An Aussie in Uruguayana (Port 58 - 80 Greater Western Sydney)

I am aware that there was footy this weekend, but I won’t talk about it. The last five weeks felt like reliving the first five rounds of the season: three consecutive wins, followed by two painful losses. If the pattern continues, we should beat Footscray next. Still, the last couple of games were inexcusable. Are we chokers? It is time for the leadership to step up. They are the only ones who can give an answer to that question. Meanwhile, I would like to tell you about the visitor I had thanks to Port!

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It was way past midnight, already Tuesday, when the bus that had left Corrientes city at 6pm finally arrived at Paso de Los Libres bus station. I had been waiting for it for more than an hour in the typical humid cold night of the Tri-Country area’s Winter. I was wearing my Port guernsey. If it weren’t for the Port Adelaide Football Club, I would be probably sleeping on my warm cosy bed, instead of enjoying the constant wet wind that kept blowing tirelessly over everyone who, like myself, had to be there for one reason or another.

This story began five months earlier, in February, during AFL preseason. It was probably hot as hell when, while randomly checking BigFooty, one post, by a fellow nicknamed ‘1954,’ called my attention – more specifically this part:

“I didn’t go to the family day, I spent the day tracking my young bloke who was on a very long overnight bus trip to the far north of Argentina, his destination being a place called Corrientes, where he has landed a gig teaching English.”

Go figure! Of all places in the whole world, the son of a Port barracker had gone to Corrientes, which is the Argentine province that borders the Brazilian state of South Rio Grande – my home state. Corrientes is on the other side of the river. I can see it from my apartment. Uruguayana is nice and all, but, truth be told, the city is in kind of “Middle-of-Nowhere, South America.”[1] Still, Providence had brought 1954’s young bloke to closer than 400km from me. 

I could imagine how a father feels having a kid on the other side of the planet, in an unknown part of the world, so I offered my help. If there was anything his son needed, they could count on me. 1954 was kind in giving me his son’s contact, and from then on, things evolved to the point that Stephen (or ‘1992,’ as I called him on BigFooty) came for a visit.

Stephen spotted my Port guernsey and laughed. It was easy to know who I was at the station. We were both tired, so, after the mutual greetings, we went straight to the car. A short ride and some issues at the Argentine customs later, we were finally given the ok by the authorities. In the Brazilian side, things went better.

Australians need visa to enter Brazil, and Stephen hadn’t it. However, it happens that I live in a part of Brazil Stephen’s Argentine visa entitles him to visit! Uruguayana is within an “exception strip” across the border with Mercosul countries.[2] So, anyone coming from Argentina doesn’t need to pass through customs if the destination is Uruguayana.

Stephen and I may have officially left Argentina,[3] but neither of us had to tell Brazilians authorities that we had entered the country. Bureaucratically speaking, we were both, indeed, nowhere![4] After we crossed the river, exiting the bridge, I turned right in the direction of the city, instead of taking the left path, which leads to the customs service:

— Welcome to Uruguayana, Stephen! Aaaaand here is where I live…

My building is 150m away from the city’s entrance. He would need to wait until morning to have a site-seeing. However, as soon as he woke up, my kids were all over the foreign visitor. I used the excuse of having to walk the dog to free him from all the fun, so he could know the town – instead of spending all of his unfortunately-too-short stay playing with my boys.

I used the walk to tell him the history of Uruguayana and tour him through most of the city’s main touristic attractions: the Carmo’s church; the city square and the Baron of White River’s statue;[5] the Cathedral of Saint Anne; the City Hall; the “Castelinho” (little castle);[6] the obelisk;[7] the Emperor Peter II park; the city’s gymnasium;[8] etc.  When I was telling the story of my family’s ties to Uruguayana, we coincidentally bumped into my mother – who was supposed to be on her way to Porto Alegre by then, but happened to be unsurprisingly late for her departure.[9]

It was a long walk, but worthy. I had to work, so he had opportunity to know my office and to check my personal library. Luckily, he likes to read, and some books kept the visitor entertained. We would talk about them later. No, better saying, I would talk about them later:

—  You talk too much, Paulo!

