School Visits

As “future” teachers, our program has been set up so that we not only have some cultural outings, but we also get the chance to visit several schools. We have visited four schools so far (in no particular order)- Hermanos Maristas, Madre Teresa de Calcuta, Soldados Argentinas, and Mariano Moreno. Each experience has been very different and has been helpful in getting a glimpse at the education system in Argentina.

In Argentina the school system is set up with an initial school (U.S. equivalent of nursery care, preschool and kindergarten), primary school (U.S. equivalent of first grade through seventh grade) and secondary school (eighth through senior in high school). The first school we visited was a public secondary school. It is run by a lovely principal who was very good at sharing information and answering questions. We were able to get a tour of the school, observe in classrooms and hang out with some of the students. Apparently this school, although you wouldn’t be able to tell by the looks of the building, has been upheld as an example school. They provided many different programs for their students and often receive grants for projects that they are undertaking. They are currently handing out notebook computers to each student, which they get to keep if they finish high school. It is a national program that is encouraging technology in the schools.

Our second visit was to a different type of school. This school is a publically funded, but privately run Catholic school. It receives its public funds because it is a school for street kids, primarily. Ninety-nine percent of the children that attend have parents that cannot take care of them for various reasons or who are unemployed. Many are living in foster home type situations and are bused in from around the city. At the school they receive a high scale education and lunch. The principal at this school made it very clear that these children are poor- not to be confused with “poor children.” They deserve the best education possible. There was definitely a difference in the clientele, more for the aroma than for anything else. As the first graders that I observed gathered around me I was reminded of Christy and her lovely scented handkerchief. They were delightful children though, and when we went to leave I received multiple snotty, saliva-filled kisses on my cheek, per the custom in Argentina (the kisses, not the snot and saliva).

Visit number three was a public primary school in which we were able to give some short English lessons. Here my group observed a sixth grade class and then taught them a lesson on prepositions. I think they were a little hesitant to get up out of their chairs in order to stand on their chairs and hide under their desks, but it was a lot of fun and they seemed to enjoy themselves.

Our fourth visit was just yesterday. This school has an English institute where parents pay extra for their students to receive extra hours of English instruction. It was made clear to us, after a question I asked, that this is not a bilingual school. English is simply one of the subjects, it is just more highly valued in this school. Children begin learning English in kindergarten and continue up through high school.

I was able to observe a first-grade classroom. What a joy to watch this English teacher with her little charges. With only 11 students it seemed that it was slightly easier for them to get off track, but also easier to get them back on task. They were delightful as they asked us questions in English and we responded- immediately sending them into confusion as they tried to figure out what we said. My favorite was, “What is you favorite number?” as they combined the different words that they know. The teacher was caring and helpful and it was refreshing to see an interactive, engaging classroom. Of course she has a lot less problems to deal with because the families tend to be upper middle class, and she has a principal that believes in small class sizes when teaching a foreign language (and is able to maintain these smaller classes). I mentioned having 26 kindergarten students and she couldn’t seem to get over how atrocious that was. Never in her mind would this be acceptable. With five-year-olds she might allow ten students, but usually eight. Can you imagine?! No wonder parents pay extra for this school- you have loving, up-beat teachers, the chance for your child to learn English (some of their high school students just spent a month in England) and small class sizes. If I could spring for it, I might be tempted to pay for my child’s education at this school as well. It also makes teaching abroad look mighty tempting:

· teach in a beautiful school

· be loved because you are a native English speaker

· live where you get to practice/use Spanish every day

· have a small class

Did I mention there are seven teachers that are pregnant at this school so they are looking for people to teach English until December? Tempting, very tempting…

My Host Family

I am in love with my host family. I have a host mom and a host aunt as well as a little host Dauchsand. A couple of times a week my host mom’s boyfriend comes over as well (I don’t know what you would call him) and we have a nice little family dinner. What do I love about them? I love that they talk to me and ask me how things are going, I love that they get excited about my trips and my experiences here in Argentina, I love that they tell me they will miss me in a few weeks when I leave, and I love that they compliment me. I have to say, they are the complete opposite of my first host family.

Mi tia Ithzel y mi mamá Silvia

Con Bruna

Con mi mamá y su novio

By the way, my host mom is feeding me exceedingly and I've only been running 3 times in the last 7 weeks- anyone want to be my running partner when I get back to the states? I might actually have a few extra pounds to run off! How many weeks to I have to get ready for the Warrior Dash?

