Uruguay Urugwhere?

"Every exit is an entry somewhere else." 

Tom Stoppard

Uruguay?  Urug-where?  Flying overnight from Miami was the first time I'd been on a half full plane to anywhere in a very long time.  We stretched out over a couple of seats and arrived in fairly good shape as we all got some sleep during the 11 hour flight to 34 degrees south. Uruguay is a kind of buffer zone. It's a small country on the Atlantic coast tucked in between Argentina and Brazil.  In fact, for several centuries Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Portugal and even England fought over this valuable piece of real estate along the strategic River Plate.  Finally Uruguay gained independence in 1828, which makes it the 2nd smallest country in South America - about the size of Washington State.  Uruguay has 3.3 million people with half of them living in the capital of Montevideo.  It's Spanish speaking, of course, but there's not much in the way of indigenous cultures, its mostly a mix of Spanish and Italian immigrants.  Lots of Argentinians and Brazilians holiday there in the summer and many have properties that lie empty for the rest of the year.  It's prosperous, safe, has good schools, hospitals and roads, and feels very 1st world.  Everyone kisses each other on the cheek, even men, which says a lot about the nature of the people here.

“Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one's breath.”

 Eve Glicksman 

But, I wasn't about to kiss anyone the way my mouth felt on arrival into Montevideo.    

"Another term for balloon is bad breath holder." 

Demetri Martin

Landing at the airport was a lovely, clean, organized, shiny surprise.   Electronically beckoned forward to the immigration desk, we were stamped in and wandered into the bright advertising lights of the sweet smelling duty free.  Clean and bright everywhere, we wheeled towards the real world. One last luggage X-ray check and we were ejected into the land of MacDonald's and Avis.  I quickly realized the dialect of Uruguay was quite different from Central America and ordering a drink put my linguistic skills back to square one.  No matter, I was in an amazing architectural space. I could just wander round saying nothing.  The gentle, curved, 1200 feet, monolithic roof of the airport has a low profile, the flowing lines reflecting the undulating countryside of Uruguay.  Glasswalls on all sides are held up by tiny structures, filling the place with natural light.  I have to give it my favorite airport in the world award.

“…dramatic and welcoming spaces for those who aren't traveling 

as well as those who are.”

Rafael Viñoly

Steve and Kit were also a welcome site, familiar faces picking us up in a familiar American truck.  Life in Punta del Este was most certainly agreeing with them and their wonderful welcome into their home and life was most appreciated.

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust

Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Ocean, it has mild weather and about 7500 people year round with another 150,000 arriving with the summer tourist invasion.  The skyline is peppered with high rise buildings and a sweeping esplanade which curves around a peninsula into a harbor.  The La Brava side has the waves and La Mansa side is much more protected.  

At the end of the 1800's the whole area of Punta del Este and Punta Ballena were sand dunes.  In 1896, Antonio Lussich bought 1800 hectares of land and planted it with trees and plants from around the world.  Now the whole place has pines, eucalyptus and acacias.

Settling in with the Groner family was all too easy in their beautiful quincho thatched home.  A delightful thatched parrilla (bbq) entertainment area and stunning lap pool adorn the back garden.  Inside the house has been upgraded with amazing finishes, the whole project a labor of love over the past 8 months.

After picking Carey up from his bi-lingual school, the kids happily played while Kit and I cooked dinner and drank wine while catching up on all our news.  It had certainly been a very soft landing into South America.

Tomorrow's plan was to spend the day at Bikini Beach. Okay, so I wasn't in a bikini but I still had fun.

“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, 

long after our footprints in the sand are gone.” 

Anonymous

It was amazing how quickly we fell into a routine with the Groner family, breakfast with Kits home made peanut butter and dinners together at the big round table. The German engineered super efficient stove emanating a warm cozy embrace onto our extended family while enjoying delicious food and conversation.

Our Sunday excursion would be to a dairy in search of good cheese and entertainment.

"I never saw a purple cow.

I never hope to see one.

But I can tell you anyhow

I'd rather see than be one."

Gelett Burgess

"Without a Coca-Cola life is unthinkable." Henry Miller

"I believe in angels, the kind Heaven sends. 

I am surrounded by angels, but I call them my best friends." 

Anonymous

What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. Down in the country with the goats and the cows.  The working dairy farm had horse rides and the usual restaurant trappings, but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon for wandering around in the fresh air with friends. Mmm, all that fresh air definitely makes you hungry for impressive homemade cupcakes.

"Friendship is the shadow of the evening, 

which increases with the setting sun of life." 

