lluvias y tormentas (rain and storm)

you can tell it´s a cloudy day when there´s a waiting list to get on the internet at 4pm. last night on the news they announced a storm for
the next 2 days. i only saw 3 people in the water today. i´m glad i
spent hours swimming yesterday. right after that it became overcast.

i had Chajá de Paysandú yesterday. (it´s pronounced chahá)
http://www.postrechaja.com/
Chajá is a cake made from dule de leche, meringue and chantilly (i don´t know how to translate that in english). uruguay´s the only place you can have Chajá. no one else can make it and sell it as Chajá ´cause it´s a registered trademark. a family from Paysandú started making it and selling it to grocery stores, confiterias and restaurants. Paysandú is a small town in the interiro. it´s really delicious and i´m going to try and find the recipe for it.

there´s no cofee maker in the apartment and the closest place that serves cofee is mcdonald´s which is downstairs. it´s a really nice mcdonald´s with a balcony overlooking the ocean! they have a breakfast special. 2 medialunas y cafe for $25 pesos ($1). a medialuna (half moon) is another way of saying croissant. the medialunas are sweet and so so good. i can´t believe i just had something i really liked from mcdonald´s!

after wearing t-shirts and flip flops for a month, i´m dying to go out and look glamorous. wear high heels, stockings, a dress and a jacket! i can´t wait to come back and wear layers! i´ve also been watching the fall and winter 2006-2007 fashion shows from milan and nyc which is also making me excited to dress up!

a few things to remember if you ever want to visit south america.

when you order mineral water in a restaurant, you have to either say agua con gas or agua sin gas (water with bubles or without)

wine is cheaper than coca cola (in argentina and uruguay. i don´t know about anywhere else)

always kiss a person on the cheek when you´re introduced to them or even if you know them. it´s like saying hi.

if you want eggs for breakfast you have to stay home and make them yourself. unless you´re in punta del esta which is the only place that i saw that had a menu that had an "american breakfast". the only omelettes you´ll be able to have is for dinner.

if you´re very health conscious and don´t like to cook your own meals, then forget about coming to argentina or uruguay! there´s something very popular here that you can order in any restaurant. it´s called chivito. and it´s fries with meat on top, fried eggs and bacon. i saw a waiter carrying this on a plate and it looks like a mountain! it´s
so huge and one person is going to eat that! that one is called chivito cananadiense because there´s bacon in it. there´s different types of chivito´s.

there´s a woman staying in our building that i thought was black. she´s actually tanned. she´s been here since november. she´s so dark, it looks very unnatural. i´ve never seen anyone this tanned before in my life.