Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Last week in Buenos Aires!
I have had the craziest week! The last week of classes and finals is finally over! I had five different finals crammed into Thursday and Friday, which was pretty intense. I have been trying to balance my social activities with school work because I want to have as much fun as possible my last week here. On Monday night we have a final banquet with all of the Pepperdine students and their host families, which should be really fun! I can't wait to come home... I leave Argentina on Tuesday and get back home on Wednesday! This past three months have gone so quickly. I can't wait to see you all soon!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Spiritual Retreat
This weekend we went on a Spiritual Retreat at an estancia (ranch) about two hours outside of Buenos Aires. We left on Friday morning, as class was cancelled that day! :) It was pretty smoky, because there have been fires outside of Buenos Aires, so it was nice to get out of the city. To relieve our Peru memories, Amy, Jessie, and I decided to share a room again. We had our own bathroom, and the room was pretty nice. The estancia had a lot of animals, like sheep, cows, peacocks, chickens, rabbits, and of course, horses. I am not a fan of horses, and so at first I was adamant about not riding one, but I decided that since I was in Argentina, I needed to take the risk and ride a horse. So off we went for 15 pesos on a horse ride. They just saddled us up and let us go wherever we wanted. At first, my horse was being quite stubborn, so the stable man gave me a stick to hit him with, but of course I didn't use it. There was also a spa there, so a lot of us got massages because they were extremely cheap. The food was alright, but not as good as I had expected. I had a lot of fun because I got to hang out with and get to know a lot of people better, some of whom I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise. The theme for the weekend was change, and we talked a lot about how we have changed since our time in Buenos Aires. Basically, it was nice to have a relaxing weekend before this insane week I have ahead of me! We have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then finals on Thursday and Friday. It is the craziest week ever. I can't believe I will be home in a little over a week! I am excited to see everyone, but I will definitely miss Buenos Aires.
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050876&l=4500e&id=8506204
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050876&l=4500e&id=8506204
Sunday, April 13, 2008
PERU!!
So sorry it has taken so long to write about my FANTASTIC trip to Peru! Amy, Jessie, and I flew out Saturday morning of Spring Break to Cuzco, Peru. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Cuzco at Loki hostel, adjusting to the altitude and shopping. The hostel was much nicer than others I have stayed in, and there were a lot of activities going on there. I went souvenir CRAZY in Peru, so most of you will be receiving Peruvian gifts rather than Argentine ones. We ran into our friend Russ, another Pepperdine kid, and went to dinner with him both nights. On Monday morning, we woke up really early (before 6 am) to head for a train to Aguas Calientes, which is near Machu Picchu. We saw part of the Inca Trail on the train ride and were so glad we chose to take a 4 hour train instead of the 4 day Inca Trail hike. Aguas Calientes was a pretty boring town, just a stopping point for Machu Picchu visitors. We went to the hot springs, which were quite disgusting and smelled gross. We stayed for about 30 minutes, and then decided it was time to leave. All of the restaurants begged for us to stop there, all of which offered all-day happy hours, 4 for 1, plus multiple appetizeres or whatever else we wanted. We got bored half way through the day so decided to walk down the road along the river to see where it would take us.....Randomly we see Russ again and another Pepperdine student, Brian. They had already been up to Machu Picchu, so we got advice from them about what to see and at what times of the day. We went to bed early to get up before dawn for the second day in a row to take a 20 minutes bus up to Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu was AMAZING. When we got there, the clouds were still covering most of the ruins, but the view of the Andes Mountains was amazing. We got to walk along part of the Inca Trail and saw many llamas and alpacas. We took a tour for a few hours with a lot of other people, a lot of senior citizens who I got quite annoyed with. They walked really slow and asked tons of questions. There is one mountain next to Machu Picchu called Waynapicchu and only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day. We decided that was a must and head up at 8:30 ish in the morning, so we left our tour early. The hike was straight up and took about an hour. The "path" was extremely steep, and we were basically scaling a mountain. We were dying and didn't know how we would get down. Amy took a picture of the path and later I looked at it and thought it was a pile of rocks. We were practically rock climbing. Once at the top, we stayed there for several hours, reading and eating lunch (haha...a really early lunch). We spent the rest of the day wandering around the site lookng at tons of ruins, playing with the llamas, and sitting and reading in the beautiful Andes. That night we took the train back to Cuzco, where we again stayed at Loki hostel.
