The day had come. We were leaving today to travel to Misiones, one of the northern-most provinces of Argentina. LIFE Argentina, the organisation we were with, had already arranged things so we could visit the people in the slums surrounding a small town in this province. We were also planning to meet the needs of an Amerindian tribe nearby. After all of this work, we would then visit the Falls of Iguazu and Paraguay. A full week indeed. Misiones Misiones, full of rainforest and rich red soil, was experiencing a lot of rain at the very time we were planning on arriving. Our clothes as a result needed to be carefully selected so they would not show so much dirt should they get stained by the red soil. This finger-like province was bordered by Brazil on the East and North, and Paraguay on the West, and is home to very thick jungle. This was our destination. When I arrived at the house it was in a state of partial peace which quickly disintegrated into chaos over the ensuing hours as everybody rushed at the last minute to prepare things. Finally, seven of us left the house in two heavily ladened taxis, carrying all of the boxes and bags we would need for the journey. At the bus station we met the rest of our team. There was now nine of us. We discovered our bus only minutes before it departed, and after a second mad rush today we had our gear loaded into the luggage compartment and were able to climb aboard. It was with pleasure that I then relaxed into the huge armchair style seats of this fully catered coach. Dinner, drinks, and a movie later and it was time to settle into a comfortable sleep, with our chair backs reclining far enough to form a slightly bent bed. I slept well. Day Two At six in the morning, a shake of my arm indicated that breakfast was about to be served. I roused myself and used the wet towelette to wipe the pillow creases and drool marks from my face, then sat up to see where we were. We were already in Misiones, but still had to wait until midday before reaching our destination. True to the weather report, it was raining. The view from the windows revealed forest, jungle and nothing more. Although reading, talking and a movie occupied our time initially, as we neared our stop all of us became busy building little lapels from ribbon in the shape of a fish. These were gifts for the people, used to celebrate the 25th May, the day of the declaration of independence of Argentina. We were able to make thousands of these little things before we finally arrived at our destination. Puerto Piray A short drive from the bus stop and we reached our new home in Puerto Piray, a small town on the river bordering with Paraguay. All of us squeezed into the one house, unaware that it was not the owner who had offered us the use of it. The owner, when he returned a few days later, was shocked to discover nine people living in his house. He had heard a rumour and called ahead to be told it was true and that he should stay at his mums place instead. Our first order of the day was to visit the Amerindians in a nearby settlement to talk business with the elders of the tribe. Upon arriving we gave out balloons to all of the children who were very excited by this new toy. Every time a balloon blew apart, every child in the place would let out a large wondrous exclamation of, "woooohhhhh!!!!!" The commotion of the children soon brought the elders and it was not long before the talks commenced. As the result of these and other talks on the following three days, deals were cut with the Amerindians to provide them with the equipment they needed to restart their timber mill. Additionally, clean water, and further equipment to help them in their agricultural activities was also discussed. No promises were made, but an agreement to seek a solution to these problems was settled upon, to the satisfaction of both sides. This was the first time any agreement had been reached with this tribe. It was a very encouraging outcome. Too Ill To Go By the time we returned home, my body was experiencing the full effects of a high temperature fever. There was nothing for me to do but to retire to bed and sleep. Each night I slept with double blankets and covers. Underneath I was wearing full cold-weather clothing, and this seemed to be just enough to keep me warm. My temperature would rise to slightly above 39 C each night. This continued for the next three days until I was strong enough to start doing things again. During these three days that I was ill, I remember very little of what happened. People came and they left. Only once or twice would someone stop into my room to check on me. I know there were visits to schools and slums as well as the other visits to the Amerindians, and talks about AIDS with the locals. All of it however, was a blur to me as I lay in my bed, too weak to move many times. Heading Out Again On May 25th, although still not well, I left the house to attend the public celebrations marking the start of freedom for Argentina. It did not last long, and I had to return home and collapse back into bed again. I tried again in the afternoon, going to a slum village deep in the forests, ferried by the local police, to attend a second official ceremony. It was a big event and took much of my strength. Undaunted, I went out again this night to a young adults class on AIDS but by now I was sorry that I had pushed myself so hard. Bed was a very welcome place to be when I finally made it there. Wednesday As a result of my premature efforts the day before, today I was too weak to head out in the morning again. In the afternoon I felt my strength had returned enough to go out again. This involved a short visit to the special school where we gave the children balloons of all different shapes and a drive into Eldorado, the nearest large town. As it was our last day in Puerto Piray, we had a dinner organised with the town Mayor and other official people tonight at 9pm. It was at this dinner that I made my first public fopar in Spanish. Everything had gone really well until then. The dinner was great and conversations were good. Everyone was in high spirits when the speeches started, and each of us in the team took a turn to say something. At my turn I proceeded to explain to everyone how wonderful they were and how touched we all were by their kindness to us. The atmosphere was charged with that special emotion from genuine speeches as I told them how thankful we were for what they had done... or at least that is what I intended to tell them. The roar of laughter around the table told me immediately that the word I had chosen for thankful was very wrong. The word I had wanted to use was "agradacidos" while what I had actually said was "graciosos". So I ended up telling them that we were "funny" or "very graceful" because of their kind acts. At least it was not offensive to them, but it managed to pull a flush of red over my face as I realised my error. A few games of pool at one of the local clubs after dinner filled the rest of our night and we returned home early in the morning. Puerto Iguazu On Thursday