give it up, baby give it up!

The last week has almost been more than I can take in. My class arrived in Missiones on Tuesday morning(ish) after a 17 hour bus ride that consisted of the worst American movies in existence, more alcohol offered than water (dehydration), and incredible reclining chairs, its one saving grace. Its embarrassing how much stuff we are carrying; giant backpacks on front and back, causing us to stagger and walk awkwardly down stairs, totally conspicuous and disoriented. Reaching the hostel made everything better though. It has a pool next to the outdoor covered kitchen and hammocks. We had dinner and seminar poolside and this just totally beats any class setting I´ve ever had in my life. Its hot and we are surrounded by jungle. I´m sharing a room with a girl and guy (Morgan and Katrina) and it even has a tv so we can watch south park dubbed in spanish and horrible kung fu! So on to the good parts. Wednesday we hiked to the Iguazu waterfalls, the most beautiful, breath-taking, mind-shattering natural phenomenon I have ever experienced. Words cannot describe. They are massive and were created from edges where lava stopped flowing. Along the paths we stopped to identify birds and other wildlife. I saw giant tucans, monkeys (one with a baby on its back, another that threw an orange at me which I tried to eat but it was overripe, on that tried to hit us with a stick while sucking on its foot, and another with a hard-on that was growling at us while playing with its balls), coatis (raccoon like creatures with long noses that will not hesitate to rummage through your backpack), turtles, and an incredible amount of butterflies. The next day I woke up at 5am to go bird watching. I saw almost 40 different species and was totally mesmerized. I cannot believe I ever went hiking without binoculars before because they are the greatest things ever. Now I totally want a pair for my birthday. We also saw a crocodile swimming through the water, looking so much like a dinosaur. I have a new fear: bullet ants. Giant ants that are nearly as long as my thumb, shiny black and poisonous. Their bite is like a bullet wound and they are everywhere in these jungles. Like you take a few steps, look down and there´s another one. Some part s of the year they even have wings so they can land on you. No bueno! Last night I jumped in the pool after dinner with my clothes on and lost a hundred pesos. Then I got bite next to my eye by a mosquito and looked like Quasimodo for a second. But my money was recovered the next day and then we went to a hummingbird garden nearby. These people have been feeding birds in their garden for 10 years so it was completely full of them! I saw like 6 different species of hummingbirds. More to say but out of time. Peace!