Wednesday, we took a tour bus to Puno, which is where Lake Titicaca is. The bus ride was pretty uneventful. We got off several times to see various sites, like a very old church, and Inca temple, and a few museums. Once we got to Lake Titicaca, we were so glad to be staying in a hotel! For the past 4 days we had been staying in hostels and packing and repacking almost every day. It was nice to have our own room and bathroom. It was also so nice to not have to worry about having to pack everything up. The hotel was much nicer than I had imagined, because it was just as cheap as a hostel. Puno was also a pretty boring town, but the lake was beautiful. There were lots of little guinea pigs running around outside, and I enjoyed chasing them around. Lake Titicaca is the highest lake in the world. It was cold, but very sunny. Thursday we just relaxed and wandered around Puno. Friday, we went on a boat to the Uros Islands and Taquile Island. Uros islands were made up of over 40 man-made floating islands. It was soooo cool. It was probably my favorite thing that we did - maybe even better than Machu Picchu. Everything was made out of reeds... the ground, the houses, the kitchen, the boats, everything. But, the funny was is that they had televisions and solar power on the small islands, they even had cable! We got to ride in a reed boat, and buy some more souvenirs from the locals. The next island we stopped at was actually an island. We walked around the island and had lunch there, and visited a museum and some stores.
Saturday, we returned to Buenos Aires. Overall, I really liked Peru - except for the food. Delicacies in Peru include alpaca and guinea pig, which were not very appealing to me. The people were nice and the country was surprisingly clean. Peru has beautiful landscapes and the best souvenirs. Peru was my favorite country so far, probably because it really felt like South America. I really enjoyed all the people being dressed in traditional clothing and doing traditional activities. Also, it was fuuny that their currency was called soles. We had a wonderful trip and I am so glad that we chose Peru for our Spring Break trip!
Cuzco & Machu Picchu:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050313&l=5fe29&id=8506204
Llamas & Alpacas:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050314&l=094e9&id=8506204
Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050315&l=4810c&id=8506204
More Peru:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050317&l=64dee&id=8506204
Machu Picchu was AMAZING. When we got there, the clouds were still covering most of the ruins, but the view of the Andes Mountains was amazing. We got to walk along part of the Inca Trail and saw many llamas and alpacas. We took a tour for a few hours with a lot of other people, a lot of senior citizens who I got quite annoyed with. They walked really slow and asked tons of questions. There is one mountain next to Machu Picchu called Waynapicchu and only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day. We decided that was a must and head up at 8:30 ish in the morning, so we left our tour early. The hike was straight up and took about an hour. The "path" was extremely steep, and we were basically scaling a mountain. We were dying and didn't know how we would get down. Amy took a picture of the path and later I looked at it and thought it was a pile of rocks. We were practically rock climbing. Once at the top, we stayed there for several hours, reading and eating lunch (haha...a really early lunch). We spent the rest of the day wandering around the site lookng at tons of ruins, playing with the llamas, and sitting and reading in the beautiful Andes. That night we took the train back to Cuzco, where we again stayed at Loki hostel.
Wednesday, we took a tour bus to Puno, which is where Lake Titicaca is. The bus ride was pretty uneventful. We got off several times to see various sites, like a very old church, and Inca temple, and a few museums. Once we got to Lake Titicaca, we were so glad to be staying in a hotel! For the past 4 days we had been staying in hostels and packing and repacking almost every day. It was nice to have our own room and bathroom. It was also so nice to not have to worry about having to pack everything up. The hotel was much nicer than I had imagined, because it was just as cheap as a hostel. Puno was also a pretty boring town, but the lake was beautiful. There were lots of little guinea pigs running around outside, and I enjoyed chasing them around. Lake Titicaca is the highest lake in the world. It was cold, but very sunny. Thursday we just relaxed and wandered around Puno. Friday, we went on a boat to the Uros Islands and Taquile Island. Uros islands were made up of over 40 man-made floating islands. It was soooo cool. It was probably my favorite thing that we did - maybe even better than Machu Picchu. Everything was made out of reeds... the ground, the houses, the kitchen, the boats, everything. But, the funny was is that they had televisions and solar power on the small islands, they even had cable! We got to ride in a reed boat, and buy some more souvenirs from the locals. The next island we stopped at was actually an island. We walked around the island and had lunch there, and visited a museum and some stores.
