23 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Expat Resources, Visiting Uruguay
Here’s an update on what’s going on at expat-owned hotels and inns in Atlantida and Parque del Plata. Don’t forget, if you’re in the area and craving US movies, Jerry as dedicated Sunday evenings to movie nights at Hotel ViaPark. This week, we bring you another bed and breakfast in Atlantida, the Tsitsicamma Inn.
A quiet day on the Atlantida beach
25 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted in Images of Uruguay
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The Pocitos neighborhood of Montevideo evokes memories of the days when I believed that I could never leave New York City. Although I love the energy, and the endless availability of “stuff,” at the end of the day, I was happy to return to the peace and quiet of Atlantida. On the other hand, if you crave the action of a big city, but on a much smaller scale, the Pocitos is a perfect choice.
Read about the sights, the cafes, the shops and the architecture here:
View From a Pocitos Rambla Apartment
13 Saturday Apr 2013
Posted in Hotels, Uruguay Culture
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One of the great things about being an expat is the fascinating people who share ta similar lifestyle. Just as we came from the snow-capped mountains of Colorado, Syd and Gundy arrived from the mountains of British Columbia. Read about Casa Inspiracion, their bed and breakfast in Villa Argentina. If you’re thinking of doing a “try Uruguay” trip, these folks are an excellent resource.
Pool at Casa Inspiracion
12 Friday Apr 2013
Posted in Education, tech, Uruguay Culture, Visiting Uruguay
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The Uruguay Way: Exploring the implementation of One Laptop Per Child. Some Union College (NYC) students are having a fascinating time here in Uruguay on an exchange program. Much of their studies focusing on this country being the country first fully to implement the One Laptop Per Child program.
Montevideo Graffito. Photo credit Samantha Muritori, one of the Union College students on this exchange program. Copyright © 2013 Concordiensis and the photographer.
Also they’re exploring the area, of course, and taking in the lifestyle and sights. Yes, much of our graffiti is in fact artistic. Though as an ex-New Yorker, I have to say a lot of that is too. (Not necessarily all the “tagging” on the A-train back in the 80′s, though!)
There are some LOL moments in reading the college newspaper report, Continue reading »
07 Sunday Apr 2013
Posted in Healthcare
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Our ongoing series has been about Health Insurance in Uruguay, but in the most recent post, I mentioned how that isn’t exactly the same as Health Care. Briefly noting that our experiences with our mutualista, Asociación Española, are really as members of that mutual health care society, not as customers of some insurance scheme.
Asociación Española Central in Montevideo
Well, we are going to have more tales to tell you first-hand. In the past week, we’ve needed to access it three different times, the most recent, today. For an urgent, could have been near-emergency situation, but thankfully, not all that serious. More details soon, Continue reading »
06 Saturday Apr 2013
Posted in Daily Life, Uruguay Culture
I just finished reading a fantastic article on Escape from America by Corey Coates, of Five Gallon Sound. Coates describes a certain type of expat, who we frequently encounter at expat meetings in Atlantida, or on certain Uruguay expat message boards. As they whine about everything from their neighbors, the constantly rising cost of living and the products they can’t find in a supermarket, you wonder why they continue to live her. Coates calls them the “Grumpy Gringos.” Continue reading »
05 Friday Apr 2013
Posted in Expat Resources, housing
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Colonia del Sacramento was our introduction to Uruguay, and will always hold a special place in our hearts. We just received an email about a Colonia house for sale for $150,000 US.
Like many things in Uruguay, you often hear about the best deals by word of mouth. For more about Colonia del Sacramento, check out my article in USA Today.
Colonia del Sacramento house for sale
02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in Healthcare
Our next update on Health Insurance in Uruguay will be a bit delayed. In part due to an unplanned need to get some health care personally! I promised you that update and analysis on the Mexican Public Health Department study of Health Care in Uruguay, and I’ll be doing it. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks.
As to my health care incident: Nothing serious, as long as I don’t try to raise my right arm. Old ski injury. Newer parking lot injury. Recent I-have-no-idea-what re-injury! Our article delay also is in part due to pushing out a new website and author hub for a fascinating memoir of expat life that led from California through Germany, Israel, Cyprus, and eventually to Uruguay. That author, Susan Joyce, is our first client under Lisa’s and my newly rebranded and expanded venture, Southern Cross Web and Social Marketing.
The other day, I did stroll into our mutualista, Asociacón Española, paid all of UYU $218 (pesos, about U$S 11.75 US dollars at our current crummy exchange rate of 18.6:1), and was seen in 5 minutes by a doctor. Continue reading »
24 Sunday Mar 2013
Posted in Healthcare
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We’ll have a new post in our ongoing series, Getting Health Insurance in Uruguay, later this week. I’ve just been reading over a number of definitive sources, including a major analysis published by Mexico’s Public Health agency. They’ve been doing a series of reports on the health systems of other Latin American countries. The Uruguay study was published in 2011, from data in 2009, after Uruguay’s Health Care Reform law came into effect. It gives much more detail about the three tiered system of Uruguayan health care I mentioned our Part 1 and Part 2 posts.
The formal report, Sistema de Salud en Uruguay, is in Spanish. I’ve been reading it in both the original and in two alternate machine translations. Will have links, and our perspective here at Uruguay Expat Life / Uruguay For Me, coming up this week. Meanwhile for an overview, here is the abstract, in English, at the US National Institutes of Health website. If you’d like to read the original, it’s here for free at SciElo.
As a sampler, did you know that over 50% of the population here (including me and Lisa Marie Mercer) choose the cooperative, “mutualista” system of paid by social security payroll tax, or voluntary buy-in (for all of about $85 US monthly per person), and 37% are in the fully-subsidized Public Health tier? Only 2% go for the Private system. The rest are covered either by the military, or some other organizational-specific system.
If you read the typical “Institutional Expat” blogs, forums, websites, Facebook groups, you may get the impression that only the Private system is any good. Or worse, that the only thing worth having is some kind of special “Expat Cover”. Baloney! (and malarkey too). Continue reading »
22 Friday Mar 2013
Posted in Daily Life, Uruguay Culture, Uruguay History
Here is 5 minutes of the work in progress film, Afro-Uruguay: Forward Together, which I talked about in my previous post tonight. After the film, some thoughts and re-watch suggestions to learn more about both the issue at hand, and everyday sights and sounds of Uruguay. Including our very weird Spanish.
As you watch it, please think about the culture and history that was suppressed. Lisa and I are gratified that Candombe is becoming a vehicle for recovering the rich Afro-Uruguayo culture, and in making Uruguayans and those like us new to our adopted land understand and confront past-times and current day racism and discrimination.
Then, perhaps, watch it again, and listen closely too, Continue reading »