Iguazu with Jacob!

Hola amigos! Last week was quite an adventure. Jacob came to visit! I was so excited to see a familiar face and the whole experience was pretty surreal. For the first few days we just poked around the city and he tagged along with me to the university. I attempted to show him the ropes and lead him to the try the "best" local foods. He fell in love with empanadas, just as I did in those first days. It was really cool for me to speak Spanish in front of a non-stranger. Jacob thought that it was pretty impressive how well I knew the city and how well I speak the language. Having an affirmation that I have improved immensely since being here gave me a lot of confindence.
For the weekend, we boarded a two-tiered bus to Iguazu Falls with my friend Mac and her boyfriend who was also visiting. Jacob and I had the very front seats on the top level of the bus so it looked like we were flying when watching out of the front window. The bus ride to Iguazu was 22 hours long, 12:00 p.m. Friday-10:00 Saturday.
We arrived in Iguazu on Saturday morning at about 9:30, found our way to Hostel Park Iguazu, and planned out our day. After getting medialunas con membrillo (another of Jacob's new loves) we caught a bus to the National Park Iguazu Animal Reserve. There, we took a tour of the reserve which houses and rehabilitates animals that are found wounded in the area, are there to mate, or just need to be taken care of. The most bizarre reason for some of the animals being there was these racoon type animals that were taken from the area where the Falls are located because they have really high blood pressure and blood sugar from eating the snacks left over by the tourists.
Iguazu has a tropical climate, so there was an abundance of birds. For dinner that evening, we braved the motorcycle rally that was occuring in the city to find some pizza. On Sunday, after having more medialunas for breakfast, we made our way to the Cataratas de Iguazu (Iguazu Falls!) The waterfalls were beyond amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, etc... We were also so far North that we could see Brazil. The park had numerous waterfalls that were all different sizes and had different volumes and scenery. On the way back from the park, we stopped for dinner at an Asador. Jacob and I shared the "assorted meat" dinner which included enough meat for a small army including chorizo (sausage), carne de vaca (steak) and pollo (chicken) all cook on the asado barbeque. I think he was impressed with the meal.
We left Iguazu on Monday and arrived back in Cordoba on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, I took Jacob on a tour of the Plaza San Martin and we had a nice dinner of Lomitos (again, a new one of his loves) and then had my favorite, Grido Helado. I was sad to see him go on Thursday, but my time here is running short so I didn't have too much time to be sad. I will be home 5 weeks from today. Since I've been here for nearly 12 weeks, 5 weeks seems like nothing.
Chau y besos,
Alex

System error

The bus system in Cordoba has gone on strike this week. A million Cordobeses take the bus everyday to get to work, school, or even just to the grocery store. As you can imagine, it's created a dose of chaos for the people who have places to be. My only source of inexpensive transportation around the city and especially to UBP are the collectivos (city buses). I had a near heart attack yesterday in fear that I would go broke just trying to get to school everyday and back. Taxis and remis are cabs that you can take from point A to point B, but they cost in some cases, 10 times as much as taking the bus. Every time I get on a collectivo, a pay a flat rate of 3.20 pesos no matter how short or far the distance I'm traveling. It's about a 15-20 minute bus ride from my house to the university. But, a taxi ride from my house to the university is nearly 30 pesos, 10 times as much as my bus fair. The city is convinced that the buses will be running in the next 24 hours, same thing the news said 24 hours ago. Until then, I will be forking over the pesos to the taxi/remi companies. This is how most things work in Argentina though: unpredictable, anti-systematic, and sometimes just too obscure for me to understand. As I've noted in past entries, I am developing a never before sense of patience by being here and dealing with situations way beyond my control. My mom would say it's situations like these that build character. So, I'm expecting to come home from Argentina money-less, but with a whole lot of character.

Buenos Aires in a nut shell

This past weekend, I went with my friend Sam to Buenos Aires from Friday until Monday.The trip involved a 9 hour overnight bus ride in "cama" (bed seats). We arrived in Bs As at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday. The neighborhood that the bus terminal is located in was not the safest place to be so we booked it to the nearest Starbucks to start the day. After changing, having the cafe del dia and talking with locals to figure out where we were, we tracked our route to our hostel and began the 30 minute walk there. The hostel that we stayed in was called the Downtown B.A. Hostel and was located in the center of the city close to the Plaza de San Martin. We stopped at the Plaza to take our first photos of the trip.

          
 It was unfortunately pouring the entire day on Saturday and was cold. The city tour that we had planned to take was a 3 hour walking tour, so we decided to book a bus tour through the hostel. We began our tour at 2:00 and saw many historical sites, the different barrios of Buenos Aires, and numerous interesting locations and monuments, including the $5 million flower sculpture that is new to Bs As. We visted the Plaza de Mayo, the famous square that the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo march each Thursday. And, the Casa Rosada (like the white house of Argentina, but it's pink) We also visited the barrio "La Boca" which is a famous neighborhood close to the Rio de la Plata. This barrio is very colorful and shows the character of the original Tango and European influences in Buenos Aires.

On Sunday, Samantha and I visited two museums and a famous cemetery. The first museum was called La Malba and had numerous works of art from around the world. There was an entire floor devoted to art from the United States which was called "Bye Bye American Pie". I would take back the word "devoted" to U.S. art and change it to "defaming" U.S. art. The way the United States was portrayed by this exhibit was disappointing and unfortunate. It portrayed Americans as teenage drug abusing prostitutes who condone bestiality and are racists. Highlighting the lowest point in American culture, the 70's. After the visit to La Malba, we went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. I did not take photos at this museum, but it was absolutely amazing. I could have spent all day there staring at the different paintings and sculptures. I don't know if I will ever visit as place as amazing or captivating at this museum. Each room had a theme and a different color on the wall to highlight the beauty of the paintings in that room. The sculptures were by far my favorite part as I was awed by the possibility that a piece of wood, ceramic, or stone could be transformed into a human with flexed muscles and skin crevices.
The final stop of the day was to the Cemeterio de la Recoleta, a cemetary in the barrio of Recoleta that houses the tombs of Argentina's most famous and most influencial. The tomb of Eva Peron (Evita) and many presidents were located in this cemetary. The interesting thing is that all of the tombs are above ground and houses in individual building that look like houses. From a far, the cemetary looks like a community, or a city street. It's not until you are in front of one of the tombs and can see the casket inside that you realize it isn't. Sam and I were perplexed to see an abundance of cats in this cemetary because we have only seen stray dogs in all of Argentina. I learned in class today that the cemetary is famous for the cats that are fostered there. There are many legends about these cats and my professor said that cats are not fearful of the supernatural, but that dogs are and that is the explanation for the feline phenonmenon. The statues located on top of each of the tombs were amazing and beautiful as well, in a very eerie way.
After leaving the cemetery, we went to the feria and looked at each of the street shops for a bit before heading back to the hostel to pick up our belongings. We then found a McDonalds and indulged in some french fries, made our way back to the Starbuck's from the first day, and got ready to head back to Cordoba. I'm looking forward to traveling again as my next journey will be with Jacob to Iguazu Falls!
Chau,
Alex