Otto 16th
Day 31

One month down, 100 days to go.

It's getting a lot easier to get around after having taken Spanish classes in Rosario, Argentina. Athough my whole family had taken lessons, I somehow have become our official translator for the time being.
Rosario was wonderful. Our decision to go to the city was because of a guy named Dylan we had met in Uruguay. Not only did he influence us to go to Rosario, where he lives, but also played a big part in why our stay was so great. With the combination of language studies, sweaty futbol games and ice cream from the best places in the country, our time there was well spent.
From Rosario, we traveled up north in the back of a truck to 'Reservation del Ibera' a wetlands and bird watching  paradise. Capybaras roamed the local's yards and dirt roads, and alligators swam in every nearby creek and pond. We stayed in a cozy little hostel owned by a cute old couple and their 7 children. The perfect place for watching hummingbirds fluster around watering cans and toads the size of small pumpkins crowd under light posts to catch bugs. After a few treks in the jungle and a boat ride across the river, we embarked on a 12 hour ride to my current destination.
Half of the travel was in the luxury of a bus, blasting terrible Japanese kung fu movies in Spanish. Although the language barrier didn't matter much, the dialogue included was mostly just screaming, along with many terrible fake punching and kicking sounds. The other half of the journey was spent packed into the cab of a truck, on the worst road I've ever seen. There was no shortage of bumping into the doors, the roof, or each other . That trip made me realize my love for gravol.

Though my family tends to stay away from the more touristic areas, we decided that Iguazu Falls might just be too good to pass up, especially since its on our way into Paraguay. Tomorrow we visit the falls, and then continue into Ciudad del Este , Paraguay.

October 4
Day 19

Pickpocketing is an art in Buenos Aires. Naturally, Tourists attract pickpockets, which means that in the capital of Argentina, there is no shortage of either. My family stands out as a target, carrying our large packs on our backs, and walking pretty much everywhere we go. Only a few blocks from the ferry terminal after entering Argentina , we expirenced our first run in with one of the many popular scams, continant wide. A couple passed by us, and shorty after we realized that our packs, hats and jackets were sprayed with a grimy green liquid. Within seconds a man came up to 'help us', pointing up at the trees and in broken engish told us that we were the victims of parrots. Highly unlikely for many reasons, one being that parrot crap is most often not green, and that the sprays were from the side ,not from above us. Lastly, we really haven't received much help at all from anyone on our trip. So far the culture here seems to be a lot more harsh then at home. Every time Id pass someone in the streets and smile, they'd look at me as though I were crazy. So receiving help from some stranger was odd on its own.

It was when we passed the same couple who we had already seen that we knew it was a scam, and that they were the culprits, not the parrots . They were trying to get us to go to them, and take off our packs so they could 'assist us' Which likely meant taking anything of value they could manage to grab. Luckily we had read abut similar scenarios happening to backpackers, and left with all of our belongings.

Although our first experience in Argentina happened to be a negative one, I'm glad it happened. I learned a lot from it, about what to look out for and how to be smarter about traveling. Since that moment everything has been uphill. Spanish lessons will take place next week. They are much needed, every other one of our trips we've been able to get through the language barrier easily, but as it turns out, nobody in south america speaks English.