After Paul's epic last post I thought I'd keep this comparatively short and simple.
The last day in Buenos Aires was a blast. Celina took us back to her school and we entertained a couple more classes. We also met their dance teacher, who is involved with this RSCDS and partly responsible for continuing the intriguing culture of Scottish dance lessons in schools in Buenos Aires. The kids were fantastic and it really made our trip to have the opportunity to meet them and do some dances and songs with them. They also gave us a sticker with the school badge on it for our fiddle cases. Hurrah!
To make a good day even better, Celina took us to the best pizza place in town (according to her) - Argentina is very proud of its pizza and it is a beautiful thing to behold. We then had a last wander around, before shooting up to the 28th floor of her dad's office building to see an amazing sunset over the city. You'd had to be there, I suppose. A photograph could not do it justice. On the way home we happened upon a Tango club (well, it had to
happen sometime), and Celina talked Paul and I into doing a lesson. Suffice to say we were awful. We'd been avoiding Tango up until this point, because most of the stuff you encounter in Buenos Aires is staged tourist trap type thing. We've been told that Tango is a bit like ceilidh - something old people do, and something young people are just getting into, but certainly not quite something that most people are genuinely interested in. But this was great. There were about 3 other couples, and 2 smiley men trying to explain to us what to do, in a huge room with a nice roof. And some coffee. For some reason both Paul and I have succumbed to drinking coffee. Not sure what it's doing for my caffeine intolerence, but it feels very south american.
Thank you for having us, Celina!
Today we hopped on a plane and flew to Iguazu, on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. It couldn't be more different from BA. While Buenos Aires felt quite European with all its French architecture, Iguazu is exotic. As we landed there was forest as far as the eye could see (the rest of Argentina seemed to be pretty flat and empty), and it was hot (Buenos Aires was warm in the sunshine, but still quite wintery). There were exotic trees everywhere with actual fruit actually hanging from the branches (normally seen going squidgy and wrinkly in a British supermarket). The roads are dusty and red, the houses are short (compared to skyscrapers, anyway), and women carry their shopping in round baskets on their heads. Lizards, coconuts, humidity, you get the picture. We decided to take it easy to get ourselves used to the heat (ok, it was only about 26 degrees but that's a lot for pastey Brits), and went to see the border point between the 3 countries. It was divided up by the biggest river I've ever seen (although I'm sure there's bigger to come), and it was nice to see Brazil just across the way. We'll be coming to you soon!
Aside from that, we've had some adventures in an outdoor kitchen and stared longingly at the hostel swimming pool. Tomorrow, the waterfall.
Things that seem particularly Argentinian:
Coffee and cake - they do this a bit like the Swedes. We didn't realise you were supposed to have this meal so you could last until dinner at 9. We went very hungry.
Stupid meal times - see above. My stomach has just decided to give up and not expect food any more.
Great beef
Amazing pizza
Yerba mate - everyone has their own cup to drink it out of that only they use, so that things are kept the way they like it.
Tourist tango
Empanadas - look a bit like Cornish pasties
Sweet potato jam - comes in lots of flavours like vanilla and chocolate, tastes a bit like apple sauce, and comes in a slab which looks like rough jelly
Dulce de leche - Argentinians have a very sweet tooth
Cats - strays everywhere. It's like one big cat zoo
Balconies
Dog shite - everywhere, ahhh!
Tiny bread
Street signs sponsered by big companies, like American Express
Up to now we've managed to avoid the tourist bubble but we're now in a place where that's impossible. If you've ever played "Curse of Monkey Island" or "Escape from Monkey Island" then you'll know that there's a couple of points where Guybrush Threepwood gets stuck in a tourist trap. Well, that's what Puerto Iguazú feels like. Everywhere you look there's people selling cute necklaces for you to buy or groovy bars for you to dance in or charming restaurants for you dining pleasure.
We're staying in the Marco Pollo Inn which is quite a decent place. It's sort of open plan, even with an open air kitchen which is something I've never encountered before. Iguazu National Park itself feels a lot like the Eden project. It's doing a good thing but it does it amidst fast food stalls, ice cream etc etc. None of this can detract from the sheer beauty of the falls though. I have never seen anything like it and I have never seen as much water in all my life. We took a load of photos which you can see on Flickr but the simply don't do it justice. One day you'll have to come here for yourself and see it. There's mad racoons who try and nick your lunch but we managed to escape them
An Argentinian style pizza was the result of our kitchen/supermarket efforts this evening and tomorrow we bid farewell to Argentina and head to Brazil where we are staing with two more Couchsurfers before the big Hathaway family reunion in Rio de Janiero. It's all still to come and you'll only read about it here so keep following!
