This phrase, which I've picked up from Kasey recently, roughly translates to "it is what it is" or "that's how it goes sometimes," and it was especially relevant during my recent trip to
Iguazu Falls. We had an absolutely amazing time, despite a couple bumps along the way.
It all started when I decided to skip the pricey 100 peso (read: ten dollar) cab ride and instead take the
colectivo to the omnibus station on Thursday. This decision was due in part to the culture of taxi-shaming that has come to predominate amongst the members of our program; admitting you sprang for a taxi instead of roughing it in public transportation tends to draw poorly-concealed looks of judgement from fellow students. But that's another blog post. Anyway, even though I allowed more than an hour for the bus ride to Retiro, the route
por supuesto took way longer than expected and I ended up frantically asking those seated around me for ETA-updates and advice. With the guidance of some friendly strangers I hopped off the bus a stop early and
sprinted hobbled as quickly as I could while wearing my overloaded backpack to meet my friends. Although I was 99% sure I was going to miss the
micro and wind up missing out on the entire trip, my panic was all in vain and we even had to wait like 15 minutes before boarding.
Es lo que hay.
I had plenty of time to decompress from all that frenzy during our 18-hour bus ride! I initially resisted this alternative to a two-hour flight, but the ride was surprisingly easy and comfortable, not to mention way cheaper. We giggled our way through the first few hours, jamming to the 80's party
playlist and cheerfully enduring the dinner of cold lentils, sandwiches, and Jell-O. Then I mostly slept the rest of the journey
(shoutout to melatonin pills!), waking up occasionally to find it raining heavily outside and to notice the old man across the aisle staring at me and Rachel.
¿Es lo que hay?
When we arrived in Iguazu it was still pouring rain- so much for our plan to go straight to the park! (
Es lo que hay... but ugh.) Trying our best to stay positive, we checked into our adorable hostel, enjoyed a warm breakfast, and headed out into the elements to walk along the
costanera and conduct the obligatory photo shoot by the
tres fronteras (blame the wind for our bedraggled appearances... but blame us for the dorky poses?):
Determined to fill the drizzly day with more fun activities, we picked up a flyer at the hostel about a nearby animal sanctuary and presented it to the bus driver as instructions on where to take us (if you couldn't tell already we were in major tourist mode). He dropped us off at the entrance, but unfortunately we had just missed the last tour of the day.
Es lo q... you get the idea. Instead, we went with our backup plan- a visit to
La Aripuca. The jury's still out on what exactly it was (ruins? tourist trap? life-size Lincoln Logs replicas?) but highlights include
dulce de leche ice cream and this thug lyfe picture:
That night we checked an important item of the study-abroad bucket list by visiting Icebar Iguazu. In our orange coats/gloves and sundresses we entered the -10
°C room, along with a huge group of rowdy, selfie-loving Brazilians (plus a few young children?!),
where we sampled cocktails from our ice cups (spoiler alert: the chocolate bonbon drink is grody not as tasty as one might expect). After our allotted 30 minutes we were ushered out, just as my bare legs were beginning to get frost bite.
The remainder of the afternoon we wandered around in awe, taking in the view from every possible angle. It's really impossible to capture that experience with photos, but regardless I snapped un montón:
Besides the waterfalls, the park also features lush jungle and interesting wildlife. You can probably imagine my reaction to the multitude of coatis that roam freely. (Let's just say I wasn't as unperturbed by them as they were by the many tourists... But can you blame me when graphic signs like these line the walkways?!) After hours of walking around we were utterly exhausted and wanted nothing else but a low-key evening of relaxation. Or so we told ourselves when our big plan for the weekend, a night tour of the park during the full moon, fell through. Es lo que hay, I guess.
We had heard that the Brazil side of the falls offered an impressive panoramic view, but we weren't so enthused about paying hundreds of dollars for the visa that's required to officially cross the border. Thus, we resorted to a not-so-legal scheme that involved several buses and sadly, no new stamp in our passports. (The lack of stamp may or may not have bothered us more than the sketchy measures/potential foreign jail time...)
As expected, the Brazil side of the falls were spectacular. We agreed that the best part was the walkway into la garganta del diablo (devil's throat). Once again, the experience was too overwhelmingly magnificent to truly represent in pictures, but:
After another beautiful day we made it back to Argentina (after an issue in customs regarding not our illegal crossing to Brazil, but Natalie's forgotten paperwork that earned her a strict warning from the border control officer...)!
, but who am I kidding no one else is reading this). But alas, es lo que hay.
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Some of you might be thinking, "Wow! Malissa sure is communing with nature quite a bit recently!" Well, let me add to your amazement; a mere day after returning from Iguazu, I spent nearly seven hours at the Teimakèn zoo with Lili, Gus, Alejandra, and Ale's boyfriend who's visiting. While I may detest all animals except Cassi not be the biggest animal lover, I actually had a great time checking out the many exotic species (from a safe distance, of course)!
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The bird got camera shy
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Smiling through the fear
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OK this one was actually kinda cool
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"Zella, Zack and Zodiac," anyone?
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