Beginning of the Lasts

It's my last week here in Argentina, and I'd say I'm ready to go home, but I also weirdly want to stay here. Possibly this is because of the fantastically awesome weekend I had. Even though not everything went right, it all worked out in the end. Like a four hour delay getting to fly to Iguazu that ended up being a bonding time with Kat and Nick, then raining during our mate plantation that turned into wet muddy fun.

I guess I should explain how the weekend went.
I woke up at the ridiculous hour of 4:15 in the morning so I could make sure I had everything before getting a taxi at 5 in order to get the airport at 5:30, for a flight scheduled for 6:30. Then we got on the plane at 7 only to sit there for an hour because the weather in Iguazu was bad. We got herded off the plane, given free breakfast and spent the next four hours bonding and talking about life. Arriving in Iguazu, we visited a Guarani (native people from the area) village, then ate dinner at a cute hole in the wall place where a really nice grandfather-type guy cooked us steak and chorizo for dinner.

Saturday, bright and early at 7 in the morning, I got a real breakfast! Probably the best start to a day I've had lately, then bused over to the falls which quite frankly blew my mind.  We started out seeing some amazing falls that we all thought were huge and amazing and awe inspiring, but every time we turned a corner, there was a new, bigger, more awesome waterfall.  Lots of pictures were taken, and fun was had by all. 150 pesos poorer, I rode a boat into the mist at the bottom of the falls and (sort of) went to Brazil. As in, the river is the border and our boat passed onto the Brazilian side a little bit. Soaking wet, exhausted, and feeling extremely content, dinner at the hotel, and a very good night's sleep made for a happy Meredith.

Even more bright and early, at 6, was yet ANOTHER awesome breakfast and a 3 hour bus ride, which meant nap time considering how early it was. Then a meat-filled lunch were we ate 'animal' which turned out to be lamb, toured a mate plantation in the mud, and severely enjoyed ourselves.

Now, we're all back in Buenos Aires and counting our days left. I've got until 4 on Saturday to try and squeeze in everything I have yet to do. Like go to Tortoni's cafe, possibly visit the zoo, possibly take a ferry over to Uruguay, and buy boatloads of alfajores to take home. Only one more day of class; Wednesday being a holiday really helps me get everything done before I go home. Then two days of finals, a farewell lunch, and homeward bound I go by way of Dallas and Seattle.

Things I'm going to relish when I get home:
BBQ
Bacon
Peanut Butter
My bed
My car
KNOWING THE LANGUAGE
Hulu
Dollars (not pesos)
Unlimited sleep
Quiet
Mountains
Simply being home

Things I'm going to miss about Argentina:
Medialunas
Pomelo soda
el Subte
Submarinos
Iguazu

My new found friends (who need visit Idaho...Kat)