First Legitimate Post

Hello all,

I have just returned from a weekend at the Witkind's beach home in Punta del Este. I drove there with Saul and Graciela (parents) on Thursday, and the kids (Jani, Roní, and Marcel [aka Matthew Golden]) joined us on Friday evening right before Shabbat dinner. It's a bit strange to start dinner between 9:30 and 11:00pm each night. Luckily Graciela bought me some peanut butter. During the days we spent our time lounging around the apartment, by the pool, and on the beach, except when it was raining.

One fun outing that we took was to an area called La Barra, which is a through-and-through surf town that has been infiltrated by commerce and tourism. The steep slope down to the shore is spotted with homes that are gravitate between shacks with corrugated tin roofs and enormous haciendas with great bay windows facing the ocean.

For some reason I've gone running everyday here, and it has been an interesting way to explore the area in Punta. The beach is lined by a boardwalk that is frequented by all manner of people and businesses, and also skirts along a marina and area that boasts trendy indoor/outdoor bars.

We ate some really delicious food, mostly made by Saul at the apartment (I will never be able to go back to American meat,) but today we had a particularly special lunch. The restaurant was called Ruben, and it is a parrilla (a special type of grill) that prides itself on being representative of the pure gaucho culture that lives (mostly in memory) in Argentina and Uruguay. We just ordered a bunch of dishes to share. Aside from the salad, everything on our table had been wrapped in tin foil and then thrown onto the grill. These included sweet potatoes sprinkled with sugar in the raw and thick eggplant slices with grated cheese and herbs. Mmm.

I am now under the impression that Uruguayans either live in, or feel that they live in, a country that lies within the humbled shadow of an imposing and grandiose Argentina. The richest tourists there, according to my hosts, are Argentine. Saul even took me aside when he saw me reading a book about the history of Argentina, and told me "Arielle, Argentina is a very, very rich country. They have fertile land and many resources. This is all you need to know." I guess I'll see for myself in a few weeks.

Now I'm back in Montevideo and will be here until next weekend when we return to Punta. I plan to go wandering in the city (mostly on my own since everyone else has work.) They live just a few blocks away from the beach, so I doubt I will ever be bored. Don't worry.
Okay, bye for now.

-Side note: I don't know who recommended the book Empire Falls by Russo, but it was a huge disappointment. I thought I'd bring it with me to read about small town America, obviously to ease myself into the culture. But what it turned out to be was a novel absolutely brimming with underdeveloped characters that offered no surprises in their dealing with various difficult situations. I also found that it was overloaded with Christian morals and characters that only survive their trials after exhibiting Christ-like behavior and, while he didn't directly admit it, finding their place in the way of the church. 500 pages of wasted reading, I think.