Iguazu Falls, and Paraguay AND Argentina!

So a couple people in our group wanted to do a helicopter ride over the falls. It was $60 American and approximatley 12 minutes long. Yeah, a whopping 12 minutes. Needless to say I opted out of that activity. Instead I looked in the gift shop and wound up buying a really nice tanktop that says Brazil on it. Then we went to see the FALLS, which were such a joke cuz its dry season and that means theres no water. Melanie says that shes never seen them this dry and half the falls were just rock. So it was kinda anti-climactic. We were supposed to take a boat ride into them, but since the water was so low the boats werent running. We did however go an look in this really posh jewlerry store and I saw this really pretty bracelet made of diamonds and brazilian gemstone, and I thought maybe, just maybe if it was 500-600 dollars that I would splurge cuz it was so pretty and unique so I daringly ask the price. Guess...go on just guess. Cuz it wasnt 600, but 3600! So yeah, that was the end of my little fantasy! Anyways, then we went on this walk around the falls and there was this platform where people were doing rappelling down into the river. I looked kinda interested so the guy was showing me all these pictures, but i didnt really see the point because its basically just going down a rope which didnt seem very exciting to me, but then I saw on his little sign a ´Canopy Tour´and I was like, whats that. He DIDNT explain it very well, because I thought you just walk aroundon wires above the trees and then take a zip cord at the end. So Melanie said she would do it if I did, and then we hooked Chloe in, so us three girls head down there, pay and then find out what we were in for.

It was like Boot Camp to the extreme. They put us in harnesses and we have to do this obsticle course 8 meters above the ground so like walk on wobbly logs and climb spiderman webs and balance on wires whileholding on for dear life to ropes swinging abouve your head. About half way through Melanie was like `Lauren, this was NOT a good idea´and I agreed with her, and neither of us were joking. Then at the end as an extra special surprise, you get to climb up an 11 meter pole and then stand on top of it and JUMP off to catch a trapieze! I was like, I think this is the single scariest thing that Ive ever done. So of course, they let me go first, since I wanted to do this crazy tour in the first place. Getting up on that pole is scary ever though theres a guy at the bottom belaying you. Then your standing on top of it and its like, swaying in the wind. Then you put your arms out and jump. Bad move, I closed my eyes, and completely missed the friggin trapeeze, so then the guy starts letting me down slowely but then (just cuz hes so funny) he lets you drop until you almost hit the ground. That freaked me out. Melanie and Chloe both caught the trapeeze, so I decided to go again, because I wasnt going to be the only one who didnt, and the second time I caught it. Then they had this climbing wall that we all went on for a bit, but since the others were waiting for us (for like an hour) we couldnt climb as much as we wanted to. So basically, it was an entire afternoon of sheer terror, but now that its over we´re all like, that was really fun. Our hands are all blistered though from hanging on to the ropes for dear life. We all either went to the supermarket, or ordered pizza for dinner and sat in the hotels outdoor lobby eating and making caiprinahs. Its now a nightly tradition, we have cocktails before every meal.
The next day half of us woke up early to go to Paraguay. It was a 20 minute drive from where we were and you go there basically to shop and buy electronics (theyre supposed to be cheaper). They didnt even care when we crossed the border. They didnt check our passports and when the driver went to register his car they just waved him away? I figured that while there I might as well look for Ipod speakers, and Chloe wanted an Ipod nano. So we found this amazing store and the guy said a nano4 would cost 115 US and I saw these speakers which were a fair size and had a remote and good sound quality for $85. We thought how can we go wrong. Chris wanted me to offer the guy 60 for them, just to see what he would say and then he was like NO there ONE85 and chloes is THREE15. We thought it was odd that he changed the price. He said we must have misheard, but how on two different prices. We think it was just a selling tactic. So...no speakers for me. I did however buy some face wash for $2. We went walking on the streets and the vendors would come up to you with the most rediculous things...foldable fishing stools, shaving kits, bedspreads, porn...we spent a whole hour and a half in Paraguay.WOot!
Then we came back to the hotel to pick everyone up and go to Argentina to see the Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls. They were a lot more impressive from that side, and we think that there was a bit more water than the day before...just a bit. We took a train to the falls itself, but walked back. Everyone was buying wooden animals they thought were really cute but, yeah they really werent my thing. So three countries in ONE day! Came back to the hotel and of course, after cocktails, went out for dinner.
This morning our group split up into two. Jade, Chris, Rhiannon and I woke up at 6 AM to continue the tour on in the regular fashion. We caught a 10 hour bus (with Melanie of course) to Curitiba. The bus was actually really nice and spacious so it wasnt that bad except twice it got stopped and the police searched the bag. And twice they had an argument with the same guy about a pile of dvds he had in his bag. The rest of the group paid an extra $100 to fly to Rio, hence missing today and tommorows bus and getting an extra day in Rio. Mostly it was the people who were leaving right after the tour was ending and needed the extra day in Rio to do everything. I however, figured that that $100 would be much better used hangliding when I finally get to Rio. Plus the group Im with is really fun.
We figured since there were no more vegetarians in the group that we should go out for a traditional Brazilian Barbeque dinner. Basically you have a block on your table and when the green side is up that means you are inviting the waiters, who are all walking around with different kinds of meat or pastas, to come put some on your plate. Plus theres a huge salad and side dishes buffet. So basically we gorged ourselves, and I mean we ate a LOT, once we started feeling sick we took a break, then got new plates and tried to go for round three but it was getting discusting and we stopped. Everyone was grossed out that I was eating the rare stuff, but I was grossed out that they were eating the well done stuff. I gotta say, I feel pretty sick right now, and my teeth hurt from chewing so much, but it was a really good meal and we laughed a lot. They offered Chris this stuff that looked like gibblets and he said oh yes please. Thenwe were like ´we cant beleive your going to eat chicken heart´and he was like éww chicken heart, thats gross´and we were like ´well what did you think it was´ Apparently he thought it was chicken HOOF? How is that any better? Tommorow we´re wasting the day in Curitiba until we catch a night bus that will take us to Rio to pick everyone else up then we´re headed to Isla Grande. Only one week left of the big tour!