Thursday, January 8, 2009
I am a M-O-R-O-N!!!
One of the most stupid things I've done occurred today. Most people know that we have been in Orlando on vacation and visiting with Mickey. Tomorrow we leave for a little 3 night cruise and I was paying some bills today before we leave and getting a couple things ready when I realized.....WE DON'T HAVE OUR PASSPORTS! Aaaahhhhhhhh. Crap, Crap, double crap. So after some tears I tried to figure out what to do. Option one-forget the whole thing and hang out with Mickey more and lose the $400 we spent. Option two-drive all night to GA to get the passports and sleep a couple hours and drive back to FL. Option three-have my dear sweet mother find a way to break into my house and then Fed Ex/UPS the darn things to me. I finally decided I had to try option 3 although I really didn't want to make my mom do it. After 3 hours of intense freaking out the passport are safely on their way to me thanks to my Awesome mom. I owe her big time. Unfortunately, this is not something too out of the ordinary for me, so thus, I am a MORON.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Back Home
So yes we are back home now. I am really sad but kindof happy to be home. Once I came back to it I realized how much I missed my own bed and having my own car. I missed my gadgets I had to leave home since Argentina is a bit dangerous. On the way home one night our driver kept running red lights if he had to stop long. I just figured he was in a bit of a hurry but when we were back at our apartment Chad told me he said that he ran the lights because if you stop very long at the lights down in the provinces then you will get robbed/carjacked. Now I am VERY glad he was running the red lights. We had to jump right back into work. It is not extremely fun. No time for unpacking/laundry/cleaning house. It's like we never left almost. Okay I am going to stop going on and on and on.
Day 12
Last Day. Too sad for words.
Chad asked if I could do anything, what would I want to do, so I said I would enjoy just walking around the city again. I loved doing this. I kept saying it was like I was in a museum but it was an architecture museum. Wanted to see somemore famous sights. We ate at our favorite place for breakfast. Then we went somewhere (i forgot) before heading to Recoleta to the Hyatt where we were meeting one of Chad's friends to drop off the last of the presents we brought and a CD he made for the son. That Hyatt was incredible. It was in an old palace and I felt like dirt going in there. I felt like serious white trash. People were watching us like hawks. There was a Salvatore Fergammo? store in there. I wanted to go but we ended up meeting Chad's friends outside at the side of the building. The Hyatt was near some of the embassys and the Libertador plaza. All so beautiful. Oh yeah I decided I am joinging whatever awards program gives you points for Hyatt because I am going to stay in that palace one day.
We got lunch next. Chad was dying for a Chicken Milanesa Sandwich so we found a little cafe that looked popular and they made some for us. Pretty good I must say. We ate it in the Libertador plaza.
Chad asked if I could do anything, what would I want to do, so I said I would enjoy just walking around the city again. I loved doing this. I kept saying it was like I was in a museum but it was an architecture museum. Wanted to see somemore famous sights. We ate at our favorite place for breakfast. Then we went somewhere (i forgot) before heading to Recoleta to the Hyatt where we were meeting one of Chad's friends to drop off the last of the presents we brought and a CD he made for the son. That Hyatt was incredible. It was in an old palace and I felt like dirt going in there. I felt like serious white trash. People were watching us like hawks. There was a Salvatore Fergammo? store in there. I wanted to go but we ended up meeting Chad's friends outside at the side of the building. The Hyatt was near some of the embassys and the Libertador plaza. All so beautiful. Oh yeah I decided I am joinging whatever awards program gives you points for Hyatt because I am going to stay in that palace one day.
We got lunch next. Chad was dying for a Chicken Milanesa Sandwich so we found a little cafe that looked popular and they made some for us. Pretty good I must say. We ate it in the Libertador plaza.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Day 11
Only 1 more day here. I don't think I am ready to go!
Another run all over town and come home exhausted day. We started the day with a visit to Puerto Madero. This is a major hotel/shopping/parks/historical port area. I thought maybe we´d see a cruise ship in port but we were on a small waterway so I didn´t see any. The Rio de la Plata is like the Mississippi in that it carries so much silt that it is forever changing/extending the coast line further out. So some of the Hotels and port buildings used to be right on the water 50-100 years ago, but are now up to a mile away or so. We met up with a young couple named Paola and Danny who had a little boy about 2. Chad knew Paola when he used to live here and then she served a mission and got married. They were a cute couple. We walked around that area for awhile and took in the sites and then caught a taxi to Plaza Italia where Chad had to meet up with someone to drop off some contacts.
