Tacuarembo

After a brief stay in Montevideo after my arrival, I headed to Tacuarembo with Matilde (Mati) and Luciano (Lucio) on Thursday. We have a 4-door Chevy Corsa at our disposal thanks to Eleven Rent-A-Car and my credit card. Tacuarembo is a 5-6 hour drive from Montevideo on Rt. 5. I didn’t get to see much along the way because it was convenient for the owner of the house we are renting (aka the landlord) to meet us a night; so we arrived promptly at midnight (quite a different schedule here) to the gas station on the south side of Tacuarembo. Fernando, driving a nice four door pick-up that anyone who does field work and is confined to a Corsa drools over, then led us to our house on the north side of Tacuarembo. It is a modest house with two bedrooms, a bathroom (with hot water, yay!), and a parilla of course. Somehow he managed to squeeze in beds for six! This will come in handy when everyone is here at the same time in January. The house is comfortable with three of us so I imagine space will be at a premium in January. There are no screens for the windows here which doesn’t make any sense to me since the windows and doors are open 90% of the time; there is no AC or central heat so you need the breeze for climate control. Instead you can buy these small blue pads containing insecticide (pyrethroids) that you slide into an adapter that plugs into the wall and emits a steady bug repellent throughout the night. I’d rather have a mosquito net but forgot to pack it.

The surrounding area is quite pleasant. There are tall trees (most non-native, of course) around all of the houses and most of the homes are for vacation use and are very well maintained. Dogs and horses are common in yards and in the road. There is lake, El Lago de la Juventude, picnic area, playground, and campground all at the entrance to the neighborhood. On a walk one morning, there were two tour buses parked at the picnic area/playground and I assume this must be a popular destination for weekend getaways.

It is gorgeous right now, the beginning of summer, and all of the flowers in the gardens are in bloom, hydrangeas, bougainvilleas, and more. The days are long, especially when coming from the contracted winter days of the north. Dawn is about 0630 but the daylight stretches into the 2100 hour. At the beginning of the week, the temperature was manageable but at the days progressed, the temperature continued to increase. And it will only get hotter. Out in the field, there is no relief. No shade, nothing, just you and the grass and the gravel road. I don't have pictures of the house yet (for those of you that are interested) but when I return on Sunday I will take some and post them.

Mas tarde.