Say it with a sign

 

A few months ago I was sitting outside at a restaurnat (Old Maz actually), talking to my wife and I noticed a man scaling a tree at the corner.  To a Toronto boy, a grown man climbing up a tree is quite an event.  It caught my attention.  I watched him get up to about 15 feet and then he pulled up something that looked a like a big roll of paper.  Sure enough, more or less, that’s what it was.  He tied it to a branch and then he unrolled it to someone standing below.  That person grabbed it and when the traffic was clear, marched across the street with it – to another tree.  And he climbed the tree also.  After a few minutes, it occurred to me this was a sign… a very big sign…  being strung across a major street – 21 de Setiembre.  After a bit longer, I could make it what it said.  It was a birthday wish.  I asked my wife what that was all about.  She told me that it was a birthday card (Pocitos style) from a girl to her boyfriend.  She said that the boyfriend probably drives this way and when he sees it, it’s a big surprise to him.   She said that people can put up any kind of sign at all, as long as it’s civil.  Birthdays, anniversaries, proposals, you name it. 

I found that fascinating…  As the guys were leaving, an official looking guy came up to them and after a brief discussion, the original guys climbed the trees and pulled the sign down.  My wife said they probably didn’t have a permit.  So now I get it.  To do this, you need to buy a permit from the intendencia to put your sign up.  About an hour later, we were walking up 21 and there the sign was, a couple of blocks north.  So either they had a permit but it was for another corner or they walked up the street, waited for the other guy to leave and put it up without a permit. 

Today, we had to get a sign made to hang on our balcony to rent our apartment.  We went to one of the shops that make those signs.  We paid $650 pesos for a 3 meter sign, including the guys to come and hang it up.  Not bad.  I reckon the sign that goes across the streets cost around $1000.  Have no idea what the permit costs.  Dont know anyone who has put a sign up. 

The Pocitos headache

 

I’ll bet you never heard of this one.  Neither did I, until this morning.  It was 8:07am.  I was still asleep.  Since I don’t work any more (not on a consistent basis anyway), I sleep in until I feel like getting up.  Anyway, this morning I awoke with a headache.  May not sound important to you, but I can count on one hand the number of headaches I’ve had in my life.  So it’s a big deal to me. 

For the first minute or so I just lay there, just feeling it.  Like I said, it’s an extremely rare event so I wanted to savour it a bit.  Commit it to memory so to speak so I’d have it to draw on in the future should I need to recall what a headache feels like.  After that, I started thinking about what caused it.  Didn’t take too long to figure that one out.  THE BANGING did it.  What banging?  Well, the Pocitos renovation banging of course.

For the first 18 years we owned property here, we lived in a house (summers only) atop San Antonio, in Piriapolis.   For years, the closest neighbour was so far away, you couldn’t see him from any point on our property.  The only noises we heard were birds and sightseeing buses that drove by our house on the way to the tourist attractions on top of the mountain.  When we moved into our apartment in Pocitos, that changed.  Now we had neighbours on both sides of us and below us.  Several months later, the neighbour to the East of us moved.  A few weeks later, the banging started. 

For those of you that live in condominiums (privately owned apartments) or row houses, the following may not come as a surprise to you but for those of us who lived in Canada or the USA in houses or rental apartments, it’s a whole new world. 

Since we moved into Pocitos in 2004, we don’t have a long history to judge from but what we do know for sure is that a lot of renovations have been going on these past few years and they show no signs of stopping any time soon. 

When the people next to us moved out, the new owners did a complete renovation.  A complete renovation in Pocitos means you remove all the water pipes, electrical and phone wiring and ceramics.  What that means is 30-45 days of hammering.  It begins shortly after 8am and goes until 6pm, Monday to Saturday.  Since your immediate neighbour is about 30cm from you, it’s a whole lot of fun when they start breaking the wall on the other side of your bed.  The rooms with the most banging are the kitchen and bathrooms, usually.  But that can change depending on many factors.  In the case of our apartment, that reno went on for 3 months.  The last month is usually finishing and the banging is not as loud and it’s more sporadic. 

