Yesterday was our Skeleton event and our very last South American country, and that finished off the Americas.
Uruguay was a fine place to finish. It's a Latin American leader in many categories of the 'quality of life index'. It has a hig literacy rate, low corruption, freedom of the press, and a host of other civil liberties.
It;s often called the Switzerland of South America because of a stable democracy and social benefits such as free education. (They are also the most secular country in all of the Americas.)
If you want a USA comparison, think of it as the California of South America. Or, maybe the Colorado.
In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana. They even have 'pot clubs' where members can grow cannabis.
Uruguay is about the size of Missouri, but it has a lot to offer, from it's rolling farmland, to the surf pounded coastline, to the charming colonial towns, to the quiet fishing villages, to the liveliest beach party city in South America (Punta del Este).
Uruguay's trademarks are football(soccer), gauchos (cowboys), and steaks.
Which is where our landmark comes in.
The Fray Bentos Meat Pie Factory was given 'Unesco World Heritage' status in 2015. The meat pies, corned beef, bouillon cubes and more than 200 other meat products produced there became staple foods that were exported to soldiers (mostly British) during WWI and WWI. It's products have become iconic, and if you watch closely, you may even see the meat pies in movies about either world wars.
The town of Fray Bentos, where the plant is located, became so famous for its meat products, that it became known as 'The Great Kitchen of the World'.
It's kind of fitting to have our landmark be part of the meat packing industry. The land is very flat in Uruguay, making it a good place to raise the 12 million 'steaks on legs' Cows out number people in Uruguay 3 to 1. Huge Steaks over a barbecue are a staple in Uruguay.
But if you're looking for another food, on the 29th of every month, it's customary for everyone in Uruguay to eat gnocchi. It's a nod to the nation's Italian heritage, when only staple foods like flour and potatoes remained at the end of the month.
Of course for entertainment in Uruguay they have some party beach towns, a joint rodeo festival with Argentina, and football (soccer). Like it's South American neighbors, it's a football-crazed country. In 1930 they even hosted the first World Cup ever-- and won! They beat Argentina.
The name Uruguay means 'river of colorful birds' in Guarani (the language spoken by the natives), but Urugay is also known as Armadillo country. It's their national animal (and, side note: I hate them. A mammal isn't supposed ot have a hard shell. They're the only ones that do, and it's creepy, and they get into my trash, and I am not a fan.)
The boys made their Uruguay postcards.
The boys made their postcards. Calib's featured the Hand of Punta del Este, a giant sculpture that comes up from the sand on the beach and looks like five fingers reaching up. It was made in 1982, and is a defining landmark.
Peyton's featured mountains, and we discussed how Uruguay was flat, so I didn't vote for him. Plus he put an armadillo all rolled up in the corner.
And Hayden's is blurry, but his featured the fingers in the sand as well.
When we do the country, we go through all of our previous flags and the boys point to the country. Dipper was not having it yesterday. He covered most of the middle east.
For dinner we took a little help from the international section at publix, and a fun new kind of squash.
We had potatoes with the Chimichurri sauce, the squash roasted, apples and oranges, and a cookie with dulche de leche spread. Our main dish had the mayo-ketchup mix on the Chivito Sandwich.
This meal earned five spoons up.
We shredded a beef roast in the instant pot, because it's easier for our braces kid than a normal steak, and we left the mayo-ketchup off the sandwich for Peyton, but other than that, everyone was pretty happy.
The potatoes were delicious, but we all love chimichurri, and the squash was a surprise. Even the boys said 'it wasn't that bad'. Everyone ate every last bit of their sandwiches.
Our event was Skeleton. I had this plastic one I picked up at the dollar store way back during Halloween, and we just kind of tore it a part. They have to ride the roller board (on their bellies head first like in the real skeleton) around the kitchen to collect the various skeleton parts. Fastest time won.
And they're off! Hayden went first, followed by Calib and then Peyton.
Peyton was our winner (Hayden's time there is one minute 46 seconds, the rest of the time is in seconds).
We had our Skeleton medal ceremony.
And tallied up all the medals.
Not much has changed in the stands. Everyone's kind of holding where they are.
And we colored in our very last South American country in a dark red along the east coast of South America to the south of pink Brazil, and to the east of bright blue Argentina (which was our very first South American country!)
That my friends, is 193 down... ONLY THREE TO GO!
Next Up: The last of Europe with Portugal & our Moguls event.
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