Today (Saturday) started early...at 5:42 in the morning to be precise! After staying in a hotel in Montevideo, Carmen and I headed out to the bus station to catch the 7AM bus to Capo Polonia.
The journey took four hours so I was able to catch up on some sleep on the way.
We arrived at the bus station in Capo Polonia to glorious sunshine...at last, this was the latin american sunshine I had been craving all week! Get in!!
We waited at the station for our lift...it was an open top four by four truck with large treaded wheels. This immediately gave me an idea of the kind of terrain we'd be crossing to get to our final destination.
We arrived in Capo Polonia about half an hour later and my first impressions were mixed. The views were breathtaking, the sea, the sand dunes, the rockery, the lighthouse but the houses and hostels were not as I had expected.
I quickly learnt that Capo Polonia is home to just 50 people and that these people literally build everything from scratch. They use only natural materials from the beach, the land and the sea to construct their homes/hostels. A random bit of rope to make a toilet roll holder. A washed up sea shell to use as an ash tray. A bit of drift wood to make the next sign. Some things I thought were really cool and creative, but some things were a little too far outside of my comfort zone...I won't tell you about the shower!!
We stayed in a hostel with our host Gabriella. She shared her story with us explaining that she had moved here from Montevideo six years ago as she loved the place, the people and the general way of life. She said that there were always things to do out here, whether that be surfing with the sea life, building the next piece of furniture or clearing sand from the entrance of the hostel (because we were quite literally right on the beach!)
We all went to the local 'supermarket' to buy ingredients for our dinner...Gabriella was making us pasta parcels stuffed with three different types of cheese with a ham and onion sauce. To tell you the truth I was a little apprehensive given the facilities being used to make the food itself but I hold my hands up and say shame on me for being so snobby...it was absolutely delicious...the best food I have had in Uruguay so far.
After dinner we played cards, teaching each other games from our respective countries.
Today has really opened my eyes to another way of living. You dont have to have the best of everything to live...there are other ways of living, getting by and being happy without splashing the cash so to speak. It has really made me think about my own necessaties in life and it has encouraged me to change my attitude toward standards of living in general.
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