Hola, gente linda (beautiful people),
Last Friday through Sunday I went on vacation with my American classmates to Iguazú! It's closer to the equator than Buenos Aires, and the region borders Brazil and Paraguay (I saw the place where las 3 fronteras — the three borders — meet!). We had a tour guide named Lucas for the trip, and he told us that the Guaraní, the indigenous people of Iguazú, speak a language called Guaraportuñol: a combination of Guaraní, Portuguese, and Spanish! We all laughed when we heard that name. We're having a hard enough time learning rioplatense (River Plate, Buenos Aires-specific) Spanish!
The trip was amazing! Our program directors plan activities for us every Friday (and in some cases for the weekend), but don't give us much information. Beyond what to pack (shorts, something waterproof, walking shoes, bug spray, and a swimsuit), we had no idea what to expect!
We stayed in cabañas (cabins) in a resort called Orquídeas (Orchids). Here is a picture of the entrance. The place was full of beautiful flowers and trees!
I drank fresh-squeezed mandarin juice every day at the hotel! (Jugo exprimido de mandarina, in case you ever want it!) Yum!!
On Friday, we walked through and learned about la selva (the jungle). After walking for a while, and traveling in our safari-style jeep to another site, we pulled up to about 25 harnesses and helmets. ...Yes, we were surprised, too! lol. We ended up jumping down the side of a cliff with a rope and harness, and "flying like birds" (el vuelo del pájaro) through three ziplines above the forest! Those who know me even superficially have got to be amazed that I did this, lol. But I did! I wasn't even too afraid. The scariest part for me was climbing the completely perpendicular stairs (while attached to a harness, but still...). It was fun, but not my favorite thing. I actually prefer to see the trees from the path below — they all look the same from above! But it was cool to have done something brave! =) Here's a picture of me ziplining:
When we drove back to the resort from the forest, the pueblo I saw affected me a lot: it was the first time I'd seen so many huts, farmers working with animals and their hands, and people with dusty faces and clothes. We saw so many people as we passed, and the shacks, made of wooden planks and tin roofs, were very small. The poverty there was so sad. The kids were all playing: some played soccer, and others played videogames on their phones or Nintendo DS. A lot of them waved to us. Sweet kids!
On Saturday we went to las Cataratas: the famous waterfalls. They are something you could never believe without seeing! Even though I was expecting them and could hear the water roaring and see the mist from far away, when I really saw them, it was hard to believe that a place like that exists! The mist from the falls is white and very immense, and hundreds of black birds called vencejos fly through it. Lucas told us that the Guaraní believe that the souls of their ancestors live on in those biggest falls.
Here are pictures of the trail and some of the falls (there are over 200!):
Amazing! =) Another surprise adventure (and the reason we needed swimsuits) was a boat tour right up to the falls. When I say "right up to the falls," I'm not kidding! We actually passed under two waterfalls! That was really not my favorite thing... But I did it! (In this case, more because of ignorance about what I was getting into than feeling daring... lol)
On Sunday I went with a few of my friends to the town of Iguazú. We looked in a few very touristy craft shops, and one of my friends bought a cheap sweater made of llama wool (in Spanish, lana de lama). After that we went to the place where the 3 fronteras (borders) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. The two rivers, Río Paraná and Río Paraguay, were very beautiful! The forest in the background made them even better.
And that was my trip to Iguazú!
On Monday I had class again. Latin-American History, which I had for the first time that day, was very hard! The professor talks really fast, and I don't know much about the subject matter. I know it will be a huge challenge (she warned us that there's a lot to read), but I'm excited! I know very little about Latin America at this point, and now am determined to learn. =)
The reading assigned for Latin-American Art (history) was very hard as well. I had to look up about one in every fourteen words! There were about 120 pages assigned for the last two weeks, so that was really a lot. The subject is one I like, though, and the words I looked up are good ones. I'm going to write a poem with them, both as a fun activity and a way to remember the words! lol.
I met a guy named Gabriel in my Literature class today. He has an Escher tessellation tattooed on his arm! We were talking about zoos, and he used the word "entorno," environment. I had looked that word up earlier in the day, but it wasn't in my dictionary and I couldn't infer what it meant. How crazy (and lucky) that it randomly came up! =)
I met a few other Argentinians in my classes, too. They're all really helpful and nice!
Chao, everyone!
Kaeli
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