Uruguay is a beautiful country that isn’t talked about much. Uruguay has 19 states but they don’t call them states they call them departments. They’re mostly known for their pastries, and meat and the thing they are known for the most is soccer. Soccer is very popular in Uruguay, Uruguay has many teams but there are 3 that stand out as the main team that plays in the World Cup, then there are two other teams but their rivals Penarol and National. These two teams fight like crazy. Every time there’s a game for either team the cops are always around. When I was in Uruguay one of the teams (Penarol) was playing and OMG the number of people walking on the streets, cars honking, and people selling merch on the streets got crazy. My uncles ended up going to the game that day they told me how there were a bunch of people yelling at the stands playing the congas and making a bunch of noise. The team ended up winning and when a soccer team wins we celebrate like crazy. We stay up till around 3 in the morning eating talking and even dancing.

El carnaval (The Carnival)

Every year there is a huge carnival that starts at the beginning of January and ends mid-March. This carnival isn’t what you might think it is. Yes, they go out and dance on the streets but they also have something else called Murgas. Murgas are a musical theater group (about 17 people) that wear a bunch of face makeup and they get up on stage and sing about our culture or how the government sucks. They sometimes even make fun of the government. But theory can be funny and cool to watch. They wear a crazy amount of face makeup and wear very colorful costumes.

Food and Pastries  

Uruguay is not only known for soccer, they are also known for its meat and pastries. Uruguayans love cookouts, grilling, etc. We also love to eat sweet pastries like bunuelos (donuts), alfajores, torta frita (a super fluffy fried dough)

What is mate?

Mate pronounced Mah-teh is a drink like coffee, but it doesn’t really look like coffee it is like a green powder and you put in these cups with a wired straw you put hot water in and done. It’s like tea and they drink it all day at any time. Most Uruguayans carry them around everywhere. I, personally, don’t like it but most Uruguayans do.

Where is Uruguay located? 

A lot of people don’t know where Uruguay is located. Uruguay is a small Spanish country in South America right next to Argentina and Brazil. Argentina is a country that is very similar to Uruguay except Argentina is bigger and they have a very famous soccer player named Lionel Messi. Uruguay’s capital is Montevideo. I was there while on vacation to see my family. There are a lot of things that are different there. For example, in cars, the windows don’t go down with a button you have to use a handle and roll the window down. The houses are nice but they aren’t like the houses here, most of them were hand-built, just like my grandma’s house.

Other stuff about Uruguay

• Uruguay is a very beautiful country to visit It has beautiful beaches, towns, and lots of good food

• Their main language is Spanish. Everywhere you look most signs, schools, stores, and foods are all in Spanish

• They have many tourist attractions in Uruguay like, The Fingers of Punta del Este El Museo del Carnaval, Which translates to The Museum of the Carnival. Estadio Centenario which is the main stadium where our main team plays

• Uruguay is very well known for its soccer they have many teams and they call quadrants their most popular ones are in Penarol and nationally they also have their main team that team usually plays in the World Cup.