Somewhere near the Brazilian, Argentina border, Brazil: On the road again....

That song popped into my head as I headed to Iguazu Falls in Argentina. 18 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires, but worth it. What an amazing sight. Please look up pics on google, but realize that the pics will never do the place justice. (ill try to post mine on FB soon). Its the most incredible thing ive seen in nature. Ill be in the Amazon in about two weeks, so dont count it against me if I say the same thing then. But the falls were absolutely incredible. I just saw them today, then got on a bus to Brazil, and now im headed to a beautiful beach town called Florionopolis, in about an hour.

Let me recap, moving backwards.

Im here at the bus station after crossing the border from Argentina to Brazil. Border crossings always excite me. You never know what to expect, and you hear all these horror stories about customs being difficult, and thieves prowling. But I made it over with no trouble at all. There is a long visa process to enter Brazil with a US passport, but that was all taken care of weeks ago. I was still a bit nervous, because I told them I was flying in, but instead took a bus. It didnt matter, im in. But the whole border crossing was fun.

Before the crossing I was at Iguazu falls. An absolutely incredible park full of waterfalls, but not just any waterfalls. Probably the most amazing in the world. We got up early today and were one of the first into the park, and saw the whole thing before 1pm. The town itself reminded me of Central America. Sub tropical climate, lush green scenery, and dirt roads. I became quite nostalgic hanging out there. I think I miss Central America!

I have a bus to catch tonight, so I wanted to give myself enough time to cross the border and get to the international bus station (where i am now). So I left Iguazu for the Brazilian border.

While at the falls I stayed in one of the coolest hostels ive ever been to, and at this point, thats been quite a few. It was an old casino, and has been renovated for hostel use. It has a huge pool, and there was a bbq last night, and tango show. I was quite impressed.

Before that I was in Buenos Aires, again. I had to travel from Uruguay back to Buenos Aires, and then to Iguazu. Apparently there were no direct buses from Montevideo.

I was in Montevideo the day after New Years, but only for a day. Its the capital of Uruguay, a nice town, but nothing special.

Before Montevideo I was in Punta del Este, perhaps the coolest place ive been to on my trip. Of course, it could have to do with the fact that I was there during New Years week. It was a really good time.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I hung out with some Brazilians, one of which had connections to every happening event on the peninsula. We got into one of the most exclusive parties in Punta, held at one of the most exclusive hotels in Uruguay, overlooking the ocean. It was nice. The cover charge to get in was 350 US dollars! Way too much money, so most of the guys had given up on the idea of getting in. I on the other hand, always love a challenge, and promised the guys that we would get in and would not pay close to the asking price. The cover charge is a ploy to keep out rift raft, or guys who show up and just cause trouble. Really I knew that Felip, one of the guys, had a connection. He wasnt even sure if he could pull it off, but I assured him he could. I gave him a little pep talk and he came out with 10 wrist bands, enough to get us all in. More than half the guys were still at the hostel, not thinking they had a chance, but me a Felipe went in, and Rubens, went to go get the rest of the guys, and Clarrissa. We made about a quarter of the asking price. Most of the guests inside wore loafers worth more than my whole luggage bag, but we fit in just fine.

The rest of the trip was just as exciting. Laying at the beach all day, driving around town in the back of the pick-up.

Brazilians are very passionate about soccer, and every soccer team has its own little song that the fans sing. We were in the back of the truck one day, and the guys were singing at the top of their lungs. One guy asked me what they sing at Redders games.

Redders games? What? What are Redders games?

¨Yeah, Redders, your team, he said.

Oh, Raiders! Well we dont sing songs at footbal games, sorry.

Then one of the guys mocked, yeah, you chant D-FENSE, and all the boys laughed. But, yeah, theyre right. Its football, not star search.

But I did learn a soccer song from my time in Mexico City. My cousins were huge Puma fans, of the Mexican soccer league, and they won the championships while I was there. I learned the song they sang, and taught it to the boys. It became our theme song for the week. Girls loved it when we sang it them. Check it out on Youtube, it may make more sense. Type in something like: Puma como no te voy a querer.

And thats the song: ¨Como no te voy a querer, como no te voy a querer...¨ and we just kept chanting that from the back of the truck. They loved it. Clearly one of those things where you had to be there.

Im at the bus terminal, so I have to go, ill post more later.

The trip seems to be getting more and more exciting. Brazil is a very cool place. Hope all is well back home.

Love you mom, family, and friends!