The Falls

To celebrate the end of language school, I took a short trip to Iguazu Falls with my fellow missioner, Michelle. These are waterfalls located on the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. It was breathtaking to be there, especially when the sun was out. It is located in a sub-tropical area, so it was warmer than Cochabamba in the winter. Michelle and I had one 'adventure day' where we zip-lined (canopyed) above the tree line and rapelled down a rock face. It was really cool and surprisingly safe. :) Sadly, I did not practice my castellano as much as I would have hoped. The Spanish I heard in Argentina has such a strong accent (with a mix of Portuguese) that I gave up and just started saying "si" to almost everything. The Spanish spoken in Paraguay was much clearer, but with a mix of an indigenous language, Guarani.

While visiting the area, I also took in a jewel mine (mostly amethyst) and one of the modern marvels of the world, the Itaipu hydroelectric dam. It was a nice trip, but I was really happy to get back to Bolivia where everything is much, much cheaper.