• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Exploring Uruguay

Expat & Travel Resource Guide

  • Blog
  • Cool Stuff
    • Uruguay Facts
    • Days of the Week In Spanish
    • Chart of Spanish Numbers
    • English to Uruguayan Spanish Translations for Herbs and Spices
    • Speciality Food Stores in Montevideo
    • Montevideo Ferias: Open Air Markets in Uruguay
  • Travel Information
    • Uruguay Featured Hotels
    • Carrasco International Airport Taxi Service
    • Airports In Uruguay
  • Expat Information
    • Uruguay Internet Service Providers
  • About
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy

Culture

Marijuana in Uruguay

May 21, 2010 by Brian

This past Saturday May 15th was “Marcha Mundial Marihuana Montevideo – Movimiento por Liberacion del Cannabis”

“Global Marijuana March Montevideo – Cannabis Liberation Movement”

There was a line up of reggae bands that were going to play… But weather just didn’t go along with those plans.

My buddy and I got out to Punta Gorda (a beautiful little beach community about 7K outside of the heart of Montevideo). The dark clouds had been hanging around, but it was just a little cool 11-12C…

We met some cool locals. They shared some Grappamiel… It’s Grappa mixed with honey… It taste pretty good until you stop drinking, then you feel the burn in the back of your throat. It’s worth trying though.

They also had home grown green bud… It’s the best thing I’ve smoked since I’ve been here. The quality was as such that it would sell for U$S 150 per oz in Southern California.

Just as we finished smoking a bowl it started to rain… The people setting it up started putting musical equipment away and were frantically covering up gear with tarps. So my buddy and I thought it was a good idea to catch a cab back to Pocitos.

Catching a cab in Punta Gorda in the rain was not as easy as we thought it was going to be. So we started walking in the direction of Pocitos.

I’m originally from Missouri and we found Missouri street in Punta Gorda… You can’t tell in the pic, but it was raining pretty decent at this time… I’m glad I had my cheap poncho.

We finally found a small bar and we were able to get a beer and some pizza.

The bar was packed full and you could hear a pin drop when we walked in… Everyone was totally engrossed in the futbol (soccer) game on the t.v.

The game ended about 10 minutes after we walked in and obviously the entire bar’s team lost, because very few people said anything and almost everyone left. It was an interesting experience.

We ended up walking for a little and finally got a cab.

So if you ever had the question of, “Can I get Marijuana in Uruguay?”

The answer is “Yes you can!”

Is marijuana illegal in Uruguay?

No and yes.

Possession up to 5 grams is legal… Anything over 5 grams is illegal… But, up to 25 grams is considered for personal use and is overlooked.

Most of the herb here comes from Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina… It comes packed in 1 kilo bricks.

The weed is full of stems and seeds… It’s all sativa; the climate in this part of the world isn’t good for indicas.

The average weed here smells and taste like ass… actually horse piss. That’s because “apparently” that’s what the growers pour over the herb in their packing device to help make sure it compresses into a tight 1 kilo brick.

If you’ve ever got part of a Mexican brick, you know what “brick weed” is… Here, the bricks are tighter and more compact than Mexican bricks.

As far as price goes… You’ll pay anywhere from 400 pesos to 800 pesos for 25 grams of brick weed.

There is the elusive “cogollo” here too…

What is “cogollo?”

Sin similla ganja weed… In other words, the female flower of a marijuana plant with no seeds that was grown with some TLC.

I’ve been given numerous prices ranging from U$S 10 per gram (ouch) to 1,000 pesos for 25 grams…

The most consistent thing about “cogollo” is the lack of availability. When cogollo comes around it is typically gone as fast as one hears about it.

As far as the marijuana in Uruguay goes… I call it “work weed.” Because it works and more often than not doesn’t leave you with a headache.

Marijuana is all around Montevideo… all you have to do is look for it.

Filed Under: Culture

Customer Service in Uruguay

May 10, 2010 by Brian

There are a lot of different views on the customer service a person receives in Uruguay.

We’ve received bad customer service here in Uruguay just like the in the United States, but for the most part it’s pretty decent.

From a business point of view, I feel there is a lot of over-employment… too many people working at one establishment at the same time. In a deli in Uruguay you could see 7 people working at one time. In the same type of deli in a high traffic area of San Diego you’d see no more than 2 people working at one time.

Because there are more people, doesn’t make service faster. It can be drug out… but for the most part, the actual services we have received have been good. One positive note of over-employment is that the unemployment rate is lower than it would be otherwise.

Restaurants

Waiters here are typically very friendly… I found that here, as in the U.S., if I strike up a little conversation, it goes a long way.

Since Kaylee was born back on Valentine’s Day we have been getting our food para llevar (“to go” pronounced “para shevar”).

