Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

We only have a few days left! I'm so sad. We have an overnight flight back on Thursday the 11th. We all agree that it'll be nice to be back in a country where we can understand everything that is being said to us though. And we're looking forward to free drink refills, instead of this glass bottle crap.

Day 16: Our second day at Iguazu. In the morning Greg and I went on a long hike while Nick scouted out some Blink-182 tickets (and was successful). On our hike we ran into a monkey researcher at Iguazu who was staring into the trees. She showed us two monkeys, an adult and a baby!!! It was soooo cute. She told us to look out for toucans and for a small waterfall that was at the end of the trail. Turns out the waterfall was huge and really secluded, it was awesome. We didn't see any toucans until we were waiting at the bus stop to get back into town, but it was exciting when we did! After the hike we got some lunch and wandered along a catwalk that gave more spectacular views of the falls. It was amazing how many different views we could get of so many different falls. It was absolutely amazing, complete with rainbows. Before we left the park at night we took a boat ride that drove around to all the main waterfalls, and actually drove straight into them. We were soaked but it was well worth it. On the way back to town, a Brit recommended a parrilla (steakhouse) for dinner. We got a meat platter fit for four people, which usually Greg and Nick could finish between them, but this thing was huuuuge. We all had a bite of the intestines but ended up feeding them to a stray puppy on the way back to the hotel. After he cleaned up all of our leftovers, Nick invited him back into our hotel room. Kobe didn't get to stay for long but he was definitely our favorite dog so far.

Day 17: Took a day trip from Puerto Iguazu in Argentina to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil. It was crazy how different the atmosphere was after we crossed the border, even though the two towns were only about a half hour bus ride apart. We spent most of the day at a dam that is one of the seven modern wonders of the world, called Itaipú. It was easily five times as big as Hoover dam. We splurged a little bit on a tour of the dam, which turned out to be a really good decision. They took us everywhere; inside of the dam to see the generators, on top of the dam to throw coins off (oops), far from it to get a panoramic view. It was great. Everything about the dam is shared fifty-fifty between Brazil and Paraguay because it spans a river that divides the two countries. It turns out to provide 95% of Paraguay's power and 25% of Brazil's, since the country is so enormous. We strolled around town and tried to soak up some of the Portugese. We happened to eat at a restaurant where the owner spoke Spanish, but otherwise getting around would've been fairly difficult. Spanish and Portugese are really similar, but not similar enough that Portugese people understand our Spanish. The biggest event of the day was getting back into the country. All the guide books and travel websites say that Brazil doesn't really care who goes in and out so there is no reason to stop at customs. So we didn't. Well....we found out the hard way that Brazil doesn't care but Argentina does. We didn't stop at customs when we left Argentina so we were in trouble when we tried to get back in. An immigrations guy made everyone get off the bus when it stopped at customs and I think us three nearly peed our pants (ex). Luckily, we ran into our friend Carlos (for the third time this trip) on that bus. We met him at a hostel in Punta del Diablo. He's one of those people who has traveled everywhere and knows everyone, so he did the talking for us and got us out of a fine. It was so scary but we learned a little more about how immigrations work, and how not to be dumb about it.

Day 18: We woke up again today in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. In the morning we grabbed breakfast and then headed to change money. It was pretty fun getting a 5000:1 exchange rate. The lowest bill I saw all day was a 1000 dollar bill...that makes you feel great let me tell you. Next we hopped on a bus to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Customs was nonexistent. We pulled up an officer who waved us through without looking. Ciudad del Este was packed. People, cars, and booths selling goods everywhere. So, we jumped down off the bus to check things out. After wandering through the endless stalls, we went for food in a Chinese buffet. As risky as sounds, it was delicious. Afterwards, we walked into a huge grocery store (called rainbow). This was actually pretty fun because everything was so cheap and things are set up a lot differently down here. We bought a ton of candy and drinks, then headed back out to shop more. For the most part, I (Greg) ended up only buying churros from street vendors, but i wouldn´t have it any other way. After our day of exploration, we caught a bus back to Argentina, then bought an overnight ticket to Corrientes.

Day 19: After encountering three full hostels, we found a good one. We slept from about 8-1, then got up to check out the city. Strangely, it was a ghost town. Shops and restaurants were everywhere (closed, though), but there were no people. We found out we were visiting in the middle of the day siesta, and things would come back to life around 5. Sure enough, after killing a couple hours, the city came to life at five on the dot. It is definitely a night culture, the earliest opening time for a restaurant was not until 8 pm. We grabbed dinner there, at a place called Eco Pub, then went searching for helado. After dessert, we went to an orchestra show in a classic theatre near el centro. It was good, but we were all so exhausted from the day that we dipped out early. Bed.

Day 20: Today we woke up in Corrientes. I got chipa, a cheese filled bread puff, hot out of the oven from a local bakery. Then, we got on a bus heading to Resistencia, a twin city with Corrientes. Things are pretty chill here today because it´s Sunday. There are statues all over town, and large parks everywhere. Tonight we are going to Cordoba, the premiere college town in Argentina.

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