Day 176

Today was another day of studying. I took a break from studying in the late afternoon and went to the gym. Later in the evening I went walking in Mantiquira with my host dad.

Day 175

Early in the morning my dad and I went walking on a nice path near our house. Then I studied the rest of the afternoon. Later in the evening we went walking in the downtown area of our city.

Day 174

Today was a relaxed day I did some walking and exercise and then studied for the ACT.

Day 173

Today I woke up at 10:00 AM and took a bus at 11:00 to my city. When I arrived in my city I took a taxi to my house. I spent most of the day organizing and unpacking. Later in the evening we went walking and then I went off to the Rotary Meeting.

Day 172

Today we left the hotel at 6:30 AM to depart for Curitiba. There at the bus station the people who were continuing on the trip of the south stayed and we took a bus together back to Sao Paulo. We arrived in Sao Paulo at 1:00 AM. Some of us went to the hotel across the street to sleep.

Day 171

To begin the day we had breakfast and left for Argentina. When we arrived, the border patrol wanted our passports and stamped them. This was much different than Paraguay. It took about ½ hour in customs. We then went to Puerto Iguazu and the Argentinean side of the falls. We walked through the forest and took a few trains to see the every view of the waterfalls. We had lunch in the park. The Argentinean beef was very good. There we came in contact with people from all over the world. I even met some Americans. At the exit there were indigenous people selling different items and kids singing songs in the native language of Guarani. Then we went to where Brasil, Paraguay and Argentina meet which is called the Mark of the Three Borders. Each Country has a pointed structure with their flag painted on it. Around the Argentinean point, there were many native people selling hand-crafted items. Then we went to the center part of the city and went in to different shops to buy local items and on the streets there were many native people selling crafted items.

Day 170

In the morning we had breakfast and then we were off to the city of Del Leste in Paraguay. To get there we went on the Friendship Bridge over the Paraná River. We took a different international charter bus to Paraguay as a group with a local guide aboard. To enter Paraguay we just drove right through there were no police at that stopped you and the border. We spent the morning there going to different shopping malls and little carts in the street buying thing very cheap. The names of the shopping malls were funny. One was Americana and the other Chines which is American and Chinese. There they had all kinds of electrons and fake things real cheap. They had a variety of fashions and accessories that were all fake name brand items. There were many street vendors selling everything from socks to musical condoms. In the carts on the street you could buy just about anything cheap. The streets there were very dirty and had many poor people. It was good because I got to use my knowledge of Spanish there. In this region they speak Spanish and their indigenous language of Guarani. Their money is also Guarani in Paraguay. The money is like nothing to the dollar it was interesting because I had a 5,000.00 Guarani Bill and it is not even one U.S. Dollar. Everywhere in this city the prices were listed in U.S. Dollars, but they accepted Reis, U.S. Dollars, and Guarani. This is because of many people from other countries going to there to buy items. I ate Chinese food in the nicest shopping food court I could find. In the late afternoon we went to Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant, which is the largest in the world. This plant is located in Brazil and Paraguay. It was an amazing tour. Before dinner we went swimming. The dinner and show was phenomenal. We went to a good barbeque restaurant where they had a cultural show with a variety of acts. The acts included were from many different countries of Latin America.