After our first day in Montevideo, the group was ready for a fun filled second day before heading the Punta del Este. We began our morning with a tour of the city. We used our bus and had Gustavo as our driver, and Silvana, a local in Montevideo, shared so much information on the city and its history. To begin our tour, we drove along the Rambla which is the main avenue that stretches from Uruguay’s port to its airport. With buildings on one side and water on the other, its a popular area for people to be walking so they can get to their condo in the condominium complexes or go to one of the beaches along the Rambla. The Rambla is a huge part of life in Uruguay because of its length and location in the country.
The very first piece of information Silvana shared with us that the mall in front of the hotel we are staying at used to be a prison! The front exterior of the mall is made of the old prison wall and you can tell by how thick the wall is made to be. We were all surprised to learn this as many of us had gone shopping there the night before. The prison was named Punta Carretas, and the mall and neighborhood where we stayed are also called Punta Carretas. Carretas means Wagons, and many years ago, Montevideo had wagons as its main form of travel and transportation. The wagons also used to bring waste to the peninsula where the light house is, which is how the neighborhood got its names.
Silvana then went on to discuss more of the history of Montevideo. The city was founded in 1726. This is very late for the city as many others were founded almost 200 years earlier. Explorers landed in Uruguay in 1516, but were killed by indigenous people who wanted to protect their land. Montevideo was later established after explorers who wanted to reach the cities that had gold and silver would take the River Plata and stop in the natural port of Montevideo. This began the foundation of the old city which we were able to visit.
As the city has developed, the modern city has grown into where the old city is. The country has kept as much if the original wall and gate entrance to the city as they could to preserve the history. This reminded me of the way we preserve the history of our school with the Archway that we have at Bryant, but hopefully we weren’t cursed with the risk of not graduating on time by walking through the gate.
Another site we were able to see was the statue of Artigas. Uruguay believes that Artigas is the country’s hero because he was the one who decided the country was ready to be independent. In the square in front of the entrance is his statue and mausoleum that is meant to honor all he has done for the country. When they gained their independence in 1885, the country was able to create their own constitution and have the government structure the desired.
Another site that was interesting to us was when we visited the Congress building. I noticed throughout the trip that in any sense of government, security seems pretty relaxed. The people of Montevideo always know where their President is and it seemed as if we could walk right into the Congress building without anyone stopping us. Across the street from the Congress building there was a park that featured graffiti by local artists. The government in Uruguay is working to get all of the artists together and give them each an area where they can express their work because it has become such an issue in the city. Some students also enjoyed the different aspects of the park.
Another point Silvana spoke about regarding the government was Batlle Park and how it got its name. Uruguay has had four different presidents from the Batlle family. This was not due to democracy, but rather election by the people. We had a similar phenomenon in our goverment when we had two members of the Bush family hold office, but we haven’t had more than two members of a family in all of our history. In this park, there is a monument that commemorates the history of the wagons that the country once relied on. We too relied on wagons at one time in the US, but we used cotton to cover the tops of them and had four wheels. Uruguay does not have the proper climate to grow cotton, so they had thatch roofs on their wagons. They also used two wheels instead of four because they believed it was easier to maneuver.
We ended the tour by having lunch in the port market. Overall, we really learned a lot about Uruguay during our city tour and are excited for the rest of our time here!
¡Hasta luego!
Sofia Oakes
SIE 2020, Latin America 