• Home
• All Posts
• Forum
• UY Blogs
• About Me
• FAQ
• UY Resources

Note to My Readers

Posted on March 31, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized | 8 Comments

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings about Uruguay.

Although this blog is less than two months old, it has already attracted a lot of attention. Viewership has more than quadrupled in the last three weeks and has been increasing daily. This increase in traffic is partly due to having been “discovered” by Google and the Yahoo search engines. An increasing number of readers land here every day because of this and many of these readers visit 20 or more pages on their initial visit. On an average day, 80 distinct visits are made and five or more pages are viewed per visit. In the last two weeks alone there were 500 unique visitors. Of those, more than 200 have come back to the site or do so on a regular basis. Read more

El Afilador

Posted on March 29, 2007
Filed Under Culture, Vocabulary | 3 Comments

Last January, I was strolling down Avenida Arocena in Carrasco when I heard a whistle tune that sounded very familiar. I thought it reminded me of the melody knife sharpeners played in Brazil when I was little. However, I was certain this craft had disappeared decades ago. I turned around and to my pleasant surprise there he was, a walking relic, el afilador.

As a kid, I had always been fascinated by the knife sharpeners and how quickly they could fix a knife, a pair scissors, saws, pliers, chisels, barber shears, hoes or anything else with a blade. Whenever they came by our neighborhood, I would get close and watch them work. I remember they did much more than just sharpen blades. They would also fix loose handles, polish rusty knives, un-dent pans, among other things. Read more

Cost of Living in Uruguay

Posted on March 27, 2007
Filed Under Economy, Cost of Living, Expat Tips | 22 Comments

Have you been hearing that life in Uruguay is inexpensive? Are you itching to sell your house and bolt for the Airport? Hold your horses. The truth is, life in Uruguay can be fairly inexpensive or can be nearly as expensive as in North America. It will depend on your life-style.

For example, a typical T-shirt purchased in Uruguay is cheaper than in the US, however the quality is usually much inferior. Although shirts of similar quality to the ones in the US can easily be found at boutiques, they are significantly more expensive. The same is true for many other day-to-day items. Also items considered basic in US homes may be specialty items in Uruguay, and priced as such. Read more

Dulce de Leche

Posted on March 25, 2007
Filed Under Food and Drink, Culture | 4 Comments

Dulce de leche is to Uruguay what peanut butter is to the US and vegemite is to Australia. That is, foods people find hard to do without, yet not well known outside their local regions. In Uruguay, dulce de leche is found in so many things and in so many places that it would be hard to avoid it. Warning, if you’re not accustomed to sweets, you’ll probably not care for it. No matter, because if you live in Uruguay resistance to dulce de leche is futile and assimilation inevitable! So you might as well get started on the right foot. Here’s what you need to know. Read more

Pricing, Fees and Change

Posted on March 24, 2007
Filed Under Economy, Expat Tips, Vocabulary | 6 Comments

Before 1999, the Uruguayan economy was heavily dollarized and it was common to see prices in US dollars and to see it used as a parallel currency. Nowadays however, prices are almost always advertised in Uruguayan Pesos, with the exception perhaps of real estate, motor vehicles, appliances and a few other imported items.

The symbol used for the peso in Uruguay is the $. Unfortunately, this happens to be the same symbol used for the US dollar in the US. As can be expected, this is a source of confusion for the newbie tourist, ex-pat or immigrant from the US. So here you go, Warning to Gringos: assume all prices are in pesos unless displayed as US$ xxx or USD xxx. Read more

Yellow Pages

Posted on March 22, 2007
Filed Under Montevideo, Services | 7 Comments

Remember the yellow pages? Remember the pre-internet days when it used to be the only way to locate a business or a service provider? Well, in Uruguay you’ll have the chance to relive that experience, because few small businesses have their own web sites. And also because the existing Montevideo web portals fail to capture a large part of the businesses you normally find in the yellow pages. So the best way to locate a small business in Montevideo is still through the páginas clasificadas. Read more

Bank Accounts and Money Transfers

Posted on March 21, 2007
Filed Under Expat Tips | 5 Comments

In the past, people flocked to Uruguay to deposit money in Uruguayan banks in order to hide assets. The liberal rules regarding movement of capital, foreign currency accounts and strong banking secrecy laws were very appealing. The Uruguayan secrecy laws are considered more encompassing than those of Switzerland and can only be broken by court order in case of criminal proceedings and few other cases. A few years ago however, Uruguay added several hurdles for non-residents to discourage money laundering and other illegal activities. Also recently, Uruguay passed a law imposing an income tax on residents and non-residents (Uruguayan income only). As a result, opening a bank account in Uruguay has been transformed into a matter that requires some planning. Read more

