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February 2020
The British Society in Uruguay
2020 Scavenger Hunt
Jonathan Lamb
Lamb Chops
www.britsoc.org.uy
Contents
President:
President’s Words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Richard A. Empson
Upcoming Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 president@britsoc.org.uy
Future Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 096 233 233
Member News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Sir Winston Churchill Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Vice President:
British Embassy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Gabriel Rizzo
Anglo-Uruguayan Cultural Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 vp@britsoc.org.uy
British Hospital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 094 264 614
Christ Church Montevideo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Anglican Church of Uruguay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
British Cemetery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Secretary:
Colin Shearer
Silver River Lodge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
secretary@britsoc.org.uy
Saint Andrew’s Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 095 022 055
Montevideo Players Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Dickens Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Medical Column. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Treasurer:
Back in Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ricardo Medina
Lamb Chops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 treasurer@britsoc.org.uy
094 547 279
Speedy Crossword Time!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Far Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Link of the Month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Webmaster and Editor:
Geoffrey Deakin
editor@britsoc.org.uy
098 586 168
Chair of the Sir Winston Churchill
Home and Benevolent Funds:
Carolyn Cooper
swch@britsoc.org.uy
099260953
The British Society in Uruguay BSU CONTACT Newsletter
2020 Scavenger Hunt www.britsoc.org.uy
Page 2 www.facebook.com/BritSocUy
www.instagram.com/BritSocUy
Montevideo, Uruguay
Jonathan Lamb
Lamb Chops
Page 23
Edition Number 118 Year 11
+598 96 021 918
February 2020
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
PRESIDENT’S WORDS
Dear members,
I trust you are enjoying this lovely summer. Coronavirus On another topic, the Executive Committee has just
outbreak aside, the first month of the new decade has lost one of its members, after Pauline Prevett – who
been quiet and pleasant in this little corner of the world. had stepped in for Joanna Hambrook earlier in 2019 –
The month ended with the UK exiting the EU, as Brexit decided to opt out. Therefore, we are looking for someone
finally happened. Future generations will judge the to cover the vacant post at least until someone can be
wisdom of this move, but whatever side of the fence voted in at our next Annual General Meeting scheduled
you are on, you must agree with me that a new era has for late April. Any members wanting to offer to help the
begun for Britain. Executive Committee until then will be most welcome.
Just contact me at president@britsoc.org.uy to let me
Fortunately, political turmoil in Europe does not brush off know.
too much this far south of the equator, and we are more
focussed on what the new Uruguayan government will Finally, a gentle reminder that we are now in 2020 and
mean for this country than on what Boris & Co. are doing your annual membership fee is due. Remember you can
about holding the not-so-United Kingdom together. now pay from the comfort of your own home through
RedTickets. And if you forgot to pay last year’s fee, you
Since a great number of you were away in January and can simply pay two at the same RedTickets link.
others will be away in February, the Society is taking
I wish you all a great second half of summer and look
time out and will not start its events until March. The forward to seeing you at our March events, if not sooner.
calendar kicks off with our annual Scavenger Hunt,
which is scheduled for mid-month (watch the Coming Richard Empson
Events section for more details). Later that month we will President
have the first of a new series of events we have tongue-
in-cheekily named “BS talks”, which will be exclusive
talks by interesting guest speakers for small audiences
(of 10 to 20), where participants will be able to interact
with the speaker in a more intimate environment, the
idea being that talks are not simply lectures but rather
fruitful exchanges with the selected guest. We hope you
will like this new series as much as you have our lecture-
supper and after-office talks.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 1
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
FUTURE EVENTS
Saturday 7th of March
St. Andrew’s Society Picnic
St Andrew’s Society of Uruguay
Saturday 14th of March
2020 Scavenger Hunt
The British Society in Uruguay
Punta Carretas
June
Junior Caledonian
St Andrew’s Society of Uruguay
MEMBER NEWS
Birthdays in February
02 Joanna N. Hambrook 17 Horacio Castro
02 Sebastián Sosa 17 Nicholas J. Prevett
04 Cristina A. Rowan 18 María C. Ferrés
04 Carolyn Cooper 19 Michael Hobbins
05 Thomas Hobbins 20 Jennifer M. Sprigings
05 Ana I. Albanell 20 Maria A. Mendoza
06 Brenda A. Rathbone 20 Rodrigo A. Tito
09 William S. Hays 21 Kathleen E. Stoutt
09 Alejandra Cobertti 22 Roy A. Gordon-Firing
13 John R. Hamilton 23 Carmen E. Hill
13 Florencia Castro 24 Joan G. La Brooy
13 Keoni E. Guridi 24 Felipe Ciganda
14 María P. González 27 Susan Drever
15 Camilo Pintos 28 John A. Grierson
16 Alan J. Henderson 28 Lieselotte Ensink
“Let’s light the candles and celebrate
this special day of your life!
