Day #10. Montevideo, Uruguay.

Woke up bright and early at 10 am and had my typical “South American continental breakfast” of toast, butter, guava jam, dulce de leche – just a little bit, frosted flakes, an orange, and hot tea with milk. A lot of sweet stuff. They eat the dulce de leche by the spoonful, like how I eat peanut butter.

Was planning on going to the Sunday market, which I heard is just as big as the famous San Talmo one in Buenos Aires. The owners of the hostel – Pati (prounouced “pa-chee”, short for Patricia) and Jope (short for Jose Pedro) – say that their market is much more authentic. I headed that way but got distracted by a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant on the way. The menu looked too good! I decided to eat lunch there, and I’m so glad I did. Started with a glass of white wine, which the sweet old lady hostess brought over. There was some cork and a fruit fly floating around in it. I think she caught me eyeing it suspiciously, because she whisked it away before I could even take a sip and brought out another, fresher looking glass. They gave me an appetizer of their traditional potato omellete – “tortilla de patata” – on the house. The first course was a tantalizing salad loaded with fresh veggies, some of which surprised me. Bean sprouts?? Definitely didn’t expect that one. Tried hearts of palm, an item found in many dishes here including pizza. It was actually quite delicious, tangy like a pickle. The 2^nd course was a ratatouille of perfectly cooked and seasoned fresh vegetables: green beans, eggplant, summer squash, carrot, garbonzos, and tomato; all dressed in a “salsa verde”. The chefs would peak around the kitchen at me as I took the first bite of each dish, smiling the biggest smiles and bobbing their heads up and down as I gave them a thumbs up. Such service!! As I sat at the table rubbing my belly and wondering how I was gonna walk out of there, they brought me another sweet gift on the house. It was a shot of something green, creamy, and fruity. They said it was champagne, fruit, lemon, and something else. I loved it!! Whatever it is, I need to figure out the recipe.

After that, I simply didn’t have it in me to go to another market. Markets are super stimulating and can be very draining. Instead, Valdmir and I went to the beach where we soaked up some rays and played a little volleyball. My vball skillz have really gone downhill since the San Diego days. Then went to a park to sit in the shade and play music on the ukulele. He is trying to teach me a Brazilian song. It’s a painfully slow process… unfortunately, I am not a natural at Portuguese. But I am determined to learn the chorus to this song, so I can surprise friends at burning man next year J

There was some major musical talent in the house later that night. A girl with the voice of Christina Aguilera meets Adele wowed everyone with her versions of everything from Eminessence to Alicia Keys. I heard she is a Disney actor at the Disneyland in Brazil. No way, I didn’t know they had one in Brazil!! How about that.