Tango Class

Last Thursday we were treated to a Tango lesson as part of our program. We went to Luna y Mixterio, a restaurant and tango club. The owners put on a small show for us to show us the different types of tango and then proceeded to teach us some of the basic steps. Tango is much more complicated, in my mind, than some of the other types of dance. However, they kept telling us it was all about how you walk, so we started with walking lessons. It is a very passionate, yet beautiful dance. As the tango expert in our group, Federico, told me, it is all about the man showing off the woman. He also gave some other advice- such as don’t be a noodle, find your axis, extend your legs as you walk…lots of information to keep in your mind.His final piece of advice was, don’t think too hard. Let me tell you, it was hard, fun and something I would enjoy learning more of, but I am still a salsa girl at heart.

Partido de Fútbol- Newell's Old Boys

On Sunday (today) we went to the Newell’s Old Boys game in Independence Park. This is one of the local soccer leagues. Talk about an experience! When we hit Peligrini Boulevard we started seeing red and black everywhere. We passed restaurants where crowds of young people were outside chanting and singing. The game fever had already hit.

When we got to Independence Park we simply joined the throng of people moving in the direction of the stadium. The flow of red and black only increased. We passed hot dog and hamburger stands and stands selling gear for the game- just as if we were headed to a baseball game in the states.

The popular section is where the big banner is rolling down. They did this several times throughout the game.

We were patted down by the police officers in bullet-proof vests and then found the gate where we needed to enter. We saw full plastic bags on the ground and were a little confused as to why people were picking them up and what might be in them. We were to later find out. We climbed up the concrete stairs to the top section and then began to try and figure out where our seats were, since nothing seemed to be marked. Finally we asked someone near us who told us about where our seats were and then told us, “but just sit anywhere.” We found an empty spot, sat down and began to take in the scene around us. For safety sake we had opted for the more expensive seats that actually had seats. The “popular” section, which we immediately picked out, looked like a lot more fun, but we had been warned that it wasn’t as safe. For those of you who have been to the Clackamas County Rodeo, it is similar to the Canby Crazies section, only much more rowdy. This is the section to sit in if you want to learn the chants and songs of the team. Our section would begin to sing or chant and then fade off. However we were close to the opposing teams seating so we learned lots of profanities and inappropriate hand-signs between fans in both sections. And all of this took place in front of young children no less, in fact the 12 or 13-year old sitting near me was one of the worst as far as hand signs to the other spectators.

The paper is thrown in the air when the team comes up...wouldn't want to be the person who has to clean up the stands.

I really did enjoy it though and just wish someone would have scored. Seeing as how we had been told that Newell’s was going to get slaughtered though, I guess they did pretty well by not letting the other team score. Actually, what they lack is an offense that can actually pass the ball to its own team. I don’t know how many times they got down to the goal and then passed the ball to a spot where no one from their team was! How frustrating to be a hardcore Newell’s fan! I still have to say that I am becoming more and more of a soccer fan- constant movement, lots of skill involved, and a set game time (although I don’t like this allowing a tie thing- someone should have to win!).

Our group after the game.

A Day of Contradictions

For my Spanish class I had to write a 3-page essay on one of the “heroes” of Argentina. It was a pro/con paper in that I read about the different heroes in history and then read a part of a book on one of the heroes in a book by an author who has broken apart the myths surrounding these heroes. For my paper I chose Che Guevara so I watched “Motorcycle Diaries” and read the chapter about how Che shouldn’t be considered a hero. Because of all I have learned about Che, I was eager to see the sites around Rosario related to him. Apparently Che was actually born in Rosario, Argentina. So, I am living in the birthplace of the controversial Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. However, his family didn’t stay long and moved to another part of Argentina while he was still young. Still, there is a signpost where his apartment was, and a mural of him in one of the plazas. One of the other people on our trip (one of the only two varones) also has an interest in Che, so we made a day of it to visit the different sites. As we were “touring” around we also discovered from our map that there is in fact a monument to Che as well (a statue in a different park) which we are planning on visiting before we leave because we ran out of time on Saturday.

The sign outside Che's birthplace

Chad and me in front of the mural.

