Tell me more!!

Now that you know where Uruguay is located, let me share some other details with you.

Everyone speaks Spanish here. 

They say "hola!" to say hello,

and "adios!" when they say good-bye.

When they are ending a phone conversation they say "besos!" (which means "kisses")

and when they want to say I love you, they have to say "te amo!"

And the money is different, too. They use pesos instead of dollars. And 1 dollar = 22 pesos. 

Since a lot of cattle are raised here, Uruguayans eat a lot of beef.  One of their favorite dishes is a chivito.  It's kind of like a hamburger but it's thinly sliced beef instead of a beef patty.

Another favorite dish is the milanese - similar to a German schnitzel. You can order a milanese made of beef, pork or chicken.

And Uruguayans don't have gas grills in their backyard like a lot of Americans do. Instead they have a parilla - it kind of looks like a brick fireplace. And the meat is grilled over wood coals from a fire. It takes a lot of skill to get the temperature just right to cook the meat slowly yet keeping it tender. 

Uruguay is in the southern hemisphere - that means it's on the opposite side of the equator from Pennsylvania. It also means that our seasons are opposite from what you have. So, while you are enjoying the summer right now and spending days at the swimming pool, we are experiencing the beginning of winter and I am wearing a scarf and heavy jacket when I leave my house. It also means that when you are celebrating Christmas around a fireplace in the winter, Uruguayans are spending the holiday at the beach in their swimsuits because it's summer here! Imagine decorating your Christmas tree in your shorts and flip flops!  

Tomorrow I'll tell you more about why I came to Uruguay and about the people here. So check out what I share with you then!