Category: Uruguay

So goes the sitzbad

Over ten years ago, we bought a chacra (mini-farm, 14 acres) with a crappy little house that we chose to fix up instead of bulldoze, the recommendation of some (all?) who saw it. I won’t go into it, but we had a reason.

Given the possibility of being creative, I had the idea to emulate the sitzbad my wife had years ago in her tiny apartment in Frankfurt, West Germany.

So I went wild, because hey, Martín can build it! And it ended up not being compact at all.

But pretty! At one end, a nook for a washing machine.

And don’t ask me what I was thinking when I framed this photo, but it’s the closest I have to an image of the finished project.

Which project was a stupid idea. No question about it. First of all, it would require a huge amount of hot water, and we never pursued the idea of installing a (large!) solar hot water heater. Plus, something that occurred to me only when I showed the house to a middle-aged couple: who, including little kids and older people, is going to be able to comfortably get in and out of the thing?

So an executive decision was made…

…and it didn’t take me long to realize that I was out of my league with a 1-kg sledge hammer and a chisel. I asked our contractor if he had a larger sledge hammer I could borrow, and he went one further and loaned me his small jack hammer. Which turned out to be exactly what I needed.

A few hours here, a few hours there, and three days later the job is done, leaving the question of whether we can match the floor tiles, of which we have six, or the wall tiles (none)…

…and of course, “done” is relative. The last two days’ rubble still needs to go away.

So what to do now (other than slather more horse liniment on my overworked shoulders, of course)?

A dwelling in winter

Almost sunset. Temperature has dropped from 12°C to 8°C (54-46°F) as night approaches. No visible source of heat, unlike the neighbors’ smoky chimneys. Masonry construction; insulation unlikely. No sign this evening of young kids I often see playing.

The lighting is nice, but any suggestion of warmth is purely illusionary.

You decide:

In the winter, their surroundings are equally pretentious, but very uncomfortable, for the houses of Montevideo are as frigid as the white marble in which they are finished. The people believe artificial heat unhealthy, and in this city, which is as large as Washington, and quite as cold, there is not a furnace or a steam-heating plant. During cold snaps, a hostess often receives dressed in furs, with her hands in a muff and her feet on a hot-water bottle, and gentlemen and ladies come to state dinners in over-coats and fur capes.

~The President of Uruguay (author unknown, 1897)

Happy dawgz!

Raw meat for the doggos – 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs) each of meaty bones and chicken gizzards (menudos) and 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) of beef heart. US $15 for all. Heart the most expensive at about US $2.25/lb. Seems like a good investment.

In the background milk (yes, in a plastic bag) for another batch of yogurt, and cilantro for another batch of salsa Mexicana. And flour tortillas: I’m OK making pizza and bagels and such, but the idea of making flour tortillas hasn’t grabbed me. Maybe one day. Sure, they look easy enough…but doesn’t everything on the internet? (Here’s looking to you, it’s-so-easy two-stroke engine tuneup guy with 15 years experience.)

We’ve won again!

In the voting for municipal funds for special projects, our neighbor Álvero’s latest initiative has prevailed. Our local park/playground (which he spearheaded) will now include a bocce court. This should be interesting.

Who even knew there were bocce courts in Uruguay?

Sunday morning, 0730

Crashing, whirring noises outside, nearby. Bang! Bang! Bang!

I can’t help but be grateful for relatively consistent trash pickup here, and I have great respect for the collectors—male and female—who ride on the back of the trucks as they speed from stop to stop. (And I try to avoid walking dogs off-leash if they’re within a half mile.)

Still, I wonder if the designers, engineers, and manufacturers in Europe took into account the enthusiasm of Latin American operators, who seem to think they’re the wrecking crew from Consumer Reports.

First frost 2025

Sometimes as early as the beginning of June; sometimes as late as mid-July, but here it is, and heavy. Polar front predicted to give us several days of cold weather…oh sorry, “extreme” — from -2 to 3°C, or mid 20s to mid 30s°F. Pretty funny for someone who grew up in Connecticut. Or, God forbid, Canada! 😱

However, what we lack in extreme cold outside we make up for with our home’s insulation, consisting of single brick and stucco. In other words, nothing.

But Uruguay! This apparently goes back a bit (source):

They have fine houses and well-padded pocket-books. Many of them trace their descent from families that came to Uruguay hundreds of years ago. Their possessions are in great estates, rented houses, and in cattle and sheep. They have their palaces in Montevideo, whose floors are marble, and whose ceilings are frescoed and upheld by marble columns from Italy. They have vast one-story buildings on their estates, where in summer time they entertain like lords, supplying every guest with a horse. In the winter, their surroundings are equally pretentious, but very uncomfortable, for the houses of Montevideo are as frigid as the white marble in which they are finished. The people believe artificial heat unhealthy, and in this city, which is as large as Washington, and quite as cold, there is not a furnace or a steam-heating plant. During cold snaps, a hostess often receives dressed in furs, with her hands in a muff and her feet on a hot-water bottle, and gentlemen and ladies come to state dinners in over-coats and fur capes.