Mi Casa

How would you like to buy a historic home in the heart of Montevideo? A 3 bedroom home with original wood floors, master bedroom upstairs and a built in brick BBQ on the roof, sounds great right? Now what if I told you that you could have it for $47,000 and a little elbow grease? I know, I know. You're buying your tickets down here as we speak. But wait! finish reading first. =) Daniela's cousin, Martin just bought that house and is in the process of fixing it up. It's super cool. There is an atrium in the middle of the house that cranks open completely from the dining area (probably so you can drop meat from the bbq straight down onto the table). His mom helped him with the down payment and he's paying $120 a month for five years as his mortgage. I'm jealous, well not of the manual labor part, but of the coolness factor. So lets see, what else is there to tell... Ah, the bus system. Everyone has heard about how North Americans are busy, punctual people. We are always on the go and we think of something and do it (I don't know who those freaks are, but that's what I've been told) In any case, we do move relatively organized. Down here, not so organized(at least not for us). The bus system for example. There are busses that run down here. We just don't know which one to use. Being a recent graduate of the Los Angeles Metro (I took the bus from downtown to Santa Monica for $1.25) I feel I have a grasp of maps and time tables. I can read them well enough to figure it all out. Daniela lived in New York and was able to navigate all 5 burroughs and New Jersey, but we do not understand how the busses work here. First, there is no central bus line/company, they have about 20 bus lines. Second, there are no maps to be found anywhere. Third, there seems to be no set schedule. Needless to say, I love the busses here because they allow entertainers on to sing or do a little skit so the can get change. Think of the guy on the corner playing guitar in the back seat of your car that you're sharing with 50-70 total strangers. The last guy we saw pulled an actual muppet out of a bag and started doing a comedy routine. He had the whole bus laughing and got a little ovation, along with a lot of cash, when he was done. I'm sure that if we had done a little more research we would have been fine with the busses, but hey, that's part of the adventure, right? At least this bus story doesn't have part in it that say "I rode to my village squished between a goat and a chicken coop..." -Jay =)