The ol' Buenos Aires screwjob

Before we got to Buenos Aires, Brett had been corresponding with this woman who was helping us secure the apartment. At some point she got a virus on her computer and lost lots of information. Brett responded promptly to give her our info again and she was super grateful so offered us two free city tour passes. Well, we're lazy and just took the city tour yesterday. It was pretty half-assed (we only got off the short bus twice) but we did get to visit this one part of the city we hadn't seen yet (La Boca). Anyway, on the way back to the hotel where they had picked us up, (only 3 blocks from our place) the guide asks us if we'd be interested in being dropped off downtown because that's where everyone else's hotel was and we were the only two that needed to get back to Recoleta (our neighborhood). I told her sorry, but that's where we lived and we didn't want to hang out downtown. Anyway, Brett heard her and the driver arguing and next thing you know, the lady pulls over and they basically tell us to hoof it back! We were pissed. We were pretty far (a few kilometers) from where they had originally picked us up and her only consolation was suggesting a "nice" walk or a cab! There is no way that if we were a middle-aged couple they would've done that. Anyway, it wasn't THAT big of a deal but it was the principle of the matter that really ticked us off. I wrote a nice email to the tour organizer and he seemed pretty concerned over the matter. You better believe those ladies will be hearing it. HA! Do your freaking job, people.
Speaking of doing your job, we got a cab today to take us to our tango lesson (yup, we're taking private lessons and they're going quite well) like we usually do. All the streets here are one-ways but there really hasn't been a problem with cabbies before. Well, this particular cabbie decided he didnt feel like going around blocks so he just pulled over where he deemed appropriate (completely overshot the address I gave him ) and told us where to walk to. WHAT? Isn't that your job? There goes your sweet one peso tip, jerk. So we had to walk about 4 blocks and we were late for our lesson.
Nothing much else to report. We've really been enjoying our time here. We went out for thai last night and it was soooo good. Funny, but it was the best meal we've had here so far. If you're wondering what the local cuisine is like, well, it's beef. Just regular old beef. Dont get me wrong. I love a good steak now and again but there isn't much to it. Weird thing about the restaurants here is that they charge a cover charge. It's not like at clubs where you pay when you enter but they just include it in the bill at the end. They call it the "cubiertos" charge and it just goes towards the restaurant and not at all to the server. Why not just hike up prices a bit? Why have this random, annoying charge? Our apartment is working out very well. Brett likes cooking so we stay in a lot. The bathroom sink has a leak so our cleaning lady is going to tell the owner about it for us. And it's really noisy so brett's been sleeping on the couch since it's further away from the window. He's warming it up for you guys, kelly & gary! My friends are coming to visit in a week and we're really excited about that. Alright, that's all for now, people.

Sweet pics

Here are pictures from the past few weeks...Rio, Sao Paulo, Foz de Iguacu, and Puerto Iguazu. Right now we're settling into our apartment in Buenos Aires and getting to know our neighborhood. We love our apartment and so far the city and our neighborhood seem great. We visited Eva Peron's burial site today and tonight we're going out for sushi in the "Soho" part of the city. As the real estate agent told us, they're not very creative. They also have a "Hollywood." We have a phone so if anyone is absolutely dying to make an expensive long-distance phone call, let me know.

RIO DE JANEIRO
Our apartment in Rio

Rio's botanical garden

Brett's Japanese garden where he called the12 yr old a fat cow..there's his fountain in the back

Lake near the center of the city

Cafe on the lake

Check out the guy takin a snoozer behind brett

Aerial view of the lake from Cristo Redentor

Cristo Redentor

The mountain on the left is Pao de Acucar (sugar loaf mountain)

Mmmm..Rio sushi

Copacabana Palace

Copacabana beach

Wild looking cathedral in downtown Rio





SAO PAULO We don't have too many pictures from Sao Paulo because well, there wasn't much to see.
Department of Education building where students were rioting

Creepy twin bible fanatics

Cathedral in Praca de Se that seats thousands



FOZ DE IGUACU
Itaipu Dam (and Brett's bday)

Turbines

Biological Refuge (that's the largest rodent in the world)



Foz de Iguacu (Brazilian side of the falls)


That lovely walk in-between borders

Falls on the Argentina side


You could take a boat out to an island in the national park called Isla de San Martin to get closer to some of the falls. There are signs on the small beach that say NO SWIMMING but of course, the dirty hippy travelers go on in in their underwear.


La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's throat)