Dear Marta,
I am curious about why you chose Punta del Este.  Do you think it has topped out? I was surprised at the high price of property when I was there earlier this year. Also, Punta is not a “walkable” city and is highly seasonal, which gave me pause about living there. I also sniffed out Montevideo, Uruguay - the location, the architecture, the opportunity for growth - were all there. But the food and the spirit of the people? Something missing. Like joy.  Color. Your take on Punta del Este and Montevideo? - Editor

Dear Robin,
In terms of why I’m building in Punta del Este? Well, my house is not even going to be in Punta del Este, but 20 minutes is close enough, and I have a completely deserted beach. I would not advise buying a house in Montevideo because I don´t like Montevideo, and it has to do with the people. There seems to be a negative magnetic field under Montevideo (it´s been a life-long joke/theory of mine, but many people say it seriously) and the place is just a downer. The drabness, I call it "behind-the-iron-curtain-chic" we are so Eastern European under Soviet rule... Although I can appreciate that it is pretty in many places and many ways.

The thing about Punta del Este is a) the sense that there´s something upbeat or positive or energizing about it, and b) it really is all things to all people. Whatever you want, artists, millionaires, fashion set, cozy apartment life, or a large house on a huge piece of land, forest, a farm with ocean views... Whatever it is, you can find it there. Decent services (Movie theaters!) excellent supermarkets and beautiful nature, and a very easy way out, as you can be in Montevideo airport with a 90 min. bus ride,or fly to Buenos Aires with the shuttle from the Punta del Este airport, or if you want the cheap alternative, a 4-5 hour bus/ferry ride...

There are no young or youngish expats, but the people are still mostly foreigners, as Uruguayans either can't afford Punta del Este or hate it or both. Most are Argentines, followed by Brazilians and Paraguayans, Europeans and a fast growing number of Americans. Mostly the expats are people who have worked as executives for multinationals in Argentina, fallen in love with Punta, and retired there, or spend a considerable amount of time there. Also, expats (that is, non-Latin Americans) come mostly for the summer season, and don't live there full time.A new kind of expat is the New Yorkers (I have a couple of friends and several customers in that circle) who are brought down to Punta by an Argentine friend living in NY, or after visiting an Argentine friend/business contact in Buenos Aires who decides to impress them by bringing them to Punta, they fall in love, purchase property, and continue coming down on vacations and bringing their friends. They come three or four times a year, and are usually buried in house guests. One such friend, for example, is an interior designer in NY, who started coming as a house guest about 5 years ago, bought property a year and a half ago, and now he comes down every three months or so. Then in the height of the season there's the jet set crowd, the Naomi Cipriani, Versace, Di Caprio, Shakira etc. etc. who come down to their secluded farms near the ocean (between La Barra and Jose Ignacio) and stay for the couple of weeks of the see-and-be-seen season  (Dec.26-Jan15).

I don't think Punta del Este is topped out, because a) we're still light years away from prices in say, Mexico and even Turkey, not to mention the U.S. or Europe, and b) the place is only now beginning to be discovered by Europeans and Americans, so prices could easily double or more in the near future, barring of course, another Argentine crisis.

I also feel that the best deal right now in Uruguay is buying land and building yourself. Land is even cheaper in relative terms than houses or apartments. For example, where I'm building my house, I just bought another 1400 square meters (next to the two other lots I had, which brings the total to one acre). This last lot, one block away from the ocean, with forest and sea views, 5 mins away from the airport, 1hr away from Montevideo and 20 mins away from Punta, cost me $17,500. Of course you can find lots for
$1,500 in Brazil, but they will be in the middle of nowhere, and soon the Heart of Darkness thing will set in, whereas here I am, door to door, one and a half hours away from Aeroparque in Buenos Aires, which is more than most Argentines can say. 

Yes, the season in Punta del Este is short, I would say December through end of March. I really regret that this year I left at the beginning of March, my favorite month in Punta del Este.

The one-two Buenos Aires-Punta del Este combo sounds like a perfect formula for what you are seeking. 

Buenos Aires is really a wonderful city. And a wonderful city to live in as a foreigner as well. But you do need Punta if you live there, that´s why 80% of the people in Punta del Este are Argentines :-) As for it being walkable, you may stay in the Peninsula and do without a car, but you really will not get a fraction of what Punta is without a car. There are so many places to go which are so distant, basically you have 30 kilometers in one direction, 30 in the opposite, and the big triangle in the middle.... so if you are based in Buenos Aires, you can always come on the ferry with your car, or cross a bridge (if we are not at war with Argentina).

I would not advise living in a country where the cultural differences with the local population are too wide. I say this while I live in Turkey, which is a case in point. A problem with being an eternal expat and living in a place that is too "exotic" is the "easy copout." When I was living in Sao Paulo I came to hate most of the expat journalists because they seemed to "float" over Sao Paulo, reminiscing about their last country, bitching about Brazil, and longing for the next utopian destination. I think that if you can moderately identify with the country/culture you live in, the chances of developing that jadedness are reduced, and your chances for meaningful integration and a more "real" life increase. If I were not going back to Uruguay 4 months a year, and travelling another one or two months to Asia and NY, for example, I would not be able to live in Turkey. Even though I am married to a Turk, and I have been here 4 years already, I cannot feel committed to this country... so I try hard to avoid becoming the bitter expat by leaving often, which keeps me distracted from the things that bother me. Another issue for example are families and children in mixed couples... I know of a 5 year-old boy, with English mom and Turkish father, but raised in Turkey since he was a baby, who rebelled at school and refused to sing the pledge of allegiance to Ataturk or the Republic or whatever, screaming I AM ENGLISH!!! If this happened with a Canadian-Argentine family, it would be laughable. 

