What a long and exhausting weekend. This past weekend I went with my program to the Iguazu Falls. It is located in the northern part of Argentina and shares the attraction with Brazil, just like Niagra Falls. While we were not allowed to go to the Brazilian side, we got to see it as well as Paraguay. Just in case you don't know, Igauzu Falls is considered one of the Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World. Yeah, its a big deal. It is also were the famous movie The Mission was filmed. I haven't seen it but I plan on seeing it soon and I recommend you do the same. We met our Via Bariloche (bus, see Picture 1) at the university on Thursday afternoon. The bus was nothing like I expected, but that's because I had no idea what to expect. We traveled in a double decker, sleep away.....
PAUSE: Ahhhhhh I just spent a good 15 minutes spraying my entire room (in Belgrano) with Ant-Killer because I found a trail of them all around my bed. GROSSSSSSSSSSSSS. No wonder I've been feeling itchy since I've been here. Those damn ants are prob biting me at night. YUck.
....bus. Every "chair" leans back into an almost horizontal position. Each chair also comes with a foot placement thing so you can put your feet up, a blanket, and a pillow. Obviously the bus comes equipped with tv's and cup holders. We were served two meals and had a "bus attendant". haha Well a good 2 minutes into the trip, I knew we were in for an exciting adventure for the bus got stuck at the end of our street. It was a spectacle but after 10 minutes we were finally on our way... or so we thought. About 15 minutes later we were still in the city driving and since the bus was a giant we started hitting street lamps. lol Every 5 seconds we heard a "thump"....."thump"....."thump" It was great. Alas, we were finally on the road.
We started our trip with the movie Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. It was a cute movie and got everyone in the mood for bed even though we hadn't received dinner yet. The movie finished around 7:45pm. We were all cozy in our chairs, slowly drifting off to sleep when at 8:15pm all of a sudden this Techno Dance music video starts playing on the tv's. lol Everyone was sooo confused and disoriented. On airplanes they subtly turn on the cold air to wake people up, on a bus they blast techno. The bus attendant came around and handed everyone a tray with food. The food did not look good at all. On my plate was a pile of sliced carrots, odd looking ham, strips of rubbery cheese, a roll (the only thing i ate), and this nasty looking apricot looking dessert. Some dinner. Little did I know that that was not all we were served. The attendant came back around and handed us a warm tin of pork and rice. That was more like it. After dinner the kids in the front of the bus started screaming. We all looked up to find a truck with a chicken coop less than an inch from our bus. I tell you, the driving here is outrageous. For the next 15 minutes we were convinced that the bus was going to hit the coop so we were all on the edge of our seats... I'm glad to report that no accident occurred while on the bus. phewww
It was finally bed time so people starting dozing off. I came to realize that my reclining seat did not like to stay reclined. It slowly popped back up to the starting position. Great. Well, I was determined to get some sleep anyways. I think I ended up re-reclining my "bed" a good four times throughout my "sleep". It could have been worse. Again, in order to wake everyone up for breakfast, they played a rock music concert video instead. It was a better than the techno, but still just as startling. People who refused to wake up were shaken vigorously by the bus attendant until they grouchily obliged. I decided to take this period of wakening to snap a picture. (See Picture #1 :) So much love in the air.
We finally arrived at the Mision Jesuitico or the Ruinas de San Ignacio. (Picture 4) This place was pretty awesome. It was full of ruins and cool trees. It was hard to focus on the tour of the place because this car was circling the entrance building blasting techno music. Again, what is with the techno here? Here we are at these ancient ruins learning about history to a steady techno beat. I also found it hard to concentrate on the tour because my friend Stephen was giving me HIS version of the history of the Mission. haha He's a history major with a concentration on South American history so half of what he was telling me was true, I just couldn't tell you what. (Picture 3 is from the Jesuit Mission). My last distraction was this adorable dog. It was the cutest thing and followed us throughout the tour. He posed for pictures, waited for us at sites, and lead the way through the cemetery. SOooo cute. (Picture 3) The only bad part of the ruins was the fact that some of them had scaffolding on them so it wasn't that aesthetically pleasing. The Tour Guide said they are constructing on top of the ruins because they are falling apart. This kid in my group was like, "Isn't that kinda the idea of a ruin?" He had a point jajaja.
After the Mission stop we were on our way to La Chacra---a farm. My friend Stephen was like: "great, were a random group of people, on a bus, eating bad food, on our way to a farm...yeah, we're in a cult."---- whatever you do don't drink the Kool-Aid lol! This is random, but on the way to the farm I swear I saw the same burning bush that Moses saw. I'm about 98% sure it was God. :)
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