Jesuit Ruins + Mate plantation + Iguazu Falls = Paradise!

This weekend we went to Iguazu Falls in Northern Argentina in the provience of Misiones, the Falls border Paraguay, Brasil and Argentina. We took an overnight bus and arrived in Misiones Friday morning. We toured the Jesuit ruins in the area. They were absolutly beautiful. The rock is red from the Iron and Bauxite in it and the climate is tropical, so everything is very green. Muy lindo!

The next stop was this Beautiful Mate Plantation. We arrived and looked like a party/spa day! there was a rolling lawn of green grass with vollyball, soccer, swiming pool and pavilion sort of thing with hamocks, pingpong and fuseball. We were introduced to the lady of the house and she told to relax and have fun! They had 2 horses outback along with a set of oxen pulling a cart that you could visit with, pet and ride! We all went swiming and then they called us for lunch, which was a delicious BBQ with all sorts of meat and salads. They had cold Mate to drink, tasting like ice tea! After lunch they took us on a tour of the plantation and we saw how Mate yerba is made. Mate yerba  is the National Drink of Argentina.  It tastes like the bitterest of all tea and it is served hot in a cup called a Mate and drank with a metal straw. It is a social drink. The mate cup is passed around the group. one person will drink the whole cup. It will then be refilled and passed to the next person, same straw and all! People that work in the country will strike if they do not get a Mate break, it is very important! after thanking the lady of the house and cook for dinner we headed to the hotel and had dinner and went to bed.

On Saturday we went to Iguazu Falls. SO PRETTY!! We toured the upper falls in the morning and slowly worked our way down to the botton throughout the day. There really is no way to describe the falls except to look up beautiful in the theasurus. I will try to get up some pictures later this week!

Our last part of the tour was a boat ride under some of the falls! I wore my raincoat and my top stayed dry but my legs got soaked! We would yell MAS! MAS! MAS! to get the baot driver to take us under the falls again. It looked as if we had all gone for a swim when we got off the boat!

We travelled back to the hotel all soggy wet cleaned up and went for dinner. This morning we caught a flight back to Beunos Aires and I'm back safe and sounds plus a couple bug bites but ready for another week of school!

Besos- Anna

Urugauy Part 2

I woke up this morning to another beautiful day in Punta Del esta but unfortanutly our last day. The boys went surfing this morning and I went down to the beach to watch for a bit. I did not think it was warm enough to get in the water, I was in pants and a light coat. So when they asked me if I wanted to learn I politly declined and took a rain check for a warmer day.

I walked Back to the hostel with one of our new friends Marcos. He was also surfing that morning with my two friends.  He was from Urugauy and I asked him how long he was going to stay at the Chela's hostel and he said, "until I dont feel like it." A very easy-going lifestyle :)  We made Breakfast and caught the city bus into Punta Del Esta and got bus tickets to Montevideo. We went down to the beach to get some last pictures and ended up almost missing our bus! All the sudden its 2:12pm and our Bus leaves at 2:15! So we run to the bus station, we watched the first bus to Montevideo depart, as the driver yells at us to catch the second one. As he says this the second bus for Montevideo pulls out and starts to leave, and Chris and Andrew start running after  it. Begrudging I ran too. A half of a block later it stopped or should I say it slowed so we could hop on. How Crazy! The rest of the trip home went off without a hitch and I'm safely back in Buenos Aires!  What an Awesome trip!

A picture of  Most everyone at the hostel! New Friends!
from left to right: Chris,Maxi, me, Marcos, Andrew and Chela in the front :)





On Thursday we are taking a Group trip to Igauzu! No time to put my backpack away! Do laundry, go to class and we are off!

With love,
Anna

Punta Del Esta, a Vacation Within a Vacation!

Hi! I’m writing this to you from a hostel in Uruguay! Punta del Esta to be exact. It is a small tourist town right on the coast. So beautiful!

