Montevideo

Between the heat and humidity, it was sweltering in Montevideo. One of our stops included Uruguay’s parliamentary building.

As you can see, I got some “side eye” once again from the soldier standing guard. I pitied him in that wool uniform on such a hot day!

Our guide described Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina as a sandwich, “with Uruguay being the cheese in the middle.” I’m not sure how far one can carry that metaphor, but I was surprised how different the economies are.

Argentina, for instance, experiences so much inflation that people pay for things, such as rent, month by month. Locals were happy for us to spend US dollars there, because it’s a much more stable currency than their own.

Meanwhile, Uruguay has a much more stable economy than Argentina. Their inflation is a mere 9% per year, rather than that much (or more) per month.

When our Argentinian guide was telling us about their inflation, a German woman asked, “But are people happy here?” to which the guide replied that, “Sure! We are happy people. We are used to our problems here and know how to live with them.”

As we travel the world, I imagine what it would be like to live in all these different places.

Partway through our tour, I realized I was no longer sweating - not a good sign in severe heat. After that, I stayed on the bus for the rest of the tour. After we returned, took a cold shower, drank a bunch of water. I was too wiped out to join Larry for dinner, but I ventured out for ice cream later that night.

Phew! The heat really wiped me out!Read more