Uruguay

Uruguay has several unique cultural attributes that distinguish it from other countries in the region. Here are some examples:

Mate: Mate is a traditional drink made from the dried leaves of the yerba mate plant. It is a cultural symbol of Uruguay, and is often consumed with friends and family as a social ritual.

Tango: While tango originated in Argentina, it is also a popular dance in Uruguay, and there are many tango clubs and festivals throughout the country.

Carnival: Uruguay's Carnival is one of the longest and most elaborate in the world, with celebrations lasting for several weeks. It is known for its colorful parades, street parties, and murgas (carnival groups that sing and dance satirical songs).

Gauchos: Gauchos are the traditional cowboys of the Uruguayan countryside, and are an important cultural symbol of the country's rural heritage.

Soccer: Soccer is a hugely popular sport in Uruguay, and the national team has a long and storied history, having won two World Cup championships and several Copa America titles.

Beef and barbecue: Uruguay is known for its high-quality beef, and barbecue (asado) is a popular way to cook and enjoy it. The country also has a strong wine culture, with several wine regions producing a variety of red and white wines.

Uruguayans address people who are not close friends or family very formally. Señor, Señora or Señorita, that is Mr., Mrs. or Miss, are the usual forms of address. People may also be addressed according to their professions: lawyers may be addressed as Doctor, accountants as Contador, and engineers as Ingeniero.

It is traditional to shake hands with visitors when they arrive and when they depart. When men greet each other, they may hug each other, or pat each other on the back. Women usually kiss each others' cheeks. In conversation, Uruguayans stand close together when they talk.

Uruguayans frequently drop in on their friends. Telephoning first is not necessary. Hospitality is always extended to visitors. A gourd of yerba mate is often the first thing offered. In Uruguay, it is customary to greet strangers when passing on city streets. However, rural residents tend to be quite friendly to strangers.

Western style of clothing is worn. Uruguay's gauchos (cowboys) wear baggy pants called "bombachos", wide brimmed black hats that offer protection from the sun.

Uruguayans eat meat at most meals. Beef and lamb are relatively cheap and Uruguayans prepare them in many ways. The traditional asado is a barbecue where the meat is cooked slowly over coals. Other ways to prepare meats include sausages (salchichas) or soups (pucheros) prepared with meat and vegetables. The parrillada is a typical Uruguayan dish of roasted meats prepared in various ways. Chivito is a steak sandwich and húngaras are spicy sausages served in a roll. Milanesa Uruguaya is a breaded, deep-fried steak.

Breakfast is usually a light meal, with bread and jam and a cup of coffee or mate. Lunch may be a large meal at home, but in factories and schools most people just have a sandwich. The most substantial meal of the day is dinner, which Uruguayans eat late in the evening. Soup, salad, steak, bread, wine, cheese and fruit, followed by coffee or tea, make up a typical Uruguayan meal.

In the countryside, the gauchos often camp under the branches of the ombú tree, and light a fire for a barbecue. They boil water to make yerba mate, a bitter tea, which they drink from a hollowed gourd through a silver tube tipped with a strainer. This silver tube is called a bombilla and is often finely engraved. The gourd of yerba mate is passed from person to person. Gauchos play their guitars and vie with each other in improvising songs called payadas de contrapunto.

Uruguayans eat meat at most meals. Beef and lamb are relatively cheap and Uruguayans prepare them in many ways. The traditional asado is a barbecue where the meat is cooked slowly over coals. Other ways to prepare meats include sausages (salchichas) or soups (pucheros) prepared with meat and vegetables. The parrillada is a typical Uruguayan dish of roasted meats prepared in various ways. Chivito is a steak sandwich and húngaras are spicy sausages served in a roll. Milanesa Uruguaya is a breaded, deep-fried steak.

Breakfast is usually a light meal, with bread and jam and a cup of coffee or mate. Lunch may be a large meal at home, but in factories and schools most people just have a sandwich. The most substantial meal of the day is dinner, which Uruguayans eat late in the evening. Soup, salad, steak, bread, wine, cheese and fruit, followed by coffee or tea, make up a typical Uruguayan meal.

In the countryside, the gauchos often camp under the branches of the ombú tree, and light a fire for a barbecue. They boil water to make yerba mate, a bitter tea, which they drink from a hollowed gourd through a silver tube tipped with a strainer. This silver tube is called a bombilla and is often finely engraved. The gourd of yerba mate is passed from person to person. Gauchos play their guitars and vie with each other in improvising songs called payadas de contrapunto.

In the cities, most people live in modern apartment buildings or small houses. The very poor live in shantytowns called cantegriles on the outskirts of the cities. In the countryside, houses are usually only one story and made of red brick, often with red tile roofs and open verandas.

Most families are small, with only one or two children. Sometimes a grandparent or other elderly relative shares the house with a couple and their children.

Cattle ranches on the plains are still staffed by gauchos, the cowboys of South America. Most wear the traditional clothing of baggy pants, black boots, long-sleeved cotton shirts,s, and wide-brimmed black hats. In bad weather, they wear a poncho. Gauchos spend most of their time on horseback, rounding up herds of cattle or sheep, branding them, and mending fences. They live on an estancia in a building like a dormitory, which they share with other gauchos.

The age at which people in Uruguay start dating varies, but generally it is similar to other countries in the Western world, with many young people starting to date in their early to mid-teens. However, some cultural factors may influence dating practices in Uruguay. For example, family values are highly regarded in Uruguayan culture, and young people may be expected to seek the approval of their parents or guardians before starting a relationship. Additionally, some young people may choose to wait until they finish their studies or establish a career before actively seeking a romantic relationship.

