Hola from Montevideo, Uruguay! The extremely early 5AM check in was a tough time for everyone in the group, we all knew it was worth it because today we were finally going to Uruguay! Tired eyes filled the bus as we traveled to the Buenos Aires port to board a ferry.
Everyone was excited that we didn’t have to take a plane and were going to experience a different form of transportation. The two hour ferry ride was a breeze and next thing we knew it we were stepping foot into our second country of the trip!
While we were sad to leave Argentina for now, we all were so excited to get to experience a new country. During our time in Uruguay we will be learning about the economics and their unique free trade zones as well as seeing how Uruguayan wineries are run and visiting a University. As well as having some fun when we go to Punta Del Este which is a huge vacation destination for South Americans! On our ride to the hotel we were informed about the culture and interesting facts about the country. In Uruguay, the population has begun to shift as elderly people are looking to move from neighboring countries to settle here in Montevideo because of the beautiful scenery but especially for the low taxes.
On our ferry ride, we crossed the Rio de la Plata or “River Plate” which is known as the widest river in the world! It’s called plate because plate means silver it was used as access to the silver trail when the Europeans were in search for gold and silver in Bolivia and Columbia.
After a short ride from the port we arrived at our hotel the Aloft hotel in Montevideo.
Upon arrival we were all hungry and ready to get out and try what Uruguay had to offer. We were shocked at the prices because we noticed the exchange rate here is much stronger than Argentina’s. In our short time we’ve been here we’ve noticed that Uruguay’s economy is much more stable than Argentina. In Argentina they have restrictions on how much American money they can have. With that being said they have many different exchange rates as our group noticed because you got different amounts of money depending on where you exchanged your dollars. We have learned that we have to be aware of where to exchange our currency to get the most for our dollar! Though we did have to shell out a few more dollars for lunch than we were used to back in Argentina, it sure was worth it.
We’re all looking forward to making the best of the time we have here in Uruguay before we have to return to Argentina for the final leg of our trip!
Adios!
Kim Curtin
SIE 2020, Latin America 