Today I woke up to no cell service. That in itself is not strange but the lights were also not working. And the landline phone in the kitchen was not working either which is very strange. Come to find out all the data and electricity to Uruguay was cut off. Until about 11:00 AM MVD time, there was; no internet, no electricity, no cell service, no phone service, and I am sure a whole host of other things that went out that I did not notice or dont use.

Here is a link to the story
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/16/world/power-outage-argentina-uruguay-paraguay/index.html

'Massive failure' leaves Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay with no power, utility says

Scorpion

This guy was caught May 20th 2018

Mold! Just Another Uruguayan "Whatever"

Many things in Uruguay are different than in the US. One thing I just found out was mold. I went to the kitchen and there was mold on the cabinets, linens in the kitchen, on my clothes in the closet, and in other places around the house. I thought this was strange because the cleaning lady just came last week so I sent a message to the rental agency. They got right back to me and told me that if you don't open the house then it will fill with mold. And make sure to clean the curtains or they will stain with mold! Yes, it will rot from the inside out, no joke. These houses, at least the ones I have been in, are not sealed. People can not believe I lived in Florida and did not have to air out my house each day to keep the mold from eating the walls. WTF?

Anyway, now I get to look forward to opening up the house.....in the winter now when it was 38 degrees outside. Maybe I can do it tomorrow it should be nice and rainy and only 48 degrees. :)

I love the Old Spanish architecture of Uruguay, it is awesome. But they really need to put some 21st-century caulk and insulation into these houses. Keep the cool design just add sealant.

My Pants

Rocha and La Paloma Day Trip

Today I went up the coast northeast from my house to La Paloma. I like to go to the beach at La Paloma to look for shells so that is what I did. It turned out to be a great day to be at the beach. The temperature was about 72-75 F and there was a nice breeze.

Solari Beach looking towards lighthouse in La Paloma

 First I stopped at Solari beach and picked up a few shells.

Lighthouse in La Paloma on Playa del Faro

Then I went to the lighthouse in La Paloma and that is where I found the bulk of the shells.
The lighthouse is a very popular place for Uruguayans and tourists to go and look for shells.

There were a few other places I wanted to go in and around La Paloma, but I ran out of daylight so next time I will have to leave earlier and maybe even stay overnight in La Paloma or Rocha and then go further North.







I really like the topography of the beach in La Paloma. The rock formations on the beach are very different from anything I have ever seen before.

Rock outcroppings on Playa del Faro

Rocks and shells at Playa del Faro

Trip to San Carlos Maldonado, Uruguay

Today I drove north to San Carlos. Since I had never been there and I had some time I figured I would drive over there and check it out. Well, as with most little towns in Uruguay there really was nothing to check out. There was a nice park as you entered the town and a big soccer field. 

There was also an outdoor theater which could be neat if they have interesting acts come to play there. Other than that, I had lunch at Subway and drove home. 

This is the view from the hill in San Carlos looking back on Punta del Este. I thought it was pretty cool how you could still see the skyline of Punta del Este from San Carlos.

Punta del Este skyline circled in yellow

Macumba in Punta del Este

Yep, those are 2 dead roosters. I saw them on the beach at Parada 9 in la Mansa at Punta del Este beach today. I noticed chicken tracks around this pavilion at the beach. When I looked around the pavilion I saw these two dead roosters. I asked my Uruguayan friend what this was, I thought it might be Santria, and he said it was something called Macumba that is part of the Umbandista religion. He also told me that this is the second largest religion in Uruguay. They put the sacrifice on the beach because their goddess, Yemanya, is the queen of the sea. It seems that every February 2nd here in Uruguay the beaches are filled with these sacrifices. I will have to go to the beach on February 2nd and see what I can see.

Chicken tracks:

Trip to Piriápolis and Pan de Azúcar

Today I went to Piriápolis and Pan de Azúcar which are about 40 minutes away by car. Below are a ton of pictures and videos of what I did today. I will write more about what the pictures are of later, but I just wanted to get them up on the blog for now.