Living like a local

We've been in Uruguay for a little over a week and we are now getting acclimated to our new environment. We have been eating in more often due to the cost of eating out.We discovered that it costs us about $50 or more for dinner for the five of us. Most of the restaurants here are parilla's, which serve grilled meats, pasta, and pizza. The cuisine is inspired by Italy , so pasta is a main staple. beef is their main export , so steaks are a main staple as well. We can buy a nice t-bone steak from the grocery store which is around 12oz. for $2.50.  Keep in mind, antibiotics and hormones are not injected into their cows and they are free range, grass fed. What we are getting is real, organic beef. In the US, a nice ,organic steak can cost as much as $9.99 /lb. Most of the fruits and vegetables they sell at the local markets are grown locally. The milk ,cheese and yogurt is produced from those same cows that are roaming around eating grass. Everything tastes and looks so much better here. Most neighborhoods in the city have their own farmer's market on certain days of the week. They are called "ferias". On Sunday we went to the largest and oldest feria in the city. It spans over 3o city blocks. You can find fruits, vegetables, meat, clothes, antiques, records etc.. It 's like a big outdoor flea market in the states. Everyone shops this way here in Uruguay.

In Uruguay, most people wash their clothes by hand and line dry. All gas in imported so anything that uses gas is very expensive. They do have "lavaderos"( drop off laundry) but we have found this to be very costly. It's about $20 for a typical "American" load.With a family of five, this is just not a cost that we want to incur for the sake of convenience. Since we are living like a local, we decided to partake in this primitive yet essential task of hand washing our clothes. Living in an apartment limits the space you have to line dry , so we are only able to wash about 10 items at a time. We have just incorporated this chore into our morning schedule to allow for drying time. As I mentioned before, gas is very expensive , so most people in Montevideo do not own a car. Most people use public transportation or walk. We have certainly been getting plenty of excercise by walking everywhere.This must be the reason most of the Uruguayans we have seen have been slim and trim. Eating pasta and steak everyday does not seem to have any bearing on their figures. Here's some photos we have captured so far, of Uruguayan life in the big city:

Handknit wool hats for sale at the feria; I bought the pink one in the suitcase for $15.

                                                 

                                           Inside the "Mercado Del Puerta"; the market near the port . Several different parillas.

Street vendors at the largest feria in the city

     Street vendors selling mate; cups made from gourds to drink yerba.

        Fruit and vegetable stand in the neighborhood

  another fruit and vegetable stand

              Meat counter at the grocery store

     Our homemade version of the Chivito; the national dish- steak, ham, cheese, olives, onions,

and fried egg

       The entrance to the "old city"; the area where we are staying in

     A parilla; a restaurant where they serve grilled meats

A view of the streets

        

Bird's eye view of our laundry hanging outside the window

A colorful cobblestone street

A view of the tops of buildings