So the beach, the lovely weather and the "friendly atmosphere" are not quite the whole picture, and usually where the big cultural differences are muffled (in very large cities) you don't have the beach. You can’t have it all in one location.

Happy travels,
Marta
 

I don't think you fit the stereotypical spoiled American girl. In fact, I'm quite sure if I would put my guard down for a minute, I'd find that there are a lot of sweet girls living very nearby. BUT, it is such a big, wonderful world...I figure I'll wait and, if the girl I finally decide to spend the rest of my life with lives on Mars, the I'll just have to build a spaceship.

I have to agree with you in the sense that I am not looking for "the little woman type". I am VERY independent and I think that would drive me crazy. I don't need a maid, nor a mom. Very interesting, is it possible to find someone that does have a very nice life of their own that can still share your life and ADORE you ???? Is there a happy medium in between the poor, need a green card latin girl and the independent, bling-bling, man-hater ???
 
About language incompatibility with foreign women - it's a beautiful phenomenon. We sit at a little outdoor "chopperia", I go on and on about how great I am, and she sits there, in her skimpy, sexy, little outfit and just nods her head....Paradise !!!!!!!! No whining, no condescending comments, no 
"men are so stupid" attitude.

Editor: Ha, ha.

Robin seriously, I hate the ever growing prevailing attitude that seems to have left the American man castrated, and to our discredit, we accept it !!!! How many shows on TV (especially that one with that LOSER Doug the UPS man guy or whatever he is) make the man of the house look like a total boob........that now has become Chic !!!!!!!! Men are spineless wimps that cringe when the wife comes through the door !!! The same with TV commercials...how many ads make the man look a total little boy that is afraid to get yelled at by his mommy (wife).

Editor: I hadn´t noticed, but then traveling does not lend itself to TV watching. It does seem to me that there has been a general dumbing down of men in America. Foreign men just seem so much more sophisticated. 

Dear Editor, 
Don't get me wrong, I think women are the greatest, most fascinating thing God created..........can I please just keep my self respect as I attempt to love one ????

Just two nights ago, I was sitting at my favorite "establishment" and it was  late in the night when a couple came in and sat within earshot of me. After about twenty minutes, I hear the woman, granted about all 300 pounds of here, go off on the guy, telling him that after 14 years she wants him out, 
he's a thorn in her side, he's lazy, etc., etc. All I could think to myself was....you poor bastard, another castrated American man. Get some balls and walk out of here.....for GOOD. He didn't, all he could keep saying was how much her happiness meant to him !!!! YOU FOOL !!! 

Editor: Sad, sad. 

As far as the sex, well, I'm not quite sure. I am still a virgin. OK,OK, to me, foreign girls (be it Europe, Asia, or Latin America) seem to love sex because they are attracted to you and YES, being that they are HUMAN beings, they ENJOY sex as much as men do (if not more). So......they make no bones about it......"I am attracted to you, you to me.....what are we waiting for".

Editor:  American men, and I believe most American women would agree with me, have a game plan...If his date sleeps with him on the first date, he figures she’s an easy lay and doesn’t call her again. It’s no wonder American women hold out, play games. They’ve learned if they have sex when they really want to, and if they show how much they love sex, that the challenge is gone for the man, and he will move on to other (prey?). 

On the other hand, most American girls I have "been with" act like it's some sort of HONOR they are bestowing upon me to let me engage in enjoyment with them (if the do in fact allow themselves to enjoy it). I earned enough "dinner and a movie" miles to get in their pants. What a joke, what a game.........they want it just as much but choose to put some kind of guilt trip out there.
 
Editor: Like I said...Women are playing a game that men created and perpetuate. Perhaps American men accept a foreign woman sleeping with him on the first date, because he is after all in a foreign country right? And all taboos and customs go out the window.  And time is short.

Jeff: Gee, once again girl, you have me all over the board with my thoughts !!! You have a knack for doing that !!! I think, besides falling in love (ok......there's THAT again)...........there is nothing more exciting in the world than traveling, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. How fascinating 
!!!! If there's any way I can contribute to your articles, or do any "leg" or fact finding work while I'm traveling, it would not only be my pleasure, it would be a blast !!!) 

Editor: Well..., I could definitely use a sherpa, I mean schleper. (-; Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Hey Robin, 
Thanks for your response. Are you coming back to Brazil and do you have more articles?  Oh and BTW,, your feet are the perfect size.  Any photos of you and the soles of your feet?  Hope all is well.
-Steve

Hello Steve,
I will not be back in Brazil until 2007. No, no photos of the soles of my feet. Are you a shoemaker or do you have some kind of fetish.

Hey Robin,
I am not a shoemaker.
Steve