Making My Way Back To Spanish

Crossing back into the land of Spanish speakers required an all-night bus to the border of Brazil and Argentina. When I returned to Campo Grande after my four days in the Pantanal, I immediately trotted over to the office where I signed up for my tour. I was hoping to leave my pack there for an hour or so while I bought a bus ticket and checked my email. I looked through the glass door and saw the same girl who sold me the trek google chatting with friends. I asked her if I could leave my bag. She sighed and said the office closed an hour ago and she was just chatting with friends.

I mentioned the many power outages that happened back at the camp and said I wanted a $100 refund. That got her attention. I told her I was only kidding, but I don't think she fully believed me. Suddenly she was offering to escort me to a ticket counter and be my translator to buy my ticket to Iguazu - my next destination.

Once I had my ticket in hand, the tour gal asked if I wanted to get some dinner - her treat. I agreed to dinner, but knowing she was a single mom I said I would pay. She took me to a grill out in front of the bus station where a guy was cooking up strips of beef and chicken. Five bucks bought us a few strips of beef on sticks and a Fanta each. She asked if I wanted to stick around for the night and go out clubbing - saying she wanted to make up for the power outages by showing me a real Brazilian night out. My bus was leaving in 20 mins so I told her I would take a rain check. I was behind by several days and needed to get to Buenos Aires - so I gave her a hug and thanked her for the efforts. Twenty five minutes later I was onboard the bus, fully reclined, and watching Little Man in Portuguese.

When I woke up 7 hours later I was in a small city about an hour from Iguazu. The bus driver motioned (he only spoke Portuguese) that I was to get off here and wait two hours for a bus to Iguazu. First order of business? Find a bathroom and brush my teeth. I forgot I was still in Brazil as the area seemed a bit more upscale. When the Jehovah's Witnesses approached me and asked if I had found Jesus in Portuguese, I quickly remembered where I was. I watched the custodians sweep the same floor three times before, at 6am, I was on another bus to Iguazu.

I woke up about an hour later in Iguazu - on the Brazilian side. My guidebook suggested I take the city bus to the main bus terminal in the center of town. That would cost a dollar where a cab would cost around $10. I was all for saving money. Except I had no idea how the buses worked. I paid my fare when I boarded but got into an argument 10 minutes later when the fare collector suggested I go past his gate and sit down and then asked for the fare again. Not knowing any Portuguese, and he, not knowing any Spanish or English, we argued in our separate languages for a few minutes until he got frustrated and just ignored me. And then I pleaded in broken Spanish that he let me know when we hit the bus station. He chuckled and ignored me again. Fortunately bus stations are pretty obvious. Unfortunately my bag was still sitting at his feet.

After pleading with the fare guy for several minutes he tossed my bag out of the bus. I gathered it and went looking for a cab. I found the cab from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". Seriously, it had dice in the mirror. If anything, I would say this cab was rare, but I thought nothing of it and said "yo home to....um, my hostel".

He wanted to practice his Spanish and English. I tried. It was good to hear Spanish again. Despite what he told me, his Spanish was really good. I couldn't keep up. And so I told him for the rest of the cab ride I would teach him English.

I arrived at my hostel a few minutes later. It was a resort. There was a pool with a full bar. Ping pong and fooseball tables. A garden with hammocks and lawn chairs. And a soccer field and basket ball court with lighting. To bring me back in they showed me to my dorm bed. I dropped my stuff, took a shower, signed up for a tour of the falls and took a long nap. A looong nap.

There was still much to be done that day....

To see pics of my time at Iguazu, follow this link:
http://flickr.com/photos/15233918@N00/sets/72157603820470641/