But, I beg to differ; at least in part.  Uruguay is not very Catholic, but the people here are VERY religious, and almost all of them practice what amounts to Uruguay’s State Religion (even those who are also practicing Catholics).

Need a hint?  Check out Uruguay’s flag–the emblem of its State Religion is emblazoned there….

The State Religion of Uruguay is SUN WORSHIP.  That’s right, good old fashioned (or should I say “ancient fashioned”) unabashed adoration of Sol Invictus, the unconquered Sun.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the popularity of this religion is that it has few commandments, lots of feast days, no fast days and everybody loves its required pilgrimages.

COMMANDMENTS:

I.  Thou shalt worship the Sun whenever possible, if only for a few minutes at a time between clouds or even in the dead of winter.

II.  Thou shalt wear as little clothing as the weather permits when worshiping the Sun.

III.  Thou shalt drink maté and eat bizcochos daily in honor of the Sun.

IV.  Thou shalt make pilgrimages to Punta del Este (or father East) as often as possible.

FEAST DAYS:

Any time the Sun is out, especially if you can find an excuse for not working and going to the beach instead.  Paros and huelgas (protests and strikes) are considered signs of special piety towards the flaming deity.

FAST DAYS:

Are you kidding?  Asado, chivitos and milanesas are ALWAYS appropriate.

PILGRIMAGES:

Trips Punta del Este are required as often as possible.  Special devotions are mandated every day from 15 December through the end of February.  The especially devout also make pilgrimages to Rocha whenever possible, and the ultra orthodox worship on the beaches there that are accessible only by 4 wheel drive army vehicles.

And if you think the Uruguayans are NOT serious about their religion, they even made a hole in the ozone layer so they could worship more intensely–beat that for dedication…

This past Friday was Saint Nicholas Day for the Slavic Eastern Orthodox  Churches (like mine), but this coming Thursday is Christmas for Catholics, Greek and other non-Slavic Eastern Orthodox, and (I presume, most protestants and other Christians).  Since Uruguay is a very secular place, I am not really sure what the official celebration will be on December 25th–though I have noticed that even the most die-hard atheists here seem to “get religion” any time there is a holiday they can celebrate…

So, for those of you who view December 25th as the modern day secular celebration of Sol Invictus or Saturnalia, before you leave, when the fireworks go off, please remember that you have my best wishes for whatever holiday or non-Holiday your are celebrating.  Have a yerba maté on me…

To my Jewish friends, I wish you a Happy and Joyful Hanukkah.

And to my Christian, agnostic or otherwise neutral friends and readers, please accept my best wishes and prayers for the Happiest Christmas (on whichever date)!

“Your birth, O Christ our God has spread upon the world the Light of Knowledge.  For through it, those who worshiped the stars have learned from a Star to worship You as the Sun of Justice and to recognize you as the Orient from on High.  Glory be to thee, O Lord!

From the Christmas Tropar of the Orthodox Church

Nevertheless, Thanksgiving is coming again and we will be celebrating it in our new tradtional fashion just like last year (when about 90 people participated).

Everyone has something for which to be thankful:  for me those things include friends, better health, 40kg less weight, and lots of good business.  On this day of craziness which ends the “silly season” in the US, I am especially thankful to be here and not there.
The Southron’s gang will provide some turkeys and asado (I’m not sure if either the Pilgrims or the Gauchos would really approve of the mix), and we ask everyone else to bring along a side dish and anything else they would like to add to the feast.

As before, Clara Lundquist has been appointed Grand High Menu organizer because of her ability to badger, wheedle and otherwise keep everyone in line.  And because she did such a great job, I volunteered her again this year.  Please cooperate as Clara organizes the menu and tries to get a head count so we know how much food to buy.

Since this is going to be the very last of the weekly Thursday night Open House gatherings here in Buceo (more about that later) I hope that everyone will try to attend.

Even though I am NOT a fan of post Ronald Reagan America, I cannot help but wonder what kind of world we would live in, even here in Uruguay, without the sacrifices made by those brave men and women honored by this day.

