A trip to Iguazu Falls! - Intensive Spanish in Argentina

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“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
‒Nelson Mandela

Buenos Aires from the roof top of my apartment

I have spent one week here learning Spanish in classes and I feel as though my language has improved exponentially!

The classes are small about 8 people and we have a lot of oral practice! They are fun, we play lots of games and my teacher is really lovely! I am still absolutely loving Buenos Aires the people are very warm.

I have had a huge week! We spend 4 hours from 9am – 1:30pm every morning practicing Spanish and then we are free to do whatever! On Wednesdays there is conversation club and there is lots of other activities in the afternoons! Last Tuesday we went to a Museum, which showed lots of the political history of Buenos Aires! It is built within the old fort that was built when the Spanish first conquered the province.  

A guard in the museum

I have learnt a lot from the conversations that I have at home with my host mum. She is great, I have learnt about the political history of Evita but from the perspective of someone who lives here! It’s really interesting to hear different angles on history!

On the weekend we went on a trip to Iguazu Falls! -  Cataratas del Iguaçu!
WOW! 4 days later and I am still completely mind blown! It was the most impressive place I have ever been! I cannot comprehend the amount of water that was flowing over the rocks!

Iguazu Falls! The Devil's Throat 'Garganta de Diablo'

We flew there on Friday and first went to the three frontiers, which is a point where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina all meet, with the river between.

On Saturday we went to the national park and waterfalls and spent the whole day exploring. We went on a boat and went right into the waterfalls getting completely saturated! I saw monkeys and some other funny animals!

Three frontiers

The next day we visited an Indigenous Village where everything is completely self contained. We learnt about the culture of the Guarani people and how they are living today! We were showed some amazing traditional animal traps made of sticks and bark and some beautiful singing.

Some things I have learnt this week include:

·      Buses n BA do not wait for you even if you have your foot in the door.

·      One of my favourite words in Spanish is ‘charlar’ which just means to chat.

·      Dulce de Leche Helado (an amazing caramel Gelato) is incredibly tasty and dangerously addictive.

·      You can never be to full

·      Argentinian time means you can never be late to class (unless its over an hour late)

Ryan and Emile enjoying the waterfalls!

Off on some more adventures this weekend! 

Love Mindy! 

Mindy Davies is completing our Intensive Spanish in Argentina program this January 2013. Mindy is in her 4th year of a Double Degree in Law and International Relations at Griffith University.