We were going to go back to Recoleta to go to McDonald´s because that is what the other couple wanted but while we were sitting in the park we saw a McDonald´s down the street. I told them we could go there as long as it had air conditioning. It did so we ate. Nothing too special about it. It was a regular McDonald's experience. Woowee. We parted ways and then me and Chad headed back to the apartment to get gifts and regroup so we could head down to southern BA.
The first person we visited was named Fabiana. She is married and has one kid. We only saw the husband briefly. Chad baptised her but she went inactive shortly after that. Chad probably enjoyed talking to her but I was sleeply and missed most of it. Then she drove us down to Manolo's house. They were a cute family. When Chad was here before they had some cute little girls but now they are all teenagers. Kindof crazy. They also have a little toddler. She was adorable. I would've taken her home if I coulda. We were supposed to have an afternoon snack with them but they misunderstood or something and thought we were eating dinner with us and had planned a big BBQ. Unfortunatly we had other dinner plans and couldn't stay. We were already running behind. Luckily they had a car too and then drove us to the Mendoza's house for dinner. We had....empanadas!
Another run all over town and come home exhausted day. We started the day with a visit to Puerto Madero. This is a major hotel/shopping/parks/historical port area. I thought maybe we´d see a cruise ship in port but we were on a small waterway so I didn´t see any. The Rio de la Plata is like the Mississippi in that it carries so much silt that it is forever changing/extending the coast line further out. So some of the Hotels and port buildings used to be right on the water 50-100 years ago, but are now up to a mile away or so. We met up with a young couple named Paola and Danny who had a little boy about 2. Chad knew Paola when he used to live here and then she served a mission and got married. They were a cute couple. We walked around that area for awhile and took in the sites and then caught a taxi to Plaza Italia where Chad had to meet up with someone to drop off some contacts.
We were going to go back to Recoleta to go to McDonald´s because that is what the other couple wanted but while we were sitting in the park we saw a McDonald´s down the street. I told them we could go there as long as it had air conditioning. It did so we ate. Nothing too special about it. It was a regular McDonald's experience. Woowee. We parted ways and then me and Chad headed back to the apartment to get gifts and regroup so we could head down to southern BA.
The first person we visited was named Fabiana. She is married and has one kid. We only saw the husband briefly. Chad baptised her but she went inactive shortly after that. Chad probably enjoyed talking to her but I was sleeply and missed most of it. Then she drove us down to Manolo's house. They were a cute family. When Chad was here before they had some cute little girls but now they are all teenagers. Kindof crazy. They also have a little toddler. She was adorable. I would've taken her home if I coulda. We were supposed to have an afternoon snack with them but they misunderstood or something and thought we were eating dinner with us and had planned a big BBQ. Unfortunatly we had other dinner plans and couldn't stay. We were already running behind. Luckily they had a car too and then drove us to the Mendoza's house for dinner. We had....empanadas!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Day 10
Sabbath
We went to church-The End.
Just kidding I can´t make a post that short. We went to 2 churches this week instead of 3. Was much less hectic in that sense. We got a late start though and had to take a taxi to the first building instead of the train. Much more costly. The first ward we went to was Banfield 4. It was so cute, they were having their primary program. The kids were really cute and they sang the same songs as we did for our program, just in spanish. Next we went to the Pasco area. Scary neighborHOOD. Close to lots of ghetto areas. Of course super nice people. Our lunch plans we had made yesterday fell through so someone there ended up feeding us.
Next, we had a little bit of time before we were supposed to meet our next appointment so we went to San Telmo for their famous Ferria de Matadero. Much different than those we had already been to. It was in an area with lots of antique stores so you could go antiquing if you wanted. Then it was very tourist based and so very expensive (most Argentines prefer other ferrias). Then there were freaks galore. Lots of street preformers. It seemed at times some people were just doing anything they thought would be abnormal so the stupid Americans would laugh and give them a paso.
Okay more to come but soo sleepy. Plus I am way behind on pics. Not sure when I´ll get to catch up. Tomorrow is BUSY again
We went to church-The End.
