Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace Acumen
@theskillzdatklls did you ever make the leap? what factors made you decide to want to go to Uruguay?
Whoops, I somehow missed your Q, I even remember checking this thread afterwards. Oh well. Yes I moved down here September 5th.
The biggest practical reasons I moved were four fold: Relatively easier dual citizenship process, relatively strong banks, very progressive/libertarian paradise/free country/fitting with my views, close by to a lot of places I want to travel to (BA, Brazil, Chile, Peru, etc). My Spanish, while nowhere near perfect, was also finally at a level where I was more than comfortable venturing far from USA knowing I'd be alright.
I guess I'll do a big personal write up on the quirks I've found down here in the 2+ months experience:
One of the most surprising things right off of the bat is that if you are international outside of URU, ARG, BRZ and you use a credit card you get an instant automatic 22% off all purchases at restaurants, hotels, car rentals, (other stuff, haven't explored?). It doesn't apply to everything, like mall purchases, grocery shopping or things with more fixed prices. Combine that with a devalued uru peso and things are very well priced for the moment for outsiders
Everything in general happens a lot later down here. Breakfast is nearly non-existent for this reason. People maybe eat toast if they wake up at all. Then dinner does not start until 8pm or later and often times they serve until 1AM, even at very nice places. Clubs take this to the next level- people generally don't leave for the clubs until 2AM and depending on the crazy level, stay out until 6, 8 or even past 10AM, depending on the circumstances. Its standard to go clubbing with sunglasses so you have them later on when the sun comes out I guess. To me, its all ****ing ******ed and probably my least favorite thing about Uru, but its a small inconvenience compared to the many pluses. It virtually prevents me from ever going out which is a mild bummer as every month or so I like going out with friends. But I don't want to destroy an entire next day or two doing that.
The cities are remarkably nice looking and run surprisingly first-world-like and efficiently. I didn't expect any of that after living in Mexico for so long. Montevideo has more dogs than I can imagine and for that reason there is dog **** absolutely everywhere on the sidewalks so you have to be careful. But aside from that, its an extremely pretty and clean city. People don't seem stressed out but rather just kind of take things at a very casual and relaxed pace which is pretty disarming. People also on the whole look very shy and reserved, especially the girls.
Speaking of the cities, Montevideo is pretty large and is broken up into many fragments each with their distinct personalities. There's a few prime areas. I spend most of my time in Pocitos because I obviously think its the best. Its the upscale-downtown-ish area if that's what you want to call it. Just south you have Punta Carretas which is just slightly more residential than Pocitos but still very nice. To the east there's another nice place called Carrasco but its more for residential homes away from the action. Off to the west you have Centro which is a cheaper area and has its own scene.
I was in Punta Del Este for about two weeks in the off season. Personally, not even close to worth it unless you are doing the LAPT as I was, or a short trip. You end up in a fairly sparse area paying more for less with lots of **** perma closed. I kinda felt like an idiot tourist there unlike Montevideo. Almost any "girls" I saw there were almost always this MILF already married a rich guy look. Zero hot single 25 year olds just hanging around. I'm sure in the summer this place is totally awesome but in the off season I just don't see the point, at all. Its also much more exposed to the elements geographically speaking and is therefore colder/windier and extra unpleasant during the cold times.
Aside from those two major cities, I did travel far up north to a random city for a paintball tournament and it was surprisingly not ****ty. There would be no reason to ever go there normally but there is a rustic charm to the empty north. Then surrounding the coast you have lots of quaint beach towns that each person thinks is the best for their own reason. They are typically a summer time only thing though.
About food, I eat out a lot so I see a lot. A lot to say in no particular order: I'm not a spicy food fan at all, but the food in Uru is comically not spicy. And after 2 months of no spicy food at all I've already noticed I'm becoming more sensitive to the mildest things. Street food/lower tiered food in general is pretty unhealthy here, not very original and kinda bad, unlike my last city, Tijuana were street food is epic good. For street food you'll generally see some kind of fish of the day, a chivito which is just a steak sandwich with lots of toppings, breaded meats, that kind of thing. Lots of meat.
That is the foundation of their food, way too much meat (3 cows per person in this country). There are steakhouses absolutely everywhere "parillas". These places just have tons of beef, some lamb/chicken/whatevs, then their sides/salads and they vary on quality but not by a whole lot. There are a few high value spots in theory around uru but a lot of these high value places are cash only which ends up being ******ed when you get that huge credit card discount I mentioned earlier.
There is a surprising lack of seafood for a country like this. But outside the steakhouses, there are a handful of really quality places that try to serve their unique food. I do have a huge favorite so I'd recommend anyone go to Tandory if you are in Uru. On the whole I'd say nothing ever typically gets too crazy or wild but there's plenty of definitely solid eats. Especially so if you like beef. Overall I'm plenty happy though I could definitely see room for improvement.
For housing rentals, they are kind of annoying, especially when you want furnishing. You generally need to sign a one year contract or they will rape you very hard. If you are able to sign a 1-year with no furniture and look around, you can get a great deal in a great apartment in a nice area. Outside of that, it can be very difficult. I'm overpaying by over double for a month to month furnished place as its all I could seem to do.
The people here are often too nice. I think I get special treatment because they don't see too many foreigners. People are often too excited to hear things I have to say, for better or worse. While its difficult to maintain friendships when so many young people work their busy jobs on low salaries, when people do have time they go hard and are always really happy about it. I've personally met some very high quality people through a paintball circle and through a workout group.
Because its a small country and compact city, there's a lot of tight nit groups. If you have a particular interest, it shouldn't be too hard to find people doing the same thing more than happy to welcome you in.
Girls as I said earlier seem kind of shy in general. It also really seems to depend on the area you are in from my small sample but I was not a fan at all of the girls around Centro but the girls in Pocitos often times are nice. In general, girls here are fairly skinny which is great. I think there is a very large societal pressure on girls not to be fat in the upper class areas from what I've been told by locals. Also, just on a personal note, girls on the whole seem to really like me here which might be a first in my life as I've never felt that way in USA/Mex/other travels. Could just be run good, who knows. On the whole though, Uru girls aren't world class but right next door you have Argentina and Brazil if you get bored
Overall when I rate uru I say that it far exceeded initial expectations. Its easily one of, if not, my favorite country at the moment so I got really lucky on my move. And its really comforting to know if I ever get bored here I'm a tiny boat ride away from BA and could just chill there for a few weeks but so far that hasn't been a problem
Last edited by theskillzdatklls; 11-10-2015 at 12:22 PM.