What have we been up to lately?

Hola Familia and Amigo's,

Sorry it has been a few weeks since I last posted. We have been really sick! We all got a head cold with a cough then one Friday night I got the chills and then a really high fever for 3 days. The highest my temperature got was 103.8, but it hung around 103 for about 3 days. I got some antibotics and it went away. Then Ava got a really high fever. We ended taking her to a medical clinic and she had a double ear infection. Poor little girl. She received a round of antibotics and is feeling alot better. Cory had still had the head cold thru all of this and he ended up taking a round of antibotics also. Kai was about the only healthy one. When we took Ava to the medical clinic it was amazing. We walked in and were helped right away it cost is about $50 to see the doctor, a pediatrician, and 2 perscriptions. WOW, amazing...we don't even have insurance here! But, we can join the clinic for $10 for the family per month and there will be no other charges. I won't go on my soap box about perscriptions and healthcare in the US.

So, we all started feeling better and decided to head up to the Gaucho Festival. All 5 of us got into our red Hyundai and headed North! But, can the Streeter's leave La Barra and not get a ticket? Nope...as we entered into one of the tolls to pay a police officer motioned for us to pull over. Crap! Not Again! How can this be? What did we do now? I think other things were said, but that was the jist of it. This time we were told that we needed to drive with our lights on at all times. Thank goodness for Karen once again. I had her tell him to tell me where on our car rental contract did it say that. He could not show us. So, he was still going to give us a $23 ticket that we had to pay in Montevideo (we weren't going there). Karen talked us out of the ticket and he only gave us a warning. He said that if we get a ticket for not having our lights on that my driver's license can be taken away. Great...my Oregon Drivers License can get taken away in Uruguay. So, we only have the car till March 15th then we are taking the bus everywhere. At some point you do have to laugh.

Anyway...our road trip was long and scenic. We drove 1060 kilometers which is about 600 miles. We saw the Gaucho Festival, drove over the Rio Negro, stayed the night in a town called Melo, paid only $15 per person a night for the room, and had a good time checking out the "real" Uruguay! See photo's below. I have alot more, so I will be posting another allbum on Shutterfly.

Chow,