After the neighbour’s reno, we had peace for a while.  Then the 9th floor started a bathroom renovation.  Bathrooms in condos here have shafts that travel vertically through each washroom.  We know this because we knew what our neighbours are making for lunch by sniffing the bathroom closest to the kitchen around 11:30am.  So when a bathroom is being reno’d, everyone in the building can hear it.  Of course, if it’s several floors away, it’s not annoying.  But if it’s within a few floors, your peaceful and thoughtful trip to the bathroom isn’t.  Singing in the shower can even be a challenge if the guy hammering doesn’t keep a decent beat. 

After 6 months of on and off renos in our building, we finally moved into our new house.  Like most houses in Pocitos, your house shares walls with your neighbours on as many as 3 sides.  Ours is a corner lot without a backyard.  We have two walls that meet each other that have houses on the other side.  The day we moved in, our neighbour to the south of us greeted us and said he was leaving for 3 months.  He didn’t want to be home during the renovation.  What renovation?  Well his renovation of course.  Of course.  I said it’ s only fair that after we banged on his walls for 6 months, he should at least be able to bang on ours for 3.  Well, that was December.  It is almost June and they’re still banging.  Turns out the architect convinced him that the roof and the sanitary system (piping) was falling apart (when they opened up the walls) and he agreed to replace it all.  Then they decided since they were opening the walls and floors, why not do the electrical too.  So now it’s a full reno.  If we’re lucky, the banging will stop in July. 

So how does one adjust his life to this.  Well, some people really dont.  I read a post somewhere else that someone was moving because of a reno next door.  In our case, we have learned a few things.  Waking hours:  Wake up and eat breakfast before 8am.  That may mean going to bed earlier but it’s better than being awakened to banging or what we find even worse, someone hammering on the wall a meter from where you’re eating breakfast.  Eat out for lunch or move your lunch area to the other side of the apartment or house if possible.  We tried the latter.  it didn’t help.  Sound really travels with this type of construction.  Dirt:  Keep your windows/doors closed as much as possible.  Concrete dust is tough to get rid of.  It covers everything.  We had to have locksmiths come twice during this reno to clean out the cylinders on our outside locks.  Damage:  It’s common for the reno next door to damage your house or apartment.  If they’re exposing outside walls (happened to us in 3 places) you’ll get water coming in.  If they drill a bit too far, they can nick or drill through your piping or wiring.  In they’re doing the next door roof, they can damage the seam between the two roofs.  If they put up scaffolding, they may affix it to your house, causing damage.  Trash from their worksite often falls on your property.  Mortar and cement being used on their property usually ends up on yours.  Most people are responsible.  If you show them what they did to you, they’ll fix it.  Make sure you tell them before their trades leave :)

If the idea of months and months of banging concerns you, and you’re going to rent (or buy) in the future, you should investigate your immediate neighbours on either side and above you.  (if an apartment), to see if this is likely to happen during your time there.  

Although what is written above sounds bad enough, there is a lot worse that can happen.  You could rent or buy next to a site that can be zoned for an apartment building.  If that happens, you’re totally messed up.  Not only could the banging last for years, you may find you have no sun or light afterwards and if your lot isn’t big enough, your resale value goes down.  If you’re buying or going for a long term lease, it wouldn’t hurt to pay an architect to research that one for you.  DO NOT ASK YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT.  Having lived through 3 next door reno’s now, I sure would. 

Oh yah.. forget to mention that our neighbour to the west passed away last month.  For sale sign went up last week.  Yup, it’s an old house. 

Special section for those of you who like to find interesting things in pictures……

Bags on street:  In front of the driveway.  That’s what construction folks use to block off parking areas so they can bring their delivery trucks in.  They put debris from the reno in them.

