The other side of the Uruguayan postcard

Hey Julien

Bernard Shaw said “Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it....”
When living abroad I try not compare the local culture to my own cause i know my opinion will be biased.
In my blog I try to always show the positive aspects of the places I live in  or visit, in consideration to those who host me when I´m in them.
Having said this and  for those who may consider moving to Uruguay I offer a brief analysis with pros and cons.
Uruguay is a small country (for South American standards) wedged between Brazil and Argentina, but with strong cultural and historical ties to the latter, with whom they have a hate love relationship, that reminds me of the Canadian-American relations. They always compare themselves with their larger neighbours.
I find Uruguayans to be very polite and educated compared with their neighbours, as well as conservative in all sense of the word, being in their ideas or in the way they will stay in the same house all their lives or keep a car for over 50 years. This is not always out of choice, but because the governments have kept a line of obsolete statism by which they run most of the basic services and tax them for everything.
Culturally Montevideo is a city that has many European aspects and has a very nice river walk (Rambla) that gives it a Mediterranean charm.
The down side of Uruguay can be its proximity with mega cities like Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo that entice their most brilliant people to move there for a better chance at success, and the copycat mentality that makes them wait to see if something works elsewhere to finally adopt it, thus curtailing initiative.
I definitely recommend visiting Montevideo mostly if you go to Buenos Aires, but I do´nt see anyone moving here unless they want to retire in a calm and easy going city.

Dario Ricardo
migrantphotographer.blogspot.com/

Hi. I am Brazilian and I have been thinking about living in Uruguay. I visited the country in the past and am doing it again soon. I don't know the other side of the postcard since I don't live there yet but still, if compared to brazilian indicators, facts and figures, I tend to believe that the other side of Uruguay's post card is not a bad one. What is your view on this?
Regards.
Glauco

I love these discussions; they tell us a lot about people.

I guess it really depends on where you're coming from and your openness to a new culture, a new people, a new system of values and beliefs, etc. These things have a deep seat in you even before you get to look at the sides of the postcards. Coming from Brazil, I'd also be quite open to live with what a person from, say, North America, would call 'terrible customer service', 'widespread inefficiency', 'chronic lateness', 'surreal red tape', 'exorbitant import taxes', etc., which tend not to be negatives at all but rather aspects of a society and its culture. An expat from a more developed country may have a different perspective.

This is not to say that I don't worry about potential problems I might find living abroad. I'd really like to know about them, research and read extensively until I've found sufficient evidence that I'm up to date with the current political, economical, and social situation. A quick search for terms like "Uruguay" "negatives" "cons" "frustrations" "violence" "poverty" on Google will probably tell you a lot, and things are no bed of roses down there either.

But I guess one's attitude about this is very important too. Some people understand that societies are different and that you could never expect to take just the good and be always free from the bad -- it would be just unfair. And these people are exactly the ones who seem to be doing great in their location, feeling integrated and welcomed by members of the community, and maybe even helping make it a better place.

Hey, reality is that you have to see for yourself, never do something according to what other people say. Two different persons can go to the same place, and the circumstances are going to be entirelly different.
And as a portuguese friend once said " nao coloque todos os ovos na mesma cesta". Allways have a back up plan, just in case your project does´nt work out.

erugopu wrote:

nao coloque todos os ovos na mesma cesta

That's a nice piece of advice, indeed. For the good and the bad, Uruguay is a small country, so it's easier to have a perspective and see if it looks right as a basket for you.

(An expat thinking of moving to Brazil or Argentina would have a much harder time trying to figure out where to go to in the first place, as big countries offer a myriad of possible scenarios, cities, cultures, etc.,)

Well, my family of 6 moved to Montevideo almost 4 years ago. While my youngest children (ages 23, 21 and 18) feel completely at ease in Uruguay. my husband and I still have our doubts. Of course, our main reason to move from Caracas, Vz was the horrible conditions of live there and the complete lack of opportunities, specially for our children, to study, to work or even to have some fun. In the bright side, Montevideo is a beautiful city, but I found it somewhat filthy, even at the gorgeous Rambla broken beer bottles are everywhere. People are generally nice, specially the youngest, but forget about the "Good mornings" or even eye contact or smiles with people at the street, markets, or  neighbors. They drive awfully, I have seen more car accidents (mini and terrible ones) in these almost 4 years than in all my 54 years of age. They are very open minded, errands are easily done, there are no "impossible" to do. I like the easiness of my son school and my daughters college. I found Uruguay to be extremely expensive, gas, food, hotels, restaurants, appliances, everything costs more than in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Peru and other countries I have been  in contact. My children are happy and they have found good classmates and friends, they feel safe and confident and have lots of fun things to do, so I am happy too.