While I’m waiting for my food the staff typically likes to talk to me, look at my tattoos and ask questions about California 🙂 Of course, they like to practice their English too.

When we do go out to eat with the girls, we’ve noticed that the waiters are very attentive to kids. They like to talk to them and play with them.

One difference I see between waiters in the U.S. and waiters in Uruguay is waiters here don’t tend to stop by their tables as much as in the U.S.

I worked in the hospitality industry for years… bartending, bouncing, waiting tables, cooking… you name it, I did it. I’ve waited on more tables than I can count. I was always taught to check on your tables every 5-10 minutes and that’s what I was accustomed to in the U.S.

In Uruguay, your waiters are paying attention to your table… but they do it from a distance. When you want something, you look at them and motion them over. It’s not a bad thing, just a little difference.

The dining experience is different too. It’s much more relaxed and drawn out. In the U.S. everything is go-go-go… In and out of a restaurant within an hour. When we first got here I thought food service was slow… It’s not uncommon to take 2+ hours for lunch or dinner here. At the end of a meal, it’s almost expected that you order coffee or tea and have a postre (dessert).

It took a minute to get accustomed to, but now I think it’s a much more enjoyable way to eat. And I’m glad the waiter doesn’t stop by every 5-10 minutes.

Another thing I find different is when they bring your check and you want to pay with a card… If you intend on tipping the waiter on the card you need to let them know immediately, because there is typically no place on the check to add a tip after they run it.

The way to say that is “con propina por favor.” The waiter will typically ask “10%?” The average tip is 10%. Sometimes more or less, but 10% is a good rule of thumb.

Government Offices

We’ve had a couple of problems… But it hasn’t been with the people or service they were giving us, but the processes and procedures that are set up to get things done in this country. There is a lot of red tape.

The customer service through Antel is good, the people there are nice… they just had some internal issues that made it take a little over 3 weeks for us to get our Internet turned on.

Dealing with immigration has always been easy for us. We just make sure our ducks are in a row when we go and they are nice and efficient.

Stores,  Local Shops & Ferias

Once you’re established as a regular customer, people will bend over backwards to help with whatever you need.

I have 3 guys I see at the feria… The fat guy, the skinny guy and the egg guy.

The fat guy has jalapeno, serrano, chilli and tabasco peppers for me and I get my cilantro through him too… Every once in a while he’ll have something exotic and I’ll pick it up from him too.

I get the majority of my produce from the skinny guy. He makes sure I get the best produce he has. If he doesn’t have something, he’ll go to another vendor and get it for me. He also always makes sure that all of my stuff gets delivered.

The egg guy is who I get my eggs and cheese from… We eat a lot of eggs and I always buy from him… His prices have went up over the past year with everything else… but my price isn’t quite as high as the price everyone else receives.

At grocery stores and shops… the people serving you are just people working… If I give a smile, I usually get one back…

I think the service one gets in Uruguay is as good as the relationship they establish with the person they are getting service from… Which is pretty much the way it is everywhere else.

Filed Under: Culture

Dia De Los Trabajadores En Uruguay

April 29, 2010 by Brian

On May 1st Uruguay celebrates Dia De Los Trabajadores along with most other countries in world; otherwise known as Dia Del Trabajo,  International Workers Day, May Day or Labor Day.

Every May 1st a lot of countries around the world come to a standstill to celebrate the fight for the 8 hour work day. There’s a lot of history behind Labor Day, if you’re interested in learning more Click Here

This year Dia De Los Trabajadores falls on a Saturday.

Starting tomorrow evening (Friday April 30th) most services around the country will close early and stay closed until Sunday. To our understanding this includes taxi companies, bus lines, ferias, grocery stores, shops, restaurants and pretty much everything else.

We heard there will be some clubs open on Saturday night in Ciudad Vieja and there will be parties around the country… We’re looking forward to see.

It sounds like it will be pretty cool…

To all of our followers who get the day off…

Have a great one!

Filed Under: Culture

What’s a Gringo Discount?

April 7, 2010 by Brian

What's-a-gringo-discount An Uruguayan friend of ours said there are 3 prices in Uruguay.

  1. Regular Price
  2. Gringo Price
  3. Dumb Gringo Price

She also said; "It's perfectly natural to start out with the dumb Gringo price… Because there are a lot of dumb Gringos here who will pay."

It was said in jest, but at the same time there's a lot of truth to that statement.

A lot of people here try to take advantage of unsuspecting Gringos… Yes, I say a lot because of the amount of people compared to the population.

