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Buenos Aires
It didn’t take us long to get sucked in to everything that is “BA”.  The combination of the architecture, sights, people, and night life added to our overall experience in this modern city.  For being the largest city in South America, it was cleaner and more developed than we had expected.  The buildings had a European feel with wrought-iron balconies, detailed exteriors, and oversized doorways.  Large billboards and TV screens projected advertisements, while the graffiti looked more like artwork than vandalism.  There are many unique areas around the city including our favorites; Recoleta, Palermo, San Telmo, and La Boca.  Recoleta is known for its impressive cemetery that reminded us of a miniature city.  Elaborate rows of mausoleums created pathways for us to walk along as we went in search of the cemetery’s most popular “resident”, Eva Perón.  Palermo is the one of the wealthier parts of the city and is a lovely place to spend the day enjoying the beautiful parks.  We on the other hand mostly experienced Palermo at night joining the crowds at the bars located in Plaza de Serrano.  San Telmo is a picturesque neighborhood with cobblestone streets, cafes, old mansions, and a famous Sunday market selling antiques.  Avenida 9 de Julio is one of the main avenues running through the city.  Each side is 6 lanes wide and it takes two sets of lights to cross on foot.  The center point of the avenue is a large obelisk which we always used as a land mark to make it back to our hostel.  The colorful buildings of La Boca are a must-see in BA and draw many tourists despite the dangerous reputation the area holds.  La Boca is also home to the very popular Boca Juniors fútbol team.

We couldn’t have left Buenos Aires without witnessing the craziness that takes place inside of a fútbol stadium.  We purchased tickets through our hostel to attend the Boca vs. Arsenal match.  To complete the experience, we bought jerseys at one of the many sports shops located on Florida, the busy pedestrian shopping street.  We joined a group of people from the hostel and took a bus to a house near the stadium to tailgate Argentinean style.  Our friend, Maria, from Germany, brought a water bottle filled with vodka which we diluted with water and choked down before the game.  Alcohol is not served inside the stadium (which is a good thing because people would probably kill each other), so all of us tourists chugged beer after beer not sure how to enjoy a sporting event without a bit of a buzz!  Inside the stadium we were surrounded by locals and experienced first-hand the passion and tradition that follows the game. People stood, chanted, yelled, and jumped for the duration of the game.  Boca scored goal after goal which intensified the crowd’s energy and even we got excited at the final score of 4-0. 

We stayed at Milhouse, which is the most popular hostel in Buenos Aires.  Five floors in the beautiful building housed travelers that came to the hostel to party and it was easy to find friends and activities on any night of the week.  We joined back up with Steve who is always the life of the party and just as in the first three cities we’ve hung out with him in, there was never a dull moment whether we were touring the city or drinking at the bars.  Within the first two hours at the hostel we met and became instant friends with Maria from Germany.  She fit in with us, not only because of her blonde hair and blue eyes, but also her love of traveling, positive attitude, and great sense of humor.  She extended her stay in BA three time which gave us plenty of time to get to know one another.  Buenos Aires is known for its impressive tango shows and the three of us attended one of the best in town to get a feel for the local culture.  The show was better than we expected and we couldn´t stop raving about the performance the entire walk back to our hostel.  There are two Milhouse hostels (we stayed at the original) and they take turns hosting pre-parties before everyone heads to the bars around 2:00 am. We enjoyed dancing and getting to know the locals and tried our best to keep up with them, but we usually called it quits once the sun was coming up.  On our third night, Jayme met Juan from BA, who coincidentally went to college in St. Louis, Missouri, just an hour and a half away from Jayme’s college.  They hit it off and as always, meeting and hanging out with a local added to the experience. The nightlife in BA was insane and while we don’t understand how the locals do it, we feel and fear that we represented fairly well!

Iguazu Falls
One of Argentina’s most popular attractions is the collection of 275 waterfalls that make up the stunning Iguazu Falls.  An eighteen hour bus ride from Buenos Aires lands you in Puerto Iguazu which has little to offer other than its close proximity to the park.  Once inside, there are a number of different trails each giving a different view of the falls.  Palm trees, rainbows, butterflies, and the rhythmic flow of the waterfalls make for an unforgettable day.  From the lower circuit, visitors have the chance to get up close and personal while the upper circuit gives more of a birds-eye view.  The water level is always changing as well as the color due to the additional sediment picked up after heavy rains.  Devil’s Throat is most people’s final destination and the amount of water flowing over the edge in a semi-circle formation was spectacular.  The falls can also be viewed from the Brazilian side offering panoramic views of the falls from a distance.  Due to an unforeseen circumstance, the two of us separated and viewed the falls independently.