Just kidding I can´t make a post that short. We went to 2 churches this week instead of 3. Was much less hectic in that sense. We got a late start though and had to take a taxi to the first building instead of the train. Much more costly. The first ward we went to was Banfield 4. It was so cute, they were having their primary program. The kids were really cute and they sang the same songs as we did for our program, just in spanish. Next we went to the Pasco area. Scary neighborHOOD. Close to lots of ghetto areas. Of course super nice people. Our lunch plans we had made yesterday fell through so someone there ended up feeding us.
Next, we had a little bit of time before we were supposed to meet our next appointment so we went to San Telmo for their famous Ferria de Matadero. Much different than those we had already been to. It was in an area with lots of antique stores so you could go antiquing if you wanted. Then it was very tourist based and so very expensive (most Argentines prefer other ferrias). Then there were freaks galore. Lots of street preformers. It seemed at times some people were just doing anything they thought would be abnormal so the stupid Americans would laugh and give them a paso.
Okay more to come but soo sleepy. Plus I am way behind on pics. Not sure when I´ll get to catch up. Tomorrow is BUSY again
Day 9
Today we arrived back from Iguazu at around 9:00 am and went to the apartment to clean up and unpack a bit. Then Chad was so enjoying not being on a bus that we stayed in the apartment for awhile. Then we decided to go see another ferria in Palermo. It ended up being quite small but I got Harry Potter in Spanish to read. We were supposed to be having dinner with a friend of Chad´s but they cancelled so we were trying to decide what to do. We originally intended to go to a town called Tigre on the Rio de la Plata delta but were going to have to get back for the dinner, but no dinner plans and not much else to do we caught a train and headed north.
Tigre is so cute and was so fun. First we went to an amusement park. I thought it was going to be really cheesy because it was a small town but it was so fun. Cheap too. Like 12 bucks per person. They had roller coasters and are apparently the only place in Argentina to have them. There were only 2, but we rode them and the Ferris Wheel. Because we went up so late in the day we knew we would be pressed for time so we headed out to town to find a boat to ride along the Rio de la Plata. It was very touristy but was fun and so interesting to see the little cottages along the river. We rode in the boat for an hour and then we went to the other side of town where the other train was because we were going to ride the other train back. We were very hungry by then so we searched for food. There was a really cute McDonalds with bistro tables outside along a park the followed the water but further on we saw a nicer restaurant and wen there. Once there we were originally greeted by 2 waitresses who told us to sit wherever. Once seated we could not get service. When we finally did, they were quite surly waitresses who after being seated for about 15-20 minutes, still had not brought us our drinks. Needless to say that wasn´t working so we left and just hopped on the train. It was about 10pm when we finally got back to our apartment. We had been wanting to try a restaurant that was right across the street and so we finally went in to try it. (It was good timing since people here eat dinner at about 10pm) The dinner was incredible. I couldn´t get over how good everthing was. Yummy! It just topped off another really fun day.
Tigre is so cute and was so fun. First we went to an amusement park. I thought it was going to be really cheesy because it was a small town but it was so fun. Cheap too. Like 12 bucks per person. They had roller coasters and are apparently the only place in Argentina to have them. There were only 2, but we rode them and the Ferris Wheel. Because we went up so late in the day we knew we would be pressed for time so we headed out to town to find a boat to ride along the Rio de la Plata. It was very touristy but was fun and so interesting to see the little cottages along the river. We rode in the boat for an hour and then we went to the other side of town where the other train was because we were going to ride the other train back. We were very hungry by then so we searched for food. There was a really cute McDonalds with bistro tables outside along a park the followed the water but further on we saw a nicer restaurant and wen there. Once there we were originally greeted by 2 waitresses who told us to sit wherever. Once seated we could not get service. When we finally did, they were quite surly waitresses who after being seated for about 15-20 minutes, still had not brought us our drinks. Needless to say that wasn´t working so we left and just hopped on the train. It was about 10pm when we finally got back to our apartment. We had been wanting to try a restaurant that was right across the street and so we finally went in to try it. (It was good timing since people here eat dinner at about 10pm) The dinner was incredible. I couldn´t get over how good everthing was. Yummy! It just topped off another really fun day.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Day 8
Another amazing day that I will remember forever. We got up early today because our bus left at 4:00 and we had to be out of the hotel by 2:00 and we still had lots of stuff we wanted to do at the falls. We started the day by walking down to the Macuco Trail that is separated from most of the other trails and is said to have lots of wildlife. Do Not Go Here! The ONLY wildlife we saw were mosquitoes and lots of them. They have freaking killer mosquitoes here that leave open wounds. My legs are chewed up from yesterday and today. We walked about a mile or so in and couldn´t even hear any falls in the distance so he decided to turn and haul our buts back to civilization. We saw nothing but mosquitoes and one huge rodent. No people. No birds. No monkeys. Nada.