Saturday, we returned to Buenos Aires. Overall, I really liked Peru - except for the food. Delicacies in Peru include alpaca and guinea pig, which were not very appealing to me. The people were nice and the country was surprisingly clean. Peru has beautiful landscapes and the best souvenirs. Peru was my favorite country so far, probably because it really felt like South America. I really enjoyed all the people being dressed in traditional clothing and doing traditional activities. Also, it was fuuny that their currency was called soles. We had a wonderful trip and I am so glad that we chose Peru for our Spring Break trip!
Cuzco & Machu Picchu:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050313&l=5fe29&id=8506204
Llamas & Alpacas:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050314&l=094e9&id=8506204
Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050315&l=4810c&id=8506204
More Peru:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050317&l=64dee&id=8506204
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Only four weeks left!
Hello all!
I have had quite a full week, as we don't have much class left and teachers have been trying to cram everything in that they possibly can! On Tuesday for convo we went to a Greek restaurant and it was so much fun! We got to break plates and there were Greek dancers and everything. On Wednesday we did not have school because it was a national holiday, so Amy and I spent part of the day at Cafe Tortoni, the oldest and most famous cafe in Buenos Aires. Then, Wednesday night we went to see the musical RENT and it was fantastic! It was all in Spanish, which was actually pretty cool. On Saturday morning Amy, Jessie, and I leave for Machu Picchu! We will be traveling through Peru for a week, as it is our Spring Break. We are going to Cusco, Machu Picchu, Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Juliaca. We return on Saturday, April 12th and then I only have two more weeks of school left! Hope all is well with everything, and I am excited for my trip and will update you when I get back!
I have had quite a full week, as we don't have much class left and teachers have been trying to cram everything in that they possibly can! On Tuesday for convo we went to a Greek restaurant and it was so much fun! We got to break plates and there were Greek dancers and everything. On Wednesday we did not have school because it was a national holiday, so Amy and I spent part of the day at Cafe Tortoni, the oldest and most famous cafe in Buenos Aires. Then, Wednesday night we went to see the musical RENT and it was fantastic! It was all in Spanish, which was actually pretty cool. On Saturday morning Amy, Jessie, and I leave for Machu Picchu! We will be traveling through Peru for a week, as it is our Spring Break. We are going to Cusco, Machu Picchu, Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Juliaca. We return on Saturday, April 12th and then I only have two more weeks of school left! Hope all is well with everything, and I am excited for my trip and will update you when I get back!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
La Semana Santa in Bariloche!
Bariloche was an amazing place to spend my Easter Break!
Last Wednesday night after tango class, Amy, Jessie, and I went out to dinner with Amy's Mom, Dad, and Sister at an amazing parilla (steak house) in Palermo. After stuffing ourselves full of amazing food, we headed back to the Sheration in Buenos Aires where Amy's parents were staying because we were going to spend the night there as our flight was at 7:00am the next morning. Bright and early Thursday morning we got picked up from the hotel and headed off to the Buenos Aires domestic airport to get on our plane to Bariloche! After a three hour flight, we were there! Upon arriving, we were met by two guides from the tour company who were going to take us to our hotel. The drive was about 30 minutes, and along the way they gave us a brief overview of our activities for the week and told us a bit about Bariloche (they spoke English). I was really excited to get to our hotel and settle into our rooms, and I was very happy to see that our hotel was AMAZING. It was five star and pretty new, and Jessie and I got our own room! (Amy shared another room with her sister, and her parents had a larger suite). We quickly changed clothes, as it was significantly colder than it had been in Buenos Aires, and headed off to the down town area to have lunch. After a short cab ride, we ended up at a restaurant called Crocodrilos where we had pizza and fries. After lunch, we went to the Centro Civico, which is the main square in the town, and went to a craft fair. The town of Bariloche is very much a ski town - it looks like Whistler or Leavenworth and has a very Swiss feel to it. We then walked up and down the main street to do some shopping and to look in all the chocolate shops. Bariloche is famous for its chocolate, and just about every other store is a chocolate shop or factory. After exploring the town, we took a bus out of town to a place where we were going to take a gondola ride up the mountain called Cerro Otto. The views from the top were amazing, and there was a spinning restaurant at the top where we sat for awhile and had a coffee. A popular tourist thing in Bariloche is to have your picture taken with giant St. Bernard dogs. The dog owners sit around all day with the dogs mostly in the main square of the town, but there were some at the top of Cerro Otto. You pay them to be in pictures with these giant dogs - it was the funniest thing to watch. None of us wanted to pay to have our picture taken, but we did enjoy petting the dogs because they were so cute. After Cerro Otto, we headed back to our hotel for a swim in the amazing infinity pool that overlooked the lake. Then we got ready and headed back to town for dinner. We went to this amazing Italian restaurant and then went back to the hotel and spent the evening watching movies.
