Construction Crane in Punta Del Este All the way from Europe

    The crane must be fifty feet tall. ” She comes from Europe,” the man in the hard hat tells me as he walks over. “Que donde esta?” “Estados Unitos, Nuevo Mexico …”. He holds a small orange box in his hand with buttons. As he pushes buttons the crane lifts a load of cement in a metal bucket. The bucket was attached moments ago by men who have since disappeared into the building to work on plumbing, wiring, plastering, clean up. The building is seventy percent done and then the real job of filling it with paying tenants begins. “Is constuction bueno aqui?” I ask. “Medio,” he says, and, in English, tells me that Uruguay is doing well from immigration. “You are playing video games,” I joke. “Si,” he smiles, “but I need to be careful. Mucho responsibilidad.” He wishes me a good day and returns to his job. New buildings are a good economic sign.  Uruguay is one of the more prosperous countries in South America and Punta Del Este is a playground for people of means. With cheap money, the mantra becomes, ” Build it, and they will come. ” I’m thankful for people who still know how to build things. I like to watch  buildings go up, one floor at a time, and hum along with the tangos playing on construction worker’s radios