The reason we ran out of time is pretty much in complete contradiction with “Che day” as we lovingly called it. August sixth is the anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. In remembrance of this day and to promote peace, Rosario creates a beautiful memoriam called “Mil Grullas Por La Paz” at the Flag Monument. People from all over Rosario (and perhaps a larger region, I’m not sure) fold origami cranes and send them to the organizers who hang them up on August 6th at the Flag Monument. It was absolutely beautiful and most of them had names of schools or grades attached to them. I loved it and would have taken hundreds of pictures if I had allowed myself. For now I will only post these, but it was a beautiful reminder of the need for peace and a wonderful way to remind students and the general community of the need for peace.

La paz es fundamental

Uruguay Trip Part #4- Punta del Este

Our two-day trip took a change of plans about halfway through Saturday. Everyone we had talked to about our trip had told us that we had to go see Punta del Este. We had no idea what this was, but even on our bus trip from Rosario to Montevideo we were informed by a new acquaintance that we should make the 2-hour trip up the coast.

After bumming around Montevideo for a day and knowing we would still have half a day after visiting the Sunday market, we decided to head to Punta del Este for Sunday afternoon. We packed up our stuff and said goodbye at the B&B around noon. Then we headed to the bus station, found some lockers for our backpacks and bought yet another bus ticket to head to Punta del Este around 2pm.

On the bus, I asked the gal sitting next to me what she was reading, and I was treated with a nice conversation with Marcia (a fellow Christian) who happened to be reading a Beth Moore book in Spanish. After our conversation and a side comment I made about needing to read more in Spanish, I am now the proud owner of a very generous gift from an almost complete stranger. We are also friends on Facebook, so I have to read the book in order to let her know I did. Talk about a great way to improve Spanish reading!

My new friend Marcia

When we got off the bus to the freezing ocean air, we made our way to the beach and immediately found the sculpture that everyone had told us about- a hand that appears to be reaching out of the sand. Even though it is the middle of winter and temperatures are hardly above zero, we were not the only tourists there taking pictures, so it was somewhat difficult to get a picture without someone else in it. However, we met a couple who asked if I was from Brazil and later had a group of people come up to us saying in Spanish: “Let’s take a picture with some locals- are you from Uruguay?” We were thrilled to be considered South American, but had to tell them that we are in fact from the United States. This got them just as excited because they are from Venezuela so we took pictures together and chatted for a while. Apparently two of them are Salsa instructors and I was very sad to find out that they dance salsa in Uruguay and we hadn’t known- otherwise we might have spent Saturday night dancing!

At "la mano" sculpture.

Our trip wasn’t long, but we enjoyed dinner and the view of the other beach at night (Punta del Este is on a peninsula) and then headed back to our bus to take us to our bus to take us to our bus (three buses in all from Punta del Este to Montevideo to Buenos Aires to Rosario). That is a story in and of itself that probably won’t be written here, but I will leave it at this- the bus ride from Montevideo to Buenos Aires (all 8 hours of it) fue un disastre and even though we gave ourselves almost 2 hours between trips, we almost missed our bus to Rosario. Happily (and thanks to God) we were able to make it safely back to Rosario by 2pm- just in time to grab some lunch and check in with our teacher before class was over.

This trip was definitely one I will always remember and one that I thoroughly enjoyed!! Thanks Courtney and Elysse for going with me! I never would have done it alone!

Uruguay Trip Part #3- La Fuente de los Candados

When we first arrived at our B&B and had settled in a little, our new friend César gave us a quick map tour of the city and told us we had to go to the “Fuente de los Enamorados” (Fountain of Lovers) and take pictures for sure. On our initial walk through the city we had not found anything that resembled the fountain of lovers so we asked at the restaurant where it could be found. The waitress had no idea what we were talking about and asked several other people with no luck. Finally someone was able to explain where it was and when we walked to it after eating, we understood why noone else had a clue of what we were talking about. The fountain is actually called “La Fuente de los Candados” or Fountain of the Locks.

In front of the fountain

Legend has it that if you place a lock on the fountain with the initials of two people in love and they later return, their love will forever be locked together. This intrigued us, and Courtney, who has a serious boyfriend, decided that we needed to take part in the fun. That first evening we bought locks (Courtney and I) and whiteout to write on them. Back at the hotel she placed her initials and her boyfriends initials on one lock. On the other I wrote two question marks and my initials.

The following day (Sunday) we returned to the fountain to place our locks. Apparently now I just have to find “question mark” and return to Montevideo in order to have my love forever locked with a currently unknown somebody.

