Three Countries in Three days

So, I went to Brazil, Argentina, and kinda Paraguay this past weekend. Frankly, the area didn't have as much to do as I thought it would. Despite there being twenty people in our group, the city of Foz do Iguacu, Brazil doesn't have much else outside of the waterfalls. So, we spent our days catching glimpses of waterfalls through the trees and our nights hanging out at the hostel though we did luck out one night when one of the workers at the hostel invited us out.

Day 1:
Unfortunately, it rained enough the first day to probably ruin the views of the waterfalls. But we had three full days to spend in we took this rainy day to visit ITAIPU which is a power plant and a dam at the same time. This is where I learned that Brazil tourism operates in three languages: , English and Spanish. Our poor tour guide had to translate everything she said three times in all three languages and it was obvious she was exasperated at the idea. She even tried to get on me for wanting to speak English, but I had to get on the defensive and tell her that I definitely did not raise my hand for that one, but the seasoned gentleman at the back of the bus did. I can understand Spanish just fine thank you very much.

During the visit to the dam/ power center we even entered Paraguay... for about two minutes. Maybe less. That's because ITAIPU is a joint venture run by both the Paraguayan and Brazilian governments. So, when we crossed the halfway point of the dam we changed countries. Didn't even need our passports.

And allow me to say that Brazilian public buses are hell when you have twenty people with luggage who have never boarded a bus in Brazil. First off, don't even think about handing them a bill worth 50 reales that you received in an exchange booth the day before. You will get a fierce shake of the head and a wave of the hand telling you back away until you figure out how to make that bill into something much smaller like a 2 real bill. Also, there is a pesky gate you have to wesel through after you've paid your fair. I am not a big person by any means, but I had trouble getting through it and my luggage was a added problem. Not to mention there were less seats and way more standing room. That got pretty uncomfortable after spending hours walking in the wilderness snapping pictures of waterfalls.

The first day was alright all in all. It also helped so much that Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish more or less and vice versa so the language barrier was hardly a problem.

P.S. If you count Uruguay, it was four countries in three days.