I know. I do. But, as amused as he was about it, he kept asking questions! So, I talked. The truth is that he likes to listen.[10] Still, it wasn’t a monologue. Stephen is a fantastic kid, with a lot of life experiences in his CV despite his young age. It was great to know about all the things he already has been through.

Next day, I took him early to the family farm. I showed him it around, then he rode a horse, and, finally, we played some footy! By noon, my visitor was exhausted. He took the siesta BEFORE lunch, while I was driving us back to town. In the afternoon, I had some unexpected work to do, unrelated to the farm. Stephen used his free time to play with my kids and to read some more. For dinner, we prepared to him a churrasco (Portuguese word for “barbecue”), even though he is vegetarian. It was challenging, but we managed to pull a veggie barbie off for him.[11]

In the last day, Stephen taught me and my kids some footy. He bounced the ball, becoming instantly my personal hero. Then, my wife and I introduced him to friends and other local people. People were eager to know him better and invited him to night outs and to mate rounds,[12] which, unfortunately needed to be refused due his short stay. He asked me to take him to places of worship. We couldn’t go to as many as I wished. For instance, I would love to have taken him to an African cult. However, we couldn’t leave the city’s mosque![13]

You see, it is not just me. People in Uruguayana love to engage in conversations. Here, arriving late is not disrespectful, but not stopping to chat can be very offensive. When we finally had the opportunity to leave, with lots of books on Islam, it was late to go anywhere else. So, we headed back home. We had dinner, Stephen packed his things, we all chatted, the kids went to bad, and it was time to drive him back to the bus station.

It was way past midnight, already Friday, when the bus going to Corrientes city finally left the Paso de Los Libres bus station. It was a typical humid cold night of the Tri-Country area’s Winter. I was wearing my Uruguaianense shirt. If it weren’t for the Port Adelaide Football Club, I would be probably sleeping on my warm cosy bed, instead of enjoying the constant wet wind that kept blowing tirelessly over everyone who, like myself, had to be there for one reason or another.

It felt good, though; a bitter-sweet feeling, but good. A friend had just left, but a new friend that I had just made; a friend that, if it weren’t for Port, I would have never made. I can only thank Port for that.

CARN THE PORT!!!


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Some pics of the visit in no particular order:

Uruguayana:

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Notes:

[1] Uruguayana is actually in the “Center-of-Everywhere,” being roughly equidistant (800km) from Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Asuncion, the Iguazu Falls, and Porto Alegre.

[2] Mercosul is the trading association between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Venezuela.

[3] For some reason, Mercosul is merely a suggestion for Argentina. I need to pass through custom every time I cross the bridge to the other side.

[4] Open borders have their advantages. Libertarians of the world, rejoice!

[5] The Barão do Rio Branco (Baron of White River) is responsible for defining the Brazilian borders. He was the Brazilian lawyer in a victory against Argentina in a dispute over territory. He is a local hero for assuring we wouldn’t be Argentine!

[6] A local lawyer always wished to live in a castle, so he built one for himself.

[7] The obelisk celebrates the end of the Paraguayan War (1864-1870). Paraguay capitulated in Uruguayana.

[8] Home of our pro-Futsal team: the Associação Esportiva Uruguaianense. We currently play in the state main division.

[9] I took that as a sign and presented my mom as an important touristic attraction! Well, she deserves it, anyway.

[10] I should be talking things he enjoyed, because we had long conversations on many subjects – mostly which he had brought up: Religion; Politics; History; Parenthood; etc. I am still amazed how mature he is for a 26-year-old.

[11] Both Uruguayana and Corrientes are in South America's "Meat Belt." Poor Stephen. No surprise he is so thin! Must be hard to find something to eat...

[12] Mate is the popular local tea.

[13] Brazil is a Syncretic Ecumenical Catholic country; a multicultural society, centuries before multiculturalism became a thing. We are open to any creed, and we let them mix, blend, and share spaces and members. There are problems, of course; but those are exceptions to the rule. Uruguayana has a significant Muslim population, with great contributions to the development of the city. I know integration could be better, but it is fine, overall.