Greetings from Montevideo!

Greetings from way way way South of the Border! More precisely, I am currently vacationing in Montevideo, Uruguay ...a wonderful country nestled south of Brazil and just east across the Rio de la Plata from Argentina. Uruguay is my Mother's native land and an absolutely glorious place to spend a vacation.

I am enjoying all sorts of relaxing activities. Pocitos beach is just a short 1/2 block walk from my doorstep and I am profiting from lovely weather. It's been consistently sunny, mid-80s, breezy and perfect beach weather!

I've also been eating some of the most delicious food I've had in a while. Uruguay is famous for its meat and dairy products, since they raise cattle better than anyone else in the world here. The meat (even in the cheapest restaurant) is absolutely delicious here. Just the other day, I went to a typical Uruguayan barbecue called an "asado"..where several cuts of beef are cooked over a wood fueled grill. Delicious! Meat is the main staple here and it is not only plentiful, but very very tasty! Thank god I'm not a vegetarian!

Then, the dairy products...yogurt, cheese, milk, ice cream, butter..are all about 10,000x tastier than the best US products. It is truly astonishing how delicious a simple ham and cheese sandwhich can be here compared to back home.

So aside from getting a great tan and gaining weight from the culinary delights, I am also catching up with all my relatives and getting chauffered from one family gathering to another at a fiery pace! It's fun, but sometimes totally exhausting. I've had to beg to be left alone a few times already, hoping for some "down time" so I can re-charge from the constant need of attention of all my cousins, aunts, great-aunts and other assorted relatives. Uruguayans are a friendly people...very friendly..in your face friendly..My Big Fat Greek Wedding never leave you alone friendly. You get the picture.

I've also had some interesting cultural experiences as well (theatrical of course!). I went to the 50th anniversary celebration of Teatro Circular, one of Uruguay's oldest professional theatres, and I've seen a student production of Chicago (yes, in Spanish!) at a local Musical Theatre school where I also have taught workshops in the past.

I have 3 more weeks here in Montevideo before I have to return to DC. I heard thru the grapevine that it's really really cold in DC right now and that it's snowing as well. Hmmm..I'm all warm and toasty here! Ha! Ha!

The other major bonus of being in Montevideo, is that I don't see the face of our stupid Monkey president on the television every 5 secs...thank god! I was ready for a break from his re-re smirk. I heard that he gave a press conference the other day, which means he probably won't show his face again for a while anyway...thank god!

So, since I am enjoying this glorious country, not sure how often I will be updating this Blog until I return to DC on January 12 (bleargh!). But until then, I hope all my friends up North are staying warm and comfortable and won't hate me too much when I return in 3 weeks with a great tan and a relaxed demeanor. Let's see how long each of them last!

Gotta go for now..have to take my required Uruguayan "siesta".

Saludos!