An Argentine Experience

SO I made one Argentine girl friend and her name is Fiore. She has been begging me to come to her home town of Junin about four hours away in the province of Buenos Aires so finally this past weekend I said yes. After a 5 hour train ride we made it to the province and were greeted warmly by her mom-- the most bubbly, hyper person I've ever met. I didn't know the moment I stepped off the plane I would be a celebrity because I was the first United States citizen in Junin! I had to defend my country to the core being surrounded by people who like to consider themselves "americanized" yet have so many problems with our country and mentality. Other than that, I had a fantastic time going to Fiore's "quinta" which is a house about five minutes from her house "in the country" with a pool. We went shopping and hung out with her childhood friends. This was the first time I was truly immersed by the language because in Buenos Aires there are so many U.S. and English tourists that you speak spanish some of the day but could get by with English in most situations.

After this trip I made a concious effort to only speak spanish :)

IGUAZU WATERFALLS!

One of the wonders of the world, the Iguazu waterfalls lay on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Most people agree the view from the Argentina side is the best so I decided to not pay the $200 to cross the border. I went with my two best friends I met through the program, Irene and Eve, and we stayed at an amazing hostel with a swimming pool and night activities! Since we were only there for 2 days we went straight to the falls the first day. When we got there we took a boat to go under the waterfalls and got drenched. Turned out to be a bad idea because it was just turning into winter and we were freexing and wet for the hours that followed the boat ride! Regardless it was so amazing and there were soooo many rainbows! After that we went hiking on the island in the middle surrounded by waterfalls and saw the biggest waterfall called "La Garganta del Diablo" or the Devil's Throat. It was spectacular and I have never EVER seen so much water rushing down to a deep fog. I can't even explain it but here are some pictures.