I took a bus from Minas to Montevideo. With Mariela’s number in my hand, I was able to purchase a calling card. She started to give me directions to her job but then said to give her 20 minutes and she’d meet me at the bus station. With 20 minutes to spare, I took a seat, wondering what awaited me!
Mariela arrived and I was so excited to see her! It was about rush hour so we hopped on a very crowded bus to her neighborhood, where high-rise apartments, shops and restaurants greeted me. Before we headed to her apartment we stopped in a bodega for some snacks.
We walked into her building, a doorman building, and dropped my bags in Mariela’s studio apartment. She invited me to do laundry (!) in the basement of her building and shower for dinner with Romina later that evening. Once showered, I felt like a brand new person. I even borrowed a dress from Mariela that I wore out to dinner, feeling so much prettier and nicer than my backpacker clothes! I was able to Skype with my family and charge my computer. I hadn’t even been using it but the battery was drained.
I called the US Embassy to find out about an English-speaking eye doctor and they told me to call back. Thanks. Mariela started to ask a few friends about an English-speaking eye doctor and we’d wait until the next day.
Since dinner wouldn’t be for hours, Mariela made us some mate and we enjoyed some snacks on her balcony.
One shot of the balcony view – straight ahead…
A view of her courtyard below…
Mariela’s spread prepared for snacking…
A delicious cheese find. Sure it’s cheese in a glass. But it was GOOD!
Conaprole the brand of cheese is actually one of the largest dairy brands in Uruguay. Compare them to a Kraft, but they are everywhere in the dairy section of the supermarket.
simply three cents 
Leave a Reply