Happy birthdays!”
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 2
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
THIS MONTH’S COVER
This month’s cover features The Young Lovers
which is an outdoor sculpture by Georg Ehrlich,
installed at Festival Gardens in 1973. Since this
month we celebrate Saint Valentine’s day, I saw it
fitting to show this nice work of art with St. Paul’s
Cathedral in the background.
St Paul’s Cathedral is a relatively new cathedral
at only 300 years old. It was built by the famous
English architect, Christopher Wren, after the The Young Lovers is an
Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the old St Paul’s outdoor sculpture
by Georg Ehrlich
Cathedral.
A massive church clean-up and restoration, on both
the exterior and interior, was recently completed
in 2011. Three centuries of pollution and exposure
to the elements had left the cathedral blackened
and dirty. But now, 15 years and £40 million later,
St Paul’s Cathedral gleams in the sunlight, almost
blinding white at times, the symbol of purity.
Benches are scattered throughout and they’re a
lovely spot to sit and marvel at the view!
Geoffrey W Deakin
Editor.
BSU MEMBERSHIP FEES
Notice to Society Members
The British Society would like to kindly remind all members
who have not yet done so to get up to date with their
membership fees.
Remember you can now do this easily from the comfort of
your own home using any local debit card and most credit
cards through the RedTickets platform.
And if you forgot to pay last year’s fee (or any previous
unpaid dues), you can simply pay two or more at the
same RedTickets link.
2020
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 3
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME
Dear Peter Schor passed away
last Tuesday 28th of January
at the age of 93.
He’d been with us at the Home
for almost 5 years
and will be missed by all.
His sense of humour was amazing,
and always had a smile for everyone.
Thanks Peter for being
the way you were!!!
On December 24 we made mince pies! Lots of help from Valerie, Norma and Peter!
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 4
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME Continued...
Norma celebrated her 82nd birthday!
2020’s first cooking activity was making chutney with Victoria and Bertha!!! Lots of peeling and chopping up!
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 5
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
THE SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL HOME Continued...
Another birthday in less than a month!!! Joan turned 97! Lots of family and friends came to celebrate it with her.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 6
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
BRITISH EMBASSY
Media and networking Punta Tech
Journalists and editors from the main Uruguayan media The Ambassador and other members of staff attended
outlets attended a talk at the Ambassador’s Residence Punta Tech Meetup, an annual technological event,
by Meera Selva, from the Reuters Institute for the Study where Virgin Galactic’s Commercial Director was one
of Journalism. Meera talked about the threats facing of the main speakers. In a very engaging presentation,
journalism today, and raised some possible solutions. Stephen Attenborough told the 1,500 people in the
She also encouraged them to apply to the Journalism audience how the British company is getting ready to
Fellowship Programme, a valuable opportunity to spend launch commercial space flights later this year. And he
six months in the UK working alongside journalists from broke the news that a Uruguayan has signed up to be
all over the world. on one of them!
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 7
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
BRITISH EMBASSY Continued...
Deal or no deal?
Ambassador Ian Duddy helped to raise funds for The programme is available here.
Fundapass, a local organisation that trains guide and
assistance dogs for blind people and autistic children,
while having fun on a prime-time TV programme “Trato
Hecho”. The TV show is known in the UK as “Deal or
no deal”. Accompanied by his partner Neil Morrison, his
Embassy colleague Pilar Arocena, his friend Karen Higgs
(aka “Guruguay”) and the founder of Fundapass Alberto
Calcagno, the Ambassador was lucky and managed to
secure a deal that raised $35,000 for the organisation.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 8The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
ANGLO-URUGUAYAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE
JULY
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 9The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
ANGLO-URUGUAYAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE Continued...
Odile Travel and the Anglo invite you to an absolute must for Downton Abbey fans.
Experience a world of elegance as we embark for the 2020 Downton Abbey filming locations tour, and take the chance to
explore the country like your favorite characters from the award-winning period drama.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 10The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
ANGLO-URUGUAYAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE Continued...
