Elaine Zito was born in Chicago and raised in Elk Grove Village until her family moved to Southern California. She graduated from UCSD in San Diego and received her Political Science degree with an emphasis in Latin American Politics. During her tenure at UCSD, she had the opportunity to study in Mexico City. This is where she discovered her love for the Latin people and culture. Three years later while teaching elementary school in San Diego, Elaine received her Masters in Education with an emphasis in Bilingual Education from the University of San Diego. She has been working on becoming bilingual in Spanish for decades now…it’s a process, not an event!

In 1994, Elaine relocated to Scottsdale, AZ and soon thereafter became securities and insurance licensed after her teaching job ended in Phoenix.

She figured she might as well learn about money, something her family didn’t really teach her about…After several years of training, she earned her Certified Financial Planning designation as well as the Certified Estate Planning designation.

Elaine helped people retire for 27 years. After Covid and the death of her mother, she and her wife decided to hang it up and retire to Uruguay where they currently reside happily and safely.

Her major incentive to move away from the US was to create a life where she didn’t feel terrorized on a daily basis.

Cynthia Richards was born and raised in Maine. She is the baby of the family with an older brother who lives in Washington state. She grew up tromping in the woods, fishing in the lakes, and looking for Mermaid tears (sea glass) with her family. She married the woman of her dreams, Elaine Zito, in 2015, and they now tromp through the woods, eat fish someone else has caught, and look for Mermaid tears on the beaches of Uruguay with their family of three dogs.

She started dance class at two or three, found her people in theater groups in school and throughout Maine, and eventually moved to the Washington D.C. area to work professionally in the theater communities in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. This is a love she has today and continued with Voices of the Desert, an Unconventional Theatrical Chorus in Phoenix, AZ.

Cynthia has a Master’s Degree in Business with an emphasis on Human Resource Management and has worked in the HR capacity in many forms of business, eventually spending the years before retirement working with her wife in the finance industry.

Today she can be found in Uruguay, retired, walking with her family on the beach, learning Spanish, finding places to sing and dance, baking, playing pickleball, and being grateful and thankful for the life she has been allowed to create.

If you are interested in reaching out to either Elaine or Cynthia you can email them at elainezito65@gmail.com.

• Location: La Barra is a resort town located on the eastern coast of Uruguay, near the popular tourist destination of Punta del Este.
• Population: La Barra has a population of about 2,000 people.
• Climate: La Barra has a mild climate year-round, with average temperatures ranging from 60°F to 80°F.

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