Jean de La Fontaine

Cumpleanos con Amigos

"A birthday is just the first day of another

 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip."

Author Unknown

Hard to believe yet another birthday for Josh, nine years old.  So much has happened since he was born that sometimes it seems so much longer.  Yet, I remember his arrival into the world as if it were only yesterday.  

Lego and chocolate cake seem to be the order of the day.  The best present of all arrived in the form of our friends, Mike, Lauren and Ella.  All ready to start the fun of the festivities.   

"Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life." Pizza Place Sign.

"I count myselt in nothing else so happy
As in a soul rememb'ring my good friends."
William Shakespeare

"It's-a me, Mario!" Mario

Not really sure who that other fool is!  A wonderful party organized by our wonderful friends at the hotel.  SpringBreak means that there are lots of other kids too.  

Now thats what I call fun; a stick, a pinata and friends to swing it at!  Lets see what these El Salvador party favors are made of.

"Wicked, wicked (oooo) - had to kick it" Salt n Pepa

 "Oops. I meant to do that." Mario

That's nowhere near enough sugar for one day ... where's the cake?  It had better be chocolate!

 "There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles." Anonymous

Okay, finally we've all had enough sugar but what to do with all that energy?  I know! Conquer a big rock with Omar.  

Definitely a birthday to be remembered in El Salvador with the biggest Mario the world has ever seen. The time here is drawing to a close and it will be a couple of months out of the water.  Last chance to grab some big ones before we hit the road.

Just enough time left for a last stroll into town, grab a few tourist knick knacks and stroll on home with beer in hand.

Thank you El Salvador, thank you all the staff and friends at Casa De Mar.  It was short but it was sweet and we'll most certainly be back.

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."

Frederick Buechner

Erupting out

"All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution." Havelock Ellis

Even with perfect sets rolling in almost everyday, sometimes you need to get away from the wave machine of Sunzal and see what else El Salvador has to offer. We decided to head inland to the volcano Santa Ana which last erupted in 2005. Omar, our fabulous tour guide loaded us into the double cab Isuzu and we shot out of the heavy security gates of the hotel like a hot lava spout. The roads North were well maintained and empty so we soon ate up the miles to K59 which is a surf spot so named because it is 59 kilometeres from La Libertad. Omar is the perfect surf guide; this wonderfully warm abeulo has been surfing for decades and was one of the guys paid to get out of the water when Big Wednesday was filmed at Libertad in 1975.

"A day will come that is like no other... and nothing that happens after will ever be the same" Big Wednesday movie tagline

Sliding us down dirt tracks, Omar helped us check out all the surf spots as only a local with knowledge can. The point breaks seemed endless as we made our way northward.

"The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion…the tunnel is." Unknown"

A series of 5 tunnels wind through the mountainside. The roads were unnaturally empty due to the elections, there was a three day weekend and a ban on alcohol sales. Poor me, no michelada for lunch. Although, I was very glad to see fewer of the massive sugar cane transport trucks roaring past to the Northern port of Acajutla. 


After an hour or so of driving, we finally swung off the road onto a poorly maintained tarmac track.

Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason".  Jerry Seinfeld

There, in the distance we the Izalco, Coatepeque and Santa Ana volcanoes. Santa Ana last erupted in 2005, with plenty forewarning, families in the area were evacuated and   only 2 lives lost.  Even though everything now seemed dormant, I did keep checking to  make sure those were indeed clouds and not plumes of smoke signaling my impending doom.  The road quality deteriorated along with my bravado and the potholes seemed more frequent the higher we travelled.  Rich farm land stretched in a patchwork either side of the winding road.  Occasionally Omar would make an extra swerve to avoid a mangy dog or kids on bikes.  For another 30 minutes we continued to hurtle through the hairpins.  Rural villages provided smatterings of civilizationas, each settlement shrinking  in size as the altitude increased.  


Due to, shall we say the efficiency of our driver, we were all a little relieved to step out of the truck and make an obligatory photo stop high above the lake that has formed in Coatepeque's crater.  

“If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough.” 

Mario Andretti

The air definitely felt cooler up here, maybe it was looking at the refreshing inviting blue of the lake.  Just in case you've ever wondered what coffee looks like when its growing, here it is.  To think all this time I've been slurping it down with no clue.

"Deja Brew: The feeling that you've had this coffee before." 

Author Unknown

Finally, at the top of the mountain, there it was the dormant crater of Ilzalco. I could only hope the car sickness was going to pay off big for Josh's upcoming volcano report. The quiet stillness of the national park was almost chilly, a feeling I had long forgotten living down by the heat of the beach.  

