Friday, June 8, 2007

I kept waking up during the night because I was uncomfortable. I kept switching from my side to my back without finding a comfortable way to lay. At 6:30, Gustavo woke me up and the man brought us breakfast trays and told us they were to take with us. We were all hungry and started eating them instead... oops! We got to the bus station about 7 and got off only to hop aboard a new bus. This was a private bus with only ISA students, our driver (Señor Hormiga--Mr. Ant, his nickname), our guide (Margi--or Margarita), and Gustavo and Paula (our ISA directors). We drove from the bus station to the ruins of one of the Jesuit missions. We got out and waited while Paula and Gustavo paid the entrance fee for us and then we were introduced to our tour guide for the ruins. It was harder for me to understand him. We went into a little museum at the start of the tour and saw artifacts that have been found from the Jesuit mission. There was a statue of a saint that had his arm cut off. During the invasions that followed after the Jesuits had left, people cut off the arms and heads of the statues hoping to find gold, but they wasn’t any. There was a model of what the mission would have looked like in its prime. It was really cool. We walked outside to the village part. It was amazing to think about the brave men who came to the jungle to start this mission. There were many houses (or remains of houses) all around set up in neat rows around the edge of the mission. We took lots of pictures. We walked across an open field to the church. I was surprised by how much of it was left. We saw the original rock floor of the church and the altar. It was unbelievable. We saw a tree that grew over a rock pillar. It was so beautiful there. I wished we could have stayed longer and just sat outside under the fruit trees. We went to another tiny museum with more artifacts and then left the ruins. There were street vendors selling souvenirs. I bought a cross necklace that had native seeds on it, too. There were little children begging everywhere. We got back on the bus and drove about 40 minutes or so to an estancia (ranch). We got there earlier than anticipated (around 10:30 or so) and relaxed. The estancia was also a mate plantation and so we got to see it in person! I took a little walk by myself and then they served us these really tasty cheese rolls and mate cocida (tea made from mate). It was delicious. I sat out in the sun with some other girls and took off my shoes. It was really hot. I left and went and sat in a hammock and read my Bible and journaled until lunch. Other people were swimming in the pool. The water was really cold, but they had been playing volleyball and running so they were hot. There was a little building by the pool with two rooms. The girls had a room to leave their stuff and a bathroom and the boys had the other one. There were also showers, but I don’t think anyone used them. At 1pm, we had an asado (barbeque). I tried a sausage thing in a bun, but didn’t really like it. It was really greasy. I had salad, pasta, and yucca. I had a little piece of beef and it was pretty good, even though I am not much of a meat-eater. After we ate, they brought out baskets of fruit and I had an orange. Musicians came out and played a guitar and accordion for us. They taught us how to do a strange little two-step dance. I danced with Will, but it was a really redundant dance that you could only do so long. Whenever people sat down, our hosts would grab them and start dancing with them or match them up with someone else. I danced with one of the musicians, too. It was an interesting experience. We left to walk to a mate factory. It was not too far away. There was not any mate there that day, but we got to see the furnace and conveyor belts where the mate normally goes. It was neat to be able to see this because this is the only part of the world where mate grows. (It also grows in parts of Paraguay and Brazil.) We walked to an arroyo (stream) and a lot of the people in our group climbed across slippery rocks to a little island. I stayed on the bank and took pictures with everyone’s camera. I was afraid I would fall into the cold water and then my shoes would be wet for a long time. We walked back to the estancia and had a tea and fruit drink and more fruit. I took a walk in the opposite direction. The estancia was so beautiful. I miss green grass and fresh air. I walked quite far from the main area and when I made it back (7 minutes before we were supposed to leave), everyone was climbing onto the bus. I quickly kissed all the cooks and musicians on both cheeks and got on the bus. Something interesting is that in Buenos Aires, people greet each other with one kiss, usually on the right cheek. However, up north near Iguazú, people always greet each other with two kisses, one on each cheek. Margi told us that in Brazil, people kiss three times, alternating cheeks. We drove 3.5 hours to Iguazú. They watched a movie on the bus (Passenger 57), but I choose to read. It was hard because it was getting dark and the lights didn’t work on the bus. I wished I had brought my little flashlight. I talked to Will for a while and looked out the window. We got some good pictures of the sunset. We stopped at a gas station about a half hour away from the hotel to get gas and everyone wanted to buy drinks and snacks. However, only 5 people at a time were allowed to go in, so it took forever. I thought it was strange that they sell big bottles of beer and wine at a gas station. We eventually got to our hotel. We were so hungry, but we had an hour and fifteen minutes to take a shower if we wanted before meeting for dinner. Diana and I are sharing a room. We unpacked and talked for a while. We went down for dinner and everyone was already down in the restaurant, even though we were 10 minutes early. It was a buffet. I tried lots of different foods. None of the food was just spectacular, but it was good. However, the dessert table was amazing! There was tons of fruit and chocolate mousse and other pie-type things. I tried almost everything, but decided that the chocolate mousse was my favorite. I ate a ton! We had to pay for our own drinks. We went back upstairs and showered and went to bed because we had to get up the next morning and we were exhausted.