Bin:  Same as we use up north, but in most house reno’s here, they put debri in bags.  That’s usually because they have to remove it by hand, up and down stairs.  But it also allows them to fill up the bins well above the top.  Pay for less trips to the dump site this way. 

2 white signs in 1st floor window.  Every work project has to show the BPS sign.  This shows you have registered the work with the national government.  You pay workers taxes every month based on the hours worked on site.  In this area, inspectors visit you most months.  They get the names of all people working on the site and check the ‘book’ to see if they’re listed. 

Window/Door security:  They put bars on the most accessible windows.  They feel that shuttered windows dont need bars. 

Construction company sign:  It says Casa Abierta.  I’ve seen people walk in thinking it actually means ‘open house’. 

Fachada appliques:  One house has a recessed virgin.  The other one has the familia’s coat of arms.  These houses are protected by heritage laws.  You cant make changes to the front of the houses without permission from the municipality, which is rarely given. 

Red paint on driveway:  You’re not supposed to park in the red areas.  If you do, the owner can call the municipality and have the car towed.  They come quickly. 

Sidewalk:  It’s made of square tiles laid on a thin layer of cement.  The owner is responsible for the sidewalk in front of their property.  If the city rips it up for maintenance, they fix it…  with a different colour tile. 

Lot lines:  The grey house has a ‘0′ front lot line.  He’s built right up to his lot line.  Mine (the pinky) is set back… He has a back yard.  We have a front yard.  The side of our house has a ‘0′ lot line.  People stop by and look into the master bedroom all the time. 

If you notice something else, let me know.  I love picture puzzles.   

Rented an apto in Pocitos

This is a followup to the Renting an apartment in Pocitos (below)…  Today was the day we were to sign the lease. 

I was at the bank at 13:00 to pick up the cash for 6 months rent.  The deal was we paid a $6K (first month) deposit at pre-lease signing.  Then we pay the first 6 months at lease signing (cash please).  At 6 months, we pay the next 6 months.  This continues as long as we rent the apartment. 

Our lawyer came to the house at 13:15.  Our lawyer is a close family friend.  She never lets us sign anything unless she is there.  She reads it first, slowly…. She always asks questions.  She always scowls.  Today was no different. 

We met the renter at her lawyer’s house, a block away from Punta Carretas shopping.  The renter is a she.  She’s a German ex-pat.  Lives in one of the several Solymars East of the city.  Her lawyer was there.  Her agent was there.  The lawyer’s wife was there.  Could be she was also an escribano.  Not sure. 

While our lawyer read the lease, my wife talked to the other side about small things.  Then our lawyer asked questions.  Then we signed the lease, every page, 3 copies.  We also signed the list of ‘things’ in the apartment.  This was 3 pages long.  And guess what.  This apartment is unfurnished.  They list things like wall plugs and switches, door knobs, windows, closet shelves.. you get the idea… 

At the end, it was time for me to pay the first 6 months.  This is a male dominated society.  I was playing the part.  My first question is what happens to the $6K deposit.  The answer came visually.  The lawyer took it out of an envelope and gave it to the real estate agent.  Turns out she was our agent… unkown to me.  That was her commission.  I got one of those ‘I’ve been whizzed’ feelings, and I did what I always do when that happens, smile at the ‘whizzer’…

I say what’s going on here.  Their side explains that when we called the agent, it was ‘our’ agent..  She placed the ad.  The ‘agent’ for the renter is actually the lawyer.  He gets his $6K (one month rent) and she (ours) gets her $6K.  I’d love to hear from others out there if they ever heard of this before.  My ‘whiz’ detector is still buzzing.  Always something new to learn here…   Anyway, the choice was to pick up my marbles and go, but upon immediately weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to get even later on.  I will. 

I gave the lawyer the 6 months rent.  He took out $6K and gave the renter the balance. 

Then we did some more small talking.  I was scowling now.  We took the keys and left.  Tomorrow we go check it out. 

Unloading your container

  Dec. 24/2006.  Sorry.. no white Xmas. 

