Living in Montevideo, albeit for a short period of time, changed my perspective on various topics. Given the current sociopolitical chaos of the world, it was so refreshing to live under a welfare state with great public services: free museums, free healthcare, free higher education, etc. Sometimes if I concentrated enough on la rambla and its sounds, I could forget the threats to democracy, the violence and all the other issues. But it would be unfair, for me and for this city that gave me so much, to consider it a utopia. Inequality is rampant in Uruguay, worsening in Montevideo. Pollution remains a huge issue, with people digging through the dumpsters every night. There is not even a proper mechanism to recycle organic waste. The water crisis of a couple of years back looms over Montevideo as a possible future problem. The meat industry continues to be one of the largest pillars of the national economy, generating tons of carbon dioxide emissions. And the government is investing in oil drilling, for reasons I still quite not understand. One of my main conclusions out of my time here is accepting dichotomies, as strange as they seem. I came in to this tiny country with assumptions, theories and pre-conceived notions. Some of them were right, most often than not they happened to be wrong.
I left Montevideo a month ago, and yet, its imagery and sounds remain ingrained in my brain. I tried to harness them through poetry. I was surprisingly inspired, especially for someone whose last poem was written almost a year ago. I wished to express this deep yearning I have to return to Uruguay mixed with my perplexity and confusion when learning about the country. All in all, I am already planning my trip back to Montevideo. Hopefully it will not be too long before I have the privilege of listening to the birds and the crashing of waves.