From Tango to Toucans: La Boca & Iguazú Falls

Hello all!
I know you've been dying to know what's been going on down in Argentina for the past 2 weeks, so here it is...
Last Friday I explored more of La Boca, which is a southern neighborhood of Buenos Aires that is well-known for Tango and it's club soccer team Boca Juniors.  Most of the early settlers in La Boca (translation: "the mouth," like in a river) were immigrants from the Italian city of Genoa, and when they arrived in the area they used leftover ship paint for their houses which resulted in the colorful buildings which made the area famous.  The most colorful street in the area is called "El Caminito," or "the little walk."  El Caminito is a really touristy area, but outside of this the neighborhood is more rundown and thought of as dirty and sketchy compared to the rest of the city.
As soon as I stepped off the but I could hear the melancholy tune of the accordion from the traditional tango music, and there were tango dancers in full costume meandering around the cobblestone streets.  There were also a fair share of craft tents, so we browsed around before walking down El Caminito! It was (surprisingly) the first real Tango performers I had seen, so it was fun to watch them live and sometimes with a live band, as well.  It definitely has an old-world feel, and the blinding colors of the buildings are a sharp contrast to the run-down neighborhoods surrounding the area.  Overall, it was definitely a cultural experience that brought to life the history of the city and its Tango roots.