The next morning we were picked up at 8:30am after having breakfast in the hotel. It was a nice and sunny day, just a bit cold. We drove for about 30 minutes out of town to a port where we were getting on a boat to go on a tour. Bariloche has tons of lakes, so the excursion we had planned for the day was the visit some places around them. We went to Puerto Blest and spent a good portion of the day hiking around and walking along the beach. We also had lunch there - I had trout, which is very popular in Bariloche. After Puerto Blest, we continued on the boat to Lago Fria, which also had some gorgeous views. Then the boat took us a place where we got to hike up to some waterfalls - it was no Iguazu, but still very pretty. After the tour they dropped us off downtown and we headed to a parilla for dinner. It was some amazing steak! Afterwards, while walking to get some ice cream, we bumped into or friend Mikey from Pepperdine who was also in Bariloche for break. We were really tired from our long day, so declined his invitation to stay out that night, but made plans to hang out the next day.
On Saturday morning we were picked up at 8:00am after breakfast and headed out for the Seven Lakes drive. There were about 15 people total on this tour, so we made up about half of the group. We were in a mini-bus for the whole day, and we drove for many hours. The tour was entirely in Spanish, so we did a lot of translating. After about 5 hours of scenic driving and stops, we were in San Martin de los Andes, a tourist town on the border of Chile and Argentina. We spent the afternoon there, and then headed back towards Bariloche. After stopping at our hotel to change, we headed to town for dinner where we met our friend Mikey. We all ate at an amazing Fondue restaurant and then Amy, Jessie, Mikey, Amy's Sister, and I went out afterwards. The next day we got to sleep in, and then Amy and I went swimming. After getting ready, Amy, Jessie, and I had lunch at the hotel restaurant, and it was so good! Then we were picked up for our next excursion and headed off to La Isla Victoria and the Bambi forest (the forest that the movie Bambi was inspired by sort of). This was another boat ride, and was also entirely in Spanish. We got to spend some time at the beach, which was really nice. We also had an Easter Egg Hunt that Amy's mom planned for us! :) She also gave us Easter baskets that morning that she brought from the U.S. which was really fun. After returning to Bariloche we had dinner at a Brewery outside of town. It was a really cool place, and had coasters all over the wall that people who had eaten at the restaurant got to write on and pin up, so I wrote one for our group! After dinner we watched movies at the hotel for the rest of the evening.
Monday, the next day we were leaving. We got up and went for a walk down to the beach before Amy, Jessie, Amy's Mom, and I headed to the airport. (Amy's Dad and Sister went on to travel to other places; Amy's Mom had to back home). After a three hour flight, we were back in BA! We hung out with Amy's Mom for awhile before she left for the international airport to catch her flight. Overall, the trip was FANTASTIC and one of the best I have ever been on. The food in Bariloche was the best I have ever eaten, especially in Argentina, and I got to practice my Spanish a whole bunch on this trip, which was great!