  • Real Estate Agents – There are some good real estate agents here… But there are some that aren't. Get referrals.
  • "Relocation Specialists" – There are some scum bags down here who will charge you outlandish fees, then take your money and documents and run… Friends of ours just had their birth certificates and all of their important documents taken, along with a chunk of cash they paid for a "relocation specialist" to help them.
  • Restaurants – Try to use the Spanish menus where you eat. We've run across a couple of places that gave us English menus where the prices were higher than in the Spanish ones.
  • Waiters – When you point out that you didn't order that extra UYU $250 peso dish, they will take it right off… This has happened to us a couple of times.
  • Taxi Drivers – Taxi drivers here seem to love to take us for rides or attempt to anyway. This kind of sucks because you are at their mercy if you don't know where you are going. The best way I've found to avoid this is to sit in the front seat next to the driver and hand him written detailed directions of where to go.
  • Store Clerks – Either a lot of people here have a hard time counting change or they know exactly what they are doing. What I mean by that is, I've had numerous cashiers short me 5-10 pesos… I typically catch it and I get my money back. It's not that 5-10 pesos is a lot of money, it's the principal behind it.
  • Feria Vendors – If a vendor at the open air market can hustle you, they will. Always ask the price when it's not marked. You can usually talk the vendor down in price too.

You can go on the boards at Sociedad Southron and read about people getting taken advantage of.

While, some of these instances are avoidable… There are some things that just aren't.

What kind of Gringo Discounts have you received?

Filed Under: Culture

Carnaval in Uruguay

March 24, 2010 by Brian

Did you know that Uruguay claims to have the longest Carnaval in the world? It starts in late January and ends in early March, with a total of 40 days of festivities each year. Uruguayans definitely know how to celebrate and throw a party.

We didn’t get to experience Carnaval in Uruguay this year with Chrystal being at the end of her pregnancy and then having Kaylee during the celebration.

However, we found a great article about Carnaval in Uruguay that we wanted to share. It’s on Global Voices and it includes information, pictures and video of this year’s Carnaval.

If you missed Carnaval this year, you can check out the Museo de Carnaval (Carnaval Museum) in Ciudad Vieja. We went several months back to check it out. It’s small, but it’s a neat little place to stop in. And, it’s free on Tuesdays so you can’t beat that.

Entrance fees:

With discount – Residents UY$15
Con discount – mercosur UY$30
General – UY$60
Under 12 years Free
Admission Free on Tuesdays

The Carnaval Museum is located at Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825 Nº 218, esq. Maciel in the Ciudad Vieja area of Montevideo. Their phone number is (+598 02) 916 5493.

P8040066
P8040030P8040038 P8040035

Filed Under: Culture, Entertainment Tagged With: carnaval in uruguay

The Crazy Bugs in Uruguay

March 22, 2010 by Brian

We talked previously about the mosquitoes in Uruguay. They’re still an ongoing problem, but we’ve been also under attack by other types of bugs in the last few weeks… bugs like we’ve never seen before.

Coming from San Diego, there aren’t too many crazy looking bugs… just your standard garden-variety bugs plus lots of spiders.

These pictures were taken about a week and a half ago. We had several of these bugs in our apartment one night. We have no idea what they are, but they were aggressive. They would try to charge you, but luckily Brian was able to get them out of the apartment.

You can’t see it very clearly in these pictures, but they had pinchers. I’m not sure if they bite or sting, or if they are poisonous, but I’m glad that we didn’t have to find out!

DSC_0102
DSC_0103
DSC_0105

So can anyone tell us what these are?

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: bugs in uruguay

Daylight Savings Time Change in Uruguay:
Sunday, March 14, 2010

March 10, 2010 by Brian

Sunset

It looks like it’s time for Summer to end and Fall to begin in Uruguay. Daylight Savings time ends this weekend, Sunday, 14 March 2010 at 01:59:59.

The time change coincdes with the start of Daylight Savings time in the US, so beginning this Sunday, Uruguay will be one hour ahead of East Coast time and four hours ahead of West Coast time.

This is great news for us and anyone else who does business with companies in the US. Now we won’t have such late work nights.

So, remember to set your clocks back an hour Saturday night before you go to bed.

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: Daylight Savings Time Change in Uruguay

Dealing with Culture Shock

March 3, 2010 by Brian

Village

When you move to a foreign country as an expat, there’s one thing you can expect to experience… culture shock. No matter how prepared you are for the move, it will hit you at some point.

Linda, a friend of ours who writes the Uruguay My Way blog, wrote a really great description of the five stages of culture shock. I wasn’t even aware that there are stages to culture shock.

The five stages are:

  • Honeymoon
  • Cultural Shock
  • Initial Adjustment
  • Mental Isolation
  • Acceptance & Integration

Similar to Linda’s experience, I think we have also flip-flopped all over the place without having quite gotten to Acceptance & Integration yet.

After this initial post, she’ll be writing five more blog posts about each of the five stages of culture shock. Make sure to keep up with this series on her blog if you’re interested in learning more about the culture shock that expats experience.

