La Comida

Before I left, many people asked me what the food was like. I found it difficult to describe and now I know why. Most of the food is, in a word, bland. This is not to offend anyone, but Uruguay and most countries in South America are not known for their use of spices. Salt is the preferred spice. I am fortunate however, that we make most every meal ourselves and I can experiment adding different spices to the dishes; although I have learned that the delicate palettes here can detect even the slightest addition of cayenne pepper! Unfortunately, I haven’t been snapping pictures of the creations that have come out of the kitchen here and it’s too bad because most of them have been wonderful. When Brett was here, he concocted pastry crust from the rice flour and cornstarch and it was wonderful for a quiche.

In addition to blandness, there isn't a whole lot of variety either. We eat lots of morons, cebollas, zapallos, papas and combine them in many ways to create as much variety as possible: pasta with sauce, quiches, bean stew… I tried curried garbanzo beans once but I don't think that went over so well. The most frequent accompaniment to our dishes is rice; one of the group is gluten-intolerant. Fortunately, gluten-free pastas and cookies have recently hit the market here in Uruguay. We usually prepare one large meal per day which is good because cooking for 4-5 people everyday quickly becomes exhausting with limited kitchen supplies. Breakfast is always small and consists of only a few crackers with dulce de leche, queso or membrillo. The other meal is usually taken in the field and is snacks of fruta, huevos duros, yogurt, queso and whatever else looks good when we pack the cooler.

Meat is very important here and many people prefer meat and potatoes much like in the United States. Asado is the preferred way of eating meat which is made by cooking meat (any meat) on the parilla. Here they still have carnicerias, or butcher shops, and you can have the pleasure of choosing your animal and watching them chop, saw, or slice off your particular cut of meat. Even in the supermercados, your choice cut is still sliced from a larger piece. Pre-packaged cuts are available but not common. Again, I am fortunate to have the option of creating non-carne meals in the comfort of our home in Balneario Ipora.

Dairy products are also very important here. The cheese, milk, and yogurt are all produced in country and are exceptional (maybe because the cows are grass-fed;). The cheeses that we eat regularly are like those that have to be searched out as specialties in the U.S.; Colonia, which comes in different flavors from creamy and mild to hard and sharp, and Danbo (like a farmer’s cheese). There are, of course, not so great cheeses also, processed cheeses much like Kraft Velveeta but we stay away from these or when I am looking for something new to try, I only make the mistake of buying it once.

There are ample fruterias (fruit and vegetable stands) however Uruguay is not in the tropics and many of the exotic fruits that people may think of when they hear South America (papaya, guava) are not here. That said, you can get cheap mangoes and pineapples and watermelons. While the fruits and vegetables are overall inexpensive they are often not very fresh since most things travel through Montevideo first before heading elsewhere in the country.

Something we’ve lost in the U.S. is the small corner market where you can run for eggs or milk when you realize you’ve run out in the middle of a recipe. Here, these places still exist and are known at almacens. They can be found on almost every corner and are usually chock full of anything and everything you can think of. The supermercados and hipermercados have made their way onto the scene down here. For bulk shopping, like we have to do, they are convenient but it is nice to know that the corner store still exists.

The Grind

As some of you have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. To be honest, I haven't had the motivation. I have entered the phase of my trip which I will refer to as "the grind". This is the time when the newness has faded and the reality of the day to day routine, like it or not, sets in. And things like the waiting and the language barrier start to be annoying. I have a sensation that something has changed in me, similar to what I read in another blog post of two people traveling in South America. And like them, I want to change it back, to enjoy the remainder of my time here in Uruguay.

Plans for the future include travel in Argentina in February with a friend from college before returning to the states at the beginning of March. There isn't enough work here for all of us and I am happy to capitalize on the fact that I am already here and traveling here is something I have wanted to do since working here in 2006. So much work and so little sight-seeing.

I'll be back soon with more...

On Being Nocturnal

Yesterday, I went to bed at 9AM and woke up a 5PM. Today it is 8:44AM and I am editing this blog post after being awake all night. Ever since I arrived in South America I've been making the shift to a more nocturnal lifestyle. It was quite easy in the beginning. After 9 hours on a plane overnight to get here, during which time you don't get much sleep, I had already begun the transition. For the most part, the culture here is stay up late and get up late and when in Rome (or in this case Uruguay)... We would begin our surveys in the late afternoon to avoid the heat of the day (or waking up early in the morning, depending on which view you have). These surveys often stretched into the night and we arrived home past 11PM. During these first few weeks I was eating "dinner" at 1AM. I continued this stay up late, get up late routine, even though it goes against my circadian rhythm, knowing that eventually it would pay off. Recently, we've shifted our efforts to capture. Capture occurs at night using spotlights and hoop nets. We rove the fields looking for roosts of the Upland Sandpiper. Once we find a bird we dazzle them with the spotlight (a.k.a blind them) and throw and net on top of them. This technique works well when there is no moon and some breeze. The moon is waxing now which is bad for us. The birds can see us coming even with the spotlight. To counter the moon we are waiting until moon set, (a.k.a 3AM), to begin work and we work until it is light. The sunrise is beautiful and the mornings very pleasant compared the oven-like feel of the afternoons but being nocturnal always leaves be in a state of constant fuzziness; a bit as though I have a mild hangover. I keep wondering if I'm really awake or just dreaming.

Feliz Ano

The New Year’s celebration here in Uruguay was much like that of Christmas. We were all invited by Cesar, a biologist friend of Mati’s who lives in Tacuarembo and loves to talk biology, to his family’s house for the night. The first round was appetizers of chorizo and toasted bread with spreads but no little melted cheese cubes this time. The main course was cordero (lamb) from the parilla. There was plain cordero and cordero a la pizza (lamb parmeasan). I am happy to say that this time, I enjoyed the lamb. The first time I tried lamb was at our house a couple of weeks ago. It was, in a word, terrible. The meat was strong, musty flavored and very fatty. For me it was an awful experience to not enjoy the meat. Usually, I don’t eat much, if any, meat. When I do eat meat, I am thankful to the animal which gave its life so I could eat. Not being able to enjoy the meat, I felt ungrateful. After seeing the difference in size between the lamb at New Years and the “lamb” we prepared, I am sure we were given adult sheep the first time which would explain the difference in flavor and texture. Plus, the lamb at New Year’s had been cooking for five hours!! Five hours on the grill… Of course at midnight, there were fireworks in the neighborhood. And I participated in one more tradition. For travel in the New Year, Cesar’s family packs a suitcase with a few items and walks around the block. I only had my muchila from the field but went with this nonetheless. Since I was spending New Year’s already traveling in a foreign country, I figured this gave me a leg up on the tradition. After all of this, we went to a rave. At least, I think it was a rave. Just outside of town, there is a place called Rasta Revolution. I’m not sure what the usual function of it is but for New Year’s, Rasta Revolution was transformed into a giant dance hall. There were at least three covered pavilions, all with a different type of music blasting from speakers. Unfortunately, the music from one competed with the music from another and I often found myself in a void of mushy noise. It was packed (quite possibly with the entire population of Tacuarembo) and the people were dressed dresses reminiscent of high-school homecoming to the more casual jeans and t-shirt.