day 13 - iguazu falls

kavitha and i spent the day today at the brazillian side of iguazu falls. while the trails were not as extensive as the argentinean side, they did a much better job in terms of organization (i.e. there were buses to transport people around) and presenting information (i.e. there was an explanatory exhibit at the beginning providing information on fables, rock formations and volcanic action). the highlight for me was seeing all the rainbows that formed over the falls after a crazy rainstorm. we also ran into some friendly people from salt lake city. (mormons? not too sure.) kavitha's highlight also included the rainbows and the use of our raincoats.

i should add that our raincoats held up really well in the rain today! hurray for patagonia and nike! (Y) (that is a thumbs up emoticon)

getting to the brazillian falls took awhile, as we went a bit too far. from our hostel, we are supposed to take a bus to the argentinean bus station (1 peso). then transfer to a bus that crosses the border between argentina and brazil (2 pesos). then transfer to another bus to the falls (2,10 reals). kavitha and i are now bus experts.

on the way back, it was a bit of a nightmare, mainly because we were given erroneous directions 3 times. for example, we stopped inside a hotel for directions, and they told us to get the bus across the street from "hotel mabu". when we got off the bus, there was no hotel mabu, but rather a chuck-e-cheese's type establishment called HOOBA. mabu, hooba? hum.

dinner tonight turned out to be a vegetable scramble, rather than an omelette. vegetables in argentina are terrible! tomatoes are anemic, bruised, and artificially ripened. green peppers are squishy. i suspect that people are not too into the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable requirement.

also today, kavitha and i caved in for the hostel laundry service. $6. which seemed a bit steep, but we have all been left with one outfit. i am wearing my nice clothing out of necessity, while kavitha is wearing capri pants and an athletic jacket. i believe i will also have to sleep in this attire, as our laundry is not ready until tomorrow before noon.

another element to consider in washing my clothes has been the fact that my right leg has all these strange red blotches on them. they do not appear to be mosquito bites and we have had trouble deciphering what they actually are! grody! one of them, oddly enough, is shaped like a heart! bahahahahaha. (that is for you, andy.)

in terms of mosquitoes, there have been virtually none here. what gives with this malaria business? (knock on wood) i suspect because it is winter here right now they have been a bit dormant. WOOT for us! (i don't think any of us particularly want to take the potentially hallucinogenic malaria medication)

updated questions:

1) what is cheryl's middle name? (we believe her first name should be heather)
2) how was cheryl's 10K?
3) who created playing cards?
4) why are native people not required to enter passport control between argentina and brazil? are native people frowned upon in south america?
5) what are the red blotches on my leg?
6) why is it mostly white people in argentina travelling? (kavitha and i are the only minorities at the hostel.)