Category: Wheels

How things work (officially) in Uruguay

confiscated motorbikes, Atlántida, Uruguay
Confiscated motorbikes behind the Intendencia.
Judging by the tree growing, they’ve been there a while.

How things work (officially) in Uruguay is seldom the same as how they work in reality.

When I realized, in 2012, that I’d forgotten to renew my driver’s license (doing the homologación from a foreign license is easy, but they only gave me two years), I researched and discovered that 1) if you miss renewal by under two weeks, no problem, 2) between two weeks and two years, you have to take the written and driving test, and 3) after two years you have to take driving school.

In my case, the two weeks had passed, and the two years would come next October, but my foreign license—from Mexico—expires two days from now.

Today was my appointment. I was a little nervous about taking a test in Spanish, though I had studied the Manual de Aspirantes and found nothing daunting. I figured the driving part was no problem. I’ve gone 40 years without an accident (other than bozos running into me).

The whole process took over and hour and a half: present required paperwork. Wait. Name called. Take paperwork to cashier, pay $1,000 (USD 45). Get in line. Give receipt. Wait. Name called. Photo taken. Wait. Name called. Sign here; here’s your license.

But officially ….

Der deutsche Angriffsfahrzeug

German touring vehicle in Uruguay

Whenever you see a vehicle like this, even without looking at the tags you can tell what language its occupants speak. Not French. Not Italian. Not Spanish (maybe), maybe English mit einem Akzent. They may be from Switzerland, but they will definitely speak German.

These things always make me think “assault vehicle” (hence the blog title). At the very least, the concept of “blending in with the locals” apparently doesn’t figure prominently in some people’s weltanschauung.

 

Last minute Christmas shopping in your…

Old Ford Falcon in Uruguay

Your classic car that is approximately the opposite of restored, proclaiming it’s retrofitted with a Mercedes 220 diesel engine (cool for me, actually; I drove a gas 1960 Mercedes 220 when I was 17 in 1971—aah, we won’t got there for now). I don’t understand the details of engine mounts and such, but it strikes me as typical Uruguayo to pull off such a feat.

Windows left open; apparently not concerned about spontaneous theft.

Really, the more I look at this snapshot the more I wish I had hung around to interview the owner: what mods did you do to marry a Mercedes engine block to a Ford Falcon transmission?

And what signifies the “USA?”

Instead, I plodded inside Tienda Inglesa to film a mechanical dinosaur.

We all have our priorities.

¡Cinco!

After almost four years here, I finally saw it: five people on a motorbike, an entire family.

Configuration: kDkM&i — kid in front, Dad driving, kid between, and Mom clutching an infant behind.

No helmets, of course. (To their credit, they weren’t on a fast/busy street, unlike the ones I showed here and here.)

Remember, here you often see cars like this. And if you want to see for yourself how ridiculous the prices for used cars can be, spend a few minutes rummaging around Mercado Libre…U$S means US dollars, simply $ means Uruguayan pesos, currently 20/USD. When we moved here in 2007, I sold my used Toyota 4Runner which, at best, might have fetched USD 7,500 in the US. Here, I found the equivalent listed for USD 32,500.

Helps put into perspective the otherwise insane thought of a young family of five on a motorbike, especially when you reflect on the difficulty of earning a living.

Truckin’

Long day yesterday with my son in the emergency room—badly broken ankle from early morning wandering around with his friends in town. At dusk on the way back, I spotted this truckful of girls. Technically a horrible photo, but then it captures what I wanted. Obviously enjoying themselves!