The following week, we had Wednesday off from classes for the Argentine Independence Day (May 25th).  In the city, there are usually many celebrations (and free hot chocolate & churros by the government buildings!).  One of my friends and I decided to take the opportunity to travel to Iguazú Falls for the rest of the week, since it definitely was a must-see on my Argentine bucket list!
Once again I found myself at the Retiro bus station (3rd time), so it was a little more relaxed than the previous visits since I knew how the system worked.  This was extremely fortunate since the bus company listed in the "Arrival" section of the screen you use to find your bus was different than the main one listed on our ticket! Luckily, we decided to check anyway and made it on safely :)  The bus ride was supposed to be 18-20 hours long, so we settled in for some movies and catered dinner before falling asleep for the overnight ride.  We arrived in Iguazú at 6pm the next day, so we decided to get some dinner after checking into our hostel (complete with a $4 Daiquiri!) before resting up for our early morning.
Iguazú falls are located right at the triple border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay;  it is commonly said that Argentina has the falls, Brazil has the view, and Paraguay got jipped!  The spectacle of Iguazú  includes 275 separate waterfalls over a stretch of 1.7 miles-- incredibly impressive and definitely hard to imagine without experiencing it in person. Apparently when Eleanor Roosevelt first saw Iguazú, she exclaimed "Poor Niagara!"  Iguazú Falls is also one of the 28 finalists in the new vote for the New 7 Wonders of Nature (currently receiving votes!! I voted to help the cause)as a part of the New & Wonders of the World, one of which being the Christ Redeemer in Rio which I just visited!!
On Friday, we decided to explore the entire Argentine side of the waterfalls (where 2/3 of the falls are located).  We first took a train to see one of the most famous waterfalls, La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat).  The Devil's Throat is U-shaped and 82 meters high by 700 meters long. It also represents the border between Argentina and Brazil as this runs straight through the falls; half of the river's water goes through this route.  The rest of the falls are divided into an Upper Circuit and a Lower Circuit.  There are walkways constructed around both areas of the falls, so Liz and I got to view them both from the top overlooking the scenery, as well as at the bottom right up close!! We also took a boat ride on the Iguazú River and got to see (and get drenched by) the waterfalls.  We also learned that The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guarani or Tupi indian words y [ɨ], meaning "water", and ûasú [waˈsu], meaning "big". Legend has it that a God planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe on the day of her sacrifice. In rage the God caused the river to split, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall; Naipí became a rock so that she would feel the force of the water falling forever and Tarobá was turned into a palm tree so he could look over her and lament over his lost love.
After exploring the falls from all angles, Liz and I took a nature trail that was quieter than the normal tourist-filled circulation of the park.  At the end of the trail, there was also a small waterfall which is the only one in the park gentle enough to bathe in.  Sendero Macuco proved to be one of the best moments of the trip! Since it was less popular, the animals weren't scared away so we ended up seeing a lot of birds, butterflies, insects, and... MONKEYS!!  They jumped all over the trees and we even saw one up close when he came down to get some fruit from a bush close to the trail :) Another animal we saw in the park was the Coati, which unlike the monkeys, have no fear of tourists anymore and love to hang around near the restaurants and scrounge for food dropped (or stolen from!) tourists.  We watched helplessly while a Coati (which looks like a mix between a raccoon and an opossum) stole a man's sandwich and returned later for the plastic bag!  After a long day of walking and exploring the park, we went back to the hostel to rest up for visiting the Brazil side the next day.
Since Liz and I had already gotten our Brazilian visas for our trip to Rio, we were able to cross over into the Brazilian National Park.  We took a bus down to visit the first panoramic view, which was completely breathtaking and unexpectedly gigantic.  It definitely helped us get a true sense of the scale of the falls, since we had only seen everything up close.  We continued to move towards the beginning of the waterfalls, each view more impressive than the next.  Since it was a beautiful day and mist everywhere from the water, there we spotted many rainbows crossing over the river between the two countries.  Absolutely beautiful!!!  We did some more up-close exploring (getting soaked from just the mist alone) and then decided to visit a Bird Park nearby to see more rare flora and fauna.  Between the two parks, the Argentine side was more raw nature up close, and Brazil was better kept and touristy with a great view.  Liz and I both agreed afterwards that in order to get the full experience you have to visit both!
The park started out with showing off some impressive species like ostriches, macaws, flamingos and peacocks (although all behind cages), but soon we found open-air cages where we could walk in and see the birds up close!!  I finally realized my dream of seeing Toucans, and even petted one!  There were some of the most beautiful colorful birds I have ever seen in my life.  There was a parrot house as well, and they would soar right over the heads of the people inside, even getting close enough to make us duck out of the way!  Definitely got an adrenaline rush from that :) Other species we saw were the Harpie Eagle, emus, rare golden parrots, humming birds, alligators, snakes, and butterflies!  I've never seen anything else like the rainforest animals here.  It completely perfected the whole trip and was something great to end on.
We literally had to sprint back to the bus station in order to make the last bus back to our hostel so that we could have time to get our luggage before heading on another bus home... literally had only half an hour to spare! We were exhausted by the time we made it on the bus home, and fell asleep as soon as we finished dinner.
Overall, it was an unforgettable trip and something you have to see to believe! Absolutely incredible.
Now that I'm back in the city, it's time to start planning for my sister's visit next week!! I can't wait to share the city of Buenos Aires with her :)
Until then, hasta luego!
Saludos,
Taylor

Beginning of El Caminito

Colorful buildings and crafts for sale

Enjoying a Tango show during lunch

Garganta del Diablo

Crazy Coati!

Panorama from Argentine side

I Survived the boat trip!

ADORABLE monkeys

Beautiful butterflies

¡Loca por Boca!... and other Argentine-isms

¡Hola, todos!
It's been a wonderful week back in the bustling city of Buenos Aires.  It's getting a little bit colder here (solid 60 degrees) and people are already wearing long winter coats!! Crazy, and definitely a change from the beaches of Brazil.  Yesterday was the club soccer match-up of the season, Boca Juniors (CABJ) and River Plate! A few friends and I went to watch the game at a bar called "Locos por el fútbol," which had TVs all over the place so we could watch the game.  The "Superclásico," as it is known in the world of soccer (Boca vs. River), is one of the most heated rivalries in all of Argentina and even in the world since the two teams are very successful and have produced many famous professional players. Also, since the neighborhood of La Boca (where the team is located) is known as a lower-class area having mostly mid- to lower-class fans and the River team represents the upper class, so the rivalry means even more to fanatics.  Boca scored 2 goals in the first half, and the crowd in the bar went wild! The final ended up being 2-0, but it was definitely a fun game to watch!!

