Category: Uruguay

100 years

Have I mentioned that I was once a professional photographer? Good, then. Forget I said it.

Took off for the beach with the dog, and saw several squadrons of three prop planes (apparently the Aermacchi SF.260s I mentioned yesterday).

Uruguayan Air Force Aermacchi SF.260s

I remembered from yesterday’s Wikipedia check that the Fuerza Aéria Uruguaya has two C-130s, cargo planes I’ve always thought are kind of cool, and lo and behold, they flew overhead, the first of many many times. All two of them.

Then a screaming approach, and I could barely get my camera out fast enough to catch these guys:

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… coming and going …

… which appear to be Northup F-5s, though according to Wikipedia the UY Air Force doesn’t have any. Oh my, Wikipedia not true? Who knew?

Cessna Dragonflies

Then these guys, the Cessna A-37 Dragonflies I mentioned yesterday.

C-130 Hercules

And the C-130s kept doing their circles.

I met my neighbor riding her 3-wheeled cargo bike to exercise her dogs. She asked about our big dog, and I asked her about the planes, and she said today is the aniversario of the Air Force. Lo and behold, from Wikipedia: Military aviation in Uruguay was born on 17 March 1913 when the Military Aviation Academy (Escuela de Aviación Militar) was formed at a small airport 50 km from Montevideo. The first aircraft were a Farman Longhorn biplane and a Blériot XI monoplane.So let’s put this in perspective: the planes flying overhead today, the current inventory of the Uruguayan Air Force, are all designs about 50 years old (C-130 a bit older). 50 years before that, the Air Force was started with this:

and this:

And the current technology? 100 years. You don’t have to be into planes, but they illustrate it well.

Unusual sights overhead

In the country, we often see one or two prop-driven trainers from the Uruguay Air Force, which has a base nearby in Pando. All depends on whether they have fuel or not. Seriously.

In town, the window near my desk faces the ocean, so I get to see what’s flying back and forth between Montevideo and Punta del Este. Very little, usually; some corporate-type helicopters occasionally, or a Vietnam-War-era Huey helicopter (introduced in 1956).

Today, three Air Force jets flew out and then back, and seven prop planes in formation, none of which I’ve ever seen before. I had to look them up: the jets appear to be Cessna A-37 Dragonflies (introduced in 1964):

The prop planes I’m guessing are Aermacchi SF.260s (also introduced in 1964):

Which all seems hopelessly quaint, especially compared to mighty (and mighty expensive) beasts like the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor, but the fact remains that the little planes of the Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya are actually flying (unlike the F-35) and not killing their pilots (one of those unfortunate things the F-22 tends to do).

What a concept!

One Laptop Per Child goes to high school

We were at friends’ house when their daughter, now in grade 2 of high school (North American 8th grade) brought out her school-issued laptop. Unlike the kiddy OLPC units that the little fashionistas use – i.e., this:

the high school version is quite a cool little laptop. Whereas she never used the one above, preferring the family’s desktop computer, she loves having her own laptop now. (Who wouldn’t?)

Linux laptop for middle and high school students in Uruguay

It runs on Ubuntu Linux, and has full access to the universe of open source applications. I haven’t been able to find much info about its specs (and didn’t have my specs along to read much on the small screen), but saw that it had Open Office and WINE installed, amongst many other programs.

For some families, our hosts explained, this is their only computer.

"One Laptop per Child" computer for elementary students in Uruguay

And they are all connected! When one has internet access, so do the others – not necessarily at blazing speed. We had internet problems recently, and could from time to time connect to a signal from a Ciebal laptop nearby, sometimes with internet long enough to check email and a web site or two. Plan Ceibal also provides open internet access points throughout the country. In 2007, Uruguay became the first country to place an order for laptops – 100,000 of them. By now, it’s over half a million. For a country of 3.5 million. Pretty cool.

Fruit we will never eat

The fig tree by the barn has lots of figs on it. The neighbor told me that from his three fig trees, last summer he ate three figs.

The parrots got the rest.

Apparently the introduction of tall non-native trees to Uruguay allowed birds to nest safely above the range of comadrejas (possums). So now the birds are free to ravage crops. Pigeons are equally a problem. Actually, the real problem is that both birds are dumb; were they crows, you could hang a dead one near your crop and the others wouldn’t return.

A friend hunts them, partly as a favor to a farmer he knows. Nail one or two, and there’s barely time to reload before the rest return to the exact same spot.

Earthbag construction

New construction nearby.

I’ve been aware of something happening at the entrance to our country road. Today the profile rose into view – an earthbag house! I went to check it out. I’ve never seen something like this here, I told Liber, the owner. Nor have I, he replied, I found this on the internet.