Shopping in Uruguay

If you are an immigrant to this wonderful country, chances are you will find shopping here different from your home country.  Immediately, you’ll find yourself using money you’ve never seen before, and you’ll have no clue what each coin and bill is worth. Here are a few coins:

From left to right, you can see 5 peso coins, 2 peso coins, and one peso coins, fronts and backs. If you’re like me and can’t see, then you can tell the coins apart by the size. However, while under pressure, this might get tough, especially while you are new here. When I arrived, I had to lift up my glasses and stare at each coin for an embarrassingly long time before I got the feel of the coins. The easiest coin to see and feel is the ten-peso coin. I don’t happen to have one on me now. These are the only coins with a silver-colored ring around them. So they look like donuts. Sort of. These are also larger than five peso coins.

We also have 50 peso coins. These are worth a fair amount, so don’t mix them up with your 5 peso coins. You can tell a 50 by its color and size. These are coppery-colored and won’t fit into a tiny change purse so easily. I don’t see them often, though.

We have a variety of bills here. The most common is the 100 peso bill:

I am not sure if the color is accurate, but I believe on my screen it is showing up the right color. It’s pinkish. We do have green money here, these are the 20 peso bills:

 

Note that I photoed these looking crumply and folded. This is in case someone decides to make fake money out of these. But I have a hint: They’re not worth getting into trouble over! The 20 isn’t even worth a US dollar, and the 100 is worth not much over 3 dollars. When I arrived here, the 100 peso bill was worth close to five dollars, but this has steadily been changing. The market is unpredictable. Who knows what will happen?

We do have larger bills. There are 50’s, 200’s, 500’s, and 1000’s. We also have 2,000 peso bills. These are usually “crispy” and new-looking. You might use them to pay a large bill. but please, don’t use anything larger than 100 on the bus!

It will take time. You’ll curse yourself for accidentally dropping and losing a 20 peso bill, only to realize it’s not worth fussing over too much. You might think a one-peso coin is like a penny, but it’s worth a lot more. So actually, we do have “penny candy” here.

A ten-peso coin might buy you one thing. A small candy bar, some types of gum, a manzana (apple), and other fruits and veggies. For a while, a single egg was maybe 9 pesos. Don’t be surprised if from day to day, prices vary drastically, or from store to store.

The tourist books tell you about the fancy department stores, and the ferias. What they don’t tell you is that all over the place we have tiny mercaditos that offer terrific bargains. Unlike the convenience stores in the States that jack up prices in exchange for of course convenience, our mercaditos are family-run businesses that serve local people. The prices can be feria-cheap. Sometimes.

When I came, I thought “Autoservice” meant a car repair place. Nope. It’s a mercadito. Another word is almacen.  You might see their latest bargain prices listed out front. Don’t pay department store prices! Some of these marcaditos accept credit and debit cards. The department stores are for buying those things that are a big deal, like furniture or fancy appliances, or clothes. I’d say some department store clothes prices are about the same as feria prices, surprisingly. The department store veggie prices are extremey expensive, although many say they’d rather purchase meat there since it might be fresher.

There are specialty stores as well. A panaderia is bakery. The word “pan” means bread. A carcineria is a meat store. These generally sell fresh meat, fresh poultry, and just about any cut of anything you can think of. Look for the sales. One store I go to sells meat for “mascatas.” This means pets, but it’s real meat, not some canned stuff. very cheap. I would tend to trust anything from a carcineria over feria meat, especially in the hotter months. The supermercados (department stores, other name might be hipermercado) also sell meat. You can buy it packaged for you or you can take a number and wait in line to order specially. You will also find cold cuts and a variety of cheeses.

When I first came here, I was shy to order over the counter. I didn’t know what to say, or how to properly pronounce what I wanted. Now, I’m not shy anymore. I just walk up and ask. Be forewarned, though, you need to know your metric! A quarter kilo is roughly half a pound. If you ask for two or more kilos of something, you’re getting the party size.

A stationary store is a papelaria, and a hardware store is a ferretaria. I highly doubt they sell ferrets at ferretarias.  A cerrajeria is a locksmith, and a libraria is a bookstore. The word libro means book. If something is offered “gratis” it’s free or a bonus. Precio bajo means low price, but it might not be!  Often, a panaderia is also a rotisseria. I hope I spelled that right.

Very quickly, you’ll need to know your Spanish numbers. You’ll also want to know days of the week, and how to tell time in 24 hour version. Learn the colors, too, and the names of the months.

If you want to say, “Excuse me” while shopping, you say “permiso,” or, “permis.” I had the hardest time remembering this word, but it’s so important to know it. You’ll hear the word más a lot. This means “more.” If the cashier asks you a question with that word in it, it means, “Do you want more?” I think they’re trained to ask that! Just say yes (si) or no (no).

If you want to use a charge card, that’s a tarjeta. Tar-HET-a. When it’s time to pay, and you are paying with a tarjeta, you’ll need to present your ID. If the store personnel know you real well, you won’t have to show it anymore. Many stores will accept photocopies of passports, but others won’t, so if you’re going someplace new, bring the original.

You’ll be handed a slip where you sign. It will ask for your signature (firma) and your ID number, the number of either your passport of cedula. This is called your documento. When asked for your documento, they usually want for you to write down the number. Other times, they want to see the actual documento. Sometimes, you’ll be asked for your local phone number as well.

If you don’t memorize anything else, memorize your phone number and documento number. It’s awkward to have to look these up on the spot. Don’t give these out to just anyone, please.