JULY
Travel medical insurance.
Ultimate comfort on our coaches.
Tickets for Shakespeare museum house and Roman Baths.
Price per person on double basis:
...follow us
Montevideo · Uruguay
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 11The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
ANGLO-URUGUAYAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE Continued...
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED A CAREER
IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT THE ANGLO DIPLOMA IN TEFL
(TTC)?
Come, listen and talk to Anglo Diploma in TEFL trainees and tutors.
We'll tell you about the requirements for the course, what it is like, what the work
prospects for Anglo teacher trainees are and we'll answer all your questions!
WHERE? ANGLO CENTRO (LAB)
WHEN? TUESDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 18.30-19.30
AVAILABLE ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM LIVE
1
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 12The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
BRITISH HOSPITAL
Skin cancer prevention
is possible
The British Hospital endorses a skin cancer
awareness campaign which aims to educate
people about the damages to skin caused by
overexposure to ultraviolet radiation.
As part of its ongoing health education policy, the British
Hospital has joined the skin cancer prevention campaign,
promoted by the Uruguay Society of Dermatology (SDU),
with the support of the Chair of Dermatology of the Faculty
of Medicine of the Udelar, the Honorary Commission to
Fight Cancer and the Ministry of Public Health.
Two people a week die from skin cancer in Uruguay.
This has led the British Hospital to provide its members
Dr Carlos Carmona, head of the Dermatology department at the
and users suggestions about photoprotection, to avoid
British Hospital.
damage to the skin caused by ultraviolet radiation.
“To start protecting ourselves correctly, we’ve got to be There are two main types of skin cancer: carcinomas
aware of the problem”, Dr Carlos Carmona said, head of the (basal cell and squamous cell) and melanoma. Both types
hospital’s Dermatology department and vice president of of carcinoma “are the most common” and the first one of
the SDU. Proper protection “is not only using good quality these accounts for “more than 90% of malignant tumours.”
sunscreens with adequate levels of protection, but also The melanoma, meanwhile, “is much less common but
adopting a global strategy”, he said. more aggressive.”
He urges everyone to “think that sunscreens are not only Carcinomas are “usually associated with chronic sun
for use at the beach, but also for daily outdoor activities.” exposure” and are commonly seen in ages from 50 – 55
In addition to sunscreens, one should “use appropriate onwards. The good news is that “these types of cancers
clothing which can provide a great barrier against the are mostly treatable and curable,” even with non-surgical
sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays”, such as hats and seek shade treatment.
to move around in or take shelter.
Those who are most at risk of developing melanoma
“There are a series of sun-protection strategies that are those “with the lowest skin phototypes, who react
can prevent acute sun damage, such as burns, red skin, adversely to the sun, who are very white skinned, have
sunstroke, systemic effects, such as fever, and especially freckles, who are redhead or those who have a very
long-term effects.” limited tanning capacity,” he explained.
“Special protection should be placed on children and He recommends close monitoring by the dermatologist
adolescents as “80% of UV radiation received over a for everyone with these skin types and highlights that the
lifetime is estimated to be received before the age of British Hospital has a dermatological imaging service for
20”, he said, and that tanning beds should be avoided as moles and other skin lesions to allow for a proper follow
an alternative to tanning because they “have the same up.
cumulative UV effect as solar radiation.”
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 13The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
CHRIST CHURCH MONTEVIDEO
Arocena 1907
Esq. Lieja, Carrasco
Tel 2601 0300
www.christchurchmvd.org
SUNDAY Services 11am
Teaching Focus: “Marriage: A marvelous, maddening mystery!” Interpretación simultánea al español.
Mondays at 7:30pm Alpha Marriage Course. Advance registration required for this conversational date night
opportunity. Cost $250 US. Starts Feb 10 for seven weeks. Dinner included.
Wednesday nights at 7:30pm Movie Night Come for a free, fun night out among friends.
Special Activities include our monthly multicultural “Potluck Lunch” on the last Sunday (the 23rd) of the month.
We have many diverse activities and groups. Register for updates online at www.christchurchmvd.org/resources or
join our “information only” WhatsApp group by texting John at +598 94 368 761 for updates.
Congratulations to our associate Pastor
Nate Harley on his marriage to Luisa Morales on February 1!
V IS IT
OUR NE W
Welcome to Ethan and Emily Hutchinson from USA,
cultural exchange interns for six months beginning February 2.
