Uruguay is considered the Switzerland of Latin America, not for landscape reasons but for the democratic and stable system. It’s one of the safest countries in South America, from the time you step a foot in Uruguay and you can feel the charm and friendliness of this country and its people. It’s very clean and has a beautiful nature that puts it at the same level of some of the countries in Europe or North America.
I stayed at a hostel in the heart of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Living at a hostel you meet all kind of people and that adds to the experience. At this particular hostel, the room I was staying in had 8 beds, almost everyone in the room has been staying there for a long time. One of the people who’s been there for a while is originally from Spain and he buy and sells printers and keeps traveling, I didn’t get all the details on how he exactly does that. I also noticed a soccer ball in the room and I thought it’s for someone so they can enjoy their free time. One morning I got up and I saw a guy, he was from Argentina, and he said I am off to work and he had the ball in his hand. I asked him what you do for work, he smiled and tossed the ball. It turned out that he does tricks in front of traffic light and that’s how he makes his living. It’s nice to see the energy in this particular hostel. There were a group of friends from Chile who were traveling together and every day I saw them playing the guitar and singing, it’s just beautiful to see people enjoying life and having good time.
I then went to Punta del Este, a very nice city on the beach, it’s known as the Monaco of South America. It’s has many luxury apartment and condominium buildings, as well as many luxury houses along the beach.
At the hostel in Punta del Este, I met some interesting people, from Germany, Argentina, Israel, Spain and Brazil. The guy from Israel invited me to have dinner with him and his girlfriend from Germany, I sat with them but I declined dinner because I ate earlier. The guy from Argentina, sells helmets that has 2 cups on the top that usually people would fill with drinks. He buys the helmets and he drilled them to attach the cups on them and sells them like that. He’s been doing this business for 3 years, traveling all over South America, usually he sells in events and concerts He told me a lot of young Argentinians are fed up with politics and the social issues their country is going through, that’s why you see many of them traveling to other places trying to make living. Personally, when I meet people like these people who earn their living in non traditional fashion, I feel inspired by how amazing they are to make a living from selling things like this and enjoy themselves in the process traveling to different places.
I had good time sharing and learning from people at the hostel. I wish the weather was better, it was cloudy and the day I left to pinta Del este, it didn’t stop raining, otherwise I would probably stayed a little longer. The next morning in Punta Del este I got up and went running for about an hour and then practiced some yoga at the beach, it was an amazing feeling. I felt so happy and relaxed living and enjoying the moment. I was so grateful for this life and these moments I have.
