Neverland aka Iguazu! and Lady Gaga night

I guess it's about time that I've updated after having gone to Iguazu, and finally being over the various illnesses that Argentina has brought my way.  I'm happy to say that I no longer have the giardia I got in Patagonia and whatever awful sinus/cold/sore throat I've had for the last week. 

We had last Thursday and Friday off of school, so a number of my friends and I went to Iguazu with a group of students and PALs (Argentine students assigned to us to be our guiding light during our stay in Buenos Aires), and students from other universities as well.  We travelled with an agency called Bais, which was absolutely fantastic.  I couldn't imagine the staff (Gabby and Diego) having been more friendly and inclusive.  We left Wednesday night at about 8pm and set out on an 18 HOUR bus ride to Iguazu falls.  Luckily the busses here are incredibly comfortable and we got some cama seats that recline almost fully to turn into a bed.  We partied on our way there and slept soundly until arriving at the Jesuit ruins at 10am.  We took a tour of the ruins which were incredible and beautiful, but of course with a sad history.  Back in the 1500s and 1600s the site was a place where Jesuits brought the native Guarani indians to convert to the Catholic religion.  I imagined the site as sort of a concentration camp; there was a big courtyard where the natives were lined up and accounted for each day.  I am constantly reminded of the sad history of how each South American country was conquered by the Spanish and other European groups or has had a period of military dictatorship, whether it be in my film class or through these excursions, and how that plays into the local culture. 

The next day we went to the Argentine side of the cataratas (waterfalls), which was equally as beautiful, but in a much different way, from Patagonia.  We were asked for signatures for the Iguazu falls to be included in the 7 Wonders of the World- that's how glorious it is!  If you have seen Hook, just imagine that Neverland as real life!  The trees were all a beautiful, vibrant green and covered in vines.  I couldn't imagine anything looking more like paradise.  We also saw a lot of different animals- butterflies with beautiful patterns and colors flew all around us and even landed on us.  Lizards and coatis (kind of like Argentina raccoons) greeted us at the ends of the bridges when we stopped for drinks. We walked on miles of bridges over the beautiful water and roaring waterfalls to "La Garganta del Diablo", the throat of the devil.  The falls soaked us, which was a nice relief in the scorching weather.  We must have seen about a dozen rainbows as well, luckily I got lots of pictures!  Unfortunately we weren't able to do the boat tour that goes under the falls because about 2 weeks ago two people were killed and another 3 are still missing.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the boat capsized under the falling water and the people were drowned.  The walkways definitely sufficed for our tour though.

The next day the group split up- mostly Americans in one and Europeans and Latin Americans in another, because none of the Americans (including myself) wanted to pay for a Brazilian visa to go the that side of the cataratas.  Instead, we went to a zoo for endangered animals which included a lot of birds, monkeys, and a few jungle cats!  Many of the animals were rescued and recovering from some sort of injury, but this zoo was absolutely beautiful and it was apparent that they were in excellent care.  My favorite part was the cappuchin monkeys- there was one baby that was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen.  The birds of prey were magnificent.  I've never seen such a large, regal bird up close they really are beautiful.  After we went to "tres fronteras" where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet.  That was a fun spot for some pictures and souvenir shopping- its pretty cool to be able to see three countries at once!  All of us were pretty wiped out the next day, so we lounged around the pool until it was time for us to go.  We celebrated my friend's 21st on the bus back, and arrived in Buenos Aires at about 10 the next morning. 

Last night we finally made it out to the gay club, and had an incredible time!  The night was Lady Gaga-themed, and could not have had better music or a more fun atmosphere.  It was great to see so many people be able to be themselves without a care in the world- much like my experience at the Gay Pride Parade last summer.  It was even better for me because it was the first time I didn't have to worry about men grabbing me and wanting to dance with me, so much more enjoyable than our average club night.  There was a short drag show to Lady Gaga's new song "Born this Way" that was soo much fun.  The drag queen was fabulous and such a great dancer!  We ended the night (at 5:30 am) with a choripan- there's nothing better than a choripan after a long night of dancing!  Even better I shared it with a really cute stray dog.  He was strangely picky and didn't want to eat the bread, just the meat...spoiled little guy!