PICTURES:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049275&l=c31d0&id=8506204
Last Wednesday night after tango class, Amy, Jessie, and I went out to dinner with Amy's Mom, Dad, and Sister at an amazing parilla (steak house) in Palermo. After stuffing ourselves full of amazing food, we headed back to the Sheration in Buenos Aires where Amy's parents were staying because we were going to spend the night there as our flight was at 7:00am the next morning. Bright and early Thursday morning we got picked up from the hotel and headed off to the Buenos Aires domestic airport to get on our plane to Bariloche! After a three hour flight, we were there! Upon arriving, we were met by two guides from the tour company who were going to take us to our hotel. The drive was about 30 minutes, and along the way they gave us a brief overview of our activities for the week and told us a bit about Bariloche (they spoke English). I was really excited to get to our hotel and settle into our rooms, and I was very happy to see that our hotel was AMAZING. It was five star and pretty new, and Jessie and I got our own room! (Amy shared another room with her sister, and her parents had a larger suite). We quickly changed clothes, as it was significantly colder than it had been in Buenos Aires, and headed off to the down town area to have lunch. After a short cab ride, we ended up at a restaurant called Crocodrilos where we had pizza and fries. After lunch, we went to the Centro Civico, which is the main square in the town, and went to a craft fair. The town of Bariloche is very much a ski town - it looks like Whistler or Leavenworth and has a very Swiss feel to it. We then walked up and down the main street to do some shopping and to look in all the chocolate shops. Bariloche is famous for its chocolate, and just about every other store is a chocolate shop or factory. After exploring the town, we took a bus out of town to a place where we were going to take a gondola ride up the mountain called Cerro Otto. The views from the top were amazing, and there was a spinning restaurant at the top where we sat for awhile and had a coffee. A popular tourist thing in Bariloche is to have your picture taken with giant St. Bernard dogs. The dog owners sit around all day with the dogs mostly in the main square of the town, but there were some at the top of Cerro Otto. You pay them to be in pictures with these giant dogs - it was the funniest thing to watch. None of us wanted to pay to have our picture taken, but we did enjoy petting the dogs because they were so cute. After Cerro Otto, we headed back to our hotel for a swim in the amazing infinity pool that overlooked the lake. Then we got ready and headed back to town for dinner. We went to this amazing Italian restaurant and then went back to the hotel and spent the evening watching movies.
The next morning we were picked up at 8:30am after having breakfast in the hotel. It was a nice and sunny day, just a bit cold. We drove for about 30 minutes out of town to a port where we were getting on a boat to go on a tour. Bariloche has tons of lakes, so the excursion we had planned for the day was the visit some places around them. We went to Puerto Blest and spent a good portion of the day hiking around and walking along the beach. We also had lunch there - I had trout, which is very popular in Bariloche. After Puerto Blest, we continued on the boat to Lago Fria, which also had some gorgeous views. Then the boat took us a place where we got to hike up to some waterfalls - it was no Iguazu, but still very pretty. After the tour they dropped us off downtown and we headed to a parilla for dinner. It was some amazing steak! Afterwards, while walking to get some ice cream, we bumped into or friend Mikey from Pepperdine who was also in Bariloche for break. We were really tired from our long day, so declined his invitation to stay out that night, but made plans to hang out the next day.
On Saturday morning we were picked up at 8:00am after breakfast and headed out for the Seven Lakes drive. There were about 15 people total on this tour, so we made up about half of the group. We were in a mini-bus for the whole day, and we drove for many hours. The tour was entirely in Spanish, so we did a lot of translating. After about 5 hours of scenic driving and stops, we were in San Martin de los Andes, a tourist town on the border of Chile and Argentina. We spent the afternoon there, and then headed back towards Bariloche. After stopping at our hotel to change, we headed to town for dinner where we met our friend Mikey. We all ate at an amazing Fondue restaurant and then Amy, Jessie, Mikey, Amy's Sister, and I went out afterwards. The next day we got to sleep in, and then Amy and I went swimming. After getting ready, Amy, Jessie, and I had lunch at the hotel restaurant, and it was so good! Then we were picked up for our next excursion and headed off to La Isla Victoria and the Bambi forest (the forest that the movie Bambi was inspired by sort of). This was another boat ride, and was also entirely in Spanish. We got to spend some time at the beach, which was really nice. We also had an Easter Egg Hunt that Amy's mom planned for us! :) She also gave us Easter baskets that morning that she brought from the U.S. which was really fun. After returning to Bariloche we had dinner at a Brewery outside of town. It was a really cool place, and had coasters all over the wall that people who had eaten at the restaurant got to write on and pin up, so I wrote one for our group! After dinner we watched movies at the hotel for the rest of the evening.
