Montevideo, Uruguay and Porto Alegre, Brazil

Well the adventures keep on coming my friends! I suppose that's how I like it though :) I had my student orientation for la Universidad del Salvador (oh yeah, there is school involved here in Argentina) in the morning. It was a basic orientation, telling us about swine flu and some student visa things we needed--no big deal! We finished by noon and Willie and Molly, two other orientators, and I went to lunch at a cafe. I had my interview to "select classes" as a preliminary thing. I headed back to the house at around 4 and packed my bag up again, as I was leaving for Montevideo, Uruguay that night on a midnight bus! I spent some time with my rommmate playing Playstation and eating some dinner.

I headed out on my own and took a bus to Retiro to catch my bus. I slept the entire way, and when I arrived in Tres Cruces my CS friend, Hugo, was there with his wife and mother to welcome me! I spent the entire day with them and enjoyed myself immensly! We saw all there was to see in the city (museums, buildings, the old downtown, the new downtown, the soccer stadium, the fortaleza Artiga (the national hero) and more!). We went back to Hugo's house for some Carne Asada--meat grilled; this meal was probably the principle one in Uruguay; Uruguay and Argentina dispute who has the best beef, but I'm happy either place :) We had carne, salad, tomatoes, sausage, and quality wine. After lunch I had to take a nap and rest my stomach! We left at around 3:30 and went and saw the rest of the sites I listed above, and by the time we were finished it was time to go! They said good bye to me at the bus station and all was well!

My bus to Porto Alegre, Brazil was another over nighter, so I met a girl named Paula who spoke Portugues, ever so slowly, and we were able to communicate. I slept again on that bus and woke up in Brazil! My CS host Alex was going to take some time to pick me up, so Paula and I hung out at the station. She had to get some money exchanged, and we went to a internet cafe. It was fun talking to her in Portuguese, but we were like very small children talking so sloowly to understand the two languages! Alex arrived and I said goodbye to Paula. Alex lived close, in a cozy apartment with 2 rommmates, neither of which were home, so I stayed in his rommmates place with bed and private room. Nice :) That evening there was a fútbol match wiht one of the Porto Alegre teams, Gremio. I found another CSer who was a fan, and we decided to go. WOW what an experience. Brazilian Campeonato Serie A Futbol is quite an event! The crazy fans, made all crazier when a goal was scored, and the entire atmosphere, was something that is rarely replicated by American sports. Gremio won, so we were all smiles afterwards! Alex's birthday was that week and he had a party, so we all went there for a bit. I came back and went to bed.

Sunday, although I didn't go to church (I don't understand Portuguese THAT well), was still beneficial because I have the Bible on my iTouch. I spent some time reading and praying and just hung out. Alex and I went out at about 3 to eat lunch and see downtown. I met up with another guy, Ralf from Germany, and we all ate together. We spent a few hours afterwards discussing politics--mainly the U.S.'s role in Afghanistan and Iraq, and if they were justified in invading them. It was quite interesting to hear these other guys know so much about the US, and we had a great discussion. We ended up at an old power plant that was the spot of a magnificent sunset! It was truly beautiful. We continued to walk until we headed to an authentic Brasilian steakhoue. Similar to Texas de Brasil, except probably the original one, dad :) It was WONDERFUL--and only $20 for all I could eat! We spent 2 hours eating and eating. We returned back full and content, and I slept like a baby..

Monday was my last day in Porto Alegre. I was lazy waking up, and while Alex was at work I went out to discover some more of the city. I spent a few hours walking and discovering, and made it back to the apartment at about 4:30. I watched some soccer highlights and dozed off. I woke up at 6:30 and Alex got home. We hung out a little before heading to another CSer's house for dinner and socializing. I stayed there until 11:30 and caught a cab to the Rodoviaria--the bus station. I again took a night bus to Florianópolis, Brazil--and island full of beaches. I again slept the whole time and arrived at 6:30 a.m. What adventures await me here in this small beach town? You'll have to read about it next time! --Benjamin

Itaipu and Iguazu!

Iguazú, Itaipu, and Ciudad del Este Too!