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: culture shock, five stages of culture shock

Biodegradable Shopping Bags

March 1, 2010 by Brian

Bags

We typically bring our hemp shopping bags with us to the grocery store with us so plastic bags don’t overrun our kitchen. But, we do use plastic grocery bags as trash sacks so we like to have a small supply on hand.

One thing we noticed the first time that we shopped at the Disco was that the shopping bags are labeled as being biodegradable. So are the plastic bags at Devoto (one of the other major grocery store chains in Uruguay).

We had never seen that in the States before, so we were interested by it. We checked out the website listed on the bags. Apparently this company makes an additive that makes conventional plastic products biodegradable.

Small amounts of the additive are combined with the plastic during the manufacturing process to allow plastic products such as polyethylene carrier bags to biodegrade in 24-36 months.
 
We thought it was very cool that a small country like Uruguay is using biodegradable plastic bags, when the major chains in the US still aren’t (as far as we know).



Filed Under: Culture, Shopping Tagged With: biodegradable plastic bags, biodegradable shopping bags, uruguay

We Almost Got Mugged About an Hour Ago

February 10, 2010 by Brian

Street

Pocitos is a nice area of Montevideo. When you hear about how safe Montevideo is as a whole, the one place you're always warned about is Ciudad Vieja…  Never Pocitos… I've known a few people to have bad experiences in Ciudad Vieja, thankfully we've never had a problem there. We've never had a problem anywhere other than here in Pocitos…

We had been here for 2 weeks, I was getting money late at night and a couple of guys who were watching me tried to circle me… I'm sure their intentions were less than honorable… I pulled out my blade told them I'd kill them, they took off…

One night I was coming home late from my favorite little bar down the street… Some guy came up, got in my personal space and grabbed me requesting cash… and I hit him until he stopped moving.

Both of these incidents happened late at night while I was by myself.

We just got back from the Wednesday Feria here in Pocitos… We live in
what I feel is a safe and nice area… And most people would agree…

Chrystal is due to have Kaylee
anytime now so she wanted to walk down with me. I threw Zoe in our
Kelty Carrier and off we go… Again, we live in a nice area and it's the middle of the day; it's beautiful out today…

So in this part of South America there's a drug called Pasta Base (pronounced: pasta ba-say)…
It's a derivative of cocaine and makes crack look like candy and meth
look like a picnic… It's highly addictive and from what we've been
told, when someone gets on it they're completely gone in 6 months… We see them on the streets, we call them base heads… I don't know their official terms, but they're
whacked out of their minds…

We just had one try to mug us on the way to the feria with his bare hands.  Zoe's Kelty is
weighed down with an extra 20 lbs of crap for when she goes off to stay with friends
when Kaylee gets here… She wanted to ride in it… The Kelty is a ton better than pushing her through a stroller in crowds and such…

So this dude comes from the other side of the street and walks up to me asking for money… I firmly say "no" and
we continue to walk… Then he decided to invade my personal space and
put his hands asking me demanding "dinero blah blah blah, dinero ahora blah blah blah, dinero blah blah blah
dinero…"

I'm not talking about putting a hand on my shoulder begging for money… I'm talking about him coming up on my and trying to go for my pockets…

I shoved the guy hard across the sidewalk and told Chrystal to take
Zoe… She started to then stopped… The guy caught himself from hitting the ground and took a
few steps back, so Chrystal thought he was walking away and didn't take
her… The guy started to come back towards me…

Thank god I was in the Marines and we learned how to maneuver and fight
with a 60lb pack on our backs… So I squared up to the guy and was
ready to defend my family, I intended to kill him… My daughter was on my back, my pregnant wife was with me… I wasn't going to screw around.

I'm not sure how I looked, but it was enough to put some fear in that guy's eyes… and he started
to back up yelling at us (I'm sure it had something to do with my mom,
goats and apples… I couldn't make out most of the rest of the
words…)

We proceeded to back away from him and separate ourselves… And I got
Zoe ready to toss of my back if he were to try to come back (I have my
little girl and my wife there, I don't want to be in this situation…)

Behind us a construction worker (probably in his 50s, but stacked) was stopped on the
corner, had set his toolbox down and had his hardhat in his hand…
When we got closer to him he stared venting about pasta base and the
crazy kids and such and told us he was ready to come hit him with his hard
hat… 😉

I hope this serves as a lesson to Expats here and people all over. It doesn't matter how nice of a neighborhood you live in… Bad people don't stop at neighborhood boundaries…

From what we've seen and heard, these base heads usually don't carry a weapon… they just try to mug you with their fists and intimidation. One thing I will suggest is to give a hard shove and get up in the person's face, prepare to be violent… or run.



Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: ciudad vieja, mugged, muggers, pasta base, pocitos

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Blog Topics

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in