WHAT’S A VACATION FOR?

First of all, it is to relax. To leave behind the efforts of a study, the tedious discipline of a job, or just simply to change the environment.

And this last thing is what I am still doing.

The main reason to leave Iowa City was the cruel cold that has to be suffered every winter. And this one has been particularly and extremely cold.

Good days, sunny days, time to walk, know places, participate in cultural activities, enjoying the company of good friends and even doing nothing. That’s nice!

It’s also a calm time to read books, to think about future activities and plan changes in our lives.

For all that is vacation time.

But also it is the moment to know the people living on a given place, the way they develop relationships, their cultural level, how a city looks, how happy or worry its inhabitants are, etc.

Being in Montevideo, there are not too many surprises to me. I was born in this city and lived here for 47 years. But…people have changed; the way they deal with each other is not the same. Education has gone down. Vagabonds have increased exponentially and homeless are almost everywhere. Young women embrace violence, and society as a whole is fractured.

Of course that in the middle of all this there are exceptions, and very relevant for sure. But they are that, exceptions.

It is not necessary to underline that this is not the Montevideo I knew until I lived here.

I came to this city trying to benefit from the good temperature of summer and to enjoy the company of good friends whom I love very much.

Unless something substantial changes in the country after the coming elections, I will not return.

There are many other places in the world where I can enjoy more a vacation, although I am aware I will sacrifice not seeing my friends.

Milton W. Hourcade

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