Regarding last weekend, my program took a group flight early Friday morning to Iguazu, a small town in the most Northeastern part of Argentina. It's located in the Misionero rainforest- thus I instantly felt the humidity upon arriving.
Being back in the rainforest made me wish I had a machete again to slash my way through the thick brush.
We stayed at a beautiful hotel on the outskirts of town, which had a pool and some great views. After exploring around a bit with some people from my program, we went to a lookout point about 5 minutes from the hotel. In the lookout, we were able to see both Paraguay and Brazil, which were right across the river. I was tempted to swim across to either of the two countries but the extreme sediments and heavily polluted river plus the probability of piranhas and maybe anacondas-who knows- convinced me otherwise. In the distance, we could see some big Paraguayan city, don't remember the name, but it apparently is the most corrupt city and drug capital of the country.
Although the view wasn't so spectacular, it was cool standing in Argentina while overlooking both Paraguay and Brazil at once.
Saturday, I stayed back at the hotel while everyone else went to see the Falls. Certainly no complaints- I sat by the pool all day and read my book. Saturday night, we were supposed to go on a moonlight tour of the Falls but it was canceled because it was too cloudy outside. A shame we missed it. According to my resident director, this tour brings people to tears it's so beautiful.
I woke up early the next day to visit the Falls national Park. The waterfall was amazing and the views were stunning. I realized how powerful and massive the falls were upon descending to the river, then taking a boat ride right up to the Falls. You get sopping wet, literally going under one of the smaller waterfalls, and you can't see much at that point. I regretted being alone for that part- definitely more fun with people u know around for those kinds of fun things. After exiting the park, I took a bus to an animal shelter, where many different wild animals are rescued, then rehabilitated to enable them to reenter the Wild. Monkeys are still my favorite jungle animal.. From there, we went to the airport, flying back to Buenos Aires.
Whenever I come back to Buenos Aires, I have this small feeling of disappointment, being that the nature in this country is unbelievable, and then I find myself in a huge, polluted, dirty city. But as often as I forget, I'm still studying in college in BA.
Besides, I've got Passover to celebrate. This morning, I went to Shmuel's school to participate in the burning of the chametz, a ritual that involves getting rid of all your bread before the holiday. In addition to the bread products, the people seemed to encourage burning as much plastic as possible.
Although I will miss my family, who is all together in Israel, tremendously this holiday, it should be a really cool experience having Pesach in Argentina, where just as in my overall experience here, I'll be introduced to new traditions, tunes, and food (though the prohibition of eating matzah balls and any other matzah derivative products here will absolutely suck), plus the Seders will be in Spanish. I guess I'll reflect on that next time
Chag sameach, Happy holidays,
con amor
Ariel
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