Deon asked me to write a little travelogue, destined for our Gleanings. Deon is one of many who hope that the U's connection with Uruguay will grow stronger over time. For those of you in Minnesota who know more of Uruguay than I do, please forgive my sometime mistaken rambling and romanticizing. I have been received generously here. My first day here was consumed by introductions such that people here know my face and help in whatever way possible.
First impressions come through the palate and the stomach.
The cafeteria here probably seats 40. But it is cozy enough to feel like one's own dining room and it has been the best place for me to develop personal contact with people. My guess is the cafeteria and the lunches served there are important to the cohesion one feels at the experiment station. Meat and milk are staples of the Uruguayan diet. This abundance of meat was such, I am told, that despite many miles of coastline, fish has never entered the local diet.