Courtney and me with our locks on the fountain.

This same day we were able to visit one of the biggest outdoor markets in the world- Feria de Tristán Narvaja. All together it is probably equivalent to 30 city blocks located in a neighborhood north of the center of town. It was incredible- part store, part artisan market, part garage sale and part antique store along with all kinds of animals for sale, including one corner dedicated to people trying to sell puppies. I have pictures of it all because Courtney is great at taking pictures whenever and wherever. We had some great tortas fritas with sugar. And we learned how much more Uruguayans are “materos” than Argentineans (mate drinkers). Almost everyone we passed had a thermos tucked under one arm and a mate cup in one hand. It is amazing. I would say that mate is to Argentina and Uruguay as coffee is to the United States- and they may even rival us for first place in their dedication to their drink.

A view of the feria

In Uruguay they are definitely "materos"- mate drinkers. Almost everyone was walking around like this- thermos of hot water under the arm and mate cup in hand

Uruguay Trip Part #2- Montevideo

Our trip started out, as stated earlier, at 11:50pm Friday night. We met up at Elysse’s homestay, where I am sure the security guard thought I was a little strange, since I stood outside for five to ten minutes, attempting to ring Elysse’s apartment without any success. The other two (Elysse and Courtney) finally came downstairs where Elysse informed me that she had no idea how to answer the speaker buzzer (come to think of it, I don’t know how to in my apartment either). We then proceeded, wrapped in many layers and carrying our backpacks, to a bus stop to take a bus to the bus station. Our adventure had begun. At the bus terminal we climbed on our bus and settled in for our 8-hour ride.

Unfortunately our sleep was interrupted almost exactly halfway through the trip with the need to go through customs between Argentina and Uruguay. We proceeded through customs and were slightly disappointed when the only stamp we received was a “salida” (exit) from Argentina. Back on the bus they asked for passports again, and after a few minutes returned them to us- this time with Uruguay stamps!

Me, Courtney and Elysse with our stamped passports

We arrived in Montevideo around 9am and promptly took a taxi to our hotel to drop off our backpacks and begin our day of exploring. When we arrived at what turned out to be a lovely B&B, we discovered that we had in fact booked a room at a gay “men only” hotel. I don’t know how we were able to achieve this, but it is true. However, without any questions they let us stay and we will all admit, that we wouldn’t have gotten such great advice for our trip at just any old hotel. We were shown around the “house” and told to make ourselves at home. So, we did and were immediately given ideas for what to do with our day. Since we had no plans and no real expectations for our trip, we set off in the direction of the old town and were happy to encounter lots of fun artisan shops, beautiful old buildings, a walk along the river shore, and friendly people everywhere we went. Montevideo is a very laid back city, and there were hardly any people around (probably partly because it was practically freezing). We had to keep moving to keep warm, but the sun was out, so that helped the mood.

A lampost with beautiful graffiti- my initials!

This man was painting on the street- I bought a beautiful painting from him, done completely with spray paint!

Along our rambling through town we discovered the California Burrito Company and treated ourselves to burritos complete with rice, sour cream, guacamole and a little bit of spice. It took us a little while to switch our brains from the $4 peso to $1 US exchange in Argentina to the $18 peso to $1 US exchange in Uruguay (it is a little harder to divide by 18), but we soon realized that we weren’t spending an arm and a leg to eat a $200 peso meal.

Yum! Mexican food!

On our way back through the city we happened to walk straight into the filming of a movie. At first we didn’t even realize it was taking place and ended up walking onto the set. We soon realized that the people standing in set locations on the sidewalk, without moving, were in fact getting ready to shoot a scene for a movie. We skedaddled as fast as we could, right about the time some guards came to shoo everyone away (their security obviously wasn’t very good because multiple people had crossed the line into the shoot). We didn’t stick around to see the shooting, but it was fun to see the big cameras set up, to see a very nice car that had to have been in the film, and to see a little of the behind-the-scene set up of the filming of a movie.