While we’re on the topic of container manifests, why not follow up with the whole container process.  

The decision to ship household goods is a personal one for every immigrant.  Each case is different.  Some people want to get rid of everything.  At the other end, people like us, professional horders, want to keep everything.  If you’re going to pick up and move your family half way around the world, it made sense to us to surround ourselves with everything we held dear to our hearts over the years.  It would also make it esaier for our teenage daughter.  If you have to lose all your friends, at least you get to sleep in your own bed, surrounded by familliar furniture and all the stuffed animals and toys that you played with all our life.  

My wife, being a member of the ex-pat Toronto, Uruguayan community for 35 years  knew the 2 Urugayans who specialized in shipping goods to Uruguay from Canada. We also got very lucky with timing.  The Uruguayan consul, a friend (and neighbour) of ours, was going back to Uruguay in June.  The government pays for diplomats’ containers, outbound and inbound.  He chose Canur Courier Service in Toronto, Canada.  ( http://www.directoriolatino.ca/web20/LookUpManager.aspx?keywords=Envios%20de%20Carga )  If this link doesn’t work, Google:  Canur Courier Toronto.  They ship approximately 10 containers to Uruguay every year for many years.  They do everything but more importantly, they know ‘everyone’. 

We met one of the owners, Oscar, at a few parties in the past.  My wife called him to come over and give us a quote.  He looked around the house.  My wife told him what was not going with us.  He took about 2 weeks to get back to us with a quote (still thinks like a Uruguayan after all these years .  He figured one container, U$S4250.  

We flew back to Toronto a week before the container was to be loaded and finished up the packing of delicate and personal items.  Then, realizing what we needed and didn’t have in the house, went on a shopping spree which included boxes of peanut butter and salad dressing. 

The container arrived on time, mid day of the day before the loading was to start.  The next day, Oscar, his brother and 3 other men showed up.  They decided what would go in first.. things that we didn’t want customs to see.  The new, never opened clothes, LCD TV’s, and related electronic equipment and a motorcycle we decided to ship at the last minute.  They continued to load the container throughout the day and into the evening.  This went on for 3 days. 

Loading a container is nothing like a moving van.  We moved 3 or 4 times before this.  We used professional movers from top companies like Mayflower.  In those moves, the movers worked quickly, carrying things out into the driveway where goods were staged.  The guy or guys on the truck would drape the furniture with thick blankets and put them on the truck, securing them with straps as they worked.   About 2/3 through the day, they’d pack up and drive (intra-city moving), to your new house.  They’d be unload and be done usually by nightfall. 

With a container, it’s totally different.  The first thing they do is build a wooden compartment at the front.  Half the height of the container, and with  a floor.  In the top section, the put boxes.  In the bottom section, as described above, items that you want to keep away from customs and those that you want to keep as safe and secure as possible.  Each time  an item is placed, the container guy measures the space remaining, to the centimeter and calls out the exact size of what he wants next.  The guys in the house scour around for something with the closest fit and they bring that.  Insted of blankets, they will use bubble wrap or foam sheets.  We did something unusual by buying a supply of one time shipping blankets, so we put both those and bubble wrap on our furniture.  These sections are 8 feet deep.  Once they finish one section, they stop loading and build another.  They build 5 of these in total.  In our case, it took them 3 full days to complete this process.  And remember, this was only the loading.  Unloading would take place a couple of months later. 

When the packing is done, they pull out a seal and put it on the ctontainer, in front of your eyes.  You write down the seal number.  It should not broken when you see it on the Uruguay end.  In addition to this seal, we put our own locks on the container and kept the keys with us.  The ONLY reason for opening the container is, yep, you guessed it, US Customs or Homeland Security.  This is very rare, but possible.  We were Canadians but since our container had to go by truck to NYC, we were subject to the same checks Americans are.  Had we loaded the container in Montreal, we could have avoided that possibility but we took our chances.  Customs do NOT put the container back the way it was AND it’s impossible to prove they damaged something.  Been there, done that with international trucking years back.  Not a nice thing.    

