Visiting Franco - My Argentinian Brother

Ever since I had arrived in Argentina, I have been talking to Franco about when I could go visit him. For those of  you who don´t remember, Franco came to my house in August (2010) and stayed until January (just a month before I left myself for Argentina). I became really close to him over those six months and while I am here, I am obviously going to take the chance to visit my brother! So in December, the plans were finally made and after getting back from Chile, I set of to Concordia.

Concordia is on the far east side of Argentina, right up against Uruguay, and a very long 18 hours bus ride. I was super excited to get off the bus and see Franco and all his family that it was a little hard to sleep! When I got off the bus, I didn´t see anybody waiting for me. I kind of freaked for a second because I wasn´t sure if I was in the right spot but then I saw Franco walking into the bus terminal. He didn´t see me at first and I just kind of stood there a second not really believing that it could be him before I called out his name and ran over to hug him. He was almost exactly the same! Of course he looked a little older and didn´t have the beard he had when he left my house, but other than that, he was still my brother! We instantly started talking in Spanish. I don´t know why but we just kind of agreed that we would talk in Spanish and not in English. It was the weirdest thing getting into his car and having him drive me to his house. I just couldn´t stop saying "I just don´t believe I am here and YOU  are here!".

I stayed there for a week with his family. He has two younger sisters, Euge and Morena, who I became really good friends with real fast. What was so incredible about it was that I felt like I was at home with them. I guess since Franco had lived with us for such a long time, they just welcomed me into the family like I had always been there. The days there were pretty simple. Franco toured me around the city - I got to see his Dad´s shops, the river between Argentina and Uruguay, spent lots of time with him and his friends, and ate icecream. :) It was really weird to see all the places that he had told me about back in the U.S.

My Family! I guess I have three now!

Franco´s Aunt, Uncle, and Grandma

Franco, Euge, Morena, Me, and Facundo (Franco´s friend)

On Sunday when we had an asado, we arranged a skype session with my family back in the U.S. It was the first time they had spoken to Franco since he left back in January and we had a blast. His English has gotten a little worse but was still very good. Him and I went back and forth translating from English to Spanish so our parents were able to talk and say thank-yous and such. It was a little confusing at times especially for me because I was hearing English and Spanish and couldn´t keep track of which one I was supposed to be speaking!

That night I also got to go to Franco´s graduation party! It was held outside with tables circled around a dance floor and twinkeling lights. Graduation parties are a really important event in Argentina and the kids put out a lot of money to make them special. They have tons of professional photographers taking pictures every second, a DJ, an announcer, and have a bar that serves alcohol and pizza for those that need a snack. We went with his whole family but most of us left at about three in the morning. The seniors all stayed until seven - drinking, dancing, and throwing cake at eachother.

Euge, Marcelo, Franco, Silvana, Me, and Morena

Morena (Franco´s youngest sister)

Euge (who is fifteen) took me to a boliche Monday night! I was totally wipped after staying up late at Franco´s party but I wanted to see how the boliches in Concordia were. In San Juan, my parents don´t want me to go out to boliches that check your ID and aren´t known for having minors. So although most of my friends go to the giant, awesome boliches likes Willy Cuba and Arena, I had only ever been to the smaller ones were everyone underage gets let in. But in Concordia Euge took me to the best boliche in town! It was two stories with a giant grass area outside, a deck, and lots of big screen TV´s showing music videos. The best part was when I was sitting outside on the deck watching the sun come up. We were right next to the river so the sun slowly climbed up over the horizon and told us it was time to head home. It was one of the weirdest experiences to be at a boliche at six in the morning and to have the sun come up and have it feel like the middle of the day. It was even weirder to go home, shut the curtains, and go to sleep for the next seven hours!

It was horrible having to say goodbye to him again but I know I will see him some day! It was fantastic getting to know his family and maybe both our families will be able to meet someday....all I know is that if you have ever thought about having an exchange student, don´t hesitate! These kind of relationships can last a life time and give you excuses to travel the world! :)

Iguazú Waterfalls

Okay, this blog post is WAY over due! But since it was such an incredible experience and I have so much to tell, I have been putting it off just because it is such an overwhelming task! But now (almost two months later) I am finally going to share with you one of the once in a life time experiences I experienced in November.

AFS has special trips that they offer to the exchange students where we spend between seven and ten days traveling to famous places in Argentina with the other students. In November, I took a trip that went up north. In total there was almost 50 students so we rented a bus and traveled all together. We began our trip in Salta and Jujuy which are two provinces at the north of Argentina which are known for their beautiful mountains. We hiked up to this place called the "Mountain of Seven Colors" because it was layed with different colored rocks.

