Falling in love with the people of Uruguay

My experience with the Uruguayans

From the first time I stepped on Uruguayan soil, I was so delighted and dazzled by the kindness of the people. People from Mediterranean countries are always said to be very warm and friendly; yet, in contrast with Latin blood, ours is almost, if not as cold as the North Pole. I have been asked many time why I want to go back to Uruguay and my answer is never the same, because there are hundreds, thousands of reasons, however, the most important for me is its people.

My first moments in Uruguay were spent in the airport. I arrived at Montevideo after an exhausting 24 hour journey. I had left Valencia at 3pm on the 17th February, arriving at Rome 2 hours later; at 9pm the plane set off for Buenos Aires, landing at almost 10am. Finally, some hours laters (including the delays) I arrived at Montevideo at midday on the 18th February. With all the layovers and hours spent travelling, I was very tired when I reached Montevideo. Having gone to search for my luggage, I strongly regretted taking a suitcase that weighed almost the same as me. I went to find a luggage trolley (they were free to use, unlike most of the airports in Spain) and to take one you have to press down on the handle in order to remove the lock that connects them together. At first I had no clue about this and I was so tired that the last thing I wanted to do was sit and study the trolleys to figure out how to get one out. After "arguing" with them for a while, a lady came by and told me how it all works and she helped me to do it with an enormous smile on her face. Minutes later I saw my bags on the luggage belt. Being absolutely exhausted did not help at all in lifting 20 kilos, twice! However, once again, someone was there ready to help me.

A little while later my taxi arrived at my hostel. On the way there, the taxi driver told me all about Montevideo. Another thing to love about the Uruguayans is their beautiful way of speaking; I'm not just referring to their accent, but also their ability to make you see everything in the best light. I couldn't explain it, as I don't have the ability to converse like this, nor to describe everything that I care for in the way that everything deserves.

A few days later I was searching for a room to move into. I left Spain with a room viewing, but when I finally went to see it, it was not a house as they had sold it. Fortunately, I hadn't paid anything for it and it gave me the idea of going to visit before confirming anything. When I arrived to see the house it was overcrowded. Nine Germans were living in this four bedroom house and they expected me to stay in one of the rooms with one of the girls already living there. From that moment, I started looking for other rooms. From the faculty, from the hostel, on the internet... anywhere I looked I found something helpful.

When I found a room and I left to move in they also helped me with my suitcase even though I hadn't asked for any help. I have already written about this experience on my blog. The walk from the hostel to the house took no more than 5 minutes, so I took two trips on foot with my suitcases, taking one every journey. On the second trip with my second suitcase, a girl offered to help me carry it, again with an enormous smile.

Luckily I had many similar experiences. The faces of the people offering me this small assistance always seemed ungrudging, as if the reality was that they weren't really doing you a favour. Yet these are insignificant details that, to any person, can change someone's day and make them smile.

I am the kind of person who doesn't like to ask for help, but I am always grateful to those who help me. I never saw them again, these people who made my arrival in a foreign, unknown country so good. Despite the fatigue and all the sleepless hours, the warmth of the people made it so much more difficult to leave, and once I had left, I was dying to go back, but this time I would stay there definitively.