So, I’m home from my 5 day vacation! It was marvelous. We left Friday evening, taking the train to the bus station. That was an adventure in itself. There were three of us girls and we were told by our host families to be very careful at the station at night because, well, it’s a good place for pick-pockets to swoop in on unsuspecting tourists. Well we got to the train station that would take us to the bus stop and it was super packed with people. I knew we had to make room so I shoved my way in, apparently something that the two other girls I was with found quite funny. A little girl with a huge backpack and another bag shoving her way into a crowd of mostly bigger men. Well, we got on the train, to say the least!! J
With a sigh of relief we all made it onto the bus safely with all of our possessions intact. Now we had about 19 hours to chill on the bus. And people weren’t lying when they said that this is surprisingly one of the good parts of the trip. I enjoyed it anyways, because I like being lulled asleep by the rocking bus. We were on the upper level, oh yeah it was big, and had seats that basically laid out into beds. The only thing that I didn’t enjoy was the bathroom, but go figure. We got served dinner and drinks and watched a couple of movies before sleeping. The next day our bus was supposed to arrive around 11:30, but arrived around 1…which I hear is not unusual. We had a driver that picked us up at the bus station and took us to our hostel. We refreshed ourselves a little bit and then headed out to find lunch. The place was good and surprisingly cheap. Basically all of the places we ate over the weekend were cheap. We ate out I think 6 times and I spent less than $50. One of the restaurants even had a little band playing.
That night we decided to take part in a boat ride down the river on which you could view “Las tres fronteras” which is the spot where you can see Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. It was a nice ride and at one point we stopped near the shore to see a ritual dance performed by a native tribe of Paraguay. That was pretty cool as well.
Sunday was our day to go to the park of the Cataratas del Iguazu, which was absolutely gorgeous. From the roaring waters of the waterfalls, to the tiniest butterfly, God was completely glorified. I am not sure how people can spend a day in that park and not see that there is a Creator. We got to see some huge waterfalls and take lots of pictures. We were accompanied by Hector, our tour guide, who took care of us for the entire day. Towards the end of the day we went on something called “The Gran Aventura” (The Grand Adventure) which is a sweet speedboat ride through the falls. We got soaked, which was so fun! That was followed by a guided ride through the rain forest back to meet up with our tour guide. The day was exhausting, but fun!
With a sigh of relief we all made it onto the bus safely with all of our possessions intact. Now we had about 19 hours to chill on the bus. And people weren’t lying when they said that this is surprisingly one of the good parts of the trip. I enjoyed it anyways, because I like being lulled asleep by the rocking bus. We were on the upper level, oh yeah it was big, and had seats that basically laid out into beds. The only thing that I didn’t enjoy was the bathroom, but go figure. We got served dinner and drinks and watched a couple of movies before sleeping. The next day our bus was supposed to arrive around 11:30, but arrived around 1…which I hear is not unusual. We had a driver that picked us up at the bus station and took us to our hostel. We refreshed ourselves a little bit and then headed out to find lunch. The place was good and surprisingly cheap. Basically all of the places we ate over the weekend were cheap. We ate out I think 6 times and I spent less than $50. One of the restaurants even had a little band playing.
That night we decided to take part in a boat ride down the river on which you could view “Las tres fronteras” which is the spot where you can see Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. It was a nice ride and at one point we stopped near the shore to see a ritual dance performed by a native tribe of Paraguay. That was pretty cool as well.
Sunday was our day to go to the park of the Cataratas del Iguazu, which was absolutely gorgeous. From the roaring waters of the waterfalls, to the tiniest butterfly, God was completely glorified. I am not sure how people can spend a day in that park and not see that there is a Creator. We got to see some huge waterfalls and take lots of pictures. We were accompanied by Hector, our tour guide, who took care of us for the entire day. Towards the end of the day we went on something called “The Gran Aventura” (The Grand Adventure) which is a sweet speedboat ride through the falls. We got soaked, which was so fun! That was followed by a guided ride through the rain forest back to meet up with our tour guide. The day was exhausting, but fun!
The following day Najmeh had to go home, sadly enough, but Abby and I stayed to go to the Mines of Wanda and the Jesuit ruins. We drove about 2.5 hours to get there and 2.5 back, so it was a day with a whole lot of driving. But it was good. The mines weren’t anything super spectacular, but the stones were pretty and the store was cool. The Jesuit ruins weren’t exactly what I expected either, but it was quite interesting to see, no less. They were definitely ruins…I guess I was expecting a little more structure to the buildings, or maybe things in the houses and rooms. But it was just as the name said: ruins…walls and sometimes floors. But Abby and I got a special tour guide in English, so we got to hear about the history and whatnot too. I had done research on the Jesuits for my Spanish class last year, which I am thankful for now because I could appreciate it more. When we got back, Abby and I went out to dinner and wandered the little town a little bit.
The next and final day we didn’t do a whole lot. We wandered around for a little bit and then came back to the hostel to wait for our ride to the bus station. It gave me a good hour or more to reflect on the weekend and get in the Word. That was good for me. I found a few Bible verses that definitely reflected my thoughts about the weekend. Here are a couple:
Psalm 19:1-2 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day, they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.
The next and final day we didn’t do a whole lot. We wandered around for a little bit and then came back to the hostel to wait for our ride to the bus station. It gave me a good hour or more to reflect on the weekend and get in the Word. That was good for me. I found a few Bible verses that definitely reflected my thoughts about the weekend. Here are a couple:
Psalm 19:1-2 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day, they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.
The falls are timeless. They communicate the same knowledge day after day. I love thinking about hundreds of years ago someone coming and seeing the same great work that I witnessed this weekend. It all points back to God.
Psalm 92:4 For you have made me rejoice, Lord, by what you have done; I will shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
A gorgeous view with a rainbow
Getting ready for our boat ride!
Original walls from hundreds of years ago
The wildlife of South America
1 comment:
Nice pictures! A bit jealous I admit. Question though...when you are surrounded by raging waterfalls that could probably kill you if you got too close (even at the bottom)...would a life jacket do anything?
Oh and that bug looked like it could have eaten you.
That wasn't a reference to the size of the bug...merely your small stature ;)
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