The Week Before Iguazu Happenings...

Hellooo everybody! I have officially returned from my Iguazu trip but would first like to dedicate a post to other things that occurred the week before that. No worries, I will tell you all about the adventure trip tomorrow or Wednesday on a specially designated post.

For those of you who can't wait, here's a preview into Iguazu Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world: First, I repelled down a rock in the jungle and ziplined through the rainforest. The big day was seeing all the waterfalls at the national park, including La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) in a torrential downpour and thunderstorm that lasted the entire day. Due to that last detail, pictures are unfortunately limited, so I'm jacking an amazing one from my friend Ethan that he snagged on his phone!

Incredible, right? Now it's time to shift your mind a little as I continue to tell you what went on the week before Iguazu!

Thursday:  One of my really good friends here, Bianca, had her family come visit from the states for the week. Since she and I and a few others of us have been slacking on the boliche (dance club) scene, she wanted to go to one of the larger ones near the river, called La Fluvial. I met her boyfriend that she's had since middle school for the first time after hearing so much about him so that was cool. I personally have more fun at previas/kioscos when it's just our group drinking and we can talk to each other, but I suppose it's good to go out and experience the night life every once in awhile. Afterwards, we learned that Thursday nights are student night so we thought there would be people our age there instead of the older crowd, but we now had the opposite problem with student night meaning high schoolers! I'm not kidding when I say I saw a 14-year-old guy on the dance floor with a Minnesota Vikings tshirt (whaaattt?? and whyy?) and also a poor girl sitting in a booth passed out with puke all around her. She had a friend nearby standing/dancing by her and I asked what she is going to do with her and she stupidly said in Spanish, "I don't know, she's my best friend in the whole world, ya know? What can I do?" Welllllll, for starters, you could vacate her from the club so she doesn't make a bigger fool of herself or DIE for crying out loud. I glanced back in that general area about 15 minutes later and they were both gone, so hopefully they left or got help. Other than seeing all that, it was fun for all of us to hang out that night even though it was practically amateur hour but oh well, what can ya do. It's the same as going out to any bar, some nights are super fun and others kinda suck and there's not really an explanation for why.
Saturday:  This was the double-decker party bus night for Phillip's birthday! With that description, I don't know how it could not be fun. There's not really much to say about it other than we all had a great time riding around for 3 hours with all the lights and a DJ. Just to give you an image, the interior walls even had pink faux-fur. Then around midnight the bus dropped us off at a boliche called Lotus and we got a table there for all of us. The plan was to eat before any more drinking went on, but the kitchen closed right before we got there I guess. My friend Joe's boyfriend Juan is from Argentina and is fluent in both Spanish and English so he was able to be stern and persuade the waiter to at least bring him a pizza. I got to know him pretty well that night and sat next to him so he was nice enough to share a slice with me. Nothing is better than when you've been drinking and someone is able to get you food! In addition to our program group of 15, there were about 3 others from another program based out of Pittsburgh, some of which share host families with the people in our program. Then there were our friends/conversation partners from the law school and Phillip's friends he met from the gym that most of us go to. They were the ones who set up the whole deal for a free table at the boliche. I had a wayyy better time at Lotus in comparison to La Fluvial--you could go in one room where they had a live band playing mostly rock/pop music from the USA, or on the other side was the DJ with all the techo/latin/cumbia beats. Overall the night was a success and very fun--who all can say they rode in a party bus in South America?! Now I can so HA!
Sunday: Finally got out to see Rosario's other club team, Newell's Old Boys, in a soccer match! We played La Boca from Buenos Aires and crushed them 4-0. I think it's always more fun and safer when we win :) And we must be good luck because Central won when we went to their game too. Before the game we went to a bar to hang out with our law school friends who were taking us, and it was so cute because Miguel made us all little slips of paper with the fight songs on them so we could practice. We loved it! Another video of the craziness for your viewing pleasure: "DALE NEWELLS!" (let's go Newells!) Notice the hand motion that everyone does. It's all about the flick of the wrist!

Judging by my two experiences, the consistencies with any soccer game is hearing "la concha de tu madre!" over and over and over again, but at Newell's a nice old lady behind me also threw in a few "la concha de tu tía/hermana/prima!" (the *bleep/expletive* of your aunt/sister/cousin) so that was a new mashup! Also the chain-smoking was present here as well. I had a great time at this game, but I think the experience of Central was overall better because we had no clue what to expect, we were excited for our first game, we were taken there in the back of a pickup truck because la cancha (stadium) isn't within walking distance, etc. Still really fun to see both teams though! Some more photos from the game...

I like the makeshift booster seats for all the little kids...
aka tying your sweatshirt to the fence and sitting in it!

In addition to super high fences and barbed wire galore,
there's also the nasty, green, water-filled trench to separate
the diehard fans from getting on the field. Can't imagine
that at an American football stadium! 

Me and my friends :) In the background you can see more seating which
is crazy because when you're on the outside of the stadium, you can see the
people on the very, very top's backs! Meaning there is no backrest and if they
leaned back they would fall to their death onto concrete. So many things here
are NOT legitimate in the slightest. The netting in the back is also where they
quarantine the away team...probably not a bad idea. All for the love of soccer I guess?!

New Vocab List
espuma- foam
estornudar- to sneeze
"guau guau"- "woof woof" noise for dog
sacudir- to shake
llano- flat
garganta- throat
domar- to tame
rascarse- to scratch
terremoto- earthquake
ortografía- spelling
canasta- basket
invisible- bobbypin
enterrar- to bury
pozo- hole in the ground
agujero- hole in object i.e. clothes or paper
cansancio- exhaustion
resaca- hangover
huéspedes- guests
ser de mal gusto- something done in bad taste
prolijo- neat/tidy
dañar- to harm
soldados- soldiers
compromiso- promise
promocionar- to promote

Sooo I've Bought Some Stuff.......Warning: Having a Girl Moment!!!

2 scarves (love the white lace-like fringe and the
rich green color!), my first pair of ankle cowgirl-ish
boots, AND my lovely leather jacket. Feels like
it was made just for me...mission accomplished!

Argentina national soccer team jersey, cow bone
earrings, and *gasp!* My first mate cup! Got it
in Iguazu--it's quite the process to find the perfect mate
that matches your personality. This one is a pretty
blue with a strip of bark in it. Me gusta.

Had to get a bigger across-the-body purse for my camera so I could safely
carry it around in the city. Then my funky green sneakers with studs :)
Sorry Mom if you're reading, but I'm sure you're shaking your head at the
shoes right now...all that matters is I like them!

Can you hear the shopping angels singing? Me neither, but they should be. Maybe it looks like a lot, but considering I've been here for almost 3 months I'd say I did pretty well limiting myself. I'm still going to go to the market in the park one last time for some more gifts for people/I want a ring. Then a stop at the bombonería (chocolatier) to bring home bulk alfahores and other treats, the grocery store for chimichurri sauce/a bottle of fernet (the national liquor) and I think I'll be done with material item purchases! Oh, and I want to stop at this artisan shop I pass every day on my street just to see what they've got. It has been intriguing me. Don't quote me on any of that though :)

To Leave You, Here's Something That Could Not Be More Accurate. And it's hilarious:
http://whenyouliveinargentina.tumblr.com/page/4
--There's 5 pages to it so click around if it interests you, but I think I can relate to page 4 the most. Personal favorite is Lebron "when you realize your wallet is missing"--thank god that hasn't happened to me! Anyways, some of these may be study abroad inside jokes, but it definitely defines part of the experience so far!