Welcome to Gianfranco and Natalie Ramirez from Chile, W E B S ITE
Pastoral Interns for ten months beginning February 12.
ANGLICAN CHURCH OF URUGUAY
The English-speaking congregation of
Holy Trinity Cathedral invites all residents and
visitors to its English service every Sunday at
10 am with an Anglican Eucharist celebrated
according to the
1979 Prayer Book of the the
Episcopal Church of the USA.
Baptized Christians of all denominations are
invited to receive Holy Communion in order to
be spiritually fed and united to their brothers
and sisters in Christ.
www.anglicanchurch.uy
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 14The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
BRITISH CEMETERY
www.cementeriobritanico.com.uy
Email: info@cementeriobritanico.com.uy
Telephone: 2622 3071
All those interested in our events are very welcome!
SILVER RIVER LODGE
All our meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of
every month, from March through November, at
the William G. Best Masonic Temple, located at
1429 Canelones Street, Montevideo.
For further information please contact us at
secretarysrl876@gmail.com
or call Mr. Martin Macadam
at 096 001 995.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 15The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
SAINT ANDREW’S SOCIETY
2020 HAS STARTED AND ALSO OUR ACTIVITIES!!
On 24th January we kicked off celebrating the birth of the great Scottish poet RABBIE BURNS with our
Burns Night, this time at the premises of our friends The Montevideo Players Society.
We had the presence of HMA Ian
Duddy and his partner Neil Morrison,
who gave the Adrress to the Haggis,
and the evening continued with the
speeches to Bonnie Scotland by Elsa
Marsicano and The Land we Live In by
Mr. David Foggo from Edinburgh.
Then followed a show during which
Scottish Dance Uruguay and City of
Montevideo Pipe Band delighted us
with the pipes and Highland dancing.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 16The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
SAINT ANDREW’S SOCIETY Continued...
Later on, we enjoyed the popular music of Scotland
in the voices and guitar of Mr David Foggo and his
wife Patricia, (nee Morton of Uruguay), and we all
joined in The Eightsome Reel, Burn’s Hornpipe and
many other dances with the Montevideo Scottish
Country Dancers. It also added to the show the
unexpected singing of Patrick O’Hare from Scotland
and the members of Old Christian’s Cór, who came
to the party as spectators and joined the fun and joy
of the evening.
Everything resulted in a
wonderful summer night!!!!!!!
The activities will continue on 7th of March with
our Annual PICNIC, the JUNIOR CALEDONIAN
in June and the celebration of the Society’s 125th
Anniversary with all the pomp and circumstance at
the CALEDONIAN BALL on 17th October.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 17The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
MONTEVIDEO PLAYERS SOCIETY
Let’s kick off the 2020 activities with the SUMMER QUIZ to be held in the garden on
THURSDAY 06 FEBRUARY - 20:00 at the Neil Fairless Centre.
If it rains, we move indoors.
Tickets includes finger food for every team and are priced as follows:
• Non-members: $ 400.
• Members: $ 300.
Get your team of up to 5 organised and read the booking and payment instructions
carefully.
1. You book your spot using this link.
2. We confirm availability via email and include a payment link through Mercado
Pagos. Remember that the Colectivo is no longer a valid option.
3. You pay within 72 hours of receipt of our email.
4. We validate your reservation.
5. You show up on Feb 6th and have fun with us!
Don’t miss it!
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 18The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020 DICKENS INSTITUTE www.britsoc.org.uy Page 19
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020 DICKENS INSTITUTE Continued... www.britsoc.org.uy Page 20
The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
by Dr Jorge C Stanham OBE
MEDICAL COLUMN jorgestanham@yahoo.com
Health care: a look at the future
A look back into not-so-distant history, let’s say 100 years Lessons for the 21st century’ attempts to describe people,
ago, will leave us spellbound, looking at the changes that organisations and global society in year 2050-mode.
have taken in biomedicine, the health professions and When you finish reading the last page, uncertainties
how patients progressively feel empowered to have their exceed what can be reasonably be predicted. I strongly
part and say in managing their health. It was barely a recommend reading this masterpiece, as health care is
century ago that insulin was discovered, changing the going to be radically transformed.
outcome of diabetes forever. It was overlapping WW2 However, there are voices which sound more optimistic.
