बेक तो बूएनोस Aires

Where to begin? Buenos Aires has been a blast. We were able to see a wonderful concert with Matisyahu at the Grand Rex Theatre in downtown Buenos Aires. The venue was amazing and even though we were on the balcony we were able to see him as if we were really close up.

We left on Sunday for Iguazu Falls-- one of the most amazing natural sights I have seen in my life. We hopped aboard a 20-hour bus up north for 3 days of butterflys, hikes and one of the largest waterfalls in the world. We exited the Disneyland-like tram and were immediately surrounded by butterflys of every variety imaginable. They were EVERYWHERE! We started down a long platform bridge over immense amounts of river water going at a substantial pace but remaining relatively calm. We walked through the reeds, the trees and finally started hearing a loud roar and realized we were getting closer to our destination and a sight I´ve been dreaming about ever since I saw my friend Mike´s photos back in Mammoth. My feet couldn´t keep up with my excitement so I hurried over to the very top of Gargante de Diablo(the largest of the falls). You could feel the immense power of the waterfalls (cataratas) charging through your entire body. It was an exhilerating feeling. The shear power of the waterfall cannot be described. I felt like I was in a mini-monsoon with all the wind and spray that the waterfall picked up. We had to walk away a couple times and come back just for that awe inspiring first glimpse of heaven here on earth. We sat down before our jaunt back and suddenly realized that all of us were covered in butterflies. They would just chill on whatever piece of bright colored clothes you were wearing. YOu could pick them up and put them on your finger and they would just hang on (even with all the wind and spray picked up by the catarata). After our first glimpse of the top it was time to get the view so we took a beautifully scenic walk past the river below and finally lo and behold, we had an incredibly breathtaking view of the cataratas from both sides. The late afternoon sun was shining on the palm trees and glimmering on the water. I actually felt a tear come to my eye when I saw this. It was one of the most beautiful, peaceful and serene moments I´ve experienced. We came back that night, made some dinner in the cocina and ate with some girls we met from San Diego. At night we hung out with our friends from Calgary and listened to them play the guitar and sang along to everything from the Beatles to Jack Johnson. The next day we ventured out on a 6km hike to a catarata pool you could swim in. We hung out on a slanted rock basking in the sun and glorious majesty of God´s creation. Luckily we put on a lot of mosquito repellent because they were buzzing around us all day. Iguazu is very tropical and humid- a welcome change from the higher altitude we´ve been in Bolivia. Buenos Aires is just starting its rainy season so we´ve been enjoying some nice showers but the last day we were in Iguazu it absolutely poured. It reminded me of Hawaií with its warm rain storms that come and go. It can truly be raining in your front yard but not in your back yard. Tash and I said our ¨see you soons¨ to Anna who was off to Rio de Janeiro. We headed back to Buenos Aires last night and made it here by lunch time. We actually were fed dinner off the bus by the bus company in a bus station restaurant. It was very fancy but it was all carne de res (beef) so I ate the rice. The bus was virtually empty and the seats reclined back really far so it was a very comfortable bus ride. We actually got to see New Moon (La Luna Nueva) on the busride home. It was lovely. Here we are back in Buenos Aires and Tash will be here until Monday. We´ll get a tango show and dinner in tomorrow as our last hurrah in the beautiful Argentinian culture. I should be coming home around May 17th or so. School and jobs await. More to come soon...