Iguazú Falls and Argentina Superlatives

Hello Everyone,

So, I´m writing from Sao Paulo, Brazil right now - a city with absolutely no public Internet access whatsoever. The only place you can use a computer is...get ready for this...McDonalds. That´s right, with the purchase of a Big Mac or Fries you can use a computer for 15 minutes. I think I will opt for the Fries.

Luckily, I am staying with some locals, so they are helping me out. As most of you know, I have worked with foreign exchange students for the past three years, so right now I am here visiting one of my former exchange students, Carolina Dossi! Carolina (or Carol) lived with the Tocco family in Gloucester, MA (hi Michele, Justin, and Bianca!). Her family in Sao Paulo is great and has been feeding me delicious food (the best in South America so far) and taking me to see the sights (which include the beaches, of course). More on Brazil later, I´ve got to catch up to having no Internet for 5 days...

So, during my last days in the wonderful Argentina, I visited one of the 7 natural wonders of the world (I think), Iguazú Falls. The waterfalls lie on the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and can be seen from two different countries (Argentina and Brazil). Not only is their size massive, but there are actually 300 separate waterfalls! You need to take a few different paths through this tropical park to see it all, and they are an amazing sight to see.

I had planned to see the Brazilian side the following day, but crossing the border turned out to be an all-day task. With an expired visa, I headed to the Brazilian Consulate in Iguazú and argued for two hours in Spanish to Portuguese-speakers, getting nowhere. Finally, I headed to the border anyway and quickly realized that they really don´t care, they just need to give me a hard time because the US gives a hard time to Brazilians entering our country! I guess that´s fair.

So, since I was one month in Argentina, here are a few simple SUPERLATIVES to sum things up:

Most Popular: Dulce de Leche - sweetened condensed milk turned to paste, this popular spread is found on all breakfast tables in Argentina, in all pasteries, and in anything else you could think of to put it on! It is quite delicious.

Best Looking: The Perito Moreno Glacier - gorgeous. Iguazú Falls is a close second.

Most Livable City: Mendoza - a fairly simple city, I just loved its charm and was never at a lack for things to do.

Least Livable City: San Miguel de Tucuman - I never even mentioned it before, now you know why.

Best Dancers: The Tango Dancers at Cafe Tortoni.

Worst Dancer: I´d say Canadian Jeff, as he is self-proclaimed, but he never actually danced to prove it!

Favorite Snack: Empanadas - yummy!!!

Best Hostel: The Hostel Inn at Iguazú Falls - more of a resort than a hostel, with a pool, restaurant and bar, ping pong, fuzball, pool, and free DVD´s! Its great watching The Motorcycle Diaries again, now that I´ve been to almost all of the places they visit!

Worst Hostel: Hostel Clan in Buenos Aires - there is nothing like being woken up in the middle of the night to two loud drunken Irish girls bringing a guy home. Ah, the joys of shared accommodations...

Best Bus Ride: Mendoza to Chile - across the desert and the Andes, so beautiful!

Worst Bus Ride: Puerto Montt, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina - I was the only one on the bus, and yet they didn´t let me choose which movies I would watch, so I was stuck with White Chicks and Taxi (with Queen Latifa and Jimmy Fallon). AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!