Curitiba/Foz do Iguacu

Two months into our stay in Brazil, I had the pleasure of receiving two fellow Fulbrighters in Curitiba, Chelsea and Christina.  Chelsea is living in Petrolina, Pernambuco and Christina is living in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo.  In addition to it just being wonderful to see them, we also had a lot of fun in Curitiba.
The first day they were both in Curitiba we went to the university and drove around the city with a friend.  I gave them a little tour of the university, they got to meet a few professors, and we went to two conversation clubs.  The conversation clubs were GREAT.  Chelsea and Christina talked about where they were from in the States (both from California) and then we discussed some differences between the cities we're all from in the U.S. and the students talked about some regional differences in Brazil.  It was very interesting to hear about some of the regional stereotypes in Brazil, especially some perspectives from Curitiba about Petrolina (Curitiba is in the South and Petrolina is in the Northeast).  All in all, great conversations.  Outside of the university, we drove around several different areas of the city.
The second day they were here, we put on our tourist hats and went on the Curitiba tourist bus.  We rode through all of the main touristic points of the city and got off and walked around the Botanical Garden and the main Italian neighborhood here, Santa Felicidade.  We spent all afternoon on the bus and walking around, and finished the day with a LARGE Italian dinner.

Botanical Garden

Tourist bus

After a couple of days in Curitiba, we headed to Foz do Iguacu (along with another Fulbright friend, Lauren). After looking at hostels, tours of the falls, etc., we decided to stay on the Argentinian side (much cheaper), which was great!  In an area where three countries border each other (Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay)  I didn't think there would be much of a difference between the border towns.  However, the city we stayed in in Argentina (Puerto Iguazu) felt totally different from Brazil.  

So, the first day we got there, it was POURING down rain.  All day long.  We decided to skip the falls that day and explore the town a bit.  Not knowing what there really was to do in Puerto Iguazu, we first asked some people staying in our hostel.  Their response was, "not much...there IS a little street fair close by.  It's got some cheese and olives and stuff...maybe you could go there for a bit."  Hmmm...we thought...we'll go to the street fair to grab a quick bite to eat, then we'll do some other things.  After figuring out bus routes, tourist attractions, and general directions, we headed to the "little street fair" to "grab a quick bite to eat"...3 hours later...we're still at the street fair.  It was AWESOME!  There was definitely a lot of cheese and olives, but they had so much more food!  It was great to walk around and see everything, but after walking around we found a table and spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and talking while it poured down rain.  Not exactly what we had planned, but I can't think of a better way to spend a rainy day.

mmmmm.......empanadas

The second day we went to the falls.  WOW.  They were amazing.  We spent the whole day walking around the park, seeing the falls from different points, and we took a boat ride.  I'm not sure how much words can really describe how spectacular these falls are, so, here are some pictures:

The rainbows here were indescribable.  It literally looked like you could walk on them.