Since I'm a little past the 2 1/2 month mark, I decided that I've experienced enough of the city to publish my list of "Argentine-isms," or funny/interesting things I've noticed that are different here from the United States.  Some are more obvious and others surprising, but I organized everything by category (and there are pictures too!) so enjoy :)


General
Buenos Aires is the 2nd largest city in South America (after São Paulo) and the 10th largest in the world with a pop. of nearly 3 million people.  It is fondly known as the "Paris of South America" and seems very cosmopolitan when compared to the rest of the continent.  The skyline shows a mishmash of European Architecture, with influences from Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris as well as more modern designs.  The national language is Spanish, but it is not surprising to hear English, French, or Italian when walking the streets.  Argentine Spanish uses an informal "you" form that is different from other regions, and is called "voseo."  It's not hard to get the hang of, and it definitely keeps you from being immediately labeled as a foreigner.  Another characteristic specific to proteño Spanish is the use of Lunfardo, a slang which started in the lower classes and became more widespread through Tango lyrics.  Argentine Spanish also sounds very Italian-influenced, so there is a certain "music" in their speech and in their hand movements when they talk. They also pronounce the "y" sound in spanish also represented by the "ll" as "shh" so ¿Cómo te llamas?" becomes "shamas." Very interesting to listen to!

European Architecture - Calle Flórida

Modern skyline - Puerto Madero

European style with city graffiti

When you do have a conversation with a porteño, the three most important topics of conversation are politics, the economy, and soccer. Argentines in general always have a lot to say on the issue of politics (not surprising, given their unstable political history), and will not be afraid to voice their opinions and will expect you to do the same.  The same goes with the economic status of the country, which has had inflation issues since the 90s.  Lastly, soccer is a way of life in South America.  In Argentina, there are many different club teams-- loyalty is taken very seriously! Best way not to get in a fight at a game is to not sit in the superfan sections, and don't wear either team's colors.  Also, if you do want to cheer for a certain team, it's always a good idea to look up their songs so you can sing them with the crowd throughout the match!  When in doubt, Lionel Messi is a good national hero to plug (cheer for him during Barcelona games!)

In contrast with the metropolitan, bustling city, some things are still purely South American.  For instance, there's this thing I like to call "Argen-time." It's the idea that whatever time you are told to be somewhere, add 10-15 minutes and that should be the time to aim for. Even businesses are very relaxed, and a start time for the day is more or less flexible.  Part of the late timetable is that dinner is normally served around 10pm, and on weekends people go out for drinks around midnight, get to the clubs around 3, and dance till dawn (literally, sometimes later).  It's not an easy routine to maintain, especially with some clubs having weekday specials.  Some porteños live for this lifestyle, however crazy it is, and still find a way to do this and get to work at 9am. Crazy people.
Along with this idea of a nonchalant time system, service almost everywhere is slow! At the Post Office, you have to take a number and plan on waiting for an hour to be served, which is especially annoying since you have to go to the post office to send mail because the mailman doesn't pick up anything from residences. Even at other government offices, usually people don't care if you wait while they drink coffee.  If the work gets done for the day, then great. If not, no big deal.There's also no organized recycling system.  People who need the cash take huge bags of garbage after it is left out for the day, dump it all out on some side street and sift through it all for recyclables so they can get money for them.
Another common, well-known fact is that technology is very un-reliable.  If something stops working, it's usually not given a high priority and is fixed in due time.  Definitely not the mindset of the US, where if a computer system goes down the whole world is in chaos.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

