Pam and Jay go to Uruguay!

Ah, parents. They give you so much in life and what do we give them in return? A chance to visit a foreign country! Awesome, right? I know, I know, we rock =) My parents came to visit last week after hearing how much fun we're having. Actually, they bought their tickets right after Dani and I left. My mom is a teacher so she had a week off for spring break and my dad is a genius at time-off management which enabled them to fly on down. We only had a week so we packed as much fun stuff in as we could and gave them a taste of our temporary home.
Right off the bat we fed them a parilla, a bottle of wine and ended the night at for a tango show. On Monday we jumped on a bus and went to Colonia. It was all pretty fantastic, including the part were we dragged mom to the top of the lighthouse were you could see Buenos Aires in the distance. Our next destination was Punta del Este, in all of it's fabulous-ness and we took a side trip to Punta Ballena along the way. The trip to Punta started off like this: A great photo op., a tour of Casapueblo and Holy Crap! this place rocks! Dani and I had not been there yet. It's the home/studio of Carlos Paez Vilaro and it looks, in the words of Dani, "like a meringue pie on a hillside." It was beautiful. clear skies, golden sun and blue ocean from the vantage point of a shaded white balcony. After that we walked down to the rocks where Patti ( Dani aunt) had us jump from when we were there last. With all intentions just to freaking mom and dad out with the height and proximity of rocks and caves. But in an unexpected turn, the sun was warm and the water clear so we could pass up, I jumped. I even got dad to jump from the rocks. After a little coaxing Dani got in too and mom took pictures of us all. We planned on staying for only one night but ended up there for two and I have a feeling that mom and dad know now what makes Punta so special.
We got back to Montevideo (did I mention that we stayed in Palacio Salvo? Google Uruguay and it's the tall off-kilter looking building you'll see everywhere.) and went wine tasting, hit up the fort, a few churches, the cemetery, and did I tell you that we EAT ALOT! I think by the end of the trip mom and dad became vegetarians....

We both really want to thank you for coming down! After three months we really needed some Cali family! Now all we need is for Alex (Dani dad) to visit... no pressure Alex!

weather anyone

Last weekend we went to my aunts chacra (small farm) when we arrived it was one of those sit out side with a book and a glass, no bottle of wine kinda days and we planed to do just that! We started with a lovely lunch which was followed by a lovely nap, Jay went outside to read his new book and enjoy some fresh air. A few hours later I woke up to a dark sky, poring rain and the most out of control wind! At one point it even stated haling, which my aunt told us never happens. It was amazing, it was weather!! We sat outside watching the storm roll in until it got a little dangerous. We came in to find out that the power was out. So we got some candles and spent the rest of the night read, eating and talk via candlelight. It was very little house on the prairie and we loved it!

Some Fam!

Last week the Wiedemann army got together to welcome my Grandmother's sister from Venezuela. There was about 40 people at my aunt house. The ages ranged from late 80's to some year old cuties. It was quit a mix of people. Pati, my aunt, decided to start thing early because of the older crowd. At about 5:30 people started coming and to our surprise the old out numbered the young and they all partied until about 1am. It was so nice to see people that I haven't seen in about ten years.

The pictures above:

my grandmother who is 84, her cousin who is 80, my grandmothers sister Martha who is 80

me, my cousin Clu, Vero, Ale and my Cousin Andy's little girl Maia

Trabajando con las manos

There are few things that I do less than manual labor. I haven't had a lawn to take care of in years and the last few jobs I had involved a tie or at least a button up shirt. But that's not to say I'm averse to it. If I need to I'll get my hands dirty and work up a sweat. I might not do it as long as the next guy, but that's mainly because I'm out of shape and I find the comfort of the shade far more enticing. Yet here I am in South America, on vacation, mowing the lawn. Now this isn't an ordinary lawn, this is a lawn that has been through at least ten REALLY good rains in the last 3 weeks and has REALLY responded to it. Well. It looked like a jungle.

There are times in your life that you just need, NEED to get off your butt and move. Not just move but actually do something. Something that when you are done you can look back on and say, "I did that.". Where as you sit back with a nice cool drink in the waning afternoon light you are filled with a sense of accomplishment. Yesterday was one of those days for me.

