3 Run-ins with the law in Uruguay

1st Run in:
Aaron and I went to the Barrio de los Judios today to go to some wholesale shops. One store that we went in had the funniest collection of low-quality goods from China. There was a whole shelf of knock-off perfumes that we had a good laugh about, with names like BOOS (a take-off of Hugo Boss) and something that looked like it was trying to be a Gaultier clone. Aaron had the camera and took some pictures of it, to show some friends, but was accosted by the management of the store who demanded that he give her the film from the camera. He tried to explain that it was digital, and he could erase the pictures, but there was no film to hand over. The woman, in typical Uruguayan fashion, had to repeat the problem and her solution at least 5 times. Aaron asked what the problem was, and she said that it was "Bad" and she should call the police, there was a law! Aaron asked what the law was, but she just kept repeating herself, and said she didn't know why it was a law, but it just was! After deleting the pictures to the manager's satisfaction, we were free to go.

2nd Run in
So as Aaron and I are driving through the centro in our funny-smelling rental car today, I asked him about Uruguayan driving laws. Yesterday as I was driving around, I had a hard time figuring out some of the driving customs here, I hadn't driven a car since November, so this was the first time I was paying attention to the idiosyncrasies of Uruguayan road rules. (It should be noted that even that I am terrible about noticing these details, and have always been somewhat oblivious about directions) Right after we discussed Uruguay's "no turning right on red-light" rule and the "no turning left at any intersections with a traffic light" rule, we heard a siren behind us and little van pulled in front of us and cut us off.

"How rude!" was my first thought, and "why is there a policeman signaling us to pull over?" was my second. Indeed, a policeman waved us over and came to talk to us about...turning right on a red light! He launched into a tirade about how in EVERY country in the world it is illegal to turn right on a red light. We very politely pointed out that, in fact, it is legal in the United States, and after examining my US credentials, and the rental car papers, he decided that it was probably more trouble than it was worth to pursue the matter. He did tell us very many times: Rojo--NO, Verde--SI! What a nice man. The sad fact is that Aaron did turn right on a red light into a clear intersection, right after we discussed how that was not allowed here. When something is second nature like that, you barely even notice it.

When we lived in Minnesota, I remember seeing several Latino and Hmong people trying to get their driver's licenses at the DMV, and failing the test and being frustrated that they couldn't get a license. At the time, I thought it ridiculous that a person who wasn't fluent in the country's language would expect to get a driver's license, but of course now my sentiments are a bit more sympathetic.

3rd run in:
When Aaron returned to the states for a week in May, my friend Kris sent a package of Super-food (an algae, barley etc etc powder for vitamins and energy) to his parent's house so he could bring it back to Uruguay for me. The box got delivered on time to the Campbell's house, but went un-noticed and Aaron didn't bring it home. I was crushed, as I had been looking forward to trying it for a long time. Aaron's mother sent it out a week and a half ago, and today we got the message that it had arrived at the post office downtown. We made our way there, and I bounced into the Correo station to claim my box. I was giddy happy and chatting with the guy behind the desk. He told me that my box had been chosen for an aduana (customs) inspection. "No problem!" I responded, "Open the box, whatever you need!" (all in my happiest Spanish) Well, it wasn't so happy from there out. Aaron's mom sent the box in it's original state, and that happened to include the packing slip with the receipt showing Kris' purchase. After much explaining about how the herb was going to help my husband recover from pneumonia give me more energy, the aduana agent reluctantly agreed to let me keep the product, which apparently was a generous decision on her part as she could have confiscated it because it was an herbal product, and those aren't allowed into the country without a big song and dance number. The next hurdle was that I now needed to pay a 60% impuesto (tax) on the value of the item. I kept trying to explain that it was a gift, that I didn't purchase it, but she would not accept that, because the receipt was still in the box, and it wasn't what she would consider a gift. After going rounds, I told her I needed back-up, so I went to get Aaron out of the waiting car on the street and have him do battle on my behalf. He got no further with the agent, and after 20 minutes of negotiations ended up having to pay the impuesto. The agent also insisted that we pay the 60% on the total cost of getting that bag of herbal supplement to Uruguay, which included the cost of the item, the cost of the rush-order that Kris added, AND the cost that my mother-in-law incurred to send the box here to Uruguay. It is a good thing Aaron was handling that part, because I definitely would have gone berserk. We had to drive 5 minutes down to the port aduana station, pay the impuesto, and then drive our receipt back to the Correo station to pick up the box. When I got to the counter (I was the only customer in the building both times), they had misplaced the the paperwork, and had to fiddle around for a while before they could give me the darn package. I was frustrated with the ridiculous bureaucracy, the very high tax on my goods, and the hoops I had to jump through to obtain it. I sure showed them! I signed my name very largely on the 3 forms presented to me before I could touch my package. I got a little lecture about that, but it was symbolic for me. As extranjeros, we don't pay too much into the system, so I guess I can just count the impuesto as my fair share.

We did manage to get home without any further complications. :)