A Year in Uruguay

 

I enjoyed the carnaval show so much on Thursday night, that I went back on Saturday.  This time I bought my ticket at the Teatro de Verano just before show time.  Excellent seats were still available.

I brought a bigger camera to this show and made several videos. 

 Doña Bastarda

La Gran Muñeca

Carnaval a de Pie Saturday

 

Labels: carnival

Carnaval is one of my favorite parts of Uruguay.  The costumes, the music, the drumming, and the dancing are almost overwhelming.   When we lived here, many of my February nights were devoted to visiting the tablados.

This year, when we were making our travel arrangements for our trip, I was afraid we would miss carnaval since we wouldn't leave the US until after Ash Wednesday (the end of carnival season in most countries.)  I knew that Uruguay's carnaval continued, but it was difficult to find information about its actual end.  When we arrived in early March, the competition part of carnaval was over and the winners announced, but there was still a week of performances scheduled in the Teatro de Verano.

 

Tickets weren't available at Abitab until the evening before the show, but we were able to get front row seats.  Six different groups performed including two murgas.  I made a short video with clips from the show.

It was a really enjoyable night!

Labels: carnival

 It’s been nearly 15 years since I was in Uruguay and I am back for a short visit this month. Our flight connected through Panamá City and we took advantage of Copa Airlines’ program to stay for a couple of days at no extra charge. Panama was interesting enough that I wished we had visited it earlier. 

We landed in Montevideo early yesterday morning and we were surprised how easy entry into the country was. We were able to use their automated system, which scanned our passport, took a photo, and then we were done with immigration. Customs was just a quick baggage scan and disposal of a cheese from the US. 

Uruguay felt very familiar. There has been a lot of new construction along the waterfront. The old Carrasco casino renovation was completed. The sidewalks in Pocitos were markedly cleaner (although still broken in places.) The grocery store has a wider variety of products— more gluten free foods, more imported items.  But lots of the same businesses are still operating in the same locations. 

While carnival in most of the world ends with Ash Wednesday, in Uruguay carnaval continues. The winners in the individual categories were announced last weekend but post-competition performances are scheduled every day this week.  We were able to buy tickets from our neighborhood Abitab for tonight’s performance at the Teatro de Verano.