In the Jungle...

Hey Everyone!

The past couple of weeks have definitely been busy. As school work has picked up (it's getting hard to convince myself that abroad work is minimal...) and midterm season arrives I still managed to squeeze in a trip (one of the most amazing ones to date) to Puerto Iguazu in Northern Argentina about 17 hours from Buenos Aires by bus. Here we were able to explore the quaint town of Misiones, visit Tres Fronteras where we stood in front of three different countries and visit one of the natural wonders of the world- Iguazu Falls!

One of the many rainbows of the day...

Thursday evening we met up with a group from Expanish (the organization with whom we took our Spanish courses with) and our tour guide Leti. The 15 or so of us boarded a 'Via Bariloche' bus for what promised to be a riveting 17 hour ride. It seems that over the course of this trip we have been building our 'bus ride stamina' if you will so after a 24 leg to Salta and some other trips thrown in for good measure this was a piece of cake.

Before I delve deeper into the jungly details of the trip I must first digress (somewhat) briefly about the bus. I can say with confidence that out of the various bus lines we have traveled since being here, Via Bariloche takes the cake. Although anything was better than the blanketless 24 hour Flecha Bus ride, this bus went above and beyond offering pre-dinner drinks, 2 meal services, pillows and blankets, an 80s music video mashup, shade pull down promptly at 11 and complimentary night caps. So with a combination of cheap wine and wild and spontaneous tunes from the likes of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston we were all lulled to sleep for a large portion of the trip....

Tres Fronteras- Standing in Argentina, Brazil to the Right, Paraguay to the upper left

We arrived in a sunny (and humid) Misiones on Friday mid morning with enough time to throw our bags in the hostel...we were in a 9 person all female room with one shower....do the math that wasn't going to work well...and then head out to walk around Puerto Iguazu and visit Tres Misiones. Located just a short distance from the "Stop Hostel" was Plaza St. Martin which featured an exhibit of sorts created by local artisans spotlighting the town's history and culture. Just a few blocks past this display we reached the waterfront and Tres Fronteras (3 Fronts). Standing on a patio of sorts close to the water's edge we looked out onto the Parahna River and the two other countries that lay a stone's throw away from us. To our right was Brazil and to our left was Paraguay. Although Brazil was probably a mere 5 minute swim from the Argentine shore the steep entrance fee into the country deterred us Americans from visiting but nonetheless it was a pretty neat thing.

"Wildlife"....

Saturday morning began nice and early as we met up with our Iguazu Forest tour guide, lathered on sun screen (which later proved not to be sufficient enough for the albino) and bug spray and packed into our van to head to the falls. Iguazu Falls is actually in a national park of sorts that features much more than the expansive sets of waterfalls but lots of vegetation, some creatures and even an island with a beach tourists can visit by boat. Luckily we were graced with a sunny day (other Expanish groups hadn't been so lucky) but this meant that it was already quite toasty as of 9 am when our tour began. For the next 10 or so hours we explored the falls from most every angle there was to offer. We saw a few lizards and iguanas, took a boat to "La Isla de San Martin" (the island in the middle of it all) where we tested our cardiovascular endurance hiking up hefty set of steps to see some more falls, and participated in the Nautical Adventure. Before going any further I must touch briefly on this "Adventura nautical" which involved 25 or so tourists, the watefalls and a whole lot of wetness. Unsuspecting to me and a few other tourists the boat actually drove us underneath a couple of the falls and although it resembled a mild form of waterboarding the experience of being showered by one of the 7 natural wonders of the world was pretty cool. We finally ended the day by taking a train over to the 'grand finale'- La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat). The eery calmness of the 1 km path leading up to this fall was strongly contrasted by the powerful, swirling fall that was all enveloped in a huge rainbow...a pretty nice ending to the day.

After heading 'home' to the hostel and nursing the beginnings of what promised to be some painful sunburns we headed to a hostel next door for an asado. Coincidentally it appeared to be senior citizens hostel weekend and although we dodged the average age by at least 50 years we didn't let that stop us from enjoying ourselves...although I'm not sure they appreciated our enthusiasm.

One of the waterfalls in Iguazu

On Sunday before departing I was able to head out on a quick run on a route around Tres Fronteras and a port to take in the amazing scenery one last time. As the humidity level rose and the rain clouds moved in, I huffed it up the last hilly turn feeling tired and crisped but still so amazed to explore yet another vastly different region of Argentina!

Besos y Abrazos!

Per

Salta!

Hola!

