Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It's me again

Well I made it in less than two months this time but there is still some room for improvement.


Since my last post in May life has continued to throw me several pleasent surprises. As you may already know I recently joined a online community called Couchsurfing.org (CS). When I went to Cordoba I stayed with a very nice couple and met several really great people. One of those fine folks was a French chap named Philippe. When were talking at the CS asado he mentioned that he would like to visit Montevideo so I told him he was welcome anytime at my place. Well about two weeks later I got an email from him saying he was heading my way.


His plan was to stay for just a couple of days but then we found out about the Uruguay versus Brasil soccer game the following Sunday. It soon became evident that there was no other option but to stay for the match. We went to the game but it turned out to be quite depressing really. Uruguay lost 4-0 which is quite the spanking.

Admittedly Brasil is a really great team but four goals is enough to make anyone cry. We ended the night with an asado at my place where we dried our tears and feasted on grassfed beef!


Philippe ended up staying an extra week with me while he worked on a project with a company in France. He also religiously cleaned my kitchen which was something I could complain about. His reasoning was that he had been traveling so much over the last four months that he missed doing it. Let me just say it will take alot of traveling for me to get to the point where doing dishes is enjoyable. Finally after two weeks he had to meet his sister in Brasil so he departed but it was sad to see the best house guest ever leave.


More photos from the game here.


Shortly after, I began my new, exciting, odorous yet interesting class at the university. It was called Sustainablity of Intensive Animal Production Systems a.k.a. Who wants to visit feedlots? The class consisted of several lectures from a visiting professor, Dr. Pete Lammers, from Iowa State University and several excursions to feedlots. These systems only make up about 10% of the total beef production in Uruguay so it is very different from Nebraska. Since they are all relatively new they don't have the regulation that exists in the U.S. The adventures are documented in the photos below. Enjoy and be happy that pictures can't transmit odors as well!

In my continuing effort to put together an interesting itinerary for my parent's visit in July I took the time to get to know the neighborhood sites a little better. I had yet to visit the large park just 15 minutes from my apartment, Parque Rodó is the place to be on Sundays.

They have an outdoor market in the morning next to the lake where you can rent a boat a go cruising with ducks and swans. On the other side there is a small amusement park and the best stuffed churros money can buy. I spent the afternoon zooming around the park on my bike taking pictures of the attractions. Definitely a great family picnic spot and if we get some good weather when the padres are here we will definitely be visiting.


I am gonna wrap up with that for now. I've got some more recent stuff to write about but I have to get my SD card reader back from my friend before I can post the photos. As soon as that happens be looking forward to another post.


Photos from Parque Rodó


Peace from down south,

-bd-