I was talking to a friend on Thursday night and he asked me if I wanted to go to Uruguay for the weekend and I said I would love to come along.
So on friday morning i woke up and got all packed up, go over to the residencia to pìck up these boys and at about 1:00pm we got a taxi to take us to the ferry dock to catch a boat to Colonia, Uruguay. We thought the boat left at 2:30 but it didn’t it left at 2 and we missed it. Take into account we are
relying on Andrew's guide book and my Friend Chris’s Spanish! So funny! we couldn´t even
figure out how to make a call on a payphone! haha. We finally managed to get tickets for
7:30 pm to Colonia. In the time we had in Buenos Aires we tried to secure some beds at a hostel in Montevideo but couldn’t because, as I said before we couldn’t figure out how to work a payphone! We needed a country code and a city code, we had neither! We couldn’t call Uruguay!
   We got on the boat at 7:30 arrived safely in Colonia and went through customs, they let me walk through’ customs with my huge backpack but because Chris and Andrew had 2 boxes of empanadas they almost didn’t let them in! We thought we were going to miss the bus but we hopped on just as it was taking off. The situation was so crazy; it was dark we didn’t have any Uruguayan pesos, none of us had a real good grasp on the language and we had no place to stay!  We arrived in Montevideo and we   got tickets  for Punta Del Esta but the bus didn’t take off until in 4:45am so we had some time to chill. We got a couple Uruguayan beers, waited for our bus and stayed up unitl the it came! In that time my two friends, who are surfers, made some friends with two people that had a surf board and got us a place to stay for the night at hostel Iguana. So we hopped on the bus to Punta Del Esta with our new friends. and all the sudden I woke up and the sun is rising over the Atlantic ocean, we arrive in Punta Del Esta very sleepy at 7 in the morning. Thank goodness we had our new friends that got us on one more bus, a city bus to take us to La Barra the town right next to Punta del Esta. we get to the hostel and met Chela, the lady that runs it. we slept unitl 1pm.
   We got up and Chela fed us breakfast which only is supposed to go until 11:30 :) We then took a bus into town and checked things out. We got some Uruguayan pesos. The exchange rate is 20 to 1 US dollars. So to take the city bus it was 23 pesos! I have never experienced inflation like that! Wow! we Ended up going out to lunch at a place called La Fonda Del Pesca. We ate a beef with ham and cheese and fried egg on top and french fries.It was the off season so everywhere was very quiet, and we were the only people in the place. That’s how it was almost everywhere, we spent the rest afternoon wandering around town checking things out. my friends looking for a place to rent surf boards and me checking out the out the shops. We went back to the hostel and made raviolis for dinner went out for a bit. The bar we went to had no one in it but the three of us got a bottle of wine and enjoyed the concept of BEING IN Urugauy!
 We got up the next morning and decided to rent bikes. We cruised up the shore, we tried to make it to Casa Blanca which is about 40 km up the shore. We didn’t make it or should I say I wasn’t going to make it, I’m very out of shape ;) The boys were very nice about it and we came back and made a dinner of steak and pasta and just hung out at the hostel, we played cards with Chela and a couple other people staying at the hostel.



The Hand in the Sand!



I ended up going to bed early last night but woke up feeling great! We rode our bikes into town and returned them, the boys went surfing and i did a little shopping around. I went to the fish market and saw these HUGE seals. So cool! Tonight we are just going to stick around the hostel and make some homemade pizza. Tomorrow the boys are going to go out surfing and then we will get on the bus and head home!





ARG-EN-TINA!

Me, Amamda and Phillip at the back of the stadium overlooking Belgrano

On Tuesday night I went with some friends to the Spain vs. Argentina futbol match and Argentina kicked butt 4 to 1!!  The stadium was located in Belgrano, about a 20 minute walk from my appartment. I never would have guessed there was a  stadium over the train tracks and right in my own backyard!  Coolest soccer game I have ever been to! The players were  awesome! Messi played like a dream and all the goals were so clean.  The fans were crazy and had all these really cool chants, I wish I could have understood them, im sure it will come with time :)  My favorite was; ARG-EN-TINA!  ARG-EN-TINA!  ARG-EN-TINA! 40,000 yelling fans! so cool! And after the game we rushed to the back of the stadium and watched a celabratory fireworks show as the sun went down!

besos :)

The San Telmo Flea Market

A street band with accordians and fiddles and pianos!

