I was meant to go to Bolivia post Peru, but Bolivia is at higher altitude so there was no way I was going there so I flew to Uruguay because the flight was cheaper than Brazil. Getting off the plane was dreamy. I could walk as much as I liked and breathe. Breathing is so underrated!
The first two days in Montevideo however, I was absolutely gutted. It was basically England. Gloomy, cold and expensive.
£6.50 for four apples?! You what mate!?
For the first time in two months I had to cook, it was the worse. There wasn't a lot to do sightseeingwise, it meant I was about to spend almost two weeks doing almost nothing. Having a routine. Eugh.
Surprisingly though I've fallen in love with Montevideo and spent the past week or so trying to figure out why.
My second night I was invited out for a run. Normally that's an absolute no go for me, I'll look so unfit; it'll feel awful; they'll judge me. But I agreed, off we went for a wander in search of coffee first, chitchatterring and connecting. Coffee acquired, time to run on the beach.
The anxiety. How far are we going? How long for? Pressure.
No. No pressure.
Put a timer on for 30mins and we run until it goes off. Done. Like magic. Run as far and as fast as you like but just for 30mins.
What?! Well I never! This simple hack changed my running life. Thank you 🙏🏼✨
People.
People are why I love it here. Every person I have had the pleasure of interacting with on this trip has been genuine. They are open, kind and interested. The Latin culture is somewhere I fit in. There's no feeling of "what can you offer me in return". It's just genuine friendly, kindness.
The men are respectful and have manners, from putting the kettle on to opening doors to ensuring I am safe, with no ulterior motives.
The women are friendly and warm. I love a hug and did worry I would miss human contact on this trip, absolutely not. On the daily I could not count the hugs just from greetings, they make me feel a real sense they are happy to see me and happy to be sharing that time with me. We all know our time together is limited, it would be so easy and a lot less effort to not bother with each other. Go about our parallel lives, but here I am, making the deepest connections with people I may never see again.
Montevideo as a city is fascinating, it's the youngest city I think I've visited and it's history is just a big ol' hodge podge of people trying to make it their own. There are so many different cultural influences from their neighbouring Argentina and Brazil to the EU to the US that to start with I felt it lacked its own identity. Spending time wandering and living here you can see it forming its own identity, using the influences and merging them, growing and finding itself. The architecture is a complete mix and the food is from all over the world.
It's quite relatable to me, growing up in Spain, in primary school I was accepted by the Spanish and was "Spanish". Moving towns/schools in secondary being clearly physically English I was not accepted by the Spanish and the English thought I was weird. For years (without realising) I had this need to belong so would fit to the moulds for any relationships/groups/work. It wasn't until the last few years I stopped caring about what society expected that I started to understand this. The always feeling unsettled and ungrounded. Montevideo is the first place I have felt grounded. Latin America is the first place since primary school where I have felt accepted and settled with who I am.
I can't wait to come back to Montevideo see how it grows and finds itself.
