The gym...

Having recently ended a relationship, I live alone. So I spend my time outside the office working out at the gym, among other things.

Now there are one or two USA-style gyms in Montevideo, but they are on the other side of the city where the really rich people live and they have USA-style prices. Sure, you can pay a hundred bucks a month... but why?

I live in the Prado neighborhood of Montevideo. It's a nice, quiet area with a variety of people - so its inexpensive. My gym costs ten bucks a month.

It's not a huge place, not fashionable, but serviceable. Pretty much all of the equipment has seen the inside of the inside of a muffler shop to be welded back together. Nautilus, it ain't. This is not one of these places where there is a different special machine for each muscle group. The focus is mostly on free weights, which I always found to be pretty intimidating at the gym in the USA. But living in South America is all about being open to new things... so that's what I'm doing. The only problem thus far is that I haven't quite connected 100% of the names of the exercises on the workout card with the exact exercises... I just know the routine.

Ah, there is one USA-type machine... but it looks damn near pristine and never touched. It could be because its got a sign on it that says "solo damas" - ladies only, please.

It ain't no fashion show. Wear whatever ya got. It's going to get dirty. In the USA its customary to wipe down the bench or whatever... not here. Also, the weight machines such as they are, don't have pulleys or anything like that, it's all chains and they're greased. So forget about wearing your best workout gear because its going to get fucked up.

But I like it. These are real people with real lives and slowly the ice is breaking and I'm going to try to get to know them. Should be interesting.

The service is amazing for ten bucks a month though. Any question about anything, they help right away. I get more personalized attention and more service from this place than I ever did at any health club in the USA.