Night Life
The night life is a lot like it is in Europe. I studied abroad in Florence last semester and it is very similar to that. It is the main form of social interaction for the younger community. Many popular night places do not even open until 2 a.m. and most people do not leave the clubs (called boliches) until about 6 or 7 a.m. This is NOTHING like the nightlife in the states. It is abnormal not to go out like they do late at night and they are not shady in any way. This is a hard concept to grasp if you have never experienced this part of the culture in Europe or Latin America.
Mate
Mate is the official drink of Uruguay and Argentina. It is basically a very, very strong tea. Almost evey local we see has a thermos of hot water and a gourd with the mate mix in it. The mate mix is basically an herb that has been cut up and it has a LOT of caffiene. They usually have it in the mornings and at night as a pick-me-up. They pour the hot water in the gourd and it is ready to go. There is one person who pours the mate and passes it to each person. After that person finishes it, they pass it back to the "mater master" (for lack of a better word) and they pour more water into the gourd for the next person. It is a communal thing. They drink the mate through a bombilla, or a special straw. The straw is made with metal and sometimes ornately decorated with gold. At the end of the straw are little holes, it is not open like normal straws. I think the mate tastes a lot like Earl Grey personally, but that's just me. Apparently if a guy puts sugar in your mate when he is "mate master" it means he likes you, and if he puts salt in it, he doesn't.
Food
The most important food here is asado, or barbecue. The main meat is beef, they put it in absolutelyl everything! For asado they will cook the meat all day...it is amazing! They have bread for breakfast like they do in Europe. The baked goods are very good. The food here is very, very bland, but the sweets are very, very sweet. Fine with me.
Parts of the city
Ciudad Vieja is where all the night life and important parts of the city are (Teatro Solis, plaza independencia, port, etc.) Pocitos is the more upper-end part of the city. Parque Rodo is where I live and it is mainly residential.
Places to see
Teatro Solis (they have free tours every Wednesday,) plaza independencia and the urns under the city, the main port, the streets of boliches in ciudad vieja at night, punto carretas shopping mall (it looks like a mall in the states,) parque rodo, and I am sure I will add more.
Cold
No matter what temperature it is outside, everyone seems to wear heavy coats in the fall and winter here. It has been very cold some days and they do not use heating here except for gas stoves because it is so expensive. Of course I get cold very easily so I freeze a lot. It may not acutally be very cold outside, but the cold they have is bone-chilling.
Religion
The majority of the people here associate with the Roman Catholic church. However, they view it more as their heritage then their religion. The older generations seem to be religious (Maria has several crosses in her room,) but most do not attend church or practice it. In fact, one of my teachers does not even believe in God. As for me, I have been searching for an English church, but it is an ongoing search. The only one I have found is on the other side of the city.
Family
Family is important to uruguayans like it is to the Italians. They are very close to each other. Maria talks to her two daughters for hours on end every day. Kids do not move out of the house until they are about 28. They are not very independent. It is hard to find jobs here, especially in Montevideo. There are 3 million people livinng in Uruguay, and about a third live in Montevideo. Many people move to Spain (where one of Maria's daughters live,) Argentina or Mexico.
Random things
-There are horse carriages everywhere in Montevideo. Cute, huh? NO. They are only used to cart trash around. How romantic.
-The f*** you gesture in American sign language means "I don't know" here. It takes some getting used to
I hope this has given you some insight into the culture here. We learn a little more about it every day and it is very interesting. Just don't think that I am so crazy American when I say that I went out to bars, because the connotations here are completely different than any connotations surrounding them in America. It is a different culture, after all!
1 comment:
Cold... many apartment buildings have central losa (hot water heating in the ceilings or rads) and houses too. Not sure if it starts at middle or upper middle class, but it's related to that kind of thing.
All the Uruguayans we know believe in God... but the only time you'll see them in church is for namings and baptisms. Maybe it's naive but we think they live the 'good' life, not talk about it. They certainly appear to 'love thy neighbour', respect their parents almost without question and place family and friends above all else.
Didn't know about the f*** gesture. Will certainly have to try that one out :)
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