The bus pulled into Puerto Iguazu at around 9am. Jeeves and I disembarked, then headed across the street to the Marcopolo Inn. It was too early to check into the hostel so we dropped off our bags and got directions to the Iguazu Falls park. We stopped by an ATM for some additional pesos and grabbed lunch from the bakery before hopping on a local bus that shuttled us to the Falls. It rained the whole way there, and even turned to hail at one point. At the park entrance, we purchased a couple ponchos and headed into the park. We got there just as the parked opened so it wasn't too busy yet, so we took advantage and hit the lower two trails first. The views up to the waterfalls were fantastic going on forever, ... read more

They saved the best company visit for last. We went to a cosmetic manufacturer called Natura. They run a lot like Avon, but seem to have much better success with over $3B sales in seven Latin American counties versus the $11B for Avon from over 150 countries. The speakers were really energetic and passionate about the company. They were very willing to answer questions. Not only did they feed us, take pictures, and answer a million questions-we got to take home samples! Really interesting company and highly focused on social and environmental impacts as well as the bottom line. We ended our trip with a farewell lunch at a traditional Argentine buffet. Samantha gave us a good farewell and congrats to all those who were now done with the program (unfortunately not me). Back to the ... read more

Wednesday started at Globant, a mid-sized IT company known for offering innovative services and solutions. In the past ten years the company was started and has grown to over 3,000 employees. Though headquartered here in Buenos Aires, the company has clients and offices all over the world. Some of their largest clients are in the US, like Google and Sears. The unique studio organization style allows a more casual atmosphere to promote collaboration. The company's success, especially despite the political and economic struggles, have made Globant a popular case study for many universities. The building and cultures have the air of Google especially with the casual lounge areas, glass conference rooms, and even a ball pit (like the kind you see at McDonald's Kid Fun Zones). On our way back to the hotel after the company ... read more

The day began at the US Embassy listening to a presentation from the business director on the challenges US companies face in trying to manage the Argentina markets. The latest industry that companies from the United States focus on is agriculture equipment and technologies. It had been very difficult for him to assist companies in planning for what they can do here due to the constantly changing policies in Argentina and the lack of structure or direction that they are going. He is looking forward to a new person in office in two years. Despite the import/export restrictions, the Argentine government like US companies to come here because they pay well, are honest, and train employees. However with the uncertainty due to the government, more often he is encouraging IS companies to set up in Uruguay ... read more

To prepare for the exciting week ahead, I allowed myself to sleep in this morning. Fortunately it was fairly easy to do, especially once that bright streetlight outside my hostel window turned off. Once up, I grabbed a simple breakfast of croissants from the hostel kitchen. A fellow traveler started chatting with me thanks to my Iowa State T-shirt. He was from the St Paul, MN suburbs traveling around South America after grad school before returning for work this fall. He managed to hit quite a few countries in his month of travel but was looking forward to going home this coming Friday. He had quite a bit of extra cash for travel, so I bought some pesos off of him at the black market rate of 8.5 instead of having to deal with banks and ... read more