I'm woefully behind on posts, so I'm trying to conjure up the excitement I felt last December when we did actually get our van. :)

On December 1st we went with our landlord, Guillermo, and saw this little beauty on the floor of Montossi Motors in Maldonado. We really loved it at first sight and loved it even more when we found out the price! It was $14,500. It was going to be a tight squeeze for us, but we were thankful that we could afford it.

Here there are no car loans. You have to pay cash, upfront, for not only cars, but houses as well. We were able to transfer $11,000 of the amount we needed to our bank here and took it to the car dealership. This is what $11,000 in fresh $100 bills looks like.

We thought on that day, December 7th, that we would pay $11,000 down on the price of the van and return as soon as we could get the remaining $3,500 transferred. We were NOT expecting the dealership to let us drive home with the van that very day! It was awesome! Guillermo started making arrangements for our car insurance. We also were given 3 days to return with a paper from our local police station proving our domicile in Punta del Este. After we brought that in, the dealership could finish getting the registration for us from the equivalent of the DMV.

Here's a cute van on its first day at home!

The proof of domicile at the police station was interesting. It cost 20 pesos, about one dollar, and Shawn needed two witnesses to say he lived at our address. I was one witness and our next door neighbor, María, was the second witness.

The van is a GONOW from China. It seats seven: two in front, two in the second row, and three in the back. It also has sliding doors on both sides.

Here's the second row of seats with the compulsory fire extinguisher under the seat. All cars must have a fire extinguisher here.

Here's the front seats. It doesn't have great suspension, but the ride in the front is quite comfortable.

This is looking toward the third row of seats and back window. When we go places as a family, that's the perfect space for Penny. She has all kinds of windows and a nice big seat. The windows on the sides in the back can be opened.

Here is one of the main reasons we love the van. It has great air conditioning for the back seats. Really the only thing the van was lacking was power steering. Apparently that's difficult to find in these types of vans.

We might make some upgrades to the van at some point. A better stereo, for one. We would also like a luggage rack up top, running boards so it will be easier for my mom to get in, and maybe a bike rack on back if it's possible.

This was my first new car...ever! And it was Shawn's first car that he ever paid cash for completely.

Under our tiny hood. :) Great place to store the jack!

The back seats fold down completely and push forward. We like that because we can then use the extra space in back for grocery bags when we go shopping.

Ohhhh la la! Punta del Este plates! The emerging premier resort location in South America! haha!

Looking through the van from the back with the back door open.

We love our little van. We've taken it places I'm sure it wasn't meant to drive. We have been on multiple trips into the countryside and driven through areas that barely had roads. So far it's been a tough little nut, which we really appreciate. As a starter vehicle, it has been amazing for us. We can pick people up at the airport with all their luggage or have space for all of our neighbors if we need to go somewhere together. I hope it will be a part of our lives for a long time to come.

As for fuel in Uruguay, it currently runs about 34 pesos per liter which translates to $6.54 per gallon. It's high, but cars are generally much more fuel efficient here and the gas prices don't seem to stop anyone with a car from driving.