Club Pachá around 4am

People (Porteños) 
Even the people in the city look European.  The breakdown is 89% white (even blondes-the average porteño has brown hair and lovely blue eyes!), 7% Mestizo, 2% Asian, and 1% Black. Unfortunately, there is a rampant and well-known eating disorder issue among porteñas and therefore they are all super skinny and diet-conscious (not sure how this is possible with all of the delicious food!).  Recently, the government had to pass a law which forced stores to regulate their clothing sizes so they were more true to a normal figure.  Shopping can be depressing if you don't keep this in mind!  Another way to spot a porteña is by her loooong hair (like down to the butt) which is often twisted up in a clip all kinds of crazy ways.  My favorite is the beehive look right on the top of the head, with a clip sticking straight up along the side. Adorable.
The men in the city of BA are known for being players. They're gorgeous, but sadly a lot of the time the idea of a real relationship is a bit fluid in their minds when it comes to playing the field.  There's even a word for it: chamuyero.  There's really no such thing as having close guy friends like in the US, so when you have a longer conversation with a guy it apparently signals to them that you're interested.
Since Paris is the City of Love and Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America, BA is the City of Lust.  Couples have no qualms about making out and having very intimate moments in public, so shield your eyes if you don't like PDA.  Also, since most adults don't move out of their parents' house until they're older, there are special "by the hour" hotels called Telos. Make sure you have a legitimate hotel before you book- if they ask you what "theme" you want it's probably a good idea to try somewhere else.
Porteños love their pooches! I've seen more dogs in this city than any other- they have their own parks, they have free reign of the city's sidewalks (no leashes necessary), and a huge market for doggie clothing.  Many people choose to hire a dog walker to exercise their pets while they're at work (some manage up to 15!!), but the downside to this fun job is the doo-doo which unfortunately litters the sidewalks.  Always look where you're stepping!!
The national religion is Catholicism,  so there are a lot of cathedrals in the area.  Whenever we pass by one of them on the bus, some Catholics will cross themselves.  When there's at least 4 on the route to class in the morning, I always recognize where they are! BA also has the largest Jewish population in Latin America, and is home to the only Kosher McDonald's outside of Israel.

Doggie Park!

 Dog walker

Catholic church in the middle of the city

Food
Yummmmmmmmy.  I could go on and on about Argentine delicacies....
Top votes are Argentine steak/parillas (grilled meat), empanadas, medialunas (croissants) & café, dulce de leche,  helado (like gelatto) and all the delicious facturas (pastries).  Just like the bakeries in Paris, the streets of Buenos Aires are lined with confiterias filled with delicious looking things in their windows-- just about every pastry, chocolate, cake, dulce de leche combo you could imagine!  Dulce de Leche is an Argentine specialty, which tastes like caramel but has more milk in it. And it's better. People even eat it out of tubs with spoons!!  My favorite Argentine treat is "café con leche y medialunas," (latte and sweet croissants) which are usually staple combo promos at most cafés.  Absolutely an ideal pre-dinner treat.  Porteños also like to enjoy their café-style coffee during the work day, so they will order coffee to be delivered to their office-- the waiters literally walk with a tray holding ceramic cups of steaming coffee and pastries from their store to the office!! They're always out during the busiest time of the day, too- I'm always worried someone's going to knock them over! Another popular treat to have with coffee is an alfajore: two shortbread cookies sandwiching dulce de leche and covered in chocolate! They're sold everywhere in all different flavors, but that style is the most common.  A lot of the food in Buenos Aires comes from Italy with the many immigrants that settled here, so there is no end to the pizza, pasta, espresso, and gelatto available.  The gelatto ice cream here is especially amazing-- there are shops on almost every other street, and the flavor combinations are ridiculously diverse.  I'll never understand how the porteñas keep their figures!! One way to fight off hunger (and be social) is to drink mate.  It's like a strong green tea that you drink out of a special cup and it suppresses the appetite and contains a tiny bit of caffeine.  Mate is like a second religion here, and there are many rules about how to drink it and share it properly.
Meals (especially coffee) are eaten very slowly here, and it's extremely uncommon to see people eating on the go, or even (gasp!) taking their coffee to go.  It's gotten more common nowadays, but only in Starbucks can you get a cup "to go" bigger than 8oz.  Breakfast is even meant to be a completely sit-down meal, which was weird to me at first, but now I enjoy taking a break before starting the day.  Also, according to my señora, it is very important to have the right silverware and complete table settings no matter what you're eating!  My only real complaint is that it is very rare to find normal, large napkins... most of them are either a quarter of the size or made out of stuff about as absorbent as wax paper.  Very important when you're eating messy things like pizza!