Friends, sorry for the delay in posting. It sometimes becomes hard to find a spare minute to write to you when I'm traveling over 3 countries and seeing various capitals and big cities--I'm sure you understand :)

Still in Asunción, Paraguay, on Friday I went with Rubén to his law office and hung out there. I spent time in the centro just walking and seeing. We ate lunch and spent some more time there. We headed back and I met some other CSers (Couch Surfers) from Czech Republic who were biking (motor and bicycle) in Paraguay and other places. We chatted with them, and Rubén, a friend, and I had some drinks and pizza.

On Saturday I met up with Laura at noon and we went to the Botanical Garden. It was a nice, relaxed place. There was also a little zoo there, and for a price of $.50 for both the garden and the zoo, how could we pass it up? We then went to dinner at Bolsi's (an EXCELLENT restaurant that is quite cheap) and had a great steak meal with a nice glass of wine for $20 total. I'll miss the cheapest capital in the world for sure! I took her back to the conference and I returned to Rubén's. I was taking a night bus from Asunción to Ciudad del Este, and it was leaving at 1 a.m. I packed up and headed to the station...

I got into Ciudad del Este, a city built for an international market (largest in South America), at 6 a.m. on Sunday. I got to a little cozy Hotel San Rafael and met the desk man. He helped me out tremendously with any questions and navigated me to the places to go and how to go to them! I decided to visit Itaipu Dam, the largest energy dam in the world! The Paraguayan side was closed due to the swine flu, but the Brazilian side was open. So I slipped by the border (kind of illegally..) and headed to Itaipu! I met a guy from Germany who was traveling alone, and we chatted and took pictures together. The dam was quite impressive, as you can imagine..Michael and I then headed to Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side (still illegally in Brazil). From there Michael wanted to see the bird park, so we said bye. I met an interesting fellow, Jay, from California, and we checked out the falls together. The falls, also quite impressive! I was able to see an amazing man-made engineering feat as well as an amazing natural feat all in the same day! I returned and spent the evening relaxing. I slept quite well that evening..

Monday was a frustrating day spent traveling to get my visa without getting it. I had to go to the consulate in CDE who was no help, and when I got to Argentina via small ship the office was closed. I had anticipated being able to get my visa that day, so I left my luggage at home. I had to return to Paraguay through Brazil (on a local bus) and get my bag, only to return again to Puerto Iguazu, in Argentina. I did, however, meet a nice guy from Crucero del Norte. When I bought my ticket back to BA (Buenos Aires) he was very friendly and told me to call him when I returned to hang out. We went to his sister's jewelry shop and spent time there. We eventually made it to the "casino" which was a small floor of slot machines--nothing compared to Vegas of course!--and had tapas and drinks with him, his friend, his sister and her boyfriend. We stayed and enjoyed ourselves until 1 a.m.

Tuesday seemed to work out well! I got up at 8 and went to get my visa for Brazil. I then had to go through a process of obtaining $ because my one debit card didn't work on ATMs yet and my CC didn't have a pin..so I had to go into the bank and ask a woman for a seemingly "special transaction." I paid the visa and was finally happy! I waited 2 hours for it to get finished (if I did it in CDE it wouldn't have been done in time, and 2-3 weeks in the US) and headed to Iguazú Argentina side! I must say I enjoyed the Argentine side quite a bit more. The Brazilian side consisted of seeing the falls across the river and walking along a sole path. The Argentine side was a 3 hour walk on different trails, a train to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and more experiencing the falls up close! But you need to see both to get the whole picture :) That night I was returning to BA. I met some Indian friends who were on the bottom level with us. We had a good time talking and chatting. They were from western India, and didn't speak Ta'mil--sorry Matthews! I got into BA and found my way back home, only to embark on another journey the next day.... Thanks for reading and commenting! Any Questions or if you just wanna talk, send an e-mail to benthelefty@gmail.com -- Benjamín

Asuncion, Paraguay/Menonite Conference

I had decided that I wanted to visit Paraguay before leaving for South America, and Monday was the day I was leaving. I headed with Juliano to the bus station without any problem. I had to find the international section of the buses, and after showing my passport and giving fingerprints (strange, huh?) I was ready for the bus. It arrived on time and was ready to go! I realized after about 30 seconds what a good idea it was to choose Cama Suite. While I would be laying down sleeping fine, the poor people on top would have to simply be "leaning" and trying to sleep. I met a man from Asunción who proved to be quite helpful. At the border I saw some very North American people in line and asked if they were there for the Menonite conference. Sure enough they were--a whole bus full! The entire upper portion was Menonite people there for the Paraguay conference. Because they hadn't done the border crossing S. American style I helped them out and they all felt comfortable. I got to talking to them and found a lot were from Lancaster, PA and one knew Laura North (a friend from school who was there at the conference). We continued the last few hours until arrival. This might seem a strange thing to be saying, but I enjoyed my 19 hour bus ride a lot more than I did the 9 hour flight from Miami to BA. That's a surprising thing I think..