On Sunday we went to the BIGGEST FLEA MARKET I HAVE EVER SEEN! It was really cool! they had everything from La Boca socks to jewlery. Elf Sculptures and sweaters from Patagonia to flattened Quilmes beer bottles. The market takes place every Sunday and seems to go for blocks and blocks! So many people too! We got there at about 2pm and stayed until 5 just lookin at all the STUFF! I didnt get anything this time, other then an empanada, but I hope to go back and pick up some little goodies :) 

A look down the Avenue.

Second week of school! I have a bit of homework here and there but mostly just keeping up with the reading. I bought all my books so I am ready to rock and roll. I also got the Subte system down so getting to and from school is super easy! I also want to do my laundry this week but here you don't do it yourself you bring it in to the launderer and they wash it up, dry and fold it and you come pick it up the next day. Ill have to give it a try!

I hope all is well at home and I am thinking of my family and friends everyday.

I send hugs and kisses from Argentina :)

Buenos Noches :)

A Tour of the City

Finally we went on a tour of the City this weekend! We started in the Barrio of Belgrano and took a bus down through the northeast side of the city. Through Palermo, Recoleta, San Nicolas, Monserrat, San Telmo, Boca and hit up Puerto Madero on the way home.

In Palermo is a very wealthy Barrio, with one of the most expensive shopping avenues in Buenos Aires. It also has a Beautiful city park called Palermo Woods with some of the oldest trees in Buenos Aires. It's no forest but a nice park none the less.

In Recoleta we saw a monument of Evita who is a very important lady politically. She worked for the worker’s and women’s rights starting in the 1940s. We also drove past the National library and the Recoleta cemetery. It looked like a small town because all of the bodies are buried in tombs.

Then we drove through downtown. We saw the Opera House and all the government buildings including the pink house where the president supposedly “works.” The people of Argentina seem to dislike Christina the current president. We also saw where the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo march. We are going to go watch them march on Thursday, which they have been doing for the past 30 years every Thursday.

La Boca was next. That’s where my team is from! I can’t wait to see a match! Go Boca Juniors! This Barrio also has beautiful buildings of all different colors. Originally the people that lived here didn’t have enough money to buy paint so they asked for the leftovers. Now they keep painting the buildings various bright colors for tradition. You never stay in La Boca after 5 pm. It can be a very dangerous part of town.

Our last stop was Puerto Madero which is a very nice part of town. It used to be part of the port but they have gutted all the buildings and turned them into restaurants, shops and apartments. This is where the TGI Fridays is, I hear it is very pricy to eat there.

That’s all for now! But I hope to revisit all these places to get some good pictures for you all to see! :)

Rain Rain go Away!

Hola Amigos!
Happy Spring from Buenos Aires! It has been raining here for the last three days. I asked my host Mama if this was normal and she said "feliz primavera!" I knew I should have brought my rain boots! The Subte D that I take home from school was flooded yesterday so i had to try and find a taxi home which was very hard because when its this cold and rainy nobody walks. I thought I was going to have to arm wrestle this dude for the taxi. I thought about taking a bus but last night I got very lost taking a bus and ended up on the southwest side of the city about a 40 minutes or about a 70 pesos taxi ride back to my barrio. Dios Mios!

My classes are wonderful and I'm very excited about them! I have: Food and Wine of Argentina, International Marketing, Contemporary History of Argentina, and Culture and Civilization of Buenos Aires. Oh and of course Spanish class. But just waking up in the morning is like a Spanish class! I took a taxi home from a friends house last night and the cab driver started joking with me that he has two jobs; one is to be taxi driver the other is a professor of Spanish! I try to talk to everyone i can;  it's so much fun to practice my Spanish :)