6 weeks 6 weeks

So I think I may just have weekly posts until my days are done here. This past weekend I went on a program trip (pre-paid with my $24,000 year long program fee) and went to Los Esteros de Iberá, or the Estuaries of Iberá, in the province of Corrientes, in NorthEastern Argentina. There was all sorts of interesting wildlife but it was really quite cold. We saw black caiman alligators, seat otters, there are 3 species of piranhas, we saw capybaras, many species of birds including local vulturas, 2 species of deer, howler monkeys, wild jungle cats, and I will leave it at that. A good time was had by all 13 of the year long kids who went on the trip, our program director Mario and his partner, Sergio. They are both super buena onda, or cool. (it literally translates as good wave)


The dock at our hostel

A capybara getting used as a wagon by a little yellow bird that ate his parasites

Carpincho snack time *same as the capybara, different name

Kingfisher

The birds that are named after Jesus because they seem to walk on water

One of the numerous cardinals that I saw over the weekend

Wild cat - looks like a baby ocelot. It was the Mommy, it had its husband who was all black (just due to an excess of melanin - like albinos have a deficit) and its baby who was inbetween being almost black and having distinguishable patterns equivalent to its mother's.

Lily pads

Black caiman alligator mother keeping a stern eye on her youngins.

This week I have my last week of normal class and then on Wednesday evening I am flying to Salta, a city in the Northwest of Argentina. Its a desert, in the Andes, home of the largest salt flat in the world, and full of adobe homed towns.

I will get home Sunday evening from Salta, take my History of Pre-Colombian Art final on Wednesday and head to Uruguay on Friday, the 17th of June. I'm going there with a friend from AIESEc, Maijo, and we are staying with AIESECers from Montevideo. The trip will last from Friday morning until Monday night, as Monday is Flag Day in Argentina. *Let me just clarify that they have a RIDICULOUS amount of holidays here.

After I get back I have to turn in a final project for my Radio class on Wednesday, the 22nd and then I will only have one class left. The next weekend I will finally be staying in Buenos Aires, but I will be studying 24/7 for my Political and Social Theory final - I have so many Saints to get straight and Church nonsense to be on top of. Once those three things are out of the way though, I am DONE WITH MY JUNIOR YEAR OF UNIVERSITY!!!!!!!!!

Links to my photos from this semester on Facebook....

Mendoza
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1702145475054.2088187.1280460131

SDL - the AIESEC conference
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1740910484155.2090253.1280460131