My plan was to "buddy" with the menonites to get to wherever the conference was so I could meet up with Laura and figure the situation out--and it worked well. We thought we were headed to another location, but it just so happened that Laura was there. She spotted me chatting with an Argentine guy and rushed up to me. It was a nice time acclamating to the new place with people I knew :) We later got bussed back to the conference center that was in Asunción. I said bye to the group and Laura and snagged a taxi. I arrived at Rubén's house (My couch surfing buddy--check out www.couchsurfing.org for the scoop on this GREAT site!) without any problems. I paid the taxi driver the $4 fare and got out.

I met Rubén and his brother and some of their friends. They seemed really neat. The next day I met up with Laura at the center and we spent the afternoon together just exploring a new, unknown city together! There's something about being with a friend in a city you don't know--the intrigue, the adventure--it really can make a trip great! We saw downtown and walked around the sites before she had to return. I dropped her off and headed back to Rubén's. I met up with another CSer just to eat and drink. I came back and went to bed. Thursday I was planning to go to Rubén's office and see his job. I got up at 6:30 a.m. and it turns out he wasn't going to go in until 10:30. If only I knew before... I met up with Laura plus two friends on Thursday and we again explored downtown, but we saw new places of course! We had a nice lunch/dinner and headed back.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting! Benjamín

Flight and Arrival to Buenos Aires

On Saturday, July 11 I was set to fly. The trip was from St. Louis to Miami, and then Miami to Buenos Aires. I drove up w/ my parents and got dropped off. The flight to Miami was an easy 2 1/2 hours. I met an engineer from Peru and had a nice Spanish chat. Upon my arrival to Miami I waited a few hours for the plane to board. The plane was the same size as the one from Chicago to Korea--really big! I picked a good seat this time and got adjusted. I met a French guy who lives in BA and is a manager for a French car company. The flight was 9 hours long--nothing too bad! I watched a movie and ate a meal, and then slept. Sleeping was hard to do in our small seats, and since I needed to use the restroom anyways I explored the whole plane. Lo and behold, in Business Select there was an empty row with a blanket and pillow asking to be used. So I did just that. I found my spot and utilized the option of "lay down bed." The smell of fresh fruit and croissants woke me up for a nice breakfast :)

I got into BA without any issues. I got my baggage and when passing through the gate met Luis, the guy I would be staying with. We took a bus to the bus station, bought my bus ticket for Paraguay (there were only 2 seats left so great timing!) and went to his apartment. A nice place in a calm neighborhood, complete with a nice little plaza just 100 yards from the front door. I believe I'll be hanging out there a lot, reading or just taking in the sites and sounds of a great city :) Thus far I must say that BA is a fairly bustling metropolis. There are a lot of people (8 million) and the city has the feel of NYC or something--albeit a little smaller! I'm heading out to Asunción, Paraguay this afternoon and am looking forward to the adventure that awaits me there.

If you want to contact me on e-mail or skype I want to talk to you!
E-mail: benthelefty@gmail.com.
Skype: benthelefty

As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave some fun comments :) - Benjamín

South America (I hope you knew that)

Embarking on the Trip of a Lifetime

Welcome to my new blog! If you're reading this then I'm pumped, because that means you will be sharing in my adventures and journeys over the next 6 months. That's right, from July 11 to December 5, 2009 I will be in South America traveling, studying, and learning; gaining knowledge of life, God, my role in life and His plan for it. Sound good? I think so too!

I will be conquering the continent of South America in the upcoming months. Studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina and spending time in Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile are all on the to-do list. Not to just be a "tourist" but to see the sites, sound, and immerse myself in the culture as much as possible. I'll talk later about how exactly I'm planning on doing that, but for now I just wanted to welcome you all to my blog and invite you to come back. I'll try to post frequently (weekly or something like that) so stay tuned for updates and such! This blog will primarily focus on the "travel" aspect of my time south of the equator, but I may throw in a special post here or there about other things! Enjoy-- Benjamín