that sulphonamides, penicillin and other antimicrobials One of them is Dr Eric Topol, who’s always investigating
began to be part of the everyday armamentarium, saving ‘bleeding-edge’ (beyond cutting-edge) technologies and
countless lives from previously fatal infections. A century their impact on patients and professionals. In his 2019
ago, medicine had tranformed from an art to bioscience, book ‘Deep Medicine’ (as an analogy do ‘deep learning’,
to which epidemiology and other determinants of health an AI concept) he posits that Big Data, Machine Learning,
began to be part of the mix. The 21st century continued Deep Computing, all part of AI, will free clinicians from
to build upon prior knowledge once our genetic code was the drudgery of data-entry and analysis and allow them
hacked and unlocked; now we han target diseases with to recover that connection with patients that he enjoyed
‘precision medicine’ – an analogy comparing a modern when he started studying medicine half a century ago.
night-vision sharpshooter with a traditional shotgun hunter Another factor will be transparency: patients will have full
chasing partridges. The second half of the 20th century access to their clinical documentation (EHR) and may
was the stage for the creation of healthcare systems, both participate in its creation, adding information, comments
public and private, which attempted to bring economies and suggesting corrections. In North America and the
of scale to a complexity unmanageable at the individual UK , respectively, the open OpenNotes and the Patients
level, be it professional or patient. Know Best initiatives, have this goal.
The last decade of the 20th and the first two
of the 21st century brought us information
and communications technology. In barely
half a century, individuals could carry in
their pockets, hand-held devices which
exceeded the power of the computers that
landed the Apollo missions on the Moon. As
has happened in banking, retail, travel and
virtually most or nearly all human activities,
a virtual deconstruction of time (all is instant)
and space (distance is meaningless) left
health care out in the clear, as the last
bastion of the 20th century to transform.
In snail-pace mode, information and
communications technology gradually inched
into admistration, billing, supplies, personnel
and only in the decade that is ending this year In our country, the National Electronic Health Record
did electronic health records (EHRs) make it to the front (Historia Clínica Electrónica Nacional – Mi Historia Clínica
scene. Although pesent EHRs are cumbersome, rigid and Digital) allows and empowers patients to have access to
make data-entry clerks out of clinicians (a main cause all their recorded and uploaded clinical information. My
of professional burnout) they started producing data in blog DrJorgeStanham.blogspot.com describes how to do
quantities that were only analyzable via the algorithms of it.
Big Data – enter Artificial Intelligence (AI).
We’re in for a fascinating future in health care. Will AI
We are now at a point in time, where the individual and replace professionals? The cryptic answer to this question
collective roles of patients, clinicians and the complex is clearly YES, but paraphrased: professsionals who learn
organisations in which they relate, cannot be understood how to harness AI, will replace those who won’t – the
with the tools that we learned and taught two or three digital divide that will replace wealth as a differentiator.
decades ago. Juval Noah Harari in his excellent book ‘21
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 21The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
by Tony Beckwith
BACK IN TIME tony@tonybeckwith.com
The Colimba
In those days, men born in Argentina were required to had my first taste of living by my wits and found that I
do their colimba (military service) between the ages of enjoyed it immensely. I had many plans, none of which
eighteen and twenty-one, no matter how much or how involved Argentina. My grandparents were all British, so
little time they’d spent there. I was born there but three I was a British citizen through my paternal grandfather
years later was moved to Uruguay where I lived until and already had a passport. I didn’t consider myself an
I turned twenty. I visited Buenos Aires off and on, but Argentine. Was it reasonable to put my life on hold and
never lived there. go back, given the circumstances of my birth? If I’d been
My brother, Christopher, was also born in Argentina. born at sea, I asked the Consul, would that make me a
He was older, so his turn came first. In those days your fish? He was not amused.
name was entered in a lottery and, if you drew a very Consul: “Look, it’s very simple. You can do your duty, or
low number, you’d be exempt from doing your colimba. If you’ll forfeit your citizenship, which means you will be
your number was in the middle range, you’d do a year in arrested and sent back to Argentina should you ever set
the army. A high number would get you two years in the foot on official Argentine property.”
navy. But there was another option: Me: “I’m not going back.”
you could volunteer to serve in the
police force for a year once you turned We shook hands and the Consul
eighteen. Christopher (pictured here) said, firmly but with no malice,
was living in Uruguay when he came “You had better leave now. You
of age; he chose that option and spent are on official Argentine property.”
