It's difficult to believe that spring break has come to an official end, and it's even more wild that I have less than twenty-four hours left in the only other country I'd consider living in (so far, at least).
As amazing as my time in Brazil has been, I had no trouble leaving the country yesterday for a quick foray into neighboring Argentina. Well... "no" trouble may be too strong. Our program strictly and unequivocally forbids leaving our host country at any time. So while Sally and Jenn were super nonchalant and brave and like--
I was cowering in the corner of the taxi like--
I have been and probably always will be too much of an authority-respecting rule follower to enjoy engaging in illicit activity. But most of my fear evaporated once I got that big, blue, beautiful Argentina stamp on my passport. Though Sally printed out forty or so pages of evidence in both Spanish and English to prove that yes, indeed, Obama DID visit Argentina and that no, we as American citizens do NOT need to pay a reciprocity fee, we ended up not needing them. We pulled up in our taxi to the Argentinian passport office and our driver (and true homie/fab friend) Giovanni speedily explained the situation in Spanish and the Argentinian border patrol officer simply responded (in a yell) "OBAMA!!!' And let us through. WOO.
I was overjoyed at entering Argentina for multiple reasons: the euphoria in international travel, seeing Spanish (a language I can almost understand!), and getting another stamp (wahoo!). We withdrew some pesos in order to pay for our entrance fee, and then we entered Iguassu from the Argentinian side! We had heard from multiple sources that the Argentinian side is much better than the Brazilian, and while it's difficult to compare two views of perfection, I can understand what they meant. While Brazil provided more panoramic views of the Falls, Argentina allowed you to be practically in the waterfalls.
Stunning, right?
We hiked up and down the waterfalls for about five hours, avoiding the gorge of crowds that filled the park on what was apparently the "busiest" weekend of the entire year! Wow! Sally, Jenn, and I were absolutely awed by Mother Nature's power and beauty. We headed back to Brazil in the early afternoon in Giovanni's car (he is such a homie, you guys) and quickly crashed in our fluffy beds, recovering from the excitement of our day. We woke up in time to watch Eclipse (you know, the Twilight movie) in Portuguese, and then we raced down to the buffet once again to partake in the deliciousness of Brazilian food. We once again gorged ourselves on bread, salad, tenderloin, and white wine sangria, and then took on the dessert table. We decided it'd be an absolute waste to allow our full stomachs to dissuade us from taking advantage of the all-inclusive sweets, so we literally snagged about twenty pieces of brigadeiro (a Brazilian fudge candy) to both eat on the plane and to hand out to employees that helped us on Easter. They appreciated it.
We woke up around 6:45 AM and rushed to pack, brush our teeth, pay the bill, and eat some breakfast before hopping into Giovanni's cab and heading to the airport.
Today was honestly a blur of sleeping, taxiing, and eating delicious ramen, but I'd love to take a moment to discuss the two families that I had the pleasure of celebrating Easter with today. First, my Brazilian host family. They truly welcomed me into their home and made me their family. I consider Maria Luisa to be my niece (that cutie pie) and Liza to be my honorary sister. I had the lovely opportunity to say one last goodbye today due to my forgetfulness (I had to grab my straightener from the house). They are seriously so wonderful. It's not easy to call a place a "home" after only four weeks, and yet, today it felt like I was going home. I also got to "see" my real fam today over Skype!!! Though I was extremely jealous of their Easter gumbo dinner, I loved seeing their faces and laughing at Sierra's hysterical jokes.
Well, I'm currently watching some South African movies on Netflix in order to prepare for tomorrow--I can call that homework, right? I can't believe my time here is ending!!!! I can't wait for my next adventure(:
On to the next,
Aubs
As amazing as my time in Brazil has been, I had no trouble leaving the country yesterday for a quick foray into neighboring Argentina. Well... "no" trouble may be too strong. Our program strictly and unequivocally forbids leaving our host country at any time. So while Sally and Jenn were super nonchalant and brave and like--
I was cowering in the corner of the taxi like--
I have been and probably always will be too much of an authority-respecting rule follower to enjoy engaging in illicit activity. But most of my fear evaporated once I got that big, blue, beautiful Argentina stamp on my passport. Though Sally printed out forty or so pages of evidence in both Spanish and English to prove that yes, indeed, Obama DID visit Argentina and that no, we as American citizens do NOT need to pay a reciprocity fee, we ended up not needing them. We pulled up in our taxi to the Argentinian passport office and our driver (and true homie/fab friend) Giovanni speedily explained the situation in Spanish and the Argentinian border patrol officer simply responded (in a yell) "OBAMA!!!' And let us through. WOO.
I was overjoyed at entering Argentina for multiple reasons: the euphoria in international travel, seeing Spanish (a language I can almost understand!), and getting another stamp (wahoo!). We withdrew some pesos in order to pay for our entrance fee, and then we entered Iguassu from the Argentinian side! We had heard from multiple sources that the Argentinian side is much better than the Brazilian, and while it's difficult to compare two views of perfection, I can understand what they meant. While Brazil provided more panoramic views of the Falls, Argentina allowed you to be practically in the waterfalls.
Stunning, right?
We hiked up and down the waterfalls for about five hours, avoiding the gorge of crowds that filled the park on what was apparently the "busiest" weekend of the entire year! Wow! Sally, Jenn, and I were absolutely awed by Mother Nature's power and beauty. We headed back to Brazil in the early afternoon in Giovanni's car (he is such a homie, you guys) and quickly crashed in our fluffy beds, recovering from the excitement of our day. We woke up in time to watch Eclipse (you know, the Twilight movie) in Portuguese, and then we raced down to the buffet once again to partake in the deliciousness of Brazilian food. We once again gorged ourselves on bread, salad, tenderloin, and white wine sangria, and then took on the dessert table. We decided it'd be an absolute waste to allow our full stomachs to dissuade us from taking advantage of the all-inclusive sweets, so we literally snagged about twenty pieces of brigadeiro (a Brazilian fudge candy) to both eat on the plane and to hand out to employees that helped us on Easter. They appreciated it.
We woke up around 6:45 AM and rushed to pack, brush our teeth, pay the bill, and eat some breakfast before hopping into Giovanni's cab and heading to the airport.
Goodbye to paradise ):
Today was honestly a blur of sleeping, taxiing, and eating delicious ramen, but I'd love to take a moment to discuss the two families that I had the pleasure of celebrating Easter with today. First, my Brazilian host family. They truly welcomed me into their home and made me their family. I consider Maria Luisa to be my niece (that cutie pie) and Liza to be my honorary sister. I had the lovely opportunity to say one last goodbye today due to my forgetfulness (I had to grab my straightener from the house). They are seriously so wonderful. It's not easy to call a place a "home" after only four weeks, and yet, today it felt like I was going home. I also got to "see" my real fam today over Skype!!! Though I was extremely jealous of their Easter gumbo dinner, I loved seeing their faces and laughing at Sierra's hysterical jokes.
Well, I'm currently watching some South African movies on Netflix in order to prepare for tomorrow--I can call that homework, right? I can't believe my time here is ending!!!! I can't wait for my next adventure(:
On to the next,
Aubs
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