Can you see the camera in front of Teatro Solis? This is where they were filming the movie

We completed our day by buying some vegetables and rice at a supermarket (we wanted to buy them in the real street market, but everything closed up around 3pm) and headed back to our “house” to make dinner. When we arrived we discovered that the owners were going to be heading back to Spain (where they are from) the next morning after 5 years in Uruguay so they were having a little party. We settled into the kitchen to attempt to make rice and stir-fry with the couple of functioning pans we could find. The most hilarious thing was that anytime someone new showed up to the party and walked in the kitchen a look of shock came over their faces and they would exclaim something like, “Hay mujeres en la cocina!” (there are women in the kitchen). I think we threw them all off, but we all had a good time, and after dinner, card games, a quick shower and making tentative plans for the next day, we headed to bed under a wonderful down comforter.

Cooking rice and veggies in the kitchen

The best part of the whole thing is that we didn’t feel that we had to do anything. Although there are several tourist attractions and lots of museums, we didn’t feel any pressure to complete any of these activities. In fact, we didn’t go to one museum the whole time we were there. Instead, we walked around, ate our meals and then sat and talked, and simply relaxed. It was so nice not to have a schedule we had to keep or places we had to be. For once on our trip we felt we could really breathe for a little bit with out the least bit of guilt. It was a wonderful girl’s weekend away!

Uruguay Trip Part #1

I am a planner. I can be flexible and adaptable, but I usually like to be planned ahead of time, especially for trips. A couple of weeks ago we decided that the best weekend for us to pack up and head to Montevideo, Uruguay for a weekend trip (yes, an international weekend trip!) would be August 5-7^th. This sounded great to me- plenty of time to find a hotel and get bus tickets. Last weekend, when we headed to Iguazu, we even located a bus company that goes directly from Rosario, Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay. We were set to finalize our plans the beginning of this week.

Then yesterday happened. July 28^th and we decided to do a complete 180 and head to Uruguay this weekend. Now, if I hadn’t had my heart set on visiting one more South American country while I am down here it might not have been a big deal, but I really wanted to go. So, along with only two other gals who wanted to head out this weekend, at about 5pm yesterday we took it upon ourselves to figure out if we could make it happen today! Believe me, this took a lot of deep breathing from me. I quickly went home to check with my host family and pick up my passport and credit card and then we headed to the bus terminal to get bus tickets.

Our first stop was successful- there were still three spots on the bus from Rosario to Montevideo for the following day (today, Friday at midnight). Next point of business- return trip…no such luck. There were no spaces available to return before class on Monday. So, we began the hour and a half long search between bus companies in the Rosario Omnibus Terminal to find if anyone could get us back to Rosario before class on Monday, or at the latest, before class on Tuesday. Very few companies take a direct route and we soon discovered that most bus companies return from Montevideo to Rosario on either Monday evening (arriving Tuesday afternoon) or Thursday evening, neither of which would work for us. We finally made the decision to purchase three bus tickets from three different bus companies; one from Rosario to Montevideo, one from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, and one from Buenos Aires to Rosario, getting us back to Rosario in the middle of our second class, but definitely before class on Tuesday. Then we ran into trouble. After an hour and a half and with dinner time passing (it was now about 8:30pm), we accidently purchased our ticket from Montevideo to Buenos Aires for Monday evening at midnight instead of Sunday evening at midnight, meaning we would end up back on Rosario only in time for class on Wednesday. Missing two days of class for this was not an option in our minds. So, we sheepishly returned to the man who we had already talked to three times to see if we could switch our tickets from Monday to Sunday (after we had just purchased them). Praise the Lord! Apparently international trips can be switched, so with a few little modifications on the computer we had our new tickets and purchased our final ticket to get back to Rosario Monday afternoon.

Our final order of business was to book a hotel. We had a hotel that had been recommended to us and we were excited that it looked very nice and fairly cheap- a three-person room for $68 U.S. dollars. This morning I was informed by one of the other gals that the hotel was booked, so this afternoon (remember we are now talking about the day of the trip) we put in a reservation to another hotel that we hope is going to be a great place to stay.

Now, in just a couple of hours, I will get on a 10-hour bus ride with two other gals and we will make the trek to Montevideo, Uruguay. Tomorrow, Saturday, we will bum around the city, carrying our backpacks until we can check into our hotel (at least the hotel we hope we are staying at). We have nothing planned except that we are eager to take in a small part of the small country of Uruguay in what will most likely be, fairly cold weather. Sunday evening we will once again board a bus, hopefully after a very nice trip, and make our way back to Rosario.

I am excited to travel with a smaller group and it will definitely be an adventure for this girl who likes to know what is happening. Right now, I don’t know what is happening minus the fact that I have some bus tickets and a packed backpack.