Next we had planned to go on the Gran Adventura tour. A little wierd because Chad and I hate organized tours where you are hearded around but this one looked too cool. We had to wait about 45 minutes for one to start but we just chilled and enjoyed and I got oreos in the snack shop. We then boarded some 4x4 trucks that hold about 30 people. We drove along some trails in the rain forest but they said that since the trucks go by every 15-30 minutes that all the animals stay hidden. We saw some butterflys and racoons. Then we got to the end of the train and walked down 200 meters of stairs to a dock. Once there we put on life jackets and packed out stuff in waterproof bags and headed up Iguazu River (full of Paranas by the way) to go see the falls and be ¨baptised¨ as the broucher said. The boat was supposed to dip under one of the falls but the water has been too high and rough to do that but were were close enough in the speedboat to get completely drenched. I felt like it was raining. At some points the spray was so much that you couldn´t even see the falls because the water was going straight into your eyes. We went up to the falls on the Argentina side and they took us up the river to the Brazil side too. Again pictures wont do it justice, especially because we had to put the cameras up because the would have been ruined.
Afterwards we rode the trucks back to the front of the park and then to the point they picked us up at. We sat down at a restaurant there for lunch. It was already 12:30 and we had to check out by 2:00 but Chad really wanted to sit and eat. The we scurried back to the hotel and jumped in the pool to cool off on the way up to our room. Then we had about an hour to chill in the hotel until it was time to get a taxi to the bus station. It was sad to leave but I felt like we did everthing the park had to offer so it was great.
As a side note I read that the Parana/Iguazu forest is only 6% of what it once was. I was glad that both Brazil and Argentina had made what was left into National Parks. They were different from the parks in the US where in Yellowstone or places like that it is rare to see a store or restaurant or hotel inside the actual park. There were stores at all the major destinations, which was nice, but I wondered what was lost to put them there and if all that stuff kept more of the wildlife away. Just a tiny little enviromentalist in me raising a tiny little objection in my mind. I quickly squashed her in favor of having warm empanadas fresh off the trail.
Next we had planned to go on the Gran Adventura tour. A little wierd because Chad and I hate organized tours where you are hearded around but this one looked too cool. We had to wait about 45 minutes for one to start but we just chilled and enjoyed and I got oreos in the snack shop. We then boarded some 4x4 trucks that hold about 30 people. We drove along some trails in the rain forest but they said that since the trucks go by every 15-30 minutes that all the animals stay hidden. We saw some butterflys and racoons. Then we got to the end of the train and walked down 200 meters of stairs to a dock. Once there we put on life jackets and packed out stuff in waterproof bags and headed up Iguazu River (full of Paranas by the way) to go see the falls and be ¨baptised¨ as the broucher said. The boat was supposed to dip under one of the falls but the water has been too high and rough to do that but were were close enough in the speedboat to get completely drenched. I felt like it was raining. At some points the spray was so much that you couldn´t even see the falls because the water was going straight into your eyes. We went up to the falls on the Argentina side and they took us up the river to the Brazil side too. Again pictures wont do it justice, especially because we had to put the cameras up because the would have been ruined.
Afterwards we rode the trucks back to the front of the park and then to the point they picked us up at. We sat down at a restaurant there for lunch. It was already 12:30 and we had to check out by 2:00 but Chad really wanted to sit and eat. The we scurried back to the hotel and jumped in the pool to cool off on the way up to our room. Then we had about an hour to chill in the hotel until it was time to get a taxi to the bus station. It was sad to leave but I felt like we did everthing the park had to offer so it was great.
As a side note I read that the Parana/Iguazu forest is only 6% of what it once was. I was glad that both Brazil and Argentina had made what was left into National Parks. They were different from the parks in the US where in Yellowstone or places like that it is rare to see a store or restaurant or hotel inside the actual park. There were stores at all the major destinations, which was nice, but I wondered what was lost to put them there and if all that stuff kept more of the wildlife away. Just a tiny little enviromentalist in me raising a tiny little objection in my mind. I quickly squashed her in favor of having warm empanadas fresh off the trail.
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