An Alfajore from the famous coffee chain, Havanna

Coffee Delivery!!

The best café con medialunas in town!

Yummy bakery delicacies :)

Transportation
The public transportation in the city is very helpful.  I usually take the colectivos (public buses), but there is also a subte (subway system) and very cheap taxis.  You can only pay with coins for the colectivos, which is incredibly hard since there is a coin shortage in the city and no one wants to give you change.  The US$ equivalent of the average fare is $0.30, which is a pretty good deal! Bus drivers are LOCO though, so you have to hold on for dear life if you aren't lucky enough to get a seat! There are something like 7 deaths a day in the city due to traffic accidents.  Not surprising if you've been on the colectivos or in a taxi.  Also, the lights turn yellow before they turn green OR red, so it took awhile to get used to before I stopped trying to run across before a green light!  To travel outside of the city, there is a pretty extensive "micro" or Greyhound-type bus system that can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go, complete with on-board restrooms, movies, meals, and service.  This is especially important if you decide to take one for more than 10 hours!  In the big micro bus station, it gets absolutely nuts on traveling weekends, and the place is packed.  One travel tip: bring your own toilet paper!! There are often bathroom attendants that pre-rip paper for you and ask for a peso or two in exchange.  Also, toilet paper is not allowed in most public toilets and have to be thrown away instead.  Ridiculous!

My favorite colectivo, the 10

School
Public universities here are FREE! Crazy thought, right? Most kids travel an hour by train to get to class in the morning, since most universities here are in the city and don't really have a surrounding "campus."  In college, people study a career instead of a subject, and they start as freshmen taking classes only related to a specific career like "tourism," "foreign trade" or  or "lawyer." They also don't have sports teams associated with schools (grade school or university-level), but instead they have sports clubs that you can join which incorporate soccer, field hockey, rugby, and other sports.  This is why the soccer club teams are so important and have crazy fans around the country!

Lost in Translation
When living in a country that speaks a foreign language, it's easy to make some mistakes from time to time- some which can be extremely humiliating and humorous.  Here are some of these instances:

1) When trying to teach my friend how to ask for a to-go box for our food, I told him how to say the sentence ("Una caja para llevar, por favor,") and then told him to repeat it.  When the waitress came over to the table, he asked for "una caja para llover," which actually means "A box for rain." Whoops!!
2) One night my señora left dinner out for me with a note to make sure I clean the "servicios" when I was done.  The first thing that came to mind was the phrase used to ask to go to the bathroom, which uses the word servicios.... I was so confused and definitely did not want to clean the toilet!!! After some research online for synonyms, turns out she just wanted me to do the dishes. Thank heavens!
3) While at immigrations to sign up for my student visa, it was a very humid day and I was a little dehydrated.  In the middle of getting my fingerprints taken, I felt dizzy so I sat down and asked for some water.  When the immigrations worker asked me if he should call a doctor, I tried to tell him that I was ok, and that it just happened because I was hot.  So I said, "No, estoy bien, solamente ocurre cuando estoy caliente." Which doesn't actually translate well.  To say I'm hot, you would say "hace calor." What I said, which may seem like a good translation, actually means "this only happens when I'm horny." Naturally, he started chuckling and asked me to repeat myself... I caught my mistake and fixed it the second time around, but I definitely gave him a good laugh that day.

