Hello from Buenos Aire

Good news on two fronts.  One, my camera is now working 100% so I will be posting more photos and updating my blog more often.  Two, I'm in Buenos Aires Argentina and it is awesome.  I mean how  can you not like a city with buildings like this...

Or this...

Or this statue in the botanical garden...

The week started out with my Mom visiting me.  Her first time in South America and her first time in Paraguay.  Here is a picture of us on the boat in Asuncion...

 Here's Asuncion from the boat.  Side note:  This is not a tourist boat.  This boat is like a bus that takes residents from one side of the Rio Paraguay in Asuncion to the other side in Chaco'i.  And that is why it is so damn cool...

How strange, a sunken boat in the middle of the ferry ride to Chaco'i.  Sure makes me feel comfortable during my boat ride..

Then we went down to my town, Ayolas.  My host brother was kind enough to let my mom stay with them.  She had a really good time.  Here is a picture of my host brother and his wife and child all decked out in good old fashioned Seahawks gear.

Here are some shots from a couple of parties we had.  The dudes enjoying some fine northwest IPA:

Brian and the ladies:

The party table in the campo:

We also went for a tour of the Yacyreta dam.  We went all over.  We went in the turbine room, in the room where the wate floods and the turbine spins, and in the cathedral size chamber the river floods and the wate is directed downward into the turbine.  These pictures do not do it justice it is incredible...

This shot is of the very top of the turbine which you would see on any old dam tour.  I know, it's a pun:

 

This is the actual spinning turbine.  You can't see it in the photo but the giant metal shaft you see is spinning at 73 revolutions per minute.

 

 This photo is looking up at the actual fins that the water hit to make the turbine itself turn.  This chamber is usually filled with thousands of gallons of water.  As you can tell because I was able to take the picture in this case it was not filled with water:

And this is looking down into the same turbine as above.  I am taking the photo between the slits that the water cascades down, hits the turbine fins, and makes the turbine revolve.  This areas is also almost always filled with water.  

Then we went to Iguazu.  I don't have words to describe it.  So here is a video and a couple of photos.  In short it is spectacular.  We even took a ride on a boat underneath the falls.  Super fun and super wet.

This particular falls is called the "Garganta del Diablo", or the "Devils Throat".  It is huge, and loud, and wet, and badass.  

Here are some photos of the awesomeness that is Iguazu:

 And here is a tapir.  I'm making this photo big and ending the blog with this.  That is not a fifth leg.  Damn.  More in the next couple of days while my internet connection is great.