Family Visit!

The family came to visit and these are some of the things we did!

Iguazu Falls
On the border of Brazil, and really close to Paraguay, Iguazu falls consist of 275 waterfalls. The biggest one, called "la garganta de diablo", or the devil's throat, is the border between Brazil and Argentina, and massive and impressive.

The province of Missiones, where the Argentinian side of Iguazu is located, is a completely different place than Buenos Aires, where the people talk slower and life moves at a relaxed pace, but garbage still lines the streets. The wildlife consists of lagartos (lizards), coaties (funny raccoon-like creatures with a very pointy noses) and supposedly monkeys, though they hid out pretty well.

Garganta del Diablo

Abbey tourists

tropics

Puerto Iguazu

Colonia, Uruguay
Colonia del Sacramento is the oldest city in Uruguay discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century. Some architecture and the city layout still resemble the Portuguese style. It's a one hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires, lying on the other side of Rio de la Plata. The town was full of cobblestone roads, colorful buildings, mopeds, art galleries, and really old cars. Even the brown river looked better from the other side.

Rio de la Plata



Uruguayan kitten!

We also got to tourist around Buenos Aires and eat lots of Argentinean food - not always the most thrilling meals. But we had the experience of a authentic parilla - a sampling of different types of grilled meat, which I of course opted out of. The appetizer portion is meat - chorizo, intestinal meat, and maybe some kidney. This is followed by the main portion - meat - giant steaks. I did have a bite of steak for the first time in a year, to see what the fuss was about with Argentine beef, but it tasted like normal steak to me. Oh well.

It was a great 10 days of family and travelling and I'm so glad they came to visit!

Last night, I saw a disturbing thing. There was a kid, who couldn't have been more than 8 years old, standing outside the subway stop picking up any cigarette butts that had a little bit of cigarette left to smoke. He would smoke one, and then light and smoke the ends of the next one he found on the ground.

Pictures from Cementerio Chacarita

Buenos Dias, Buenos Aires, Vote Obama, Buena Onda

U.S. election coverage down here has been very prominent in the newspaper, and is often the first thing anyone asks me about when they realize I'm from the U.S. "Which one are you for" is probably the question I've heard the most often since I got to BA. The news coverage is pretty biased - which makes sense since 60% of Argentines support Obama, compared to only 10% who would have preferred McCain.

We went to watch the election at a bar party hosted by Democrats Abroad. The place was flooded with American students, as well as some older ex-pats, and the occasional Argentine. The rowdy American cheers and toasts every time CNN showed a Democrat ahead, followed by the boos when they put the check next to a red candidate, exhibited the stereotype of drunk, obnoxious American students. Sometimes I am reminded what I don't miss.

the coolest shirt