Just arrived back in Buenos Aires yesterday after a great trip to Salta- a city about 20 hours outside of Buenos Aires home to beautiful colored mountains, an abundance of rock formations, cacti, and of course vineyards. When traveling to Salta it's important to block off a good amount of time considering the bus ride alone is almost a full day on either end of your trip. (or if you had the same experience as we did on the way there some bus rides take upwards of 24 hours). Luckily, even though only 2 ham and cheese sandwiches were served the whole bus ride and every muscle in our legs were at risk of atrophying...we made it there safe and sound with some good stories to tell.

Salta at night

After leaving Buenos Aires 2 hours after scheduled departure, we rolled into Salta around 10 pm on Saturday evening which allowed us to see the city all lit up- pretty neat. After finding our hostel we did what any college kid would do- head out in search of dirt cheap eats. I am not embarrassed to say that for the next 4 nights almost every dinner was eaten at the same food court located in a local mall 4 blocks from our hostel crawling with tweeners and families alike. I guess food courts here have a different appeal considering your tables are cleared for you, alcohol is served, you can smoke and in some cases real plates and silverware are used....classy.

Los Cardones (cacti)

Sunday we ventured out for a 12.5 hour long tour of the mountains and some surrounding villages. Our tour guide Pablo pulled up to our hostel in style (a gold hyundai minivan), we introduced ourselves to the other tourers (a retired couple from Barcelona), and we were off. We were able to stop at several villages and points along the way seeing everything from 500 year old cacti to the beautiful colored mountains, some indigenous land and cemeteries, and of course Las Salinas. Las Salinas are natural salt fields that sound pretty bizarre but are truly neat. Once you pull up to them for quite a distance all you see is the grayish color of the hard salt formed in some pretty interesting arrangements with the occasional hole filled with pure salt laden water. For lunch we stopped in a small village- San Antonio de los Cobres. Pretty creepy if you ask me (see picture below) and although it resembled some sort of prison development and featured a bumping stereo system in its main restaurant (priorities?) it was an interesting thing to see. After visiting a few more towns (one was home to only 12 families and a whole lot of rocks...) we were back in Salta safe and sound.

Main Plaza in Salta

Monday marked a free day which was welcomed by all. I was able to take a run up a few hills (unfortunately) until I reached Plaza Guemes (if you haven't noticed every city in Argentina features the same names for plazas, streets and even restaurants so things can get a little confusing...) which sat on top of the town, giving me a pretty nice few of the modern 'Spanish' style homes and bustling city aspects alike. We ventured into the main square (9 de Julio Plaza) which was full of people preparing to celebrate the feast of Guadalupe (the patron saint of Salta) on Wednesday. Once a year a few days before the feast, people from Salta and surrounding areas as far away as Bolivia (500 km) make a pilgrimage to the city of Salta. However, this pilgrimage isn't by bus or train or car....it's by foot. For between 4 and 5 days hundreds of people walk in groups with their families, churches and friends to Salta. Local hotels and families donate unused rooms to the pilgrims, restaurants give food to the cause and tour guides talk turns walking side by side with the people, encouraging them every step of the way. Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. We were able to also see the inside of the beautiful Iglesia de San Fransisco which featured amazing 3D like paint details throughout.

Tuesday marked another 12 tour this time to Cafayete- home to the best vineyards in the Salta region. Once again our tourguide Guadalupe picked us up in a pimped out minivan of sorts where we began the tour with 8 other people from all over the world. There was a couple from the UK in their twenties traveling the entire world for a year (they had just entered South America and would end up in Fiji, USA, Sydney...), another couple from Asia, a German couple on vacation and a couple people just backpacking around seeing what they could. On this trip too we stopped at many points throughout a narrow, mountain road to snap photos of rock formations (everything from one that resembled a frog to one named 'the Titanic') and La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat- a magnificent rock structure with a fitting name). Eventually we stopped in a small city for a couple hours where we lunched on some local cuisine ( I chose to sample 'locro'- a traditional white bean and meat stew...probably not the best pick for an 80 degree day...) and ducked into just one more church. The second half of the trip was dedicated to visiting two local wineries where we got tours of each individual vineyard's process from vine to bottle and of course got to sample :) Once we got back to our hostel we were tired but decided to venture away from the food court and instead try a local parrilla highly recommended by the hostel.

We arrived at La Monumental a little after opening around 9 pm and it was already starting to get busy. As we each began to order a different cut of meat our waiter warned us that they were to share....sure, sure he just thinks we're not that hungry...boy were we wrong. As if bringing out a cut of meat covered in ham and cheese isn't bad enough La Monumental's cuts of meat would have put Fred Flinstone over the edge. Even though there we probably should have headed to the advice of the waiter it was nice to venture outside of the walls of the food court....

