My Instagram

I have been making an instragram about all the amazing graffiti art I encounter while in South America.  Check out my profile and follow me at:

http://instagram.com/_yycstreetlife_/

University Life in Montevideo

I read today that the average university student in Uruguay works 30 hours per week.  the average hourly wage works out to be $8.5 US.  The standard of living here is higher than in Argentina.  they are more of a liberal country than the very socialist argentina.  They did go through the same economic depression as Argentina in 2002 however they had a stronger economy before and they recovered better after, in this authors opinion. the currency is stable here and people have more faith in their own dollar.  That being said when you want to buy a house you always open a bank account in American dollars.

The picture here is of a university in downtown montevideo.  the poster hanging above is protesting the uruguayan occupation of haiti.  who would have known this tiny nation invaded haiti.  they did ao along with other nations such as
Canada and Brazil.  Although while most other nations have withdrawn their troops
Uruguay is still in the slow process of withdrawing all of its forces.  one day i would like to go to haiti but its an expensive airfare for a place that i would probably only want to spend a few days.  i have been to the island before on a trip to the dominican republic,  but i did not go into
Haiti.

Pictures of Montevideo

beautiful, vibrant and colorful streets here.  suzuki tracker parked in front of a antique and watch shop.

 

 this building in the background was my favorite in the city.  so unique!  think its an important government building.

 

many statues of horses with men riding them in montevideo.

recieved a free tour of the theater solis.  i highly recomend this tour.  these uruguayan students were on a field trip and also got to do a rehearsal for us.  haaha no policies about FOIP in Uruguay :p Tour was in complete spanish so I practiced my comprehension.

 

 drinking uruguayan beer and eating cheezies.  i might look upset on the outside.  but with this delightful meal i am more happy than ever on the inside... except in my stomach. in uruguay cheezies are far cheaper than in argentina.  for some reason cheezies are really expensive there.  maybe frito lays doesnt make them in argentina and they have to be imported.  down here they are called "hornetos"

dog laying on the beach relaxing.  its high tide and he is trapped.  i love how he has his own bed. 

 

 

 end of the day.  time to go home but i am lost in montevideo.  looking for the house of my friend mercedes. arrow points this way on a street sign with her name.  i take the nearest bus going that direction.  sure enough i arrive home safely.

chivitos are the most typical uruguayan food.  an oval shapped and elongated hamburger with an egg on it and bacon.  make sure to try one when you go to uruguay.

the beautiful ocean  and beach on the outskirts of ciudad vieja in Montevideo.  the water is still a little mirky but the views are beautiful.

Montevideo Day 1

Alright.  arrived in Montevideo from Buenos Aires.  if you travel to Montevideo you have three options for transport

1. Buquebus
2. Seacat
3. Colonia Express

I found Buquebeus to be the cheapest.  Although it did mean taking a ferry from BsAs at midnight and arriving in Montevideo with no sleep  at 6am.  my return home will be two hours shorter because i paid extra for a fast ferry.

Colonia Express Is the cheapest if you are just going to Colonia.  But I wanted to see the big capital city of Montevideo. 

The secret to getting the cheapest fare with Buquebus is to book through the Uruguayan website, because everything iS more expensive when you pay in Argentinian pesos.  For Colonia express you have to book through the Argentinian website so that made it a little more expensive.  All in all, round trip with ferry and bus costs 60 US.

It was all very smooth sailing on the ferry.  This ferry had the best video game arcade collection I have ever seen.  Some real arcade gems from the early 90s.  I played a lot of Bust-A-Move AKA Bubble Bobble.  i would have set the High Seas high score World Record on the machine but I was forced to disembark the ferry before my game was up. 

I used AirBnB this trip to stay in a house with three others.  it only cost me twenty US dollars per night.  here is a link to the house i am staying at with some pictures. 

I realize my camera has no batteries left and i left my charger in BsAs.

The only picture i do have is of the bust-a-move machine.  in bust-a-move when you have three balls the same color they are supposed to explode.  Here there are three colors of blue that all look the same and my balls weren't exploding. 

Regardless of the lack of pictures, i can assure you i am in montevideo, uruguay.  i have the passport stamp to prove it. 

The other photo i have is of scotiabank.  My bank in canada!! They are known for buying banks in latino america.  unfortunately they are still charging their canadian carhokding customers a $6 US withdrawal fee down here.  Really bogus if you ask me!!! Gonna load up on American dollars here and bring them back to Argentina to exchange on the black market.  I will have to do a post on how the illegal black market of currency exchange works.  it makes argentina so friggin cheap!  seriously, do not pay for anything in advance when you come to argentina, besides your airfare, and bring lots of euros or american dollars.  Everything will literally be almost fifty percent off.  i will show you soon.

-MARC