Iguazu Falls, Argentina

The Devil's Throat

Up close and personal with the falls... loud, wet, and apparently perfect place for a rainbow!

Monday after classes and touring BA with my friends (and a scary allergic reaction to something in my salad which turned me totally BEAT RED, made my heart race, made me super hot and gave me a head ache and massive red rash on my stomach and legs) we boarded our supposed-to-be 18 hour bus to Iguazu falls (very Northern Argentina, on border to Brasil)and 23.5 hours later arrived there! We upgraded to the "cama suites" (cama=bed) which served great food, the beds reclined all the way, and they gave us 4 different kinds of booze! We had a great time and slept for most of the trip... although we were a bit disappointed to be arriving to late, so we checked into our hostel and just planned on seeing the falls the next day.

Up and at'em super early, we got on the 3rd bus from Puerto Iguazu to the national park where the falls are, and spent 3 hours in traffic and eventually turned back because there were protests at the opening to the park from workers who were demanding more pay... not sure where the workers were from, but it was quite the fiasco there that day and no one was able to go into the park all day. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do in Puerto Iguazu - and even the futbol match the guys were excited to watch wasn't coming through on the tv due to crappy cable, so most of the day was pretty much a wash. At one point we considered going to the Brasil side (literally like 2 miles away) but the visa office at the Brasilian consulate wasn't open, and I had heard mixed things about entering the country for the day just in the national park, so we didn't risk it and just had good food and siesta time for the day... planning to get up super early the next day to see the falls in the morning in time to catch my bus back to BA at 4pm.

The next day we woke up at 6am to be the first in the park and walked around for hours looking at all of the falls. It was incredible and truly breathtaking! there are some 300+ falls, and they are about 80 m high and about 2,700 meters in diameter, although they form a half-circle. The pictures don't do it justice, but there isn't much more to say.... other than check out the pics! They're on some list for being a natural wonder of the world, but they aren't one of the official "seven wonders of the world" although they are a World Heritage Site. After the falls I boarded my bus back to BA and although I wasn't in the "cama suite" I managed through the 19 hour bus ride back to BA ok.

Two Sister's waterfall

Iguazu Falls (Argentina side)

23.5 hour bus trip there - they better serve free booze! :)

Buenos Aires, Argentina (week 1)

After a major annoyance with Delta airlines and a day spent in Atlanta, I finally made it to Buenos Aires on Tuesday morning, just one day behind schedule. I am renting a room (and by room I mean twin bed in the living room) in a 1 bedroom apartment with two sister from Chile. They have lived in BA for 3 years. The eldest (24) is studying design and engaged to a guy from LA, and the youngest (19) is studying architecture. They are both very nice and obviously speak Spanish so that is very helpful for me! My Spanish teacher (Hernan), who I was referred to from Kate's cousin who lives in BA with her Chilean hubby (her name is Corrie) met me for a delicious first dinner that night. We shared a big plate with a hunk o' meat (great steak!), sweet potatoes, grilled veggies, patatas fritas (french fries), cheese, and other various goodies. That and a shared bottle of Malbec made me very happy! I started my Spanish classes the next morning, and spent the next couple of days walking around the city getting my bearings and doing odds and ends like studying and grocery shopping. Thursday a friend of Marisa's, Kevin, met up with me to help me buy a phone since he lives in the area - then we met up with two of my friends whom I met traveling in New Zealand, from England, and went out to another wonderful dinner with tasty local wine. We went out to a chill outside bar afterwards and met some of his friends in BA. I spent the weekend with my two friends walking around BA, seeing the sights, and eating the BA food and drinking the BA drinks! On Saturday we went out with a girl I met while in Vietnam, Florencia, and her friends in BA. Usually we go to dinner around 11:00-11:30, have drinks until 2 or 3 and THEN go to the club, because if you go any sooner, you are a big huge loser apparently :) So we went to the club for her friend's birthday around 3:00am and made it home around 6:30am. I was definitely not used to this night life, and therefore slept in the following day until about 3pm :)

BA is a great city though - lots of parques and plazas - tons of different neighborhoods and what not with different things unique about each area. It's a massive city, didn't realize how huge it is, 11 million people live in 'greater' BA (vs. 8.3 million in greater NYC). That's a lot of people!!!