One of the many pains of being an expat

Besides missing family, besides not being able to buy the things you
like on a regular basis, besides the exchange rate against the local
currency, wow now what was I going to write about?

Oh yeah, hospital bills.

Thankfully we do have a good hospital system here, an old established
British Hospital. Problem is, you just don't go and see the doctor and
give them your Blue Cross/Blue Shield card and all is well, no, first
you have to pay the bill (Use my airlines credit card and get some
miles, LOL), then comes the paperwork to get reimbursed by the insurance
company and hope there is no problems with the billing amount.

So far we've been pretty lucky. I dare say the dental care is another
matter altogether, that's pretty much a cash only deal.

Greeting someone Uruguayan style - aka - kissy kissy

For newcomers to Uruguay (And I imagine Argentina) there is something
you have to quickly accept and get over. When you meet a woman (In some
instance men too) you give them one of those European cheek kisses, you
know what I'm talking about.

If you extend your hand out for a handshake to a woman they will shake
your hand, but you'll get a strange look.

The fact is, the cheek kiss is how it' done here. Of course you don't
really kiss their cheek, you just kind of go through the motion and make
the kissy sound : )

Children are taught this from day one here, so even when it comes to
meeting children, same thing, no handshake ; 0