30.12.2012 Bulletin

by Marita
(Montevideo Uruguay)

Dear Folks,

The final get-together of the year took place amid sun and warm, and our host treated us to a bottle of champagne while we learned about such local customs as people cutting up the year's calenders and throwing the confetti out the window, followed, in some places, by buckets of water emptied from roofs on innocent passersby below....

Items of possible interest include:

1. People having trouble with money transfers might consider opening an account at HSBC in their own country. Since HSBC also has a branch here, withdrawals incur no fees.

2. And, on the topic of money, a participant "thought you might want to include a reminder to home owners about paying their School Tax Bill which is due in 3 installments – May, August and December.

Go to www.anep.edu.uy. Scroll down the page to the small symbol on the left called Impuesto de Primaria

Click on it and on the next page on the right hand side you will see Duplicado de Facturas de Padrones de Todo el Pais.

Click on that and you will see a sample bill. Follow the directions at the top of the page to get your actual bill which you can print out and pay. (Ours is approx 400 pesos each installment)."

3. Finding out about the status of your immigration has gotten a bit easier, since immigration has installed a computer. You can find out where your file is in the process by typing in your number, and the date you applied.

4. If anyone has contacts to opera houses outside Uruguay, perhaps you could

pass them on, because there is some interest in seeing if we can help Debora Cohen to a foreign tour. She is a local Mezzo-soprano with a wonderful, rich voice, and she deserves a wider audience.

5. Don't forget Zara and Kanan's "Everything Must Go" sale this coming Sunday from 4:30 to 6:30 at Reconquista 354, Apt. 603. (Please note: Last week, the address was wrong--Reconquista 354 is the correct address.) The list of all the items for sale was appended to last week's bulletin, or you can find it at

6. http://www.explore-uruguay.com/uruguay-info-exchange.html. You may have missed the info that our group has a web page there on the Explore Uruguay site, and we can be found under the tab "Meet People". The list of Zara and Kanan's items can be downloaded--it is after the picture and the last bulletin. Click on the box with the list, and it will download. If you are interested in bidding on anything at the silent auction, print out the list, and bring it with you so you can enter any bids you want to make.

7. Remember, if you don't get your weekly bulletin, please let me know, because I seem to be having some trouble with E-Mails--ones I send don't reach their intended recipients, and things people have sent me don't turn up in my mailbox (or in my spam filter, which I always check). Is anyone else having similar problems? But you can always check past bulletins at the website.

Enough for now--except that I hope you had a splendid New Year's, survived the fireworks, and are prepared for a wonderful year ahead.