"Volcano: A mountain with hiccups" Unknown.

Of course it took all of one minute for us to smell out the steak in the cafe.  However, its pretty hard to chew beef with no teeth!

""A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time
he bites off more than he can chew."
Herb Caen

"To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue." Buddha

Fun, friends and story telling atop a volcano range in Central America, how sweet is life?

"Home James and don't spare the horses" Queen Victoria

 Time to wind back down the mountain and take the faster route home via San Salvador (I didn't think there was anyway possible to get home faster, but I stand corrected).  As we pulled into La Libertad to see the fabled wave, it seemed we were there on mini Monday rather than big Wednesday.  Hoping around on the baking hot concrete I managed to snap a couple of pics.

Progress has marched on through the whole of El Salvador since the 'Big Wednesday' waves captured on film here in 1978.  The area has been repaved and a new concrete shopping and restaurant complex dominate the beach front.  Still for some the change is irrelevant.

"The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery."
Harold Wilson“

It had been an illuminating day and I was glad to be "home" back into the twilight, sultry heat of the beach.  Relaxing to the same view but with a different perspective.

There is nothing like returning to a place that reminds unchanged 

to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”

 Nelson Mandela

Leaping Lizards!

“By trying often the monkey learns to jump from the tree”

African Proverb

It's time to jump out of the hotel beach bubble and go and interact in the capital, San Salvador. A chance meeting with a wonderful surfing couple and we were soon headed off for exploration and dinner an hour down the road in the big smoke.

"We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses!....................HIT IT!!!"

Blues Brothers

San Salvador is a crazy mix of old and new, poor and rich, all balanced on the side of the San Salvador volcano. The volcano not only dominates the city skyline but would wipe out the city in the event of an eruption. As the last eruption was in 1917, I figured we were good for the time being.  It would seem the crime statistics are not in my favor as massive amounts of gang activity occur, some homegrown and some imported from Los Angeles. The police report stats don't do the city any favors.  Looking out from my well massaged hotel bubble, it was hard to believe we were supposedly in one of the top ten most dangerous countries in the world.  However, our new friends Dee and Sean steered us safely in the right direction to the gringo mall.

“The child-soul is an ever-bubbling fountain in the world of humanity”

Friedrich Froebel

I quickly went into action to get my touristo family shots - scowling at the kids to get them to smile in unison and trying to crop out the obligatory newly installed Starbucks in the background. As I shoved the camera into my bag, a gun toting security guard reprimanded Dee for using her cell phone to take photos. Seems like folks are a little paranoid of being held up? Smiling sweetly at the 5ft. nothing guard I decided not to argue as he was the one with a holster and automatic. We scooted off in the direction of Nine West and a plan to shop for Josh's birthday presents. Prices were, of course, gringocentric so the whole shiny place was pretty deserted.

"One time I was riding the escalator and I tripped.

I fell down the stairs for an hour and a half."

Demetri Martin

I realized how long it was since we had been in a westernized mall complete with escalators and several levels. Happily the kids wanted to ride up and down the moving staircase and not fill our suitcases with needless junk. After coffee and lemon bars we continued the carnival theme with some fairground fun and euro bungee.

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people.” Bill Hicks. 

I thought it an amazing coincidence that after all the fun of the fair it turns out Dee and Sean actually used to run a theme park back in the Midwest, an odd twist. It would seem amusement parks are a new novelty for this country which is still scarred in so many ways from the civil war. El Salvador gained wealth through coffee in the 1880's but the wealth was held by only 2% of the population. In 1932 a socialist uprising led to La Matanza (the massacre) with 30,000 Indians and supporters killed. With the uprising quashed, several decades of peace followed. Then, in the 1970's, the tensions rose again culminating in 1980 when the guerilla groups formed the FMLN. The government forces began killing guerillas and anyone thought to be supporting the rebels. Death squads would wipe out entire villages believed to be assisting the FMLN. The U.S. money supporting the El Salvadorian government probably prolonged the war which lasted from 1980 to 1992. Perhaps the justification to fight against the FMLN as a communist entity seemed relevant in a cold war era, however the death toll of 75,000 El Salvadorians seems hard to justify in any context.

"It has too often been too easy for rulers and governments to incite man to war." Lester B. Pearson

Time for a lighter mood with food at an Argentinian restaurant in another part of town. Chewing tasty beef watching tortillas made by hand in comfy surrounds was the perfect way to thank Sean and Dee for a interesting time.

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, 

on where you stop your story.”

 Orson Welles