William James once said, “To change one’s life: Start
immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.” I like to
think that is how I changed my life. As a look back on the past month of what I
have done with my precious minutes of my life my heart skips a beat. Though I
am still very young I have had the opportunities this past month and these past
seven months to see the world. Here are some the things I did:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
As my cell phone alarm screamed in my ear to wake me
up I knew it was going to be a long day. Starting the day at eight in the
morning is not part of my new Paraguay life style. Also, knowing I had a twenty
six hour bus ride ahead of me, i did not leap out of my bed. I added the last
things to my bags and hopped on the bus to the city San Lorenzo to catch the
bus to Buenos Aires and meet up with Alicia. When the bus finally rolled up we
were ready to go and excited to get the trip started and take a nap. The ride
through Paraguay was the usual. The not so impressive sights of cows, soy crops
and poverty did not keep us too enthralled. Then we reached Encarnacion where
our friend Alex joined us on the bus, from Encarnacion as I mentioned in the
past there is a bridge that goes straight to Argentina. We arrived at Argentina
customs and all three of us got stopped. The agents said we had to pay one
hundred and sixty dollars to enter. It was not our language barrier that was an
issue it was that we did not want to believe it, also I had been in Argentina
only two weeks earlier and there was no such thing. For all three of us it took a hit on the bank
account and added a dash of irritation; because after all we had decided on
Argentina, yes because it is a beautiful place, but mostly because it WAS the
only country in South America that did not require a visa for North Americans.
However, January 7th that law changed to our dismay. We paid the fee
because there was no way we were turning back. We paid the fee then loaded back
on the bus and went to sleep.
In the morning we arrived. We saw the huge buildings,
beautiful landmarks and clean streets (most surprising of all). When getting
off the bus we instantly went to use the subway (I am sure we could have walked
to the hostel it was just way more fun). After getting slightly lost we arrived
at our %100 tourist prepped hostel. Everyone spoke English and minus the staff
and my friends there were no other Spanish speakers in sight.
Our first destination was Parque De La Costa, an
amusement park located in a city called Tigre an hour away. We hopped on the
train and started on our first Argentina Adventure. The park was just the same
as a Six Flags, but of course so much cooler considering we were in Argentina
and all pretty sleep deprived, which always makes life more interesting.
 |
| awesome ride i almost fell out of! |
So many adventures followed the first, in the
following days. We headed to the zoo, we thought it was going to be the same
old thing, but it was so much more exciting. They had tons of animals to feed
which made it really interactive and made me very impressed by the people who
came up with the idea, being: people pay to enter the zoo, pay to buy the food
to feed the animals, and then we don’t have to feed the animals, some smart
cookies over in Argentina!
 |
| that is correct i did feed a llama! |
 |
| tons of these little animals,,, no idea what they are called |
Following the zoo we visited the botanical gardens
and the Japanese garden to see some of the different landscapes they had to
offer in Argentina from Paraguay. The climate there is much cooler which allows
for much different types of nature. Along with they care about nature therefore
it is an option to see it.
 |
| botanical garden |
 |
| Japonese garden, so pretty! |
On the third day we decided that even though we had
traveled to most all of the famous places in Buenos Aires, we wanted to make
sure we did not miss anything so we signed up for a bike tour! Though it was
great to see some of the spots we had missed, it was even better to meet the
people that came along for the ride. I met two men that have been traveling the
world, from Africa, Asia and now South America for the past year. Other people
that had six months free of obligation and decided to see new places.
 |
| Rocking my tourist bike on the bike tour! |
 |
| building of the congress |
 |
| a clock tower... looks strangly like the tower of East High School (USA copy cats!) |
 |
| Morning glory was a gift from the english. used to open and close in the morning and night however after the first year it broke. |
 |
| Cemetery so big and pretty... |
That night we
did one of my favorite events of all, we went to a tango class (our second one)
and a tango show! Alicia, Alex and I all got proficient in tango. Or so I
thought before we went to eat dinner and see the show. We were shown to our
table which included us three, sisters visiting from Canada (ages 22 and 25), a
women Wendy that just came to South American to get away after a nasty divorce
from England (age 35), a German man (age 54), and two Australian men that were
neighbors for the past ten years in Sidney yet did not know it until they met in
Buenos Aires (ages 67 and 30). The following hours I have to say were some of
the most interesting hours of my life thus far. My conversation was mainly with
the Australians. The older man went to school to study civil engineering then
became the head of the city planning committee of Sidney, Australia. That is I correct
met the man who helped form one of the coolest cities in the world. He talked
all about his work and what it involved, a large aspect of it being the
environment. He retired a few years before, was divorced and had been traveling
the world ever sense. This man had visited almost every country in the world
which amazed me. I followed up with a question of where he most enjoyed out of
all and he said, ¨though there is nothing like standing there in front of Taj
Mahal the real place with the best people you will ever meet and remarkable
beauty is Russia.¨ As he said that I found myself shocked and I could not think
why but then I realized I have, like most Americans, a stereotype towards the Russians
I am pretty sure they were created from movies and what not. However, I did not
even know I had bad feelings toward that country. As he said it, my desire to
go to Russia, and everywhere else expanded like a balloon. The interesting
conversation was interrupted by the show. All I can say is WOW it was
impressive and I need to learn how to tango. The people moved so fast it was
mind blowing, also just looked like a lot of fun, I am sure it did not hurt
either that all the men were pretty attractive.