Traveling is always an adventure, and I love exploring more things about the city every day.  I hope you found this entry interesting and feel like you know a little more about Buenos Aires now!
Un abrazo,
Taylor

A Buenos Aires sunrise from my balcony

Pascua Argentina & Cidade Maravilhosa: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Alô amigos, and Happy Mother's Day!
My last post was on Palm Sunday, so I'll do a quick run-through of the weeks in Argentina leading up to my Spring Break trip to Rio de Janeiro (known in Brazil as Cidade Maravilhosa, or Marvelous City)!
Since we didn't have class on Maudy Thursday or Good Friday, I used the time to explore more of the city and do some much-needed shopping (my converter for my hair dryer sparked and burnt out so it was time to find a new one! Oops). On Thursday, Dan Liz and I decided to go see the new animated movie RIO at one of the theaters nearby in 3D!  Since Argentines are always out late, most of the showtimes go until after midnight, so even a kid's movie was still showing at 1am.  Another interesting fact about movie tickets is that you have an assigned seat in the theater before you go in, so if you want to sit by friends you have to buy them all from the same register.  The movie was about a blue maccaw who lived in MN with his owner, who finds out that he is the last male of his kind and gets flown to Rio to keep the species going!  I had to laugh at the irony of it :)  It turned out to be a really cute movie, and even though the whole thing was in Spanish, I still felt like I could follow everything! The soundtrack was awesome too, and since the songs were super catchy and all about Rio de Janeiro, I made sure I downloaded them to get me excited for the trip.
Friday night, Sofia invited the group over to ring in her birthday at midnight with snacks and drinks, and her señora even got her a cake! It was fun celebrating another 21st in Buenos Aires :)
Saturday was my shopping day, and also part of the month-long Feria de Libros (Book Fair) in Buenos Aires. It celebrates literacy in Argentina and features famous authors and book sales from all over the country and the world.  On my way back from finding a new hairdryer I ran into the celebration in the middle of Plaza Italia, where a choir was doing their sound check on a large stage for a later show.  There were also street performers, and even a Turkish flash dance! That night, we celebrated Sofia's birthday for real by going out to a Spanish restaurant called Ávila.  It was a dinner/show type of place, and we got to watch an awesome live flamenco show right next to our table!  After midnight, Liz and I were excited to be able to eat ice cream again since we were officially done with lent, so we went to one of the many heladerias in the city called Volta to get some gelato-like ice cream which is so famous in Buenos Aires. Sooo delicious!!
On Easter (Pascua), a group of us woke up early for catholic mass at the Santa Teresa church near my house.  It was interesting going to a catholic mass, but it was hard to follow since it was in Spanish! Also, most people go to mass the night before instead of on Sunday, so it wasn't as formal as I was used to and there were a lot of people wearing jeans- one woman even brought in a small dog! After church, Liz and I went back to my apartment where Maritina (my host mom) was hosting an Easter luncheon of 9 people, mostly her friends that had been over to the house before.  We shared slices of tartas (like quiche) and lentil soup, and finished off with a Rosca de Pascua (Easter bundt cake).  Liz and I decided to get another ice cream afterwards, too since we were still excited about being able to enjoy it :)
The next day marked the start of mid-terms, so Tuesday night Audra and I pulled an all-nighter to finish our take-home Argentine Foreign Relations final. Poetry was on Wednesday as well, and my last test (Spanish) was on Thursday. As soon as that was all over, I started packing since Friday morning at 6:55am I left for Rio de Janeiro!!

