Uruguay for Hungry Travelers – Part 1

For a long time, Uruguay had been a part of Argentina and then Brazil, and after that a part of Argentina again. And even though it’s now a sovereign country, it’s still strongly linked to Argentina, especially to the Buenos Aires Province.

Similarities to Argentina

The Argentines like to joke that Uruguay is just one of the Argentinian provinces, since it’s so similar to Argentina. Let me list a few examples of the similarities between the Argentines and the Uruguayans:

• They both adore mate. It’s a way of drinking tea prepared from the yerba mate herb (pronounced SHER-bah MAH-teh). The so-called gourds that are made of leather or wood are traditionally used to prepare mate. It’s filled with herb leaves, covered with a hand, and then shaken in order to remove the finest powdery particles. Hot water (agua caliente) is then poured into the gourd which mustn’t reach over 85 degrees Celsius, otherwise it would damage the herbs. A special metal straw with a filter at the end is dipped into the mixture that can then be drunk without stirring. You can see people with a thermos in one hand and a mate gourd in the other in Argentina and Uruguay. They drink mate through the whole day, slowly sipping it from dawn till dusk, adding water from the thermos and continuing sipping. You can see everyone drinking mate, from road and bank workers to tourist guides, giving tours with a gourd of mate in one hand.
• They can’t live without grilled beef. Both countries are famous for beef producers and Uruguay can boast of having four times more cows (and bulls) than there are people in the country. Most bulls end up on the plates of the locals. There are plenty of restaurants, called parillas, at every step, serving grilled beef and you can order excellent steaks, spare ribs and various organ meats. Uruguay also has one (and only) characteristic when it comes to this: the chivito sandwich that’s similar to a burger but has steak instead of minced meat.
• Look at the flags of Argentina and Uruguay. Do they look similar? The Argentinian flag has three stripes alternating blue and white with the sun in the middle. Uruguay took the American flag and put the sun in the upper left corner, and the stripes are alternating white and blue.
• The dialect is basically the same. Argentina has many Spanish dialects, but the one spoken in Buenos Aires Province is identical to Uruguayan Spanish. The most noticeable feature is the sh sound. An example of this is the abovementioned yerba mate that is usually pronounced as yerba mate in Spanish, but the Uruguayans pronounce y with a sh sound. The same goes for ll, usually pronounced as y in Spanish but as sh in Uruguay. For example, Villa Serrana is pronounced Visha Serrana in Uruguay.

There are many more similarities and historically the two countries went through similar ordeals: the arrival of immigrants, dictatorship, democracy etc. The only difference is that during the dictatorship in Uruguay Catholicism was removed from the constitution and Uruguay became a secular country, while Argentina on the other hand remains a Catholic country.

Cannabis legalisation

The first thing you’ll probably hear about Uruguay is that it was the first country in South America to have legalised cannabis. But this is no Amsterdam and the green substance isn’t as easily available as in the Netherlands. Cannabis can be bought at the chemist’s, but you need to register as a buyer and be a resident of Uruguay. In other words, anyone wanting to buy cannabis would first have to apply for residency and then wait in line at the chemist’s when a new shipment arrives. It is said that there’s never enough cannabis in stock for everyone. Why don’t people grow cannabis themselves then, you might ask. Home cannabis cultivation is strictly regulated and requires a permit. And if you’re already registered as a buyer, then you can’t register as a cultivator. Therefore, we can conclude that cannabis is mostly sold illegally in Uruguay.

Happiness in Uruguay

Our trip to Uruguay is a part of a longer road trip across South America where we took on a mission of asking random people what makes them happy. We got some really interesting answers in Uruguay.

Darillo, a Uruguayan bicycle traveller:
“For me, happiness is living in the moment. To make the most of the given moment, enjoy it and be happy in it. To look ahead to what’s going to happen in a day, a week, a month, or look back at what used to be and ‘relish’ how wonderful it was, that’s not happiness. Thinking how wonderful it was back then and that today it’s not wonderful anymore just saddens me.”

Magela, a worker in tourism:
“Erm, that’s a difficult question. What probably makes me happy are the most basic things. If I had to choose one thing, it would be my family.”

Camila, working at El Viajero in Montevideo:
“Performances, shows. I love football, so football matches and their atmosphere. My other passion is rock music, so I could say that rock concerts are my other happiness.”

You can find more about Uruguay next time. We’re going to write about what to see in Uruguay, what the prices are there, where to stay, and how to travel around.