IGUAZU! and back to the city

Last weekend a group of us embarked on our first Argentine adventure to Iguazu Falls! It was one of the most amazing places I've ever been. Usually I am not good at remembering to take pictures but I came back with over 300 this time, unfortunately none of them do the falls justice!

The trip started with a 17 hour bus ride, which sounds terrible but actually was not. This was much nicer than any bus in the US. The seats reclined almost completely, they had good food and after dinner they passed put champagne.

When we finally arrived in Iguazu we jumped in the pool at the hostel before heading off to explore an animal refuge across the street. They had tons of really cool birds and monkeys that got us even more excited for the park. We finished the day with one of the best meals I have ever eaten at a parilla in town.

A toucan in the animal park.

How meat should always be cooked.

The next day we got up super early to head to the park, an impressive accomplishment for 16 twenty year olds. Once at the park we split up into two groups to explore. My group headed to the lower trail to see the falls. On the walk there we saw many little waterfalls and took pictures but once we made it to the main attractions we felt silly for wasting our time.

There were rainbows everywhere!

From the lower trail.

After the lower trail we hopped on to a boat that would take us into the falls. Actually into them! It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We got soaked going under the huge falls. Our ride was crazy but nothing compared to the Brazilian boats that raced by us.

Soaked but happy after the boat ride.

After lunch and drying off we headed to the upper trail where we saw the same falls but from above. This angle gave us a great view of the island in the center and Brasil. We finished the day with a trip to "devil's throat." This is a collection of waterfalls that come together to form almost three sides of a square. It is hard to explain. There was so much water pouring down that we couldn't even see the river. Exhausted we headed back to the pool to relax and prepare for day two.

From the upper trail.

And again.

And again.

The next morning we got off to a slower start. By the time we got to the park it was lunch time so we grabbed some sandwiches, hopped on a calmed boat and set off for a picnic on the island in the middle of the falls. After lunch we climbed the island for the different view points. These were my favorite views of the falls, it felt like we were at the end of the world.

A pretty spot for a picnic:

Later that afternoon we sadly had to leave and head back to BA. It was a great trip and I am excited to do more.

In BA it was back to the hustle and bustle of crazy urban life. Everyday I am impressed by the hecticness of this city. In one of my classes, the professor was one hour and seventeen minutes late! We don't even have classes that long at Tulane! The Argentine students seemed unfazed by this and patiently waited for him to arrive. In another class I am working on a group project with six Argentines and one other American on American foreign policy. It is interesting to hear their opinions on American politics and impressive how much they know.

Now I am off to the Carlos Gardel Museum and to celebrate the end of the World Tango Festival.

Hasta Luego,

Miriam

Escuel-isimo, Eva Peron y Tango

Sorry I have been neglecting this blog lately but things have been crazy now that classes have started!

Through my program we have the option to take classes at four different universities in Buenos Aires. We have a few weeks to sample classes at the different schools before committing to our final schedule. It has been really interesting to learn about the differences between the four schools and then also to compare them to the education system in the US.

The first choice is the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). This school is huge, with over 350,000 students! It is the only public university and as such is completely free. If you are like me you are probably assuming that this means it is not a great school, but thats completely wrong, it is the most prestigious school in Argentina. I chose not to take any classes there but I've heard from friends that it is a crazy experience. The buildings are scattered throughout the city and are incredibly run down and covered in graffiti, inside and out. Also, it is common for protestors to interrupt classes and give speeches. UBA seemed too overwhelming for me but I definitely plan to visit to see some of this for myself!

The others are very different from the beautiful new Catholic University with more conservative beliefs and a dress code to DiTella which most closely resembles an American school and finally Universidad del Salvador which seems to cater to students who work during the day and take classes at night or very early in the morning.

I am taking classes at the Catholic University, del Salvador and through the program. It has been very interesting to talk to my Argentine classmates about the school system. They pick a carrera, or major, when they graduate high school. They then take a set schedule for five years before graduating. Their system is much more focused than ours is. It also means that they have the same twenty kids or so in all of their classes every year. They were shocked when another American student and I talked about double majors, something that never happens here.

When I havent been in class I have been exploring the city. I found a ton of great bookstores but the highlight is definitely El Ateno, it is an opera house that has been converted into a bookstore!