Some Spanish words fool us. If someone asks you if you have a pregunta, they’re not asking if you’re pregnant, but if you have a question.

If you’re really up shit’s creek with the Spanish, shake your head and mumble something vague. Act stupid. Someone is going to figure out rather quickly that you are a foreigner.  Don’t worry, they aren’t hostile to foreigners here. We bring in tourist money, so we are welcomed. Tourism is Uruguay’s largest source of income.

Here is a mercadito:

That’s a sort of larger one. Many are much smaller, barely the size of a bedroom. We also have teensy ones called “Kiosks” which are the size of a booth or closet. You would be amazed at how much stuff those tiny kiosks sell.

Lost things

I spent a full hour looking for my phone today. I hate that. Losing things is a daily occurrence for me. I knew I left the house yesterday with the phone on top of my computer. I didn’t see it after that. Today, I tried to look for it and spent a ridiculous amount of time tearing the place apart to no avail. Had it flown off? Things do that. Often, things that are on a table go flying when I brush alongside them with a sleeve, or with part of my jacket, or because it’s just too dark in here and I can’t see. My floor is tiled, meaning it’s so smooth that as soon as any object hits it, that object might slide or roll very far. Once that happens, I often have to take a broom to the floor to try to find the lost object, or use a bright flashlight, since I cannot see anything otherwise.

All my furniture is too makeshift. The table I am sitting at right now is round, and far too small and unsteady to be a desk. Things go flying off of it all the time. My bedside table is worse. It’s a stool. Nothing stays on it. I have another bedside table that is two cardboard structures piled on top of each other. The top is a shoebox. That darned shoebox dumps over almost daily.

This home has no shelves, no closets, no cabinets. So I had to invent whatever I could. One by one, I have purchased large sturdy boxes, sets of drawers, and surfaces such as tables. Each time I get a new storage container, it’s a victory against clutter.

Still, the “flying off” problem continues. I trip over wires, I brush against things, I accidentally nudge something or step on it.

I did find my cell phone. I know now that I had left it on my computer, but then, right before leaving the house, I used it to check my messages and email. I found I had a voicemail. I returned the call, then, went out. That’s when I rather absent-mindedly put my phone into my jacket pocket. I changed jackets since it was cooling off. So the phone was in the pocket of that other jacket. After an hour of frantic searching, including tearing my bed apart and throwing everything off my small round table, I finally realized that my jacket pocket was the one place I hadn’t looked.

Location is more important than anyone realizes….

I cannot stress enough the importance of having a home. The place where one lives must be physically habitable. This means it is reasonably free of vermin such as biting insects, rodents, or disease-mongering bacteria or mold. It should be a place that is reasonably safe from flooding or other “Acts of God” that would render it uninhabitable.

If one is not safe in one’s own home, life becomes miserable. An unsafe home isn’t a home, it’s just four walls. It’s four walls that feels like you are living in Hell.

If your life is Hell right now, look around. Do you see four walls, or do you see a real home?

Privacy is far more important than anyone realizes. A home is a private place where you feel free to be yourself without unwanted intrusion. Do you have privacy in your own home? Is it really a place of shelter?

Right now, I still have privacy struggles. On one side, the noisy TV intrudes on my life far too much. On the other side, I also have privacy issues. I opened my curtain to let light in, but apparently I can’t do that during daylight hours unless the neighbors aren’t around. Today the neighbor man peeked in and waved hello to me. I don’t know how anyone else would feel, but I found that immensely unsettling. Then, maybe ten minutes later, the kids were ramming on my door again. I usually don’t answer since “give an inch take a mile” has already happened too many times. I was in the bathroom when they began their knocking. I ignored it, and moved to the back room just for peace and quiet. Next thing you knew, those kids had pushed open my front door. I was furious, but of course, didn’t say so. I said hello, thanked them and then said “Ciao” and shut the door, ensuring that this time, it was latched so they couldn’t push it open again. I cursed myself for not having it latched the first time. I won’t forget again. Yes, the kids are cute and lovely, but they go too far, taking advantage of me. I try so hard to be polite but it’s getting so much on my nerves at this point.

I did put up curtains. It was like a huge relief to me not having “public life” anymore. I can move around in my front room and know the whole world doesn’t see. Before, if I left my bedroom at night, I had to “cover up” since at any given moment, someone could be out there.  I find it rather uncomfortable living like this, still, knowing that others are just too close by.

Fundraiser update

Dear supporters everywhere, I cannot thank you enough, both for donations and for spreading the word. This fundraiser is now publicly visible so anyone searching through YouCaring or doing a Google search might find it.

I have very good news as well. After 20 years of unemployment, I am now employed. I realized that all along, there was no reason why I couldn’t work. There were two things holding me back. One was repeated interruptions by incarceration in mental wards, which invariably caused me to lose my job. The other was discrimination each time the potential employer caught wind of my history. To break into the world of work was going to mean hiding my past until I “proved” myself. You could liken this to a person with bad credit reinstating their credibility by paying their bills. But first, someone has to give that person a chance, that one lucky break.

To break back into the world of employment, you need to find an employer who isn’t going to judge you nor care about your job history or lack thereof. I was able to secure a job based on my ability and education.

My work will be very part-time at first, however, I will be grateful for any paycheck I can get, no matter how small it is.

I am amused that when I was in the System, I was repeated told I had no ability and that I was worthless. I knew this wasn’t true. Proving the doctors wrong, time after time, gives me immense satisfaction.

Today, ask yourself, “What is holding me back from pursuing my dreams?”

Here is the link to my fundraiser!

https://www.youcaring.com/julie-greene-433556