We made our manifest the day after we loaded the 2 containers (a full one and half of another one).   We typed it out from written notes my wife and friends scribbled down while packing and loading it at the Toronto end.  Of course, some unmentionables never made it on the manifest or did so cryptically. 

Because we also insured our container, we took a little extra care with the manifest, also adding the replacement value of each item.  We emailed one copy to the shipping company and one to the insurer.  I cant recall if my wife gave the manifest to the consulate in Toronto or not.  I know she filled in some papers there (that had to be done before we left) at the consulate.  Check with your consulate to see what you need to do there if you’re bringing in items duty free. 

We met with the shipping company the day after they took the containers and finished all the paperwork.  The move was supposed to be one container, cost U$S4250.  This includes packing at our end, loading the container, shipping the container, clearing customs in Uruguay, delivering the container and putting everything in the house.  We ended up with 1.5 containers at U$S6375.  At the last minute, we decided to keep our basement furniture and went on a 3 day shopping spree at WalMart and the Building Center.  They gave us an approximate idea of when our containers would arrive.  The trip normally takes 4 weeks, but we didn’t want the containers until mid December, so we had one sit in Toronto (paid storage) for 3 weeks.  The other, because it was a half, and had to wait to be combined with other customers’ boxes and furniture, would take an extra 2 weeks and our shipper could hold the delivery up for a few days in Montevideo.  They told us the containers would go by truck to NYC, then by boat to Montevideo.  As it turns out, the boat went to Buenos Aires and the containers were transferred to a smaller ship there. 

The shipping company called us a couple of days before the containers were due to arrive and organized the deliveries with us for the day before Christmas.  For the half container, it wasn’t a big deal because they would offload at their warehouse and send over 2-3 smaller truckloads with their guys.  But the full container required some planning.  The day before the container was to arrive, some men came here and put flashing pylons in front of our house (see photo above).  There was a car in the way so they paid the parking guy a small sum to put them in place when the car pulled away.  By the end of that evening, we had closed off the entire front of our house and half the neighbour’s property. 

The next day, the container arrived early in the morning (see above).    I checked the seal.  It was unbroken.  I took off our locks.  The customs guys showed up.  We opened the doors and I could swear I smelled Toronto air   The customs guys joked around with the shipper for 30 minutes and then they left.  To the right in the picture above is my wife, her friend and Oscar, the shipper. 

You might be able to make it out in the picture but there is a wood floor half way up the walls that stretches the entire length of the container.  It’s built in 8 foot sections at a time.  This is done so they can load to the ceiling without placing too much weight on the bottom.  I think the container is about 7 or 8 feet high.  So there’s no more than 3.5 to 4 feet of vertical weight.  This is built with 2×4 and 1/2 inch plywood.  In our case, the shipper is a Uruguayan and he’s been doing this for years.  He built an entire house with Canadian wood framing by recovering wood from all the containers he’s sent here over the past 10 years.  Ours was no exception. 

We did something a little unusual too for packing.  We purchased a couple of hundred moving blankets to make sure everything was properly padded.  You can see a few furniture items wrapped in blue.  That’s them.  We’ve been selling them off here and there over the past few months and they took off recently, as blankets to cover beds.  It’s getting cold now. 

Container manifest

When we moved to Uruguay, we brought our worldly possessions.  This is what a container manifest looks like.  Not very complicated nor does it need to be highly detailed.  It can NOT contain any banned or illegal items as it pertains to the maritime shipping act, the carrier’s own requirements or the government of Uruguay.  For instance, you dont want to list liquor or motorycycles.  Of course, you can bring things you cant bring in duty free, like a motorcycle or a car, but then you pay the duties and taxes, or spend the rest of your life here, hiding them from the police. 

