And the Guiness World Record Goes to…Urugay!

Believe it or not but this country, that’s just slightly smaller than the state of Washington, cooked up 12,000 kilos of meat and is now in the Guinness World book of Records for the world’s largest Barbecue! My friends from Rotaract and I tried to get into see this amazing sight but it was sold out. The pictures I have are of the swarms of people waiting to get in, and of course I had to capture the protestors outside.

Since we could not get in to see the spectacle, my friends invited me to their place for a barbecue, not the world’s largest but we still devoured our fair share of meat. Before I go any further though, I need to explain that barbecue here is not the same as in the United States. The meat is cooked a lot differently and I tried to document it as well as possible with photos in the event that I lacked the skills to explain this tradition. Here barbecue is called “Asado”, and you always invite friends and family if you are going to have Asado. From what I’ve learned it’s a tradition that started back in the time of the gauchos of this country (gauchos is loosely defined as the cowboys of Uruguay). The meat is placed on a “parilla” which is an open grill and slightly slanted. The fire is started on the side with logs of wood and the meat is cooked in a slow heating process as you gradually push the embers from the fire underneath the parilla.

Asado also refers to the roasted meat you end up eating which, from what I have eaten so far, has always included a thick cut of the cow, morcillas (blood sausage) and parrillero (chorizo) sausages. Many of my friends and family can attest to this, before I left Arizona I was not your most avid fan of meat but I would miss out on a lot of cultural traditions if I kept that fear of meat. The saying here for all new food is, “Hay que probar” You have to taste it! So I’ve done my fair share of tasting, and I definitely eat more meat today then I did in the past but I still can’t bring myself to eat more than a taste of the blood sausage…

Take a Tour of the Old City with Me

I decided to do two entries in a row because I am eager to put up photos and what’s more, I have a lot of free time since for the last two weeks there have been strikes at my public university so I have not been able to go. As I drank mate yesterday afternoon and chatted with a former professor of psychology from the university, I learned a lot about the strikes that are going on this year. They say this year will be a pretty bad year of striking in the education system.

Some years are worse than others, this year the faculty is asking for a higher salary and improved classroom conditions. What kind of conditions? From my matte chat, I discovered there might be some 1300 students in the psychology master’s program and they are all supposed to fit into a lecture with a capacity of 600. There is not enough room for all the students, not enough finances for the materials etc and the teachers are underpaid. And I thought ASU had difficulties!

Also on my time off I took the opportunity to take some photos of the Old City in Montevideo. I was told this part of the old city that you see in the photos is more developed and remodeled than other areas. For now, I’ll call this slideshow, “part one” of the old city. In a couple of days I hope to show some other areas of buildings that have the same antique appeal but are abandoned or just beginning to be bought and redone. (So let’s hope for another strike tomorrow and I'll take more photos!) It surprises me how many people from Canada, the U.S. and other areas have come down here to buy up some of these old buildings and begin to remodel them. They definitely have good taste in places to live,Uruguay is a diamond in the rough.

My host club! Mi club anfitrión!

A few weeks ago I received an email from a very nice Rotarian, Perla. The title of her email gave me the idea that she was my host counselor here in Uruguay, however, when I asked her if she was she didn’t know the answer until she asked the district governor and he responded that it was an excellent idea for her and the Rotary club Malvin in Montevideo, District 4980 to become my host club. I am so grateful they have taken me under their wings. Last night I attended their meeting and enjoyed every minute. They are an upbeat, warm and welcoming group. It was a pleasure to meet and chat with everyone, they were all eager to help connect me with other Rotary clubs and organizations in Montevideo.

I was their speaker for the evening and shared about who I am, the scholarship, about my sponsor district and club and about my home state of Arizona. I answered the questions I had as best I could and at the end of the meeting they were gracious enough to take me home. I hope to be able to visit their club as many weeks as possible.

The rest of this entry is now going to be the same thing only translated in Spanish as I promised them I would translate what I wrote about them.


Hace algunas semanas recibí un e-mail de una rotaria muy simpática, quien se llama Perla. El título de su e-mail me dio la idea de que ella era mi consejera anfitriona acá en Uruguay. Sin embargo, cuando le pregunté si iba a ser mi consejera anfitriona ella no sabía, así que le preguntó al gobernador de Rotary de Montevideo para averiguar quién iba a ser mi anfitriona.

Él le respondió que sería una buena idea que ella y su club Rotary Malvin de Montevideo fuera mi club anfitrión. Y quiero decir que estoy muy agradecida a ellos. Es un grupo energético, amable y que me hacen sentir bienvenida. Fue un placer conocerlos y charlar con ustedes, y además todos están dispuestos para ayudarme y vincularme con otros ruedas y organizaciones en Montevideo.

Yo hice una presentación para ellos y compartí un poco sobre mi historia, la beca, mi club patrocinador y mi estado de Arizona. Contesté las preguntas lo mejor posible y al fin de la reunión fueron muy atentos y me llevaron a mi casa. Espero que pueda visitar su club frecuentemente durante mi estadía en Uruguay.