Day 108 (I think...but Heather seems to think I miscounted somewhere. Its very possible)
Thermas De Salto Grande, Uruguay
We arrived here as a quick break from the bus ride. We did not love the room or the food....but now four days later (we only intended to spend two) we are still here. This resort has become like home. Its so relaxing and the people are so nice. We have gotten into the pool scene, we attend the nightly movies, we spent almost a whole day splurging at the Spa. Its hard not to when a 1 hour massage is $15 and a mani/pedi is $6! I did go a little overboard with my 1.5 hour mud bath and facial for a whopping $20.
Shamefully, I admit...we have seen little to none of the town. We are simply basking in resort life.
Bryce is insperable from the kids club. He loves it there. But, we did manage to grab him for lunch where he delighted in feeding one of the roaming Kimono Dragons that patrol the outdoor cafe. The Kids Club here is different from those at home, mainly in the fact that it is completely unsupervised. I don´t think it would ever occur to them to need a nanny there. Its one of those great things about Latin American Society. They have LOTS of kids. And the older ones take care of the younger ones. If a child can walk....they are left to the divices of the pre-teens who take care of them. And not begrudgingly. As a matter of fact, the older girls (and boys) seem to take pride in their watchdog position.
Yesterday as we were lounging by the pool, one girl pranced out to me with Bryce on her hip. I had never seen her before, but she immediately pronounced to me, in broken English, that all the boys were headed outside for a football game and Bryce had tried to go with them without asking his parents permission first. She seemed even more distressed by the fact that he had tried to go without putting on his shoes. I assured her it was OK for him to watch the game and she assured me she would get his shoes on first.
Its like having free babysitters! And Bryce loves it. This automatic tendancy to take care of the little ones is a quailty I see less and less in American teens who seem to just "want to do their own thing with their own friends." My 12 year old cousin, Dylan pocesses that caretaker quality...but sadly I think he is rare these days in The States.
The nice thing too....is it leaves the parents to relax, drink, and socialize virtually without interruption. I have never once even seen one of the parents check on the kids. It just isn´t necessary.
The adults in Uruguay also reflect this "everyone is your friend" attitude. It is never uncommon during a meal to have a stranger from the next table pull up a chair and start chatting. They want to tell us about where they live and they want to know about our trip and what life is like in Boston. I guess that this interruption would disturb and annoy many East Coast residents....but I am still a Mid-West girl by birth and I love the friendly chit chat and I value getting to know the locals ......who never leave a conversation without giving us their contact information and offering to help in anyway they can.
Today is our last day in Uruguay, a country which very well be forever know as "our favorite in South America." But, Iguazu Falls has been on the list since before we left Boston......tonight we do our first overnight bus in an attempt to get there.
I´m not so exicted about it. All the guide books say to avoid overnight buses as they crash more often. But, its the only one headed there from our remote corner of the world......and there are no planes and no rental cars.....so off we go.
I suppose this laidback attitude can also come from the fact that the entire country of Uruguay has a population of just 4 million. Just slightly more than Boston and less than NYC.
I believe this fact helps to create a "small town" society throughout the entire nation. They may worship the US, our money and stature....but they do not realize the amount of stress lifted by living in a country that, though poor, has almost no cases of kidnappings, child murders, or molestation. They are strong Catholics are fiercely proud of their people. I think they should stop dreaming of moving to American (which every kid here says is what they want) and realize what they have if not so bad.