Globalizing Separately

Jayme:
The last thought on my mind when setting off for this adventure nearly eleven months ago was what I would do if a situation arose that would require me to interrupt or cancel the trip.  When I left in June, my 87-year old grandma was happy and healthy and there was no doubt in my mind that she would still be around when I finished the trip.  It came as a shock to everyone in the family when her health took a serious turn for the worse in mid-April. We had been in Buenos Aires for a few days when I heard the news and booked an immediate flight back to Colorado for the weekend to spend time with my grandma.  It was a bitter-sweet homecoming because it was so good to see my family, but the circumstances left everyone in a somber mood.  My grandma used to read all of our blog posts and she told me how much she enjoyed following the trip.  My grandma’s health progressively deteriorated as the weekend wore on and having to say goodbye to her before leaving for the airport was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Upon arrival back in Buenos Aires, I learned that my grandma had passed away just a few hours after I had left.  Roslyn Glassman died on April 18, 2010 at the age of 88.  She was an amazing person and will be greatly missed.  I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend one final weekend with her.

Chelsea had moved on towards Brazil by the time I arrived back in Buenos Aires and I took advantage of every chance to stay as busy as possible.  I quickly became friends with Jenn from San Diego on the flight to BA and we made plans to travel to Iguazu together later that week.  At the hostel, I enjoyed getting to know Mya from France, Oystein from Norway, and Saya and Lizzie from England.  I traveled to the beautiful colonial town of Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay with Oystein and Lizzie where we stayed the night and rode bikes around the cobblestone streets.  I spent the rest of my time in BA touring different parts of the city, spending time with Juan, and hanging out with my new friends.  My temporary passport (which replaced my passport that had been stolen in Australia) was full and I spent an entire morning at the US Embassy getting an emergency passport issued so I could continue traveling.  Jenn and I traveled to Iguazu together and had a great time exploring the falls.  Our hostel had a lovely pool and we spent the next day lounging around in the sun with our fellow travelers.  From there, we caught a 22-hour bus to Tucuman, Argentina where we went out for one last dinner before I bid my new friend farewell and caught another 24-hour bus to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Chelsea:
After saying goodbye to Jayme, I stayed in Buenos Aires for another four days before heading north on an overnight bus towards Iguazu Falls. The falls were better than I had imagined and I had the chance to visit them on both the Argentina and Brazil side. I took another overnight bus to Sao Paulo, Brazil where my next adventure began. I met Norman six months ago in Cambodia where we also traveled to Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore together. A few months ago he booked a flight from his home country of Germany to Brazil so we could spend another week together. I stayed one night in Sao Paulo before meeting him at the airport, which can only be explained as a “movie worthy” reunion! We had an amazing week together and after five countries and two continents, none of which have been our own, I am ready to see what lies ahead.

We stayed two nights in Sao Paulo, exploring the city and catching up on lost time. From there we took a six hour bus to the colonial town of Paraty. The weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage of the sun on a full day schooner trip to some of  the nearby beaches. The day was full of swimming, jumping off the boat, dressing up in pirate outfits, eating fresh fruit, and enjoying the sun and ocean. We took another bus followed by a very cold and wet ferry to Ilha Grande for two days of ‘island fun’. Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole time and while we didn’t have the chance to see the 102 beaches around the island, we did explore the island during a six hour hike in the pouring rain. Our final destination was the cidade marvavilhosa (marvelous city) of Rio de Janeiro. During the day we walked along  Copacabana and Ipanema beach admiring the lingering mountains and the beautiful cobblestone pedestrian path. One night, we stumbled upon a samba concert in the street and joined the crowds for a night of dancing and drinks in a crowded bar near the Arcos do Lapa. We had beautiful weather on our final day together and spent many hours looking down on the beautiful city from Sugar Loaf. I had the best time with him and it was by far the sweetest most romantic gesture for him to fly halfway around the world, just so we could be together again.

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