Uruguay can be found on the South-eastern coast of South America, the second smallest country in the continent, where it borders Argentina and Brazil. The population is close to 3.5 million and with plenty of cultivatable land - which makes up a low population density and allows for many opportunities of economic development.
As you fly into Montevideo; the capital city, you’ll see freshly paved roads and blue glossy modern-looking buildings, however, if you walk to the old part of the city you will find yourself feeling as though you went back in time. Plenty of old architecture painted in an off-white colour with tall pillars and beams made from cement that makes up the building’s rough structure, as you walk you smell cigarettes, marijuana, and the fresh smell of barbequed meat - typically delicious grassfed cow, chicken, and lamb. Plenty of glamorous bright-coloured birds flying in a flock above your head and into the huge palm trees that sit on trimmed elegant green grass. As you walk along the sidewalk listening to car gears change and people shouting as they live their active lifestyle. When driving to small towns, hours away from Montevideo, such as La Paloma or Punta del Este on the way you drive through the tall grass prairies were you see cattle freely roaming around, lambs, and locals taking tourists on engaging and personable horse tours. When you arrive to a town like La Paloma the roads are in rough condition, old small building architecture hosted by restaurants, surf shops and many welcoming stray dogs running through the streets and into backyards, and the smell of the salty ocean mixed with fried fish and margarita pizza aromas hovering throughout the town. The wooded debris compact beige-sand beaches with plenty of small streams and pools leading out to the ocean are filled with crabs and the minute sized fish, allow for the perfect football, American football, and tennis matches to be played on as the dense sand beach doesn't absorb the bounce.
In Uruguay, there are plenty of historical foundations to be seen. Old architecture that dates back centuries, for example, the Fortress of Santa Teresa dates back to 1762, was erected by the Portguese, where it sits in a region of dunes and wetlands, its one of the few colonial-era fortifications remaining in South America. One of the first ever stadiums built, The Estadio Centanario, was built between 1929 - 1930 for two purposes; to host the FIFA World Cup and to commemorate the centenary of Uruguay's First Constitution. When arriving, I first noticed the batch of police assembled together with rifles and handguns while holding a riot shield as you walk towards them into the concrete building that felt as though you had just been thrown into prison; the old lights and pipes in the ceiling, filthy walls and floors, and the slight feeling of discomfort before you walk down the isle to take your seat in the stands. Its the most thrilling experience being in a country where no one cares who you are, cares so much about a sport and having fans singing and jumping at any given opportunity for a goal is not an experience everyone in life will encounter - which makes the experience so valuable.
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