Let the adventure begin!!

Ready to get on the midnight bus to Uruguay!!

What Tugs at My Heart Strings

I have been enjoying my time here in Argentina. It is fun to live in a large city for awhile, where practically everything is within walking distance, or bus-riding distance. It is easy to get around and exciting to be a part of the hustle-and-bustle of a living city.

However, as we have traveled out to Entre Rios and this last weekend to Iguazu, I have found what really tugs at my heart. Once you leave the centro of Rosario and travel to the outskirts, you begin to see the poverty that surrounds the city. Small, make-shift houses with nothing but curtains for doors are stacked next to each other. Children run around in dirty clothes or hardly anything at all. This is what tugs at my heart. Poverty and need evoke in me a desire to get out and walk and talk with these people. I want to love on them and share life with them. I don’t want to fix everything, but I want to provide a taste of the love and hope that God has given me, especially over the last year. I know there is something here that God wants to use and I feel all I can do is wait and see what doors (or curtains) God opens up for me.

Iguazu Falls

(I'm putting this post up now while it is fresh in my mind, so future posts may actually be working backwards through time, but that is just the way it will have to be.)

I have to admit that I tend to be one of those people who thinks that if you have seen onewaterfall, you have seen them all. Not that I don’t cease to be amazed by the beauty of waterfalls, but I sometimes don’t see the need to visit every single waterfall. Boy am I glad that I made the trip to see Iguazu. It is like nothing else you can imagine. The power and beauty of these falls is beyond words. God is an amazing creator!!

We left Rosario on Friday afternoon after Spanish classes were over and began our 20 hour bus trip (yes, we did realize that this was like flying to Australia and then some) to Puerto Iguazu. For those of you who need a little help with the geography, the falls are on the boarder between Brazil and Argentina. They are actually very close to where the rivers create the boarders of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Needless to say, it was a very long bus ride, but we were able to sleep for a good chunk of it, and arrived, tired, but excited to Puerto Iguazu at 10am. We left our stuff at our hostel (my first experience staying in a hostel), freshened up a bit and then set out for the Parque Internacional de Iguazu. I have never seen a National Park so beautifully arranged. Even though there are hundreds of people there each day, the park still has the feel of being out in the middle of nature. The walkways have been created with the least amount of interruption to the wildlife, and they are arranged so that you can see the waterfalls from every possible angle (above, below, to the side…).

The first day there we visited “La Garganta de Diablo” or “Devil’s Throat.” This is a group of waterfalls that are situated in a tight ‘u’ shape, and create a powerful burst of water. You view them from above, from walkways that are practically on the rim of the waterfall. It was amazing to hear the rush of the powerful water and to feel the bursts of mist that are created from thousands of gallons of water tumbling over rock. The walk out was also amazing as you cross what feels like miles of river, winding its way beneath your feet. I still haven’t figured out how they laid the walkways through this fast-moving river.

We then walked the Upper Circuit, a pathway of steel bridges that crosses above the tops of several of the other waterfalls and enjoyed amazing, picturesque views of San Martin Island (in the middle of the falls) as well as the many waterfalls. God was sure demonstrating His beauty and promise because I have hardly any pictures without a rainbow in them. It looks like paradise with large birds circling around the island situated in the midst of multiple waterfalls.

We completed our day by returning to the city of Puerto Iguazu and venturing out to the Tres Fronteras. This is a small park where you can sit and see Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. We were able to watch the sunset there and I marveled at the fact that I am in a place I never imagined I would be. Of course, everyone else staying at the hostel we were at is actually venturing over to those two countries, but it was enough for me to sit and look at those crossroads (at least for now).

I'm sitting on Argentina soil, Brazil is to the right behind me and Paraguay is in the left of the picture.

Our second day in Puerto Iguazu began with a tour that we had arranged the day before. After passing up zip-lining in the rainforest of Costa Rica, I knew I couldn’t pass it up again when one of the girls wanted to go. So, for $35 American dollars, we joined a group of people who went out to the Iguazu Jungle (not quite the same as the Amazon, or tropical Costa Rica, but similar) and enjoyed some repelling, trekking and zip-lining through the Argentine jungle. It was actually a lot of fun and we had a great time.

