This morning we visited the headquaarters of MERCOSUR - a trade association between Argentina, Brazil, Paruguay, and Uruguay. Chile is an associate member, meaning they do not get to participate in all the decisions. And Venezuela is a new member but has yet to incorporate fully all of the standards of MERCOSUR. The building used to be a hotel; the tile in the halls and lobbies reminded me of a bathroom or kitchen: blue with flowers. There were a couple large banquet/press rooms, and the view looked out to the water. The presentation was given by a specialist of standards in MERCOSUR, but I found it difficult to comprehend. I think this was partly due to translations and also because I am still sick (thus sneezing and runny nose throughout class).
Anyway, Montevideo and Uruguay in general seem much nicer than Argentina. It is a very clean place, and the people seem very friendly. Even though their money is worth much less (for practical purposes: one dollar equals 25 Uruguayan (sp?) pesos), they present themselves with much class. The building are well constructed and well kept. The vechicles obey road rules - and interact on friendlier terms with the pedestrians. We do have to be cautious to check both directions before crossing the street, though - we got quite used to the one-ways in Argentina! You still see homeless people and stray dogs, but it has a significantly cleaner presentation than the parts of Argentina that we visited.
A few notes: (1) I saw a statue of a lion standing over a dead ostrich. I found it both amazing and odd for the middle of a city. If I can go back on foot and find it, I would love to share it with you through a photograph. (2) I got to see them tow a car. Instead of tugging it up onto the bed of the tow truck, they parked along side and hooked up cables to lift it up. I guess that works when the vehicles are so small. (3) I walked past a gray apartment. It had shiny flecks of silver in the construction materials. I don´t know what it was, but I do know that I found it to be very beautiful.