(For those of you whose roots are NOT in the USA (or CSA), this may be of little interest to you–but since mine are, as are those of many of my readers, I hope you will indulge me.)

I have often said that Americans should sing the last verse of The Star Spangled Banner to remind them of what the US is supposed to be about. That verse bears repeating here:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I suspect most of you have neither heard nor seen those words before.

One cause that was undoubtedly “just” (except to a few ultra-conspiracy aficionados) was the war against Hitler’s Nazi Germany. If you read history closely, you will find that Nazi Germany had a huge influence here in South America. If you don’t believe me, you simply need to remember Juan Peron, the Argentine fascist who learned his trade in Berlin.

We probably would not have a safe and free Uruguay to live in had not men and women from the US and its allies fought and died destroying Nazism!

While I hate what America has become, I will not forget, nor allow to be forgotten, the America that was “A Shining City on a Hill”. It was made thus by freemen, both in war and peace whom we should honor.

May God bless them and may their memory be eternal! Vicnaja pamjat!

But all that is in the past and we must live in the NOW.

And so we move on with our lives in this new land–embracing all that is good here, while bringing the good things from our heritage with us…and leaving the bad behind.

God bless and preserve Uruguay; and keep her in peace so we never need to celebrate a Memorial for our war dead here!

Since I am Orthodox, my holy week comes a bit later and will probably be commemorated in a slightly different way.

Holy week, which is also known as Tourism Week (because everyone in the country tries to be a tourist this week), and by three or four other names I cannot remember, is the Uruguayan equivalent of US Labor Day weekend–it is the summer’s last hurrah and everyone tries to take a four-day holiday, if not the entire week. For the last time until Christmas Montevideo will become a virtual ghost town. Stores and restaurants will be closed and services will be hard to get.

This week is also only the second time since its inception in which our Thursday night Open House gatherings will be canceled. We will resume a week later on March 27.

To those of you Commemorating the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I extend my prayers and best wishes.

At two o’clock tomorrow morning this process will begin to unravel, but only half way.

As of tomorrow, Uruguay will go off of summer time in the United States will go on daylight saving time; which means that we will become two hours closer to the US than we have been for the last 6 months (this is undoubtedly the most important result of the visit of King George II to Uruguay–without him, time might have stood still).

However, our time relative to the EU will only become more distant by one hour because the EU does not start its summer time for another few weeks on the last Sunday of this month.

As of tomorrow, this will mean that Uruguay will be only one hour later than Washington, DC time, and will be three hours earlier than London time.

Right now I care about these things, this is because I do business with people all over the world. When I finally retire to a campo to spend my time writing and causing trouble, I won’t care what time it is.

Happy Orthodox Christmas!

Today, January 7 is Christmas for the Eastern Orthodox Slavs. This is because we still use the Julian Calendar for calculating the Church Calendar. The fact that it is 13 days later than the civil calendar is simply an added benefit—it lets us shop for Christ during the after-Christmas sales and save big bucks. We have been trained to try to find the good in every situation.

I have been remiss in adding to my blog—my real job has just kept me too busy.

We had a great turnout for our pre-Christmas Open House on December 20^th—I think it was our second largest turnout after Thanksgiving. I have even seen a few pictures of yours truly in a Santa Claus hat—I tried to get Borko to wear a green hat, tights and pointy shoes and be my elf, but he refused. He muttered something about getting a gun, so I dropped the issue.

The puppies are monsters. They get their shots this week and starting Thursday night they will be moving to new homes. I decided to keep the big fat male—we named him Arkan. It is from the Archons of ancient Greece. The Serbophiles among us may also find an alternative attribution.

God Willing—The Aduana wiling—the shipping line willing: my van I supposed to arrive in Montevideo on Friday. With a lot of luck, a miracle from God, and deft handling of the Aduana (Customs), I hope to get it next week.

