Pre-season jitters

My brother solemnly declared to me yesterday that "Punta del Este is empty." I spent five minutes explaining to him that never before have there been so many people here (and from so many different places) in the months of October, November, Dec. So he switched to "But there are no Argentines." My arguments refuting this were manyfold, from "who cares" to "there are, too" or "they are diluted among all the people from other places."

It's not just my brother though. Around this time of the year, freaking out about the season is everybody's favorite sport, just as it is customary to have an Argentine government go all out trying to discourage anyone from crossing to Uruguay. In the end, barring the crises that crop up every 8 years or so, they all come anyway.

So, my prediction for this season: better than ever in the history of Punta. I base this on:

• My irrepressible optimism
• Sales at our stores
• The number of Europeans/Americans/Non-Argentine Latin Americans on the streets of Punta since I arrived in October
• Expected cruise-ship visits
• The ever-growing number of houses and condos
• The huge free publicity received by Punta del Este in the travel press around the world, it would seem it was the "new" place to write about in 2006
• The strength of regional economies
• Etc., etc

Let's see in March how things went...