about fifteen months just across the That night I called my parents in
river in the Buenos Aires metropolitan Montevideo and told them what
police force. had happened. My mother, who
By the time it was my turn I had moved was born in Buenos Aires and
to London, where I received my callup identified very strongly with the
papers instructing me to report to the country of her birth, said, “You’d
Argentine Embassy right away. The be mad to go back. What a waste!
receptionist ushered me through a Besides, you’re not really an
pair of very official-looking doors and Argentine!”
into the office of the Consul. He was My father was a stickler for ethics
a man of about my father’s age and who believed that an unprincipled
received me with old school Argentine life was not worth living. His stock
courtesy. He dispensed with the response to any kind of dubious
pleasantries fairly quickly, though, behaviour was “What if everyone
and proceeded to inform me that I did it?” But he also worshiped
must return to Argentina immediately at the altar of reason, and said,
so that I could register for the lottery. “Argentina has no legitimate
Me: “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I don’t have the money for claim on you if you’re prepared to
the fare.” gamble with your citizenship.”
Consul: “Then you will travel on the next Argentine cargo Some years later an amnesty was granted to people like
ship bound for Buenos Aires. You will work as a deck me who’d been banished from Argentina for one reason
hand and will be provided with a berth, regular meals, or another. I was in Mexico City at the time, so I went to
and a minimum wage.” the Argentine consulate to reclaim my citizenship. When
the Vice-Consul looked at my papers he stiffened and
Me: “Why can’t I stay here until we get the results of the shot me a hostile look. “You never did your colimba!” He
lottery? There may be no need for all this.” probably resented people like me, who had turned their
Consul: “You must be present to register.” backs on his country and were now being forgiven and
I sat very still in that comfortable office, contemplating welcomed back into the fold. I can understand that, but
the prospect of spending a year or two in the Argentine in the end it all came down to a point of view. Gambles
military. I had just spent over a year traveling through don’t always pay off, of course, but this one did, and I
the Americas to London, all under my own steam. I’d don’t regret the choice I made.
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 22The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
by Jonathan Lamb
LAMB CHOPS tony@tonybeckwith.com
We’re pleased to announce a monthly contribution We will get exclusive previews of some of these pieces,
from ex-Editor Jonathan Lamb, who now edits a lively but to start with here is Jonathan’s homage to Uruguay,
summer newsletter in Punta del Este called The Magpie. read on CD and at www.jclamb.com by ex-President
Having published nine books of comic performance Luis Alberto Lacalle.
poetry, assembled in one volume called ‘The Ugly Baby’, To subscribe or contribute to The Magpie, write to
Jonathan is working on another collection to be called vozinglesa@gmail.com.
‘Speaky Stuff’.
URUGUAY
Grant me Lord Steak-smoke heavy But best of all
That when I die In the street Oh utter joy!
Heaven will be like Such meat Several girls
Uruguay Such meat To every boy
Sunshine lemons Parrots gliding Grant me Lord
Pears and peaches On the breeze That when I die
Miles and miles The scent of Heaven will be like
And miles of beaches Eucalyptus trees Uruguay
Laughing chicas Sunsets on a
In bikinis Silver sea
Luscious cream cakes Turning pink
Called Massinis And gold for me
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 23The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
from The Guardian
SPEEDY CROSSWORD TIME! www.theguardian.com
Print this page and start playing!
Solution in the next Contact issue.
January solution:
Across Down
5 Closest living relative (4,2,3) 1 In an awful manner (8)
8 Number of players in a doubles game (4) 2 Steady (6)
9 Brief pause for rest (8) 3 Bids (6)
10 Take small bites (6) 4 Fabric for dressing wounds (4)
11 Three-D human representation (6) 6 Game for one player (9)
13 Member of the legal profession (6) 7 Loathsome (9)
15 Military rebellion (6) 12 * (8)
16 Bandits (8) 14 Kidnapper’s demand (6)
18 Smallest piglet of a litter (4) 15 Craftsmen working in stone (6)
19 Sauce for spaghetti (9) 17 Virtuous (4)
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 24The British Society in Uruguay Contact Newsletter February 2020
THE FAR SIDE by Gary Larson
Ben-what d’ya say we turn the
power off for a while and let
the little guy roam around?
LINK OF THE MONTH
Why procrastination is about managing emotions, not time
Address the real reasons you procrastinate and you’re more likely
to start achieving your goals
Click HERE to visit the Website
www.britsoc.org.uy Page 25You can also read
