Plaza de Cagancha

Sitting in an Internet locutorio next door to our hotel on a little plaza in Montevideo. Yesterday I bought a 1949 police-issued press pass in a funny little shop on a small row of shops off the main street. Who could resist it? The US dollar is down 5.4 pct against the Uruguayan peso in the last few days. We're gonn end up with a joke currency before our moronic president is through living out his imperial ambitions ... not that his class will ever do anything but prosper. Uruguay is a pleasant little country -- just 3.something souls -- with an educated population and a generally honest government, at least by South American standards. Food is great, thanks to a large enclave of Italians who settled here around the first of the 20th Century. They mash good olive oil, make wonderful cheese, stomp out wonderful wine, all the restaurants serve home-made pastas. It´s pretty neat. Also the table servers are mostly grown men who know their jobs and feel no need to intrude into the world of the diner. So far, no waiter has told me his name. Plus, they´re delighted with a 10 pct. tip. Not bad.