It works in Spanish and/or English.  We did ours in Spanglish. 

container.doc

Tax enforcement

 

This is a new concept in Uruguay.  I’m familiar with tax collection, but enforcement, no.  It’s getting a lot colder here and it isn’t the weather.  Today, the government announced it was sending 150 inspectors into the ‘field’ to knock doors to find IP (wealth tax) evaders.  Here’s the deal.  If a house or apartment looks like it’s worth more than $200K, there’s probably IP to be paid.  So they will knock on your door and ask for the paid receipt from the previous year, (or any year for that matter).  This will be their primary tool for locating malingerers…   I wonder what happens if you dont answer the door? 

Where are they starting?  Where else!!!  Punta del Este and Pocitos.  I assume they’ll start at the top of the food chain and work their way down. 

And you all thought you’d get away from the IRS eh?  Hahh… no such luck.   Beware of the DGI man. 

Cold in Brrrrruguay

 

Dont be too excited by the title.  It’s kind of tongue ‘n cheek.  It isn’t really cold here at all.  But everyone looks like it’s cold.  Today it was 11 degrees at 17:30 when I took these pictures.  The way many folks are dressed, you’d think it was 10 below in Duluth or Winnipeg, (which is kind of balmy to the locals there

Uruguayans really bundle up dont they.  Scarves everywhere, and not around the neck either.  Around the head and what is particularly interesting to a Toronto boy, around their faces.  I get this discombooberated feeling when I see that.  I expect to see frost on the scarves, but I dont. 

After living here through a winter and into this colder part of the year, I’m starting to understand why they do this.  I think it has to do with the time Uruguayans spend outside.  Unlike us northerners, they’re not running from the house to the car and from the car to the office or school and back again.  Here, they are walking, and walking and walking… and waiting for the bus.  I remember when I was a kid, we’d sneak out at lunch to have a smoke.  But we couldn’t go our lockers, so we’d stand out there in a shirt and sweater at 10 below zero, huddled together on a street corner.  The point is this:  you can take the cold if it’s for a short time.  If you had to spend an hour outside at 11 degrees, northerners would bundle up like this too… but probably not with a scarf wrapped around our head   I think that has something to do with the thing Uruguayans have about their lungs…  Many believe that inhaling cold air is bad for the lungs.  Gives you all kinds of terrible illnesses. 

Pocitos must be the home delivery capital of the world

  

McDonalds ‘free’ home delivery: 08002800

A couple of days ago, I was walking down 21 de Setiembre and for fun, started tracking all the stores that offered home delivery.  Long ago, when I first got here, I noticed delivery guys on bicycles and it tweaked an old memory of mine from when I was a kid.  My dad told me that was his first job.  Delivering groceries on a bicycle for a neighbourhood grocery store.  Even at that young, tender age, I thought that was pretty kul, because by then, that service had long ceased to exist in Toronto… or at least in the part that I lived in. 

So I decided to count them up and for fun, figure out what % of stores did it.  I walked a 6 block stretch of prime store locations and guess what.  I stopped counting when I realized it wasn’t a % at all.  It was all of them.  Every drugstore, supermarket and restaurant did home delivery… for free.  When I got to the end of my walk, there was the local Macdonalds, and guess what.  It had free home delivery too. 

Renting an apartment in Pocitos

We started a search for a one bedroom apartment on Sunday.  It had to be a one bedroom within 4 blocks of where we live and with 24 hour porteria.  We used the Gallito as our starting point.  Within minutes, we had 3 or 4 apartments circled. 

My wife and her friend did all the legwork.  They called and made appointments yesterday and this morning.  After they looked at the 4, they decided on one that was exactly what we were looking for.  It was one block away.  Perfect…

When they said they wanted it, the person representing the owner said there were 3 others in line ahead of them.  They believe him because when they were there, another 2 groups were waiting to see it.  It must be a popular block.  So we asked them what it would take to get to the front of the line.  After some negotiating, we agreed to present an offer to rent to the owner in which we paid the rent up front for the year.  We got that idea from someone who rented an apartment from us last year.  As an owner, it appealed to us.  No hassle collecting the rent. 

