And in Colonia . . .

Just a quick note to say all is well. We're in Colonia, a tree-lined small town of 22,000, just resting up after a 3 hour bus-ride from Montevideo. Allen's has mastered putting his own shoes on and can cut his own meat. Progress!

We both are enjoying this small colonial town, once Spanish, then Portuguese, then Spanish again, control passing back and forth many times. We spent much of yesterday strolling through town, admiring Baroque buildings, sitting in an outside cafe and enjoying home-made raviolis and cold glasses of Patricia beer. We even saw our favorite bird, the Lesser Kisskadee, flying to rest in pairs in tall palm trees, their bright yellow flashes brightening our spirits like old friends.

For those who wrote, thank you for your heart-warming and funny e-mails. I will answer as soon as possible, but just now I'm borrowing internet access from a local cafe. You can see (this one's for Nick) that Allen is truly fine!