LOCAL NEWS

MAY - STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED DUE TO NATURAL DISASTER

There were heavy rains and the rivers flooded: almost 12,000 people had to leave their homes, crops were destroyed, roads and bridges were cut off and there was no electricity or telephone in many cities in the countryside of Uruguay.

These were the worst in 50 years. Everybody is trying to help through organizations or the Red Cross. The Brazilian government offered their assistance and the US government donated 50.000 dollars.

This photo was taken from http://spanish.peopledaily.com.cn/31617/5713887.html

March 31- April 8:

EASTER HOLIDAYS

This week is called in several ways in Uruguay: the Holy Week for the christians, Creole week or Tourism week. As a result, Uruguayans can choose among different options for this holiday . As there are not many people who attend church during the holiday week most Uruguayans spend their time in different ways: going to the beach , the country side or travelling.

If you like the beach you can go to Punta del Este , the most popular and fashionable seaside town, or to smaller villages like , Piriapolis , Atlantida , La Paloma

In the Country side there are festivals , like the “Beer Festival ” in Paysandú, or you can go camping by the rivers or in farms called “estancias “ were you can eat “asado ” and go fishing with friends. You can also visit the Hot Springs in Salto or Paysandu (to the NW) or Colonia del Sacramento, a lovely colonial town which is on Unesco's list of protected human cultural entities

A lot of Uruguayans love travelling and the most popular are Florianopolis in Brazil or Buenos Aires in Argentina (our neighbouring countries).

If you stay in Montevideo you can got to the Creole week .There you can see “Domas” where the “gauchos” tame wild horses.

These images are courtesy of STONEK.COM

On Easter day, the family gets together and we eat chocolate Easter eggs.

A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE

After months of negotiation, the International Finance Corporation voted a loan of almost $500 million to allow Metsa-Botnia , a Finnish company, one of Europe 's largest paper pulp producers, to carry on their construction works in Fray Bentos.

This in spite of the bad relations with Gualeguaychu, the Argentinian twin city, after they started organizing demonstrations because they believe the factory may pollute the river Uruguay. The Argentinian government also has started a trial before The Haye International Court of Justice.