So my mom got here on the 12th of july and I went to her hotel after class. That night we went to a tango show and it was awesomeee! We had really good food and the tango show was spectacular. It was at a place called La Ventana. The next day I skipped class and we took off that morning to fly to Iguazu. If you don't know, Iguazu is a place in the north of Argentina with a HEAP of waterfalls. It's incredible. One of the 7 natural wonders of the world! We got off the plane, got checked into our room and then went directly on this thing called "la gran aventura" basically it was a safari and then boat ride taking us under the waterfalls and getting us completely soaked!!
It was absolutely incredible:) It was sort of freezing, but so incredible. We didn't even get close to the actual drop of the water. These waterfalls are SO powerful. Honestly you'd die if you went directly underneath. We just sort of got close to the actual drop of the water and we soaked to the bone from just the mist bouncing off! It's insane. It was from a few of the waterfalls on the outskirts too. There are literally 20s or 30s of waterfalls in a really proximal location.
The most notable of which is called "la garganta de diablo". It's just an absolutely immense waterfall! But compared to other huge waterfalls, it looks so much more intense and unique, it's kind of like just a huge hole in the earth with water pouring in from every side. Literally translated it means "the throat of the devil"... makes sense now right? It's incredible. How can people look at this and not be amazed at who created it?
We spend an amazing weekend there. We flew back sunday night to Buenos Aires. I had a class to finish up and I wanted to show my mom around the place I'd be living for another almost 4 months. I took another skip monday and went on the city tour with my mom. We hit all the highlights... Plaza Italia, the cemetery of Recoleta, la Boca, Plaza de Mayo, Calle Florida, 9 de Julio. Then my mom and I toured el Teatro de Colon. It's a really fancy opera house. It was pretty amazing. There was real 24-karat gold on the ceiling in random rooms. Marble everywhere, stained glass, a chandelier where people could sit.. super high-class artsy. It's the 3rd best opera house in the world.
Tuesday was pretty low-key. I went to class.....finally;) And we went out to a DELISH steak dinner. Wednesday class was my review day for my test. That evening I studied for that and then my mom and I went to dinner with my host family. It was really interesting to have my two world collide like that. It's always disorienting when people from one compartment of my life meet the others.. but this was nuts! I was the translator that night, and that was stretching of my language-knowledge. It was really good though to show someone so important in my life (who are we kidding? the most important person in my life <3) a little taste of what I'm experiencing for 6 months of my life. Thursday I had my final and then afterwards my mom and I went to a town north of the city near the delta of the rio de la plata called Tigre. It has some yummy fair-ish foods, a sweet market, and it's beautiful with all the rivers and canals. We went on a boat tour and had a really nice time walking around with beautiful weather. Then friday I had my oral final, and with that finished up my second intensive spanish language class! Mom went on her own little adventure that day. She went out to a classic Argentine ranch and enjoyed food, dance, and an awesome view. We got pizza and ice cream that night and prepared for the next day.
That saturday we flew across the country to Mendoza, one of the wine countries of the world! And to the see the Andes mountains. We spend the next two days there tasting delicious wine and taking in a heart-stopping view of the most gorgeous mountain range.
And before we knew it, it was tuesday, and we flew back to Buenos Aires and from there my mom flew home sweet home to the US of A. Best. Vacation. Ever. I'm never going to forget it. :)
I was a little down after my mom left, so I decided to keep myself busy the week off school I had. The very next day after I got back from Mendoza, a group of us went to a special zoo a little outside the city called Lujan. There.... well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Yeah, no big deal, I pet a few beasts of nature. Oh and the king of the animal kingdom drank milk out of my hand. Oh and I fed an elephant. And held a turtle. And played with baby tigers.... It wasn't that FREAKING INCREDIBLE.... not one bit!!!!! ;)
I finished up my week of vacation with a few fun activities. Went to see the new batman, saw a few movies at different people's houses. A new student and friend of mineee arrived from the US. Now, it's my second day of classes here at the university. I'm taking literature of Latinamerica, art of Argentina, cinema of Latinamerica, Advanced Spanish, a Spanish speaking class. Whoop whoop! Just 15 more weeks of these classes and then that'll be it.
I'm in a weird place right now in my heart. I'm truly enjoying life here. I feel so blessed and refreshed from the adventures and vacations I've been on lately. At the same time, I'm homesick and looking forward very much to returning to the states. I'm feeling more and more confident with my spanish, of course I still struggle with the language, but it hardly really bothers me anymore. I'm becoming better at switching back and forth when I get on and off the internet. I'm excited for the prospect of these new classes and at the same time dreading the permanence of them. At least in our intensives we always knew it'd only last a month. These are gonna last 3. Study abroad is a weird thing. So temporary and yet so immersive. It's wild. I should go now, I have class in half and hour.
Until next time! :)
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