To Kiss or Not to Kiss...

So I'm getting asked a lot about when I'm updating, so I guess it's time for something quick:
At this time, my life in Montevideo has been consumed by looking for an apartment, figuring out using a cell phone (or any phone), and demonstrating in general just how much of an international travel novice I really am. Here's what I've learned so far:

Chivitos is delicious:

Montevideo loves statues. They're everywhere. Here's two I've photographed so far:

Ghandi on the Rambla

General Artigas in Plaza Independencia

Maybe I'll start an album of every statue I see here, but it would be extensive. Aside from this, Montevideo is architecturally all over the place. There's old colonial, reminding me of Charleston or New Orleans, but with more sidewalk. Many buildings are modern, but often stuck in the middle is something completely bizarre. For instance, Castillo Pitamiglio, just two blocks from my hotel, in the middle of the nice neighborhood of Pocitos (this is pretty much across the street from Ghandi's bust):

Castillo Pitamiglio

Most of what I've been doing since being here though is apartment hunting. Muy difícil y caro (expensive). My hotel is in the extremely expensive neighborhood of Pocitos, which is also where most of the apartments I've looked at are located. Pocitos is beautiful, especially the Rambla along the Rio de la Plata.

I guess Nadia owns this stretch...

But back to apartments! Along with basically needing three months rent up front, I'm going to be lucky if I get to eat at all for the remainder of August. Luckily the hotel includes breakfast, so I load up for the day. However, I do have some options I'm checking out this weekend, and hopefully this part of business here will be complete.

Aside from the apartment search, I did meet with Fulbright, which allowed me to see some of downtown and use the bus system, which is great, except that streets aren't well marked here. This wasn't a problem when I went to the Fulbright office, but my next bus trip was at night, and I missed my stop by five blocks.

This bus ride was my trip to meet Victoria (Pico) Riñon, one of my Fulbright affiliations. I actually had the opportunity to meet her entire family, tried mate (I liked), was fed Uruguayan pizza (delicious!!), and had my first awkward moment with the Uruguayan tradition of one kiss on the cheek. Until meeting Victoria's brother, I realized I had only met women in Uruguay, and there's always the single kiss on the cheek. I'm still not sure how this works for the men, but I'm only going handshake from here on out. All was fine, but there were laughs. Her brothers Juan Pablo and "Nacho" both love glam rock, so I felt right at home. I was shown videos of their Guns N Roses tribute band, and they're pretty awesome. Nacho is the drummer, and is a big fan of Tommy Lee, but is a much better drummer. Victoria is awesome, and has been a huge help so far. Tomorrow I'm meeting with her to attend my first street market, and finally, dominguero, a street party with candombe drumming!!! And it's in Ansina, one of the historic birthplaces of candombe (insert finger snapping a-la Simon Gomez here).

So I'll leave it at that, but next week is already filling up with things to do, including a Dan Moore (University of Iowa) clinic at the Universidad de la República. Kind of strange, since the first clinicians I remember seeing at the University of South Carolina was the Britain/Moore duo.
Anyway, buen día!