So, after a rough period of adjustment, living at a friends house for a week because I thought I was going to crack living in the creepy house in the suburbs, moving into our new sweet and amazing apartment that we've been moved in, and a long week at work I embarked on my first side trip: Iguazu Falls. You've seen it in movies, you know the Jesuits were there, and you know its somewhere in South America...but I went and it was amazing.
I left smoggy, rude Buenos Aires at 11:30 AM on Saturday morning and arrived in the tropical beauty that is Misiones, the town that is responsible for the holding of the treasure that is Iguazu :) At the airport, our driver (yes, driver) Hugo greeted us with a smirk and a printed sign with our names on it (very professional for Argentina) and we were off to our hostel, Los Troncos. Troncos is HANDS DOWN the best hostel I have ever stayed at. Our room and a mini bar, 3 beds one the lower level, and a full size bed and balcony on the upper level--the room was loft style and amazing. In DC it could have easily been an apartment that went for 3 grand, easily. There was all this exposed brick, polished cement, and wood...very natural yet modern. The hostel owner Sofie spoke English but respected my request to only speak in Spanish, needless to say I got a lot of practice speaking this weekend, something that was long overdue. We were only at the hostel long enough to drop our stuff and jump back in the car with Hugo, because we were off to Brazil. Yes, Brazil. About 20 minutes later, we arrived at Foz do Iguaçu. The Brazilian side of the falls was panaoramic, and its what you think about when you think about the falls. This side does seem a bit far away, and gives the illusion that the falls are smaller than they are...this is an illusion. I found out that this was an illusion on Sunday when we say the Argentine side, but more on that later. Anyhow, in addition to the amazing views, the Brazil side also offered some shopping, friendliness, and diversity...things lacked by its western neighbor. People were coming up to me speaking in Portuguese, I was flattered; better than people walking up to me speaking English...which just annoys me. Hugo picked us up (late) from the Foz do Iguaçu and back into Argentina we went :) Upon returning to our hostel, we ordered food and were treated to capirhinas by Sofie (the hostel owner). Our food came, it was okay, and then we went to bed...early, earliest I've gone to bed here actually...I mean we did have a big day ahead :)
Sunday morning, peaceful, tranquil Sunday morning. I woke up earlier than everyone else and took that opportunity to just enjoy being with myself and not worrying (a rarity for me). I had a cafecito and medialuna, read the paper, dreamed about travelling to Brazil, and thought about how beautiful Misiones is compared to Buenos Aires and how much nicer and simplier and less fake the people are in Misiones compared to the "Paris of South America." Oh, another plus of Misiones...I didn't spend my days walking with my head down to avoid dog sh*t. After breakfast, dos besos from Sofie, and a new confidence in my Spanish we went to Las Cataratas de Iguazu...aka the Argentine side, which was a different and even more amazing experience.
Unlike the Brazil side, the Argentine side gets you close enough to drink the water, if you so choose. I mean really, there are cat walks across freaking waterfalls and boat rides into them...yes, and I did it. Video and photo evidence to come. But yeah, what looked like a trickle in Brazil was a thunderous roar from the Argentine side. This is the Iguazu I expected to see. I hiked. I hiked all freaking day, lower and upper circuit. I got wet, soaking wet in a boat the drove me UNDER a waterfall, the second largest one to be exact. I'm happy it didn't take us under the largest one (the Devil's throat) as that would have surely meant dying. We did however get SUPER close. Wet, refreshed, quenched of thirst, and happy to be alive I kept walking, saw a toucan, walked some more and saw honeymooners, walked even more and realized I'm walking in the jungle--how freaking cool is this?! To end my amazing day I had an amazing meal in the park...full of blood sausage (which I think I kind of like?), steak, veggies, and yup, wine. On my way out I bought some cool gifts from some Guarani Indians, which I thought was cool since Argentina, according to them "doesn't have an indigenous population." Hugo, was on time to pick us up and take us to the airport and when he dropped us off it was like saying bye to an old friend. That is how warm he and Sofie were to us. Dos besos, chao. He said to come back, I told him I would, its a small world, and I never realized exactly HOW small it was until I started traveling. So cuatro besos from dos personas that I hope to see, por nuevo.
The airport is tiny, everyone in there is either coming or going to the falls. On the plane I finally had time to reflect, enjoy the sunset, wonder how life is sweet, and how small you are in the big picture. Ipod in, eyes closed, thoughts racing. I felt like I needed a release and the journal just wasn't cutting it, so I think I'm going to buy some paints tomorrow and see if I can channel all of this new found energy. But, that's all for now :) I will soon write about work now that I've had my first real week but I just had to get all of this out first. Un beso!