This ended before noon so we were able to grab a bite to eat at the local panaderia (empanadas and chipa, a kind-of cheese bread Iguazu is known for) and headed back to the park for a second day. This day we hiked the Lower Circuit, which takes visitors past the bottoms of the waterfalls, and practically under the waterfall if you dare to go. Also on this circuit you can join the Nautical Tour, which consists of a jet boat tour under the falls. Needless to say we were soaked when we were done with this, but it is an experience I will never forget. Viewing waterfalls of that size from the bottom reminds you of how awesome our God is. One girl during class today mentioned that the trip was amazing because for nature to create something of that magnitude was unbelievable. I almost spoke up and said that it is unbelievable, which is why you have to believe in a God with infinite creativity. I am reminded of the song that in Spanish says, “Mi Dios es muy grande, fuerte y poderoso, No hay nada que no pueda hacer” or the more familiar English- “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do.”

The boat ride under the falls.

This almost perfect day ended with a view of the sunset over the jungle/forest of Argentina and then one of the best beef dinners imaginable (my favorite part was the proprietor bringing out the raw cuts of meat to explain which ones were the best before we ordered). All-in-all I think it was worth the 40 hours on the bus to and from in order to experience what should be one of the Natural Wonders of the world.

Museo de Memoria/Centro Clandestino

One of the components of our program has been to make several different cultural visits during our stay. The largest part of recent Argentine history was the “Dirty War” that took place between 1976 and 1983. During this time there was military rule in Argentina and anyone who was against this “government” could possibly be kidnapped in the middle of the night and detained illegally in any number of clandestine prisons. This is the time period of “the disappeared” for whom mothers still march in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.

Here in Rosario the same thing happened, as it did all around Argentina. Two of the visits we have made have been to the Museo de Memoria and the Centro Clandestino.

Museo de Memoria is a beautiful museum dedicated to the memory of those who have disappeared. A group of artists were gathered to utilize the building that was once the headquarters of the military brainpower in Rosario. Here is where they decided who would be kidnapped and when- or who would be killed. They made the decision that for this museum there would not be a focus on the torture and pain that took place, but instead on the memory of those who disappeared and their lives. I think it is one of the most interesting and beautifully arranged museums I have been to, but feel free to argue with me. One of the reasons I believe this is because, as the guide explained, every room was specifically chosen by the artists to display specific pieces of art. For example, the pillars engraved with names of those who disappeared was placed in the outdoor courtyard where everyone who passes the building can see it and be reminded. In the interior of the building, in a semi-circle rotunda, there are paintings of the white handkerchiefs that the mothers of the plaza de mayo wear and a tape player playing the hymn of the mothers because the mothers walk around in a circle in the Plaza de Mayo. In yet another room, that resembles a courtyard, there is a display of pictures of children who were born to those who disappeared. On one wall are pictures of children who were among the disappeared, but due to genetic testing in the last few years, or through other forms of identification, they have been reunited with grandparents (many of their parents are still missing). What is amazing is that many of these “children” are my age or slightly older. On the wall opposite are pictures, or in some cases no pictures, of children who are assumed missing- either children who were born while their parents were being detained, or children who died along with their parents, or children who still haven’t been located. The pieces are powerful and heart wrenching and I am still trying to take in this piece of Argentine history.

The wall of children who disappeared

One exhibit involved library cards of the disappeared hanging from the ceiling with different types of books on pedestals.

Our next visit was just as hard for me. We were greeted by a lady in her 50s, at the door of a locked building on the side of a governmental building. Behind these locked doors is the location of Rosario’s clandestine prison; the place where people were taken and tortured after being kidnapped from their homes during the night. She herself was taken here, but then quickly transferred to a legal prison in Buenos Aires for 3 years, and then she lived in exile in Spain for several years. She didn’t really feel right telling the story of the prison because it is not her story, but it was enough for all of us to be present with someone who was detained in any manner during this time in Argentine history.

She walked us through the different rooms, showing us where people were tortured with electric shock and where people were held together with no room to move. She showed us the old wooden floor where people were dropped to create horrific noises for the prisoners below to listen to. She showed us the part of the prison where you hoped you would end up because you were more likely to survive, and the place where most people died. It was awful to be in the location of such awful happenings, and to see that walls had been remade and floors overlaid with concrete in an attempt to confuse the former prisoners so that they couldn’t correctly identify the building or their captors after the “war” had ended. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live through those times, and yet the large majority of people in Argentina did live through it and live with the consequences of a broken generation even today.