A Viagem ao Foz de Iguaçu--Brasil.Argentina.Paraguai!

15 hour bus ride to spend 4 days in 3 countries. then 15 hours back to Florianópolis!!

This weekend we went to Foz de Iguaçu, one of the seven wonders of the world and to Itaipu, one of the seven wonders of the modern world (engineering feats!) which is the largest hydroelectric plant in the world!!

I've never taken a 15 hour bus ride in my life and this may be the last 15 hour bus ride I'll take (30 hours total!). The first 15 hours getting there was bearable. But coming back was awful because I was so tired from all the activities of the trip...and also, I'd been bitten by mosquitoes and ants which caused an allergic reaction so my ankles are swollen now. And god, how I wanted to scratch my legs off!! I'd always thought my body was an unstoppable machine... but now my ankles are swollen, I have about 10 bites all over my legs and my stomach is queasy from bad, cheap, bus stop wine--so I can't get out of bed. ugh. bad bus stop wine...that's another story...! So, from the beginning:

9 de outubro/10 de outubro >> departure: 6:45PM | arrival: 8:30AM
On the bus ride, Patrick and Cat were drinking cachaça (kind of like vodka, but stronger) straight up...they drank 2 liters...I have no idea how they did that! I would be so sick!!! But apparently, Cat slept well after being drunk!

After our bus ride, Lilian (our coordenadora) sends us a text message saying that we have to get to our hostel by 9AM, we have a bus ride to Argentina! So we catch a taxi and go straight to the hostel. We dump all of our stuff in the hostel, brush our teeth, change to hiking clothes and head to Argentina. There was no time to rest! So going to Argentina was pretty legit--I got a stamp on my passport! (yeah I was super excited to have the stamp on my passport!) The Argentinian side of Foz de Iguaçu is AMAZING! Breathtaking!!! I can't describe how incredible it was to be there. It's a lot bigger than the Brazilian side! We took a boat ride right up by the waterfall and got soaked! It was so much fun! We hiked all around the part to get different views of the waterfalls. Also, I've never seen so many rainbows in my life!! I even saw a double rainbow! Being in this atmosphere was just absolutely surreal...my photos look like postcards...I look photoshopped into the scenery! (I can't wait to show my mom!!) I have no idea how Cat and Patrick survived the day, they were hungover from the cachaça...coitados!

Being in Argentina was so different. I was surrounded by Spanish and English speakers--which felt so foreign to me. I was taken aback when I heard these Americans speaking in English. And I tried speaking Spanish, but royally failed...I couldn't switch out of the softness of Portuguese to the roughness of Spanish. ah, I definitely felt pangs of missing Spanish...

At night, we wanted to go out to the center, but our hostel was pretty far away and we didn't feel like taking two buses to eat dinner cos we were starving! So we ate at the hostel...omg we have never waited so long for dinner. The hostel was pretty crowded and so it took 2-3 hours for our dishes to come! It was insane!! They had a small kitchen and one cook! Poor Brenna, she had a headache and needed food to eat with her medicine and she was the second to last person to receive her meal! But honestly, 3 hours, waiting for food to cook!!! ridiculous!

11 de outubro
We went to the Brazilian side of the falls and it was so different from the Argentinian side! Whereas the Argentinian side was a close up view of the waterfalls, the Brazilian side offered a beautiful, distant panoramic view of the falls. Still, it was stunning and surreal. The Brazilian side is definitely smaller and not as eventful as there are many more hiking trails on the Argentinian side.

12 de outubro >> departure: 5:45PM | arrival: 8:00AM
Our last day of the trip before our 15 hour bus ride back to Florianópolis! We luckily had enough time to visit Itaipu!! We went on a tour of the water plant and it was refreshingly educational. Itaipu is the biggst hydro-electric plant in the world! It took 23 years to build and way too much money to construct (Brazil will be done paying for it in 2023!) It is a bi-national hydro-plant owned by Brazil and Paraguay. so we were in Paraguay for the water plant! (yeah, I know, it's not really being in Paraguay...) The control room was divided in half by an invisible line--where you could have one foot in Brazil and the other in Paraguay! So this hydroelectric plant powers uses the energy of the Paraná River to provide 90% of Paraguay's energy and 25% of Brazil's...incredible!

After the tour, we grab a bite to eat and head to the rodoviária for our bus home.

13 de outubro
At 4AM, we make a bus stop and Cat and I were the only two awake and could not sleep. She thinks it would help to drink some alcohol to get some sleep...and my sleep deprived and cranky mind also thinks it would be a good idea. I just wanted to sleep. We find cheap $7R (about $4USD) wine and drink it on the bus. I just have a cup and a half--I mean it wasn't too terrible, but it wasn't great either. Man, it was hilarious--Cat drank two cups and went to sleep! And after my drink, I did too. I woke up with the worst stomach pain. And the aftertaste of the wine that remained in my mouth made me feel so queasy. My stomach was definitely not happy. The bug bites on my swollen ankle made it difficult to walk. And I'd also gotten my period. As you can imagine, this was possibly the worst situation to be in. I somehow manage to lug my duffle bag up my hill to my house. And showered, almost doubled over because the sharp pain in my stomach would not permit me to stand up straight...oh boy, it was awful.

So I've just been resting in bed all day, watching movies, falling asleep in and out of the movies. I've been burping up the wine and shit, it taste like, well, crap.

Other than these misfortunes, the trip was fun. Us Midd kids got to bond and get to know each other better...and it's definitely been an unforgettable trip.