see you at Kitty's next Monday.

More cultural activity this weekend: a piano concert and an organ recital

The Centro Cultural de Música is holding its last concert of the season this Saturday at 7:30 PM, by young Chinese pianist Jue Wang, at the Arcobaleno Convention Center. See contact info above. Tickets are US$35/UYU800 for adults and US$10/UYU200 for children.

The Maldonado Cathedral on Sunday 11th at 8 PM features Polish organ player Witold Zalewski, under the direction of Cristina García Benegas. This one is free, with voluntary contributions requested for paying for the giant screen projection.

Art creation fair on Calle 20 on Saturday, Oct. 10

The organizers of the upscale Calle 20 shopping district have come up with an art-athon of sorts, by gathering dozens of painters and sculptors who will be showing the beginning of their creative process --at least the material part of it, as it must be very hard to get philosophical while personally on exhibit-- on the street, literally.

The press release does not mention the time of the event or provide a phone number to enquire, so we´ll assume the very large workshop will go on sometime during the day, possibly all day long.

The organizers´release mentions that for those who don´t give a rat´s derriere about art (my wording), there will be discounts at the shops.  

Again, for those unaware of the relevance of next weekend, let´s just say it´s a sort of groundhog day for Punta del Este. It´s supposed to be a proxy for the entire summer season, based on the number of people who visit (Columbus day is celebrated throughout the region, so it´s a holiday in all our main markets) the number of rental deals closed, etc.

It´s also the start of the countdown to high season. All preparation work goes into high gear, and in Uruguayan fashion some major works are finally initiated, ensuring that the vacationers will arrive to wet paint and still unfinished buildings, roads and new shops. But that´s why it´s so charming over here...

In any case, expect a lively, busy weekend ahead.

Kindle reader makes a move towards the rest of the world

A recently arrived expat in Piriapolis has been asking about Kindle access for months, and nothing seems to work for her. No network to support the download of books from the Amazon device means she has to download her purchased e-book into her computer and then upload into her Kindle. But that appears to be not that easy to accomplish.

Enter the new "international" version of the device, which, unlike its exclusively U.S. version, runs on a 3G network rather than on a CDMA. The article on Betanews explains a bit pros and cons, but for you Kindle junkies out there, there is hope at least for the medium term.

Do you feel liberated?

Militarily speaking, I mean. I felt more like threatened this morning when at 5 AM the dogs went berserk, and rather than finding a hare or skunk with our super powerful flashlight, we came upon two soldiers marching up our road in full gear.

Since sunrise it´s been a non-stop roaring of helicopters and humming of planes. It´s the joint-command liberation of Punta del Este, you see. Now that we may have oil, our military is readying to protect the basin.

Your chance to be discovered

Extras are being sought for a Coke ad to be filmed at the Punta del Este airport on October 20 and 21.

Candidates should be male or female between the ages of 25 and 65. The casting will be done at a hotel in Punta del Este to be determined, and the pay is US$30 for the day. Not much, but your chance to break out!

If you´re interested, get in touch with Alejandra Inciarte at alejandra underscore inciarte at yahoo dot com, or call her at zero nine nine one five five seven nine seven.

The Plan Ceibal - One Laptop per Child in Uruguay

If you ever venture into Uruguay (meaning exiting Punta del Este) you will no doubt come into at least visual contact with a) kids in public school uniform -- the white overalls and the blue ribbon tied in a large bow, which I found quaint until my foreign husband shared his views -- and b) their now ubiquitous accessory, a green and white notebook computer. Children from the less prosperous sectors of the population in Uruguay clutch these machines with much greater passion than a middle class child will show for whatever Wii or Xbox he or she happened to add to the toy collection.

Welcome to Plan Ceibal, the One Laptop per Child initiative pioneered in Uruguay, which has caused much controversy and opposition. An article in The Economist this week explains the basics of the plan, and talks about its "checkered start" and at best appears to describe the project in faintly positive terms, based on educational considerations.

Mauricio attends the rural school on KM105 of the Interbalnearia, and once nearly fractured a finger when his brother tripped him and he fell, ready to protect the computer with his life while screaming "The computer!!! The computer!!!! He´s had Internet connection at school since August.

It misses the point. Plan Ceibal requires Internet connectivity in order to work, and thus has made wiring every school in the country -- and by extension, every corner of the country -- an urgent matter. The Economist points out that two out of five rural schools have no connectivity. What I see is the miracle that those 3 out of 5 rural schools with connectivity represent, and the fact that the rest have a good chance of being connected in the near future.

Also noteworthy is the fact that the Ceibal notebooks bring hundreds of thousands of kids into contact with computing and the Internet in a manner other than gaming at a cyber cafe, the de facto introduction for poor, third world children. No matter what the percentages, the effects of this revolution will be for the better.