The inside of El Ateno, picture courtesy of Jacob.

I also went to the Eva Peron Museum, which turned out to be more of a shrine than an informative museum. It was interesting but I had to read Wikipedia before I understood her life. If you are interested in a bizarre story I recommend reading about what happened to her body after she died. She was buried in three different countries under different names, it is very strange.

I played soccer with a bunch of kids from my program and some Argentines. It was a great time and I had a black eye to prove it. There are warehouses that have been turned into turf soccer fields all over the city that can be rented out for games. I hope to get to play some more soccer and go to real Argentine game!

On Friday, some friends and I left the city and went to San Isidroe. There we walked through a beautiful park and went to the Hipodromo or horse track. Because it was freezing cold and rainy we were some of the few fans in the venue that can fit 200,000. After watching two races and placing bets between ourselves we decided to leave but have plans to return in more favorable weather.

Horses on the final stretch! Photo courtesy of Jake.

This weekend marked the beginning of the world tango festival that culminates in the world championship here in Buenos Aires. We went to an unrelated tango/flamenco show for dinner on Saturday night and it was awesome! The dancers and musicians were great! I hope to catch some of the real festival this month!

Here is some of the group pretending like we can dance. Picture from Kelsey.

And now for the pros. Photo by Hannah (I should really use my camera more).

On Thursday some friends and I are heading to Iguazu Falls on the Brazil border, it is supposed to be spectacular! But for now I need to get back to my homework.

Hasta luego,

Miriam

Moneda Hunting and the World's Biggest Animals

This week i've learned that the national sportof Argentina is moneda hunting. Monedas are nothing special, they are coins that come in 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and dollar increments, however, here they are hoarded. For some reason, that I cannot figure out, there are just not enough monedas ever, making people do crazy things to get some. You need monedas to ride the bus and because I use the bus frequently I've been forced to take part in moneda hunting. It sounds a lot easier than it is but vendors would rather charge you less than have to give you change and if you have too big of a bill they completely refuse service. The best way to get monedas seems to be buying small things at kioscos, which are located on every corner. For this reason, I have a seemingly endless supply of gum and hard candies because they generate a lot of change. The grocery store acrossthe street from me sells candy for 25 centavos and I have been using a 2 dollar bill to get an impressive amount of monedas every morningbut I think the cashier is on to me and has started to give me dirty looks.

When I have not been preoccupied with my moneda search I have explored some more of the city. I am constantly impressed by the number of the people and the size of everything I go to. This weekend I went to a mall with some friends and I was expecting it to be like the ones at home but boy was I wrong. This mall had a ferris wheel, a pirate ship and many more rides! Just getting a table in the food court turned into an extreme sport. After the craziness of the mall we decided to go to a nearby park, expecting a park to be a lot calmer, but wrong again! There was a flea market to end all flea markets going on! The park is circular with a circumference of about a mile. We started on one side and within the first few stalls realized that here we could buy everything that we would ever need, or in most cases never need. Need a samurai sword? Check. Used light bulbs, underwear, books from the sixties, glow in the dark dinosaur skeletons? They had it all! We did not make it all the way around the park, or really very far at all, but this market and park definitely deserve another look.

Here is one of the stalls. (Photo credit to Kelsey)

On Sunday, some friends and an I went to La Rural, a fair in honor of the bicentennial. Even after many hours at the fair I am confused as to what they wanted to exhibit. The first part was filled with the biggest farm animals I have ever seen. They definitely put the animals from the Minnesota state fair to shame!

After marveling over the size of those creatures and navigating through a huge crowd we wandered outside where we saw stage coach races, people riding on horseback carrying the Argentine flag and some of the newest cars on the market.

We then wandered back inside where we came face to face with what looked like all the characters from transformers. This farm equipment was like nothing we had seen before! With pieces moving in all directions and the gigantic sizes we were impressed!

After more wondering about what this equipment does, listening to Bob Marley in Spanish and sampling many types of dulce de leche, which were located between machines, we decided to call it a day. Most classes start tomorrow meaning it will most likely be a very hectic week! This week we can sample classes at four different universities throughout the city and next week we have even more options. I plan to go to eight or nine different classes this week before making a decision.

Hasta Luego,

Miriam