Claudia's boyfriends name is Martin and he does lawn work in the area. Yesterday he came by to cut Grandma's lawn and I practically begged him to let me help. Imagine that. A skinny dude trying really hard to ask in beaten up spanish if he can please, oh please push the lawn mower around. After some eyebrow raising and Martin actually verifying in english (P.S. - The people down here speak a hell of a lot more english than they let on), he gassed up the mower and let me have a go. So I started and realized that mowing a lawn was a lot like riding a bike. You never really forget. After a couple of passes it hits me, I'm working! I'm actually working! Yes! I can just see my cool drink waiting for me. Sitting on a small table all by itself, afternoon sun glistening off the cool condensation running down the sides from all the ice inside. It would have to be citrus of course, probably lemon. Then I ran over a cactus. No big deal, I just didn't see it under all that grass. I realized that in order to finish, I needed to actually pay attention. So I kept mowing while Martin edged and my lofty desires of accomplishment soon were broken down into reality, hot and dirty. The mower ran out of gas and Martin and I switched places. I felt that even though I didn't finish the lawn, I finished a tank of gas. I had accomplished something! So there it was, I was too tired (out of shape) to make that delicious beverage and in the evening I went to bed a little worn and a little itchy.

I woke up this morning still itchy. There was something in the back of my knee that was irritating the hell out of me. I thought, Allergies? bug bites? No. Cactus spines. Apparently the cactus I had run over threw up a cloud of spines that had either lodged in my shorts, or landed in the crease of my knee and were worked in by walking around. Nurse Dani was able to pull a few of the more offending spines out but they are those really tiny, fuzzy type that elude you no matter what you do. In the end I feel great. I own that lawn now, at least half of it any way. I got hot and dirty. There were trying times, but I got through them. I realized that I didn't need some plantation owners dream of drinking a mint julep on my porch. I received the real reward for a job well done. Cactus spines. In the back of the knee. =)

Go to Brazil.

There it is. That's my post. Go to Brazil. Actually, go to Florianopolis, it's beautiful. Here's a little back story on Brazil for everyone. The last 6 months I lived in Huntington Beach I lived with my friends Rafa, Jessica and Eduardo. Rafa and Eduardo are Brazilian and some of the funniest people I know. Before I left they were both saying, "You have to go to Brazil, you have to visit." To be honest, before I met them I really had no desire to visit Brazil. Then I ate some Brazilian barbeque, chicken hearts...amazing, and I knew what I had to do. Brazil, here I come! Daniela has been to Brazil before, to Rio and Sao Paulo, and she didn't have the burning desire that I had. But after a little talking she came around. Especially after people told her that Floripa had crystal clear water and white sand beaches.
Now the fun part begins. I'm an American, therefore I needed to get a visa to enter Brazil. Did I have to jump through hoops and put up colateral? No. I had to fill out a stupid little form and wait 2 hours in the Brazilian Consulate here in Montevideo after which I pay them $170. Why did I have to do this? It used to be free, they would just stamp your passport at the border for 90 days and off you go. I have to do this because it is called a reciprocity fee. The US charges Brazilian citizens $170 to process their visas. Thanks, Uncle Sam! I guess it could have been worse. The US also requires people to provide proof of stability in their home country so they won't over stay their visas (house, job, kids) Oh, and here's why it took two hours.... When we arrived at the consulate there was only one person in front of us so we thought, this will be fast! NO NO NO, the guy in front of us whipped out 20 passports for visas!!! We looked at eachother and know we should of brought a book. Well, the guy was Julio Inglesias P.A. and he was getting VISAS for the crew. Julio Inglesias was performing in Punta del Este and after the weekend he needed to be in Brazil. At the end of two hours one of the 20 VISAS was denied! Julios passport didn't have anymore pages so he couldn't get the VISA!!! As Dani said " good job P.A., that's a good way to get fired!" I'm just glad it wasn't mine!
Back to the trip, Floripa. Just a short 18 hour bus ride away. It was beautiful. We stayed in a town at the top of Santa Catarina island called Canasvieiras which had what all beaches should have, people selling booze and chorizos from carts. Our tour guide was named Pretty, well his name was John Angel, but he was to suavamente for us so his named changed on day two. The rest of the people on the bus were Uruguayans including two from Solymar, where we are staying, who know Daniela's family and ate at her aunts restaurant (again, small country), and I picked up the nickname "USA" about halfway through the trip. I could go on and on about how pretty and green it all was but I'll let the pictures do the talking. Here's what you need to know: Bring good sunscreen, stay away from the buffets, if you see black beans and rice, the beans go on top of the rice. Cachaca is pronounced Ca-SHA-sa, and bring a pair of goggles in your back pack because every beach is different. Now I can't wait to go to Rio!