The knee-jerk reaction has been to say that the money could be better spent on increasing teacher salaries. Well, all teachers are being given a meaningful aid in performing their jobs. Good teachers will do an even better job and some mention the laptops as an effective aid. As for kids saddled with bad teachers, there is at least a learning or engagement opportunity that does not depend 100% on the quality of their teacher.

Nicole's garage sale

Our friend Nicole de Waele has decided that less is more and she's holding a two-day garage sale to clear out some of her fantastic housewares. Anyone who's been to her home can attest to quality of her antiques and Eurpean and traditional-style tableware, accessories and knick-knacks.

She also paints and maybe there will be some of her paintings on sale.

The name of the house is "El Grillito", located on Francia at the corner with Buenos Aires street (Parada 12 or thereabouts if I remember right). Entrance on Buenos Aires street.

The sale will be on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, from 11AM to 6PM.

Maldonado, Uruguay's most prosperous town

Since everyone is in agreement that Punta del Este is not Uruguay, we can safely state that Maldonado is Uruguay's most prosperous town.

A news article this week confirmed what I had always said: Maldonado is the largest working-class to middle-class transformation hub in the country. It just bubbles with newly acquired prosperity, and according to El Pais, it is in the midst of a commercial property boom. Yes, you've heard right, there is a commercial real-estate boom, which has brought prices per square meter to match "the most expensive commercial square meter in Montevideo" as my accountant incredulously noted, at US$25 per m2, in the World Trade Center office complex.

Of course there is much more expensive commercial property in Punta del Este, but if we're talking Uruguay, downtown Maldonado is as expensive as Montevideo's commercial property jewel, the WTC.

This is no surprise to us. We tried to purchase land in an out of the way, dangerous neighborhood in Maldonado a couple of years ago and found it to be more expensive than in downtown La Barra. We tried to rent warehouse space and found it to be only 50% of the cost of some prime location commercial space in Punta del Este. So there you have it.

New bill on solar panels and alternative energy generation

Something caught my attention in the press this week, as good for the "man on the street" as well as for adventurours entrepreneurs: the announcement of coming regulation on alternative energy generation. 

If sanctioned, the new law will require that six months after its enactment any new sporting, health or hotel facility include solar panels for water-heating needs. 

Two years after sanctioning, the new regulation would require that industrial or agro-industrial facilities also use solar panels for water heating, and 3 years after it would cover all new swimming pools will have to be heated with solar panels only, with the exception of other renewable sources of energy.

Now the good part for the "man on the street": AT LAST, the bill would introduce tax exemptions, including import duty exemptions, for locally manufactured solar panels and for the parts/components involved in their manufacturing, and the same exemptions to imported panels that "do not compete with locally made panels" however that may be determined.

I know that in many developed countries alternative energy generation is subsidized at various levels by government entities, but here subsidies didn't exist until 5 minutes ago, the monopoly government-run energy and power utilities were ANTI alternative energy generation (it slowly chips away at their monopoly, that's how they see it) and it took much strong-arming from higher levels of the goverment to force them to ALLOW a private company or individual to even start generating for their own consumption. 

Not too long ago (could still be the case), the prices paid to large industrial generators who sell their surplus energy to UTE were BELOW the price paid by the same utility to import the natural gas required to make electricity. Government would force them to call a tender to award X number of watts to alternative generators, UTE would boicot the tender by disqualifying half the bidders. Etc.So finally things appear to be changing, thanks in great part to that big drought last year.

Urgent appeal: benefit dinner at Lapataia and help needed teaching English

I just received news of a benefit dinner to be held tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 2, at 8 PM at the Lapataia farm, with proceeds going to help the Escuela Rural #36 Rincon del Diario, located on Camino Lussich. The dinner will be a barbeque, with tickets costing UYU470 without wine, or UYU600 with wine.

There are a couple of ESC members going already. Anyone else interested please call Margarita Arsenault at cero nine four, six one five, one eight seven for directions or reservations, or email her namesake, margarita at marabierto dot com

Flor Rubio, who teaches English as a volunteer, tells me that the school serves children from working-class families, with a total of 50 kids and two teachers. For those of you not familiar with the format of a rural school, usually they involve large groups of mixed grades. Often the kids are served a meal and have a vegetable garden to work on at the school.

The importance of Flor's volunteer work lays in the fact that English language acquisition is key in this country to socio-economic mobility. No English, much harder to join the middle class. It's that simple, so anyone who is ready to volunteer twice a week to teach these kids will be more than welcome. Flor is 78 years old and says she's tired and will be glad to help someone else take her spot. And that the kids are great and a joy to teach.

----------------


Post-dinner scriptum: Well, that was a nice time. We had a table with 14 expats/repats, the food was simple but abundant and tasty, and we even walked away with raffle prizes. The only downside was the live music and tango dancing, which was torture to our ears and hindered conversation and was beyond description in terms of cheesiness. Another problem was the cold at the tables, which made us all huddle around a lovely firepit. The staff was extremely nice. Conclusion: Great location to have a gathering in warmer weather, sans "entertainment".