Monday, the next day we were leaving. We got up and went for a walk down to the beach before Amy, Jessie, Amy's Mom, and I headed to the airport. (Amy's Dad and Sister went on to travel to other places; Amy's Mom had to back home). After a three hour flight, we were back in BA! We hung out with Amy's Mom for awhile before she left for the international airport to catch her flight. Overall, the trip was FANTASTIC and one of the best I have ever been on. The food in Bariloche was the best I have ever eaten, especially in Argentina, and I got to practice my Spanish a whole bunch on this trip, which was great!
PICTURES:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049275&l=c31d0&id=8506204
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Iguazu Falls
What a weekend I had! On Friday after class, a group of nine students including myself, set out for Iguazu Falls by bus. For those of you who don't know what they are, Iguazu Falls are the largest waterfalls in the world, and the most famous. Amy and I left the Casa around 1:30pm and headed for the bus station across town. Once we got there, we were quite overwhelmed by the size of the place. We searched around for our bus terminal, so we could pick up our tickets. There were over 150 different bus terminals and companies at the station, and we were number 121! We walked up to the counter, and the two men at the counter just stared at us, so Amy began to speak to them in Spanish. After stumbling through a few sentences, they both started to laugh hysterically and told us that they spoke English. Ha ha, they were so funny. After picking up our tickets without issues, we went to wait for our bus. Eventually our group of nine was all together, and there happened to be another group of five Pepperdine students on our bus as well, so there was a total of fourteen of us. After boarding the bus, we settled in for our 18 hour ride. The seats were more comfortable than an airplane, and reclined partially and had a leg rest. The bus took off at about 3:00pm. After reading, playing cards, and wathcing a movie, they served us dinner. Amy and I were glad we had brought our own food with us - bus food is ten times worse than airplane food, so we gave ours to the boys, who happily accepted it. Amy and I had her jar of peanut butter that she brought from the U.S., so we happily scarfed a lot of that down with crackers. We also had Havana alfajores, which are like the most amazing little cookie things you will ever eat. Eventually, we all fell asleep and I slept for most of the trip, which was very good. The bus made stops all night long, so it wasn't the best sleep ever, but it was enough to get me rested.
We arrived in Iguazu at 9:30am on Saturday and headed for our hostel, which was called Hostel-Inn. It was the nicest hostel I have seen and probably ever will see - they had a huge pool, their own travel agents, a Brazilian carnival show, BBQ, internet, ping pong, etc. We all changed, put on our sunscreen and bugspray, and headed for the Falls. Once we got the the park we headed down the lower circuit where we were going to take a boat ride. Not really knowing what to expect, we had worn our swimsuit tops, which ended up being a very good thing. We all boarded a speed boat and it started to drive us around the falls. We went right next a big one, and then all of a sudden, the driver started to head right for a waterfall! It was small, so Amy and I were fine, but he drove right under it several times. Then, thinking the ride was over, we breathed a sigh of relief. But, to our surprise we headed back toward the biggest waterfall we had seen and went straight for it. Amy and I were holding hands and screaming our lungs off. We were soaked. We thought once was enough, but no, we went under again. My shorts, tennis shoes, hair, and everything was completely drenched - but it was all worth it because now I can say that I was in Iguazu Falls! I tasted them, went under them, and went through them! After we got off the boat, Amy and I decided to hike back up the the train station and go visit the Devil's Throat. Along the way we stopped for a snack and bought a bag of cookies. I was attacked by a Coatie (a raccoon like native animal) who tried to steal the bag from me. We were literally both tugging on the ends of it. I had to let go, and then a park ranger came over and scared it away. We even got our cookies back! After walking a long ways to get there, we finally made it and were in awe of what we were seeing. It was probably the most powerful and beautiful thing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe it, as there are no words or even photos that can do it justice. It is just one of those things that you have to be there to understand. God has made some extremely amazing things in this world, and I am pretty sure this is up there on the list.