 |
| Really impressive tanging happening. |
That night heading back we were sleepy yet when we
entered the hostel there was a full on party happening. Also, a signup sheet to
take a bus to the club (night life is a big part of Buenos Aires) so we wanted
to be fully immersed in culture, hehe, and decided to go. The club was totally
different than Paraguay. It was HUGE three different sections for three
different types of music (very easy to get lost). Also, it had an outdoor patio
on the ocean front, not too shabby. We headed back early (I do not mean the
morning I mean that we left before everyone else) at 6am. We arrived in the
hostel at seven and got two hours of sleep before we needed to checkout. We
showered and then headed to La Boca.
The history of La Boca is that around 1880 and 1930
about six million immigrants went to Argentina which was when Buenos Aires went
from being a small town to a huge city. About half of the immigrants were
Italian many of which came from the port town. La Boca
was a port, the area was familiar to the new people so they did not move far
away. La Boca was where they took their first step on Argentinean soil, the
port of La Boca (which means ‘the mouth’, as in the mouth of the Riachuelo River).
The buildings and houses are colored because the people used materials from the
ship yard to build. Considering they used lots of different supplies they
needed paint to make it look better. To make it all look good they used an old
tradition from Genoa where they used leftover paint from the port in
combinations to paint the houses and buildings.
 |
| me and Alicia tangoing in La Boca |
 |
| being weird in La Boca :) |
 |
| Beautiful La Boca |
When
it was finally time to catch the bus and go back to Paraguay we were all
feeling sad. The thoughts and questions came through all of our heads of ¨why
did we choose to come to Paraguay? ¨ Though we all do enjoy certain aspects of
Paraguay, life in Argentina would be much more active and enjoyable for anyone.
However, we also saw the amount of culture Paraguay has kept considering
Argentina is in almost the same as the U.S.A.
Meia
Pria, Brazil
My
trip to Meia Pria was completely different than my trip to Buenos Aires. It was
calm and could almost be defined as dull. I went with my host parents and
youngest host sister Saida. We drove the obligatory eighteen hours in car to
the family owned apartment destination.
The
apartment was on the beach about as close as one could get which was great. The
first day we headed out to swim and tan not knowing that it would be %50 of the
sun we would see for the next ten days. The days following the first the sun
only graced us with her presence one other time and that was on the last day
before departure. All the other days it rained…and rained… and rained until
evening arrived. However, this made for great cool nights to play Frisbee, on
the beach, which my host sister and I took advantage of every day.
 |
| my host mother took this photo from the apartment window... yes we were REALLY far away from the beach... NOT :p |
The
other times were mostly consisted of reading, watching movies, and taking naps.
Though I am all for the relaxing life style I was quite disappointed that I did
not get to see much of Brazil other than the beach and the inside of the
apartment complex. The most sites I saw was when we took the wrong road home
and I saw some other beaches. I mentioned a few times I would enjoy going do
something else rather than be in the condo all day and it was rejected. Our
surroundings mostly consisted of, shopping malls and restaurants; therefore
nowhere to visit for me to visit by foot, though I tried.
 |
| beaches :) |
Our
trip was cut short considering some issues on the family chicken farm, along
with my other two sisters were in the house alone, so we turned around early.
Though I was disappointed I was not going to get anymore tanning time, I cannot
say I was heartbroken considering I would have just finished another two books
and ate more fried food. I also missed seeing my friends as well so it was not
the worst thing that has happened to me. Though I did enjoy the beach quite a
bit, my favorite part about the trip was I got a lot closer with my sister
Saida; because we did everything together which I really enjoyed. For me it is quite
strange having sisters, but I think if I had to have them I would pick a group
of girls like Saida.
 |
| host family and me |
These
two trips were quite different, but both enjoyable. It also confirmed a lot of
my issues with Paraguay on how they are not moving up educationally, socially
or economically, like their neighboring countries. I went to places that
reminded me of the states rite next door to Paraguay and it was black and white,
the differences. Even when we were in Brazil my host father was talking about
how Paraguay is better and for the life of me I had to hold back pure laughter.
Because, it is not just him but most of the Paraguayan people are incapable of
seeing flaws of their own slowly failing country. The more time I spend here
the more I enjoy it, because of my friends. However, my beliefs of Paraguay in
the future failing, only grow stronger with time.