My plan is to travel around Uruguay in February and March on long weekends. That should generate a lot more blog pieces AND I am going to write the second edition of “The Southron’s Guide to Living in Uruguay”.

With all of the blessings of the last year and the promise of God’s goodness in the next, I will close today with the Christmas Tropar from our Divine Liturgy:

Thy birth, O Christ Our God, has shed upon the world the light of knowledge. For through it, those who worshipped the stars, have learned to worship Thee as the Sun of Justice; and to recognize Thee as the Orient* from on High: Glory be to Thee!

*Orient means the “new dawning” in this context.

Pocitos, Buceo
traffic all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
My ‘lectric trike today
La Rambla is a mess
cars are everywhere
Christmas here in Uruguay
is more fun than up there!

The UruguayLiving/Socieadad Southron pre-Christmas party will be held on Thursday night December 20th.. Please bring any Christmas music that you want to hear–The Southron will have a good selection of traditional (and even some modern stuff for the infidels).

There will NOT be an Open House on Thursday night December 27th!

We will resume our usual schedule on January 3rd.

Nevertheless, we have an opportunity to do it now. We don’t need to make a choice between going to the

• Southeastron Coastal Uruguay Living in Piriapolis Party (SCULPP) OR
• Noche de las Luces in Montevideo.

I know what a Southron is, but what the heck is a Southeastron? Sounds like someone from Miami (and real Southrons know it is pronounce My-am-ma, not the Yankee version, my-am-mee).

Anyway, the Piriaoplis gathering is starting in the afternoon, and the Noche e las Luces, by definition doesn’t start until the night.

So why not do both? I am… Details on the SCULPP are at: http://www.sociedadsouthron.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1198.

See you there!

I have really been remiss in writing in this blog, but I’ve simply been so busy with my real job that I have not had time to do it.

Therefore, this entry is going to be catch as catch can…

FIRSTLY, the weather is absolutely, positively, wonderful! Warm, sunny days without any humidity, and cool pleasant nights. This is the weather in Montevideo I live for: excuse me, for which I live. (I know there are grammarians lurking about out there.)

SECONDLY, we lost one puppy—I’m not sure how, it just disappeared. The good news is that the remaining 7 are healthy, growing like weeds, their eyes are open, and they are beginning to stumble about. I am confident the remaining four males and three females will make it. One downside is that Lucy has become more aggressive and tries to keep King Harry from my bedroom. She also nips the maids if they get too close. I’m hoping this passes once the puppies start running about. (There will be more pictures when Harry posts again.)

THIRDLY, Thanksgiving dinner was a huge hit; thanks especially to our staff, who did most of the work, Clara, who cooked up a storm, the other people who cooked 3 of the imported turkeys for us, and everyone who brought food or drinks and helped us all have a good time. I think in total we had between 80 and 90 people. Next year we may have to rent the hippodrome. (See pictures at the end too.)

On December 9, the Good Lord and the shipping line willing, my van will leave Yankee-occupied America, and be on its way to the Oriental Republic. It is “scheduled to arrive” on January 3. Allegedly, I will be able to have it within a day or two. However, since that is a holiday season, I am not going to hold my breath.

I am hoping to be able to use it to tour Uruguay, at least on a half-time basis, in February and March, so that I can write a second edition to my book—updated and expanded.

PENULTIMATELY, there will be another Open House gathering in Piriápolis on Saturday, December 15 from 5 to 10 p.m. at the same venue as last time. Steve Bowman of CoastalUruguay.com is the prime mover, and yours truly will wheel his way out, along with Harry and some of the UruguayLiving.com gang. Mark your calendar now! More details will follow soon.

AND FINALLY, please remember our Open House is held every Thursday evening from 6 p.m. until we throw the last drunk out. That being said, only gringos ever show up before eight o’clock. I usually do not wander downstairs until about 7:30 p.m. The Uruguayans show up in force fashionably between 8:30 and 9 p.m. (The only Thursday when we MIGHT cancel the open house is between Christmas and New Year’s Day. If we do cancel it, it will be announced here and in the forum.)