A Year in Uruguay

 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.