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Published: August 12th 2006
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Tres Fronteras
The three countries-Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. They all look pretty similar from this vantage, but beware of appearances. I should have known I was in for an unusual conversation when, walking past the 20 foot mate (famous Argentinian tea) sculpture, the tourism guy beckoned me into the office so that he would "not have to be alone". Jorge told me that when he was alone, it forced him to know himself, and that was scary. A bit of an over-share when all I wanted was a map.
Eventually, Jorge did manage to procure said map, and did a great job pointing out all the local attractions in Iguazu, including a local museum of busts of locals made by a particular sculptor which seems to be closed most of the time. Most people come through Iguazu quickly just to see the falls, but it turns out there's quite a bit to see, like the walk down the river to the "Three Borders" where you can see Paraguay and Brazil across the river. All three countries look the same physically (basically rain forest up to the water) but as I found out today, they are quite different when you get inland. Anyhow, after Jorge found out I was a teacher, he told me all about his sister who is also
The Bizarre in Puerto Iguazu
This woodman was actually in a really cool place called Aripuca which is all made from trees which were cleared from the rain forests for farming, some as old as 3000 years. a teacher (and a genius) and his own troubles in secondary school (many).
Finally, he got to his most important point...where was I from and why had I come. I explained that I was from the US and I had come to see the Iguazu Falls. As I said that I was from the US, his eyes lit up, and I figured I was going to get the typical "You're the first US citizen I've met who knows not to say she's American because we are all American" speech. Wrong. He looked down at his hands, as he mumbled "We all know why the United States citizens come, and it's just not for the falls." I wasn't sure how to respond, so I asked him to explain. "You know..." he responded with an eyebrow raise. At that point I wasn't at all sure if he was trying to sell me drugs, or was a narc posing as a drug-pushing tourism official trying to catch drug buyers, or if there was some kind of prostitution ring going on or what. After several minutes of protesting that I had no idea, Jorge finally explained that everyone knew we were after their
More of the bizarre in Puerto Iguazu
This fish souveneir made out of cow horn, which I was dying to buy but didn't, is just one more weird and wonderful thing here in Iguazu. water. Thinking that he was a little on the crazy side, I politely excused myself to go find the river, though just to see it, not to steal it. Later, I asked Argentinian friends at the hostel what was going on and it turns out that there is some kind of deal that the Paraguayan government made with US companies to let them export mineral water, and now many Argentinians around Iguazu are worried that the same thing is going to happen to them. Fascinating. All I wanted was a map, really, not their mineral water supply.
Anyhow, here I am in my third day in Iguazu and I still haven't seen the famous falls. I love it here because it is WARM after winter temperatures in Buenos Aires and Mendoza (see future email about Mendoza but short version is it is fabulous but better seen in the summer). Today I crossed over into Paraguay on a little boat and caught a taxi-ish vehicle which consisted of a very old van with all the seats taken out. When we drove past the customs office, the customs guys came over to the window, but it turns out they just wanted
The Bust Museum
This Museum, run by a local doctor, has not once been open in the 5 days that I've been here, but I'm fascinated by the idea of it. to see me up close and make machista comments to my driver about me, not stamp my passport. (When I worried that I needed a visa to get into Paraguay, an Argentinian friend laughed and told me that Paraguayan officials were "The most corrupt in the world" and that anything could be arranged for pesos or Guarani, both the native language and currency of Paraguay.) I was a little freaked out when my driver kept asking me what my name was and looking at me instead of the road, but eventually, I made it to "The city of the East" where all the Argentinians go to buy cheap electronics and bootleg DVDs and Cd's. My driver Adonado was quite dissappointed that I didn't want him to come with me to do my shopping and wait to take me back, but eventually I convinced him that I would be fine on my own.
It was like being on a different continent...the streets were packed with stalls several deep with people selling all kind of electronic goods whose lights were flashing. The the electronic devices were producing a cacophony of high pitched sounds mixed with the vroom of motorcycles, the music of the Cd's being tested and people shouting to each other in Guarani. I've never seen anything like it in Latin America. After buying some Cd's, I decided to come back to Iguazu via Brazil, and hopped on a moto taxi to have the ride of my life. My dad's voice, warning me never to ride a motorcycle without long pants (preferably leather or denim) and hard soled shoes, echoed in my head, but my summer attire was the least of my worries. We weaved between cars, brushed other motorcycles, grazed pedestrian's bags, and generally raced our way into Brazil, past customs and to the deserted bus stop as I frantically hoped I could find a bus back to Argentina. It all worked out, of course, and I made it back just fine, marveling that I had crossed two borders with countries that require US citizens to have visas, and no one wanted to see mine, even though I had to pay $100 and take a day off of work to get the Brazilian one.
Anyhow, tomorrow I plan on hitting the famous falls, and then the next day I'll probably head into Brazil. My first city was going to be Sao Paulo, but there have been a lot of violent Molotov-cocktail attacks this week against banks, buses, hotels and generally places I could find myself, so I've ruled that out. Still trying to figure out my exact itinerary, but don't worry Mom and Dad, I'll be safe. I'm a little nervous about traveling somewhere where I don't speak the language and only understand the basic idea, which may have something to do with my reluctance to leave Iguazu, but I really do like it here and have made very cool friends at the hostel.
Hasta Brazil,
A warm, happy and relaxed Cora
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Johanne
non-member comment
Sounds like this vacation is not boring..... hope you make it to the falls soon! Love, JD