Uruguayan Spanish Banking Vocabulary

Posted on March 21, 2007
Filed Under Vocabulary, Banking | 1 Comment

In order to facilitate in the process of dealing with banks in Uruguay, I painstakingly collected all the information I could related to banking from Uruguayan sites. Below is a list of the terms I found relevant. Some of the more complex concepts have a full explanation next to them. Read more

ATMs and Credit Cards

Posted on March 19, 2007
Filed Under Services, Expat Tips | 4 Comments

When traveling abroad one of the first items on my worry list is whether I’ll have direct access to my money via an ATM or if I will need to rely on credit cards and cash. This topic is of particular relevance in Uruguay because a number of businesses do not accept credit cards. Like most people, I prefer not to carry oodles of cash if I don’t have to. And I am not a big fan of travelers checks and the hassles associated with them. The good news is that if you plan right, you will be able to withdraw in pesos or in dollars from your account back home from most ATMs in Uruguay. Read more

Easy Come Easy Go

Posted on March 18, 2007
Filed Under Economy, Cost of Living, Expat Tips | 4 Comments

When researching Uruguay most people immediately notice that the cost of living in Uruguay is significantly lower than that of the US. Interestingly, most people do not realize that this has not always been the case. For example, in 1998 the cost of living in Montevideo was only slightly lower than in the US and Punta del Este was actually more expensive than most places in North America. Read more

Crime and No Punishment

Posted on March 16, 2007
Filed Under Montevideo, Crime, Culture | 6 Comments

For a long time, Uruguay has been known as one of the safest destinations in South America. Not too long ago, one could go just about anywhere in Uruguay without ever seeing bars on windows. Violent crimes were extremely rare. The low crime statistics then were perhaps a reflection of small disparity between the poor and the rich, as well as the relative wealth of Uruguayans compared to neighboring countries.

Throughout the nineties, the myth of the middle class country started to show signs of strain with the fast and continued development of Punta del Este as a destination of the rich and the super rich. Some resort towns became unaffordable and out of bounds for most Uruguayans. Read more

Biblioteca Nacional

Posted on March 14, 2007
Filed Under Culture | 2 Comments

The Uruguayan Biblioteca Nacional (BN) has a dual role as the guardian of all books and materials published in Uruguay as well as that of a public library. The BN holds about 900,000 volumes, which for South American standards is pretty impressive , especially when you consider that the country has a population of only 3 million. Regrettably, a large percentage of Uruguayan publishers do not send them a copy of all new publications, as required by law. This will certainly create shortcomings in the historical record of the country in times to come. In spite of its many limitations, the library has an important collection of unique material related to the history of Uruguay, the gaucho culture and the War with Paraguay. Read more

Uruguayan Beer

Posted on March 13, 2007
Filed Under Food and Drink, Expat Tips | 4 Comments

If you like beer and are headed towards Uruguay, be prepared. The beer is inexpensive but there is little variety to choose from, especially in the interior. The Uruguayan beer market is essentially a monopoly, controlled by QUINSA, which is owned InBev, the world largest beer manufacturer. This same company also has a virtual monopoly in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. And if you look at their brand portfolio, you will find so many familiar names that it’s almost scary. Read more

Say it with Banners

Posted on March 12, 2007
Filed Under Culture, Vocabulary | Leave a Comment

If you walk about any neighborhood of Montevideo you will notice banners with some message or another hung across the street. These banners, called pasacalles, are a quirky and inexpensive way to surprise other people and wish them Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Welcome Home, Congratulations and sometimes just to express one’s opinion. It is also widely used for commercial purposes to announce openings, promotions, as well as, by political parties.

They are common across Uruguay and are the subject of several pieces of legislation regulating their use and are currently illegal in Montevideo. In spite of that, they continue to be very popular. According to this article, the city needs to remove banners that are put up illegally on a regular basis. One of the articles also states that few people are ever caught or fined. As anyone strolling around the city can attest, city employees cannot hope to catch up. Read more

Land Owner

Posted on March 11, 2007
Filed Under Real Estate, Expat Tips | 4 Comments

As of this week, I am a landowner in Uruguay! I bought a 900 sqm beach front terreno near the border with Brazil. About a year ago, my brother spotted a few good plots on a low-key balneario near the border. Jokingly, he asked me over the phone if I was interested in buying the undeveloped lot next to his. The time between my “immediate yes!” and the final closing of the deal took more than three months. The process was supposed to be simple, but ended up complicated due to a few peculiar issues. Here are the details, from finding the broker to closing: Read more

keep looking »