Young boys spend hours playing soccer on the street or in parks. Young women may join a volleyball or basketball team or take dance classes. Children often play games with colored marbles. Small boys like to make slingshots which they use to hunt small birds and to crack the insulating porcelain around electrical high wires.

Polo is also a popular sport among the well-to-do. Gauchos play a traditional game called pato in which two teams of horsemen compete for possession of a ball with handles. Gauchos can also demonstrate their skills in a criolla (rodeo). They try to stay on wild horses that fight to throw off their riders.

Mornings at home in Uruguay may differ from home to home, depending on which European community the family’s ancestry comes from. In any case, children arise early and have a light breakfast of local bread and a tea-like drink called yerba maté (the national drink) or fruit juice before heading off to attend school.

Kids will either walk or ride public transportation buses to school, and then return home the same way. Uruguay has a very well-developed public transportation sytem. In some areas, bicycles may be the best way to get around, but walking remains most common. Children typically stay at school for lunch.

School uniforms are required only in private schools. Schools are beginning to deal with an unusual problem for Latin America—overcrowding. Schools in both rural and urban settings have insufficient supplies and teachers. Children from higher income families are more likely to get past these challenges and graduate to university studies. School lunch in Uruguay is usually a very well-balanced, nutritional meal, often consisting of some sort of vegetable soup, fish or chicken with rice or potatoes, a salad, cooked vegetables, and dessert (such as ice cream or fruit). The typical school day used to be in four-hour shifts to accommodate the number of students in limited schooling facilities. But a few years ago, especially in the lower-income areas, schools have begun switching from four hours per day to eight hours per day in an attempt to raise test scores, especially in language and literacy. It also helps to keep at-risk kids off the streets longer each day. Because Uruguay is the most technologically savvy country in Latin America, a small number of elementary schools in the country have been chosen to begin piloting the ambitious “One Laptop per Child” project begun by Nicholas Negroponte, former director of the media lab at the Massachesetts Institute of Technology. The goal is to create and distribute highly functional yet inexpensive ($100 each) laptops for students throughout the world. Needless to say, the children in the schools testing the new computers are very excited.

The school system is broken into two six-year periods, the first six years are primary school, followed by six years in secondary school. The last two years of secondary school are designed especially for students preparing for university studies. During those final two years, students must choose between three different focuses: biology, science, or humanities. The courses of study are established by a national organization, which means for students that they cannot choose any elective courses but can study only the subjects outlined for each school year by that organization. The average student to teacher ratio is 21 to 1. Some of the poorer schools approach ratios of 40 to 1.

Extracurricular activities in Uruguay are largely nonexistent. If children want to participate in sports or other interests, they must join a community club. This is consistent not only with the Latin American school experience in general but also with their European heritage, where sports are dominated by private clubs. Some private schools—especially for Americans living in the country—tend to offer more after-school activities than public schools so that the children will more readily fit into American schools when their families move back to the United States.

The most popular sport in Uruguay is soccer, as is the case in most Latin American countries. Also popular, however, are basketball and rugby. Because most people in the country live along the coast, all Uruguayans, including children of all ages, spend a lot of time at the beaches. Swimming is therefore a natural pastime as well. For teens, dating is usually a group activity. They enjoy going to movies, dancing, live theater, and concerts. They also enjoy going to a café for a drink or snack and just hang out.

The traditional family structure that is so very important to most of Latin America is beginning to break up in Uruguay, especially in lower income families. In many such families, the average age for grandparents is 30-32. The mothers are 14-16, and many have no steady partner. In 2004, there were more divorces than marriages in Uruguay. Nonetheless, families are still the most important social structure in the country, and evenings are usually spent with family. (Summer vacations are usually spent at the beach with the family.) So evenings usually bring family dinner, chatting together around the dinner table, and perhaps entertaining another family of friends in your home for some simple conversation and light refreshments. As in many countries, television has reduced socializing at movies and has moved such gatherings to the homes. When kids don’t get together with friends, they tend to watch television with their families at home in the evenings. The people of Uruguay eat a lot of meat, especially beef. So meals tend to revolve around beef dishes but also include plenty of vegetables and fruit. The evening meal is often eaten from nine to ten at night.

The majority of Uruguayans are descendants of European immigrants with a long tradition of educational priorities. Thus, 92% of all children in the country attend kindergarten, and many attend preschool beginning at age 4. Public schooling is free and required for children from ages 6 to 14 years old. Almost all children are able to complete this requirement. Most rural areas, however, only have elementary schools, so children must go to nearby cities if they are to attend high school. Despite this challenge, Uruguay has the highest secondary school attendance in Latin America at 85%, double the average for the southern hemisphere! The school year begins in the first or second week of March and goes until mid-December. There are often three holiday vacations also: a week before Easter, a midwinter holiday of two weeks in the middle of July, and another spring break for a week in September. The university in Monevideo was for many years the only university in Uruguay. In recent years, a number of private universities and institutions have been founded to supplement this traditional university, founded almost 200 years ago. Furthermore, there is a nationwide system of vocational schools. Other institutes of higher learning include facilities for training teachers. Currently, one out of every three workers in Uruguay has completed vocational or university studies. Because of this, Uruguay is known for its technological advances in Latin America, and for the way it easily adapts to the changing technologies of the world. It is worth noting that before World War II, Uruguay had perhaps the strongest economy in all of Latin America. However, since that time, and especially during the past 20 years, the economy has been declining, which means that social programs that depend on tax dollars, such as education, has also been declining. So while the tradition and basic infrastructure is solid, the educational system is gradually becoming more brittle, especially for lower income families whose children must hit the streets to market some small trinkets or food in an effort to not only improve their situation but more often just to eat.