After that, Amy and I were getting hungry and tired, so we went to have pizza and hot chocolate. We went to some souvenir shops while we waited for the rest of our group. We then went back to our hostel and got showered up. Amy, myself, and two others girls in our group decided to go out for dinner. We found this amazing pasta place, where you purchase pasta by the kilo. We got so much pasta and soda for only 8 pesos each, or less that $3 US. The food here is so cheap! After dinner we went back to the hostel and hung out, and we all called it a night pretty early on, as we were all tired. We ended cramming nine people into our six person room, so that was an experience. The next morning we headed back to the bus station and left Iguazu at 11:30am. We had a bit rougher trip on the way home, and I did not get as much sleep. At one of the stops on the way home they were giving out free yellow fever shots and some of the Pepp kids got them - Amy and I were way creeped out. We got into Buenos Aires at 6:00am and I went home, showered, and headed to my 9:00am class. All in all, it was an amazing weekend!
On Thursday I am headed for Bariloche, the Lake District of Argentina, with Amy and her family for our Easter Break!
Iguazu Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048546&l=92f0f&id=8506204
We arrived in Iguazu at 9:30am on Saturday and headed for our hostel, which was called Hostel-Inn. It was the nicest hostel I have seen and probably ever will see - they had a huge pool, their own travel agents, a Brazilian carnival show, BBQ, internet, ping pong, etc. We all changed, put on our sunscreen and bugspray, and headed for the Falls. Once we got the the park we headed down the lower circuit where we were going to take a boat ride. Not really knowing what to expect, we had worn our swimsuit tops, which ended up being a very good thing. We all boarded a speed boat and it started to drive us around the falls. We went right next a big one, and then all of a sudden, the driver started to head right for a waterfall! It was small, so Amy and I were fine, but he drove right under it several times. Then, thinking the ride was over, we breathed a sigh of relief. But, to our surprise we headed back toward the biggest waterfall we had seen and went straight for it. Amy and I were holding hands and screaming our lungs off. We were soaked. We thought once was enough, but no, we went under again. My shorts, tennis shoes, hair, and everything was completely drenched - but it was all worth it because now I can say that I was in Iguazu Falls! I tasted them, went under them, and went through them! After we got off the boat, Amy and I decided to hike back up the the train station and go visit the Devil's Throat. Along the way we stopped for a snack and bought a bag of cookies. I was attacked by a Coatie (a raccoon like native animal) who tried to steal the bag from me. We were literally both tugging on the ends of it. I had to let go, and then a park ranger came over and scared it away. We even got our cookies back! After walking a long ways to get there, we finally made it and were in awe of what we were seeing. It was probably the most powerful and beautiful thing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe it, as there are no words or even photos that can do it justice. It is just one of those things that you have to be there to understand. God has made some extremely amazing things in this world, and I am pretty sure this is up there on the list.
After that, Amy and I were getting hungry and tired, so we went to have pizza and hot chocolate. We went to some souvenir shops while we waited for the rest of our group. We then went back to our hostel and got showered up. Amy, myself, and two others girls in our group decided to go out for dinner. We found this amazing pasta place, where you purchase pasta by the kilo. We got so much pasta and soda for only 8 pesos each, or less that $3 US. The food here is so cheap! After dinner we went back to the hostel and hung out, and we all called it a night pretty early on, as we were all tired. We ended cramming nine people into our six person room, so that was an experience. The next morning we headed back to the bus station and left Iguazu at 11:30am. We had a bit rougher trip on the way home, and I did not get as much sleep. At one of the stops on the way home they were giving out free yellow fever shots and some of the Pepp kids got them - Amy and I were way creeped out. We got into Buenos Aires at 6:00am and I went home, showered, and headed to my 9:00am class. All in all, it was an amazing weekend!
On Thursday I am headed for Bariloche, the Lake District of Argentina, with Amy and her family for our Easter Break!
Iguazu Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048546&l=92f0f&id=8506204
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