To Uruguay with love: Marilyn's adventures in the southern hemisphere: Life on Sesame Street

The other week my friend and teammate, Matt, stopped by to help me with a home repair - my front door was scraping the floor whenever I opened and closed it which produced a horrid sound. The wire he brought for the job wasn't thick enough so he went to my friend Angela's plumbing supply store on the ground floor of my building to see if she might have something we could use. When he returned with the necessary item he commented to me, "You live on Sesame Street!"

And I have to admit that he's right! I DO feel like I live on Sesame Street!

No, there's no Big Bird walking the streets nor an Oscar the Grouch hiding out in the trash can! You won't find Elmo or Cookie Monster here, either (although my neighbors are starting to love the cookies and cakes I'm sharing with them). :)

But after a year of living on Orinoco Street I'm starting to develop some really good friendships with my neighbors and it's starting to feel like home.

The street is kind of the shopping street of the neighborhood. There are several bake shops, multiple restaurants and cafés, a grocery store, numerous hair salons, a fresh pasta shop, a laundromat, several hardware stores and a handful of other small shops scattered among homes and apartment buildings along a four block segment. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the ice cream shop!! And Kadee's veterinary shop is just half a block from my apartment too!

The ambiance is delightful and it's the "happening place" on fair-weather-days. The fact that we're less than a block from the beach helps as well!

When I moved into my apartment fourteen months ago, I knew I wanted to invest in building good relationships with my neighbors. And I marvel at how wonderful and life-giving that process has been!

Dardo and Janelle and their dog, Olivia, live in the apartment next to mine. They've invited me into their home on several occasions and we chat several times a week as we see each other on the sidewalk.
Angela runs the plumbing supply store on the ground floor of my building and she has become a dear friend. I stop in to say "Hi!" every day and we spend time together one evening of the week.
José owns the electrical repair shop directly below my apartment and he and his employees greet me when our paths cross and I enjoy sharing my latest baking project with them fresh from the oven. Plus, they came to the rescue when my front door was accidentally locked from the inside several weeks ago.
Monica and her husband, Señor del Pianno, live in the house next to my building and I have been spending an hour a week visiting with Monica so that she can practice her English. She has been an English teacher most of her life but her memory and speech were adversely affected after a brain injury several years ago her. We talk about life as we combine English and Spanish, laughter sprinkled among our profound conclusions.
Rosa, her husband and middle-aged son live next to the del Piannos. She used to be a librarian and enjoys using her English with me whenever she can. Our faces light up when we see each other and she always says the kindest, sweetest things to me that just make my day.
The staff at the veterinary practice have been so helpful as I added Kadee to my life several months ago and she loves to visit them. Their friendliness and availability have been a blessing to me as I adjust to being a pet owner.
The managers at the neighborhood supermarket greet me as I enter the store - I am now one of their recognized "regulars".
Each morning when I take Kadee for her first walk of the day, a doorman at one of the large apartment buildings on our route greets us with a broad smile and a gregarious wave of the hand that warms me from the inside out on a cold day.
Several fellow dog owners always stop for a chat when Kadee and I are walking down the street - comments regarding the weather or how we're doing fill the quick but friendly interactions.