The next step was to prepare the offer.  You need to satisfy the owner on 4 points.  That you really exist (copies of your cedulas fulfill this requirement).  That you are a land baron, like the owner.  You pledge a property as a guarantee that you will fulfill the rental contract.  That you make enough money to pay the rent, (seems a bit silly when you pay the year up front – but this is Uruguay).  You have your escribano swear that your income is such and such.  What such and such should be is anyone’s guess.  We came up with a figure they should be happy with.  Not the U$S500l/month required for immigrants .   And lastly, you have to sign the ‘proposal to rent’ agreement they provide you with.  This lays out the details of what you’re proposing to rent.  It includes things like you’re going to pay for the electricity, telephone, gastos comunes.  It also describes what you get or dont get.  In our case, it was mostly no’s.  No garage.  No heat.  No air conditioning.  No stove.  No fridge.  No furniture.  In fact the only thing we did get was an electric water heater.  That was nice of them. 

Now we have given that to the owner’s agent and are patiently waiting to see if we’ve been approved. 

El Gallito

 

Yesterday was Sunday.  Sunday is a special day in Uruguay for many reasons.  Pocitos is quiet in the morning.  If you go outside around 8:30am and stand still, you’ll hear the sounds of cortinas opening.  You wont hear much else.  Even the dogs seem to be asleep until at least 9am.  For us, the big thing about Sunday is that’s the day we go out and buy the Sunday El Pais, because it contains the Gallito.  The Gallito (thanks Brazzie) is the collective name given to all the classified sections.. El Oferton, Inmuebles, Automotores/Diversos y Trabajo.  It’s the only paper this family buys.  We know it’s popular because friends ask us for it for the rest of the week.  It isn’t uncommon to be lending sections to different people on Monday/Tuesday. 

It occurred to me today that this was a major part of living here.  We’ve never given it much thought.  It’s totally ubiquitous.  But the reason it came to mind today was a real estate issue.  Our daughter wants to move to an apartment.  Where would a local look for an apartment?  The Gallito (Inmuebles), of course.  Either that or you put on some nice clothes and take a pad and pencil with you and walk the streets, (done that before). 

Personally, I’ve been reading the Gallito since my first Sunday in Uruguay-20 or so years ago.  Cant quite explain what it does for me but it seems like it’s the main way to get to know a lot about the country in a very small space.  Even when my Spanish was worse than it is now, I would read the entire paper – at least all the headlines – and most of the picture subtitles.  I probably had the wrong idea of what the article was about most of the time, but I really enjoyed it.  I like to see all the cars for sale, the job postings, the classifieds that show what everyone wants to sell and buy and for how much.  In the past 2 years, I’ve read the real estate section back and forth, skipping some specific sections… like the entire section on Carrasco.  You make some interesting observations.  Pocitos has the most apartments for sale and for rent.  Carrasco, the most houses.  In the car section, Mercedes have the most space.  A lot of stores claim they can unblock any phone on the planet.  You can buy a lot of guns here (I’m a Canadian so to me, this is unbelievable). 

El Pais’s Gallito, like most papers in the 21st century, sees its future as a digital source of information.  Go to www.gallito.com.uy and you can see pretty much everything there is to see, on line. 

Of particular interest to people interested in Uruguay is the section on real estate–inmuebles.  The Gallito has finally figured out there’s money in posting for sales and for rents WITH COLOUR PICTURES.  They are pushing hard to get most ads in the real estate section with several photos of the property.  If they’re successful in this respect, you will literally have MLS on line.  It’s a small country and most serious sellers put their property in this paper, on this day.  Once they all get the idea to go digital, someone surfing from San Francisco will be able to see as much as a local.  Rather than jumping all over the net trying to find visuals on properties for sale, they’ll be in one place.  The other advantage to the Gallito is that (at least up til now), there are no trolls.  They’re all legitimate.  Check it out.  IMHO, it’s the best source of info there is on Uruguay.