After a smooth check-in at the local airport, I found out that my travel companions didn't have such great luck themselves: one of their flights was canceled since the plane broke down, and they were bussed to another airport an hour away to wait for a flight 3 hours later; another switched airports at the last minute and my friend showed up at the wrong one and had to do the same 1 hour taxi ride to Ezeiza Airport instead! What madness.
After all 8 of us arrived safely, we took a taxi to the Che Lagarto Hostel on Ipanema beach, right next to the famous Copacabana! We met travelers from all over the world here, and it was even fun when we met Spanish-speakers so we could practice.  The hardest part was being in a country where I couldn't communicate easily with people- the best I could hope for was that they could understand either Spanish or English!  Most of the week-long trip was spent at the beach soaking up some rays, but we had to take time for some touristy things too.  Our first must-see visit was to visit the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer).  It's one of the wonders of the World, so why not see it, right? It's so big you can basically see if from everywhere in the city- it's located on top of the Corcovado Mountain, which is 2,300 ft tall, and the statue itself is over 130 ft tall! The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking... easily one of the most beautiful landscapes I'd ever seen.  The other trip was to the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain), which is another great place to take in the sights of Rio de Janeiro.  Made out of granite and quartz, the mountain is located right on the famous Guanabara Bay on the Pacific Ocean and rises 1,299 ft in the air! To get to the top, we took a "bondinho," or cable car, to the top of a smaller mountain, and then another one to get to the top of the Sugarloaf.  Mollie and I got there just as the sun was setting, which set the scene for some truly spectacular views of the area at dusk and the brilliant city lights after the sun went down. Absolutely breathtaking!
Another great aspect of Brazil is its fresh fruit. We're talking straight off the vine/tree fresh-- nearly every day we watched as someone hacked the top off of a coconut so we could sip the sweet water inside, or enjoyed a mouth-watering Açaí smoothie with delicious chunks of banana/kiwi or granola sprinkled on top.  It's naturally sweetened with Guaraná, which is a main ingredient in most energy drinks.  Other notable foods include camarões (shrimp), pão de queijo (cheese bread shaped in balls), caipirinhas (a sweet lime drink made with Brazilian liquor called cachaça which is from sugarcane), suco de maracujá (passion fruit juice), and fro-yo!
Lastly, some fun things I noticed about the beach culture: There are mini workout stations every half-mile around the beach, and people actually use them! The average Brazilian works out a lot to maintain their perfectly muscled beach body.  We also enjoyed watching the locals juggle soccer balls in small groups- this is everywhere along the beach! Some even use a volleyball net and hit the ball back and forth without using their hands.  Another thing we noticed is that barely anyone uses towels- guys and girls lay on sarongs that are sold everywhere on the beach!
The last night we took a shuttle to the famous Escadaria Selarón (Selarón Steps) near the Arcos da Lapa in the Lapa/Santa Teresa neighborhood. Every Friday there is a huge street party held there with thousands of people taking up multiple streets with food vendors, alcohol tents, and random jewelry/clothing.  It was crazy trying to maneuver through it while still keeping the group together, but it was definitely something to experience!  The next morning we were on a flight back to Buenos Aires and fall weather.
Today, I celebrated being back in the city by exploring the San Telmo fair with some friends, which was like a version of Antiques Roadshow/an art festival in a few of the neighborhood's streets.  Examples of things for sale were silver utensils, old comic books, glass bottles, and rusted old keys! Quite the mishmash of things. After enjoying a nice dinner of Arabic food and later café/medialunas (my fave), we called it a day.  Tomorrow I go back to the daily grind, so wish me luck!
Até logo (Portuguese for hasta luego/until later),
♥ Taylor

Maritina and I on Easter Sunday

Chocolate eggs for sale everywhere!

The choir at the Feria de Libros

¡Adios, Buenos Aires!

First view of Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian Reais, aka jungle money!

Ipanema beach daytime:)

At sunset

Fresh fruit/veggie market

Cristo from the front

Cristo Redentor from above, at night

view of Sugarloaf from Cristo

Beautiful view!

My friends and I enjoying the beach

Drinking from coconuts!

Lapa street party

San Telmo Fair