Wednesday came and after one last run through the city to attempt to remind my body that I do use my muscles sometimes, it was back on the bus for another 20 hours. Back safe and sound in Buenos Aires with lots of pictures, some pink cheeks, a salt tablet from Las Salinas, and a cactus thorn it's back to reality...at least for a little while:)

xo

Per

Emergency....

This post comes a little later than usual and for no really good reason but better late than never, right? This past week was pretty uneventful- classes and a week full of rain all thanks to Santa Rosa...the patron saint of the end of August and the presumed 'reason' for a week full of freezing cold, windy, icky rain. To say the least it was a wet week of walking around the city and made me appreciate having to only run across Richmond's tiny campus in the rain...not exactly the same as battling buses, subtes and crowded city streets but so I digress...

Friday we headed to a local bar for an UCA International students event and we got quite a chuckle out of listening to the locals talk about 'Penelope'. This word typically coincides with an individual's name and the pronunciation never seems to be a big problem in the States however locals here have a little difficulty with it referring to it as "Pen-el-ope-ay". Not that funny, but simple pleasures, right?

Saturday we made the trek (a mere 15 minute walk from our apartment) to the Eva Peron Museum. Housed in one of the Women and Children's Shelters that Eva Peron founded, this museum is dedicated to her life and work and kept up by members of her family who are still living. Perhaps one of my favorite museums I have been to so far, for 15 pesos we were able to travel through the entire shelter (actually a beautifully decorated mansion of sorts) traveling in time through Eva's childhood, acting years, time with General Juan D. Peron, her multiple service missions, and her struggles with cancer and death. There were displays filled with her gorgeous gowns, shoes and handbags, original pieces of furniture from her childhood home, an exact replica of rooms in the shelter, and multiple busts and artwork of her. Needless to say, after this trip I really do need to watch Evita...she was an amazing woman.

Saturday evening we decided to mix things up and head to a recommended Mediterranean restaurant about 10 blocks from our apartment. We met up with a few other UCA students and sat down to some hummus for what promised to be a good meal among many locals. If only things worked so smoothly...Unfortunately, one member of the party had a severe peanut allergy and after one bite of the hummus and a back and forth conversation with the waitress and manager we discovered this delectable hummus was made creamy and original with peanut butter paste.....uh oh. Without much hesitation we agreed it was time to leave and I accompanied him to the private hospital recommended for tourists and international students. By the time we arrived to Hospital Aleman's ER the poor student resembled Will Smith from Hitch....

Although the event wasn't beneficial for either of our nerves or anxieties, he was seen right away and treated well. I tried not to focus too much on the differences between this ER and their laid back nature and the frantic, fast-paced ERs at home. After he was treated and IV'd the male nurse (one of many...) told me I could now go back in to see my "esposo" (husband)...what a dysfunctional couple we must have looked like. All in all, it was a worthwhile trip, but now I can say I've seen the hospital and it wasn't enough to make me want to run back anytime soon...or at all....

Sunday we headed back to our beloved Barrio Chino to gather up some ingredients for a homemade Asian feast. After fighting our ways through some rather offensive smells and refueling with a quick bowl of hot and sour soup we were on our way to play Top Chef. A few hours and a hundred dirty dishes later we sat down to some homemade dumplings, thai peanut noodles and spring rolls. Not too bad for a bunch of very American girls....:)

Monday we all began our visa process....we are quickly approaching the 90 day mark, which means we need to obtain them ASAP. We headed to the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia where we entered the deli like scene. Get a ticket, go to one window, pay money for an unidentified reason, wait in another heard of people, get called into another room...you get the picture. This step involved getting fingerprints and our criminal records to ensure that we hadn't been hoodrats in our past two months here....We will finish the process later this week by submitting copies of every single page of our passport, 4x4 photos and 300 more pesos...I guess all things considered it's a pretty painless process...

As the week continues on Santa Rosa has said farewell and the rainclouds have given way to 70 degree weather and sun...as much as I love the nice weather, let's hope this is just a phase and the warm spell doesn't start too early considering I didn't pack for summer (or spring for that matter) and may have to begin to cut all my clothes or be a real international kid and wear the same thing every day.....

Off to plan a weekend trip to las Salinas and some vineyards in Salta, Argentina...let's hope next time I blog will be after a relaxing (20 hour away) trip!

Besos,

Per