Fiesta, fútbol y cataratas

Friday, Mike and I walked around and saw more sights, including the historic Plaza de Mayo. The city itself is just beautiful, and there´s so much to see that no matter how much you walk around and explore you still feel like you´ll never see it all. Friday night we went to Palermo to celebrate Fernando´s birthday with Stafford and other new friends. It was a warm and wonderful evening where we met new people from all over the world, had great food and beverage, and enjoyed ourselves completely!

Saturday was fútbol day. As you may know, Argentinians are pretty serious about their fútbol (or soccer, for us crazy Americans). So we figured Buenos Aires would be the perfect place to watch some great fútbol, as well as some dedicated fans. We bought tickets to a Boca Juniors game as part of a group, since it´s apparently incredibly hard to get tickets to games. The tickets are not very expensive, but you can´t just get them from the stadium. They´re all sold first to agents or sellers, and you have to know who they are in order to get your ticket. So we found one through our hostel who leads group tours to go to games.

The stadium is huge and seemed completely full. We sat with a bunch of international folks in the cheap seats, which also tend to be where the most dedicated fans sit. It´s called the ``singing section,´´ and for good reason. Where American fans may ``cheer,´´ Argentinian fans literally sing! It´s like being a part of giant, giant choir singing to the fútbol players. We stood for the entire game (as any devoted fan should), jumped up and down, and tried to sing along. People worked together to wave massive flags and banners, and there was no shortage of confetti and fireworks. I feel pretty confident in saying that this was the most excited and dedicated crowd that I´ve ever seen at any sporting event anywhere. It was exhilarating to be a part of.

The next day, we took an overnight bus ride up to Puerto Iguazú. We spent the first day exploring the little town and relaxing a bit in the hostel. Then today, we went to Parque Nacional de Iguazú, home of the famed cataratas (waterfalls). I can´t even begin to explain the beauty of the natural surroundings we found ourselves in. The jungle is full of all sorts of unique plant life - you know those plants that are potted and sold as fancy ``exotic´´ plants? This is where they actually live and grow wild.

In the morning, we took a boat ride through the river that drove us right up to one of the falls, and then into one! We were soaked! It was a wonderful perspective to see the waterfalls from that close.

And the animals! We saw hundreds of colorful butterflies of various sizes, some of which were close enough to touch! Countless species of birds flew over our heads, and dozens of little lizards skittered alongside us. There were these cute animals called coaties, who look like a mix between a squirrel, anteater, and raccoon. They didn´t seem to be afraid of peole, and I found them adorable! Until we sat down to lunch and one of them climbed up on the table and stole my empanada! On our way out of the park, we saw five or six monkeys climbing around and jumping from tree to tree - they came down kind of close to us and even stared at us for a little while!

It´s absolutely beautiful here and we´ll be going back to the park again tomorrow to explore even more! Mike´s uploading pictures now, so check them out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mkligerman/Argentina1#