bebero said:
It suely depends on the lifestyle you want. Honestly on the example you just gave, writing class, well, that's what the internet's for. But interestingly enough I was able to find good (native) French lessons just by biking through a "native" neighborhood and paying attention at all the little billboards people put up freely offering their products and services.
The truth is that the ghost town character of Punta has been slowly been changing with more permanent residents and with the people of Montevideo becoming wealthier and spending weekends there (making most little shops and restaurants open from Friday to Sunday throughout the year).
The population of Departamento de Maldonado (Punta del Este, Maldonado, Piriapolis, la barra, punta ballena), a county smaller than the greater B.A. area has according to the last census 160,000+ human inhabitants, and betwen 100 and 200,000 sea lions.
The mall is certainly not a megamall but it plays that role. Its anchor supermarket certainly is bigger, cleaner and immensely more diverse than any supermarket you can find here, and you can buy a tent, fish, produce, imported spices, cheap clothes and prime property at the same place http://www3.tinglesa.com.uy/ and of course there's also a "fresh market" (an organic store, with the freshes produce being exhibited, as noted, one day a week, in a feast of inexpensive greenery), a disco (not the same company as here) and discount store kinda like k mart that goes by the name "devoto".
Regarding Sweet Mellow Lucass' linked article, it is to be noted that one is dealing with quiet an upstanding society when it is freaking news that "codes and ethic values" might be at risk - or that a Latin American country is "in fear of becoming Latinamericanized"
and all of that intolerable peace and manners just 4 hours ferry from B.A., 30 mins plane
