It's been a busy week since we got here late on Monday. We had very little sleep from staying up late on Sunday before leaving Chile and then getting up early next day so we could have one last mate with the Lee family before we left.

After a two hour flight we arrived in Montevideo where we were greeted by Michael's two sisters, Alma and Dayhana, and his friend Angel with his wife Gabriela. On the way to Amparo's house (Michael's mother, who we are staying with in the town of Canelones), we ended up getting driven into a very steep ditch off the highway when our escort wanted to turn the car the other direction! Within a few minutes, all the locals surrounded us and were offering their assistance. One hombre offered his tractor to tow the car back onto the road. On the first attempt it ripped off the front bumper. On the next attempt though we were back on the road - welcome to Uruguay!

When we arrived to Amparo's we were greeted by the rest of Michael's Uruguayan family (which is massive). After several rounds of mate, learning names and catching up, it was time to go to bed. The next day we got up early to go to Dayhana's beach house which was a great little getaway. We were staying in a place called Santa Ana, about 1 hour outside Canelones. We enjoyed the beach, asado (like a BBQ), and strolling around with our mate. One of the highlights for Michael was when Dayhana's son, Natanael, picked up a large dead crab and chased me around the beach with it, and eventually threw it at my face. NOT FUNNY.

Not sure what it is with dead things here but I had joked on the street to Michael's brother's friends that in Canada, we eat our road kill off the street. They picked up a dead flattened frog off the street and presented it to me (to eat I guess). Talk about a joke backfiring.

Something else that's unusual here - sitting outside last night I kept hearing what sounded like a cat in heat. Turns out it's the sound that the local frogs make.

Pics coming soon! Btw, it's been very hot and humid here, 30+ C each day.