In Salta we got to go rafting! I have been rafting two other times in my life and I absolutly love it! We split up into three different groups and I was in the first group and offered to sit right in the front! I have learned that if you want to get wet, the front is the place to be! We spent the next hour and  half rafting down the river and screaming our way through nine different rapids. I was soaked by the end and exhausted from laughing and screaming so much.

A few days later, we spent all day and night traveling in the bus to get to the East side of Argentina to the providence Missiones. Over the next few days we had many exciting adventures! The first day, we visited a crystal mine where natural crystals were growing inside the rocks in the mine and out in the open air! I got kind of clostrophobic inside but thankfully we didn´t go very far in or I just might have had a panic attack!

The next day was one of my favorites! We had the option of going on an extra day trip which included ziplining and rock climbing and I obviously took it! We all pilled into a giant jeep and took off into the jungle. The dirt was an orange-ish color and was kicked up all around us by the truck. Since we had all been lathered with sunscreen and OFF bug spray, by the time the truck stopped, we were all an orange-ish, fake tan color! So when you look in the photos, don´t worry because that isn´t my natural skin color. :)  We first went to the ziplining area. We were going to go on three different ziplines all over 60 meters in the air!! That was when I started freaking out! It got even worse when we climbed up the rickety wood structure and we waited to get strapped on the cable. It swayed back and forth and must have been a million years old! I had to stay very still and focus on the tree in front of us not to start crying and turn back around. When I finally made it to the top (I was one of the lasts to go), I actually wasn´t that scared anymore. I was just happy to be holding on to the tree and strapped on to a cabel! Atleast I couldn´t fall unless the tree broke in half! And then the man told me to let go and he pushed me off the edge! And just like that I was soaring above the jungle screaming! It was such an incredible feelings to be so high up! And actually I didn´t feel scared at all on the cabel! As I reached the next tree, another man gave me the motion to slow down and I twisted my hands back and forth as they had shown me. I climbed up the tree another four meters and got on another one. And did that one more time before climbing down to the ground. Although it was an incredible experience and I would love to do it again, I was happy to be standing on something solid!

Next we went to this little waterfall a little ways away. The idea was that you started at the top of the water fall and kind of rappled down it with the water dumping on you. The only problem was that when you started, you were perched at the edge of this cliff and you had to lean out over it backwards before they could start letting you down. I started freaking out all over again! But thankfully it wasn´t as bad as I thought! They began to lower me down as I pushed myself away from the wall with my feet. Soon the waterfall had soaked me all the way threw and I was blindly climbing down. Thankfully I reached the little dock at last and they unstrapped me. I was completelly soaked and my heart was pumping but I felt awesome! There is nothing like a little adrenaline rush to get you going! That was the first time in my life I had ever been ziplining or rappeling and I was so happy I tried it!

Our last day was when we actually got to go to the IGUAZÚ WATERFALLS! They are super famous and one of the biggest in the world and we had been waiting all week to see them. They have built a park around them will platforms that go out above them and below them and boardwalks that take you over the rivers and jungles surounding them. First we visited an area called "The Devil´s Throut" where we had to walk out on this bridge for a ways just to get there. We heard the water before we could even see the fall itself and could see the mist spewing up into the air. The waterfall was incredible! I trully can´t explain what it was like seeing so much water plungeing down with so much forse! From that moment on, I spent the rest of the day in a daze! We went down below to see it from different angles, walked to different waterfalls, and even got to stand right at the edge of one! But my favorite part of all was when me and Eetu (a boy from Finland who I had made good friends with) went down to a plat form right in front of one of the falls. Just the mist was soaking us in seconds as we stood there with our arms spread wide laughing and screaming into the wind and water. It was unforgettable.

But all to soon it was over and we had to head back to the bus and begin the long journey home. Three other students and I all had over 25 hours of travel time before we made it back to San Juan and we all arrived exhausted and ready for a long night´s sleep.

The trip was incredible to say the least! I did so many new things and met so many new people! One of the funnest parts was getting to know all the students from different countries and how they have had to adjust to life in Argentina. It was hysterical (and a little humiliating) talking to the guy from New Zealand because even though he was speaking English, I swear I could understand him better in Spanish! It took me the first two days just to adjust to his really stronge accent so I could talk to him! And we are talking about English here! My own language! Anyways, we had a blast comparing different words and phrases that we use and they all laughed when I couldn´t understand what they were saying. I met a lot of new people on that trip and it was pretty sad to say goodbye. Who knows when or if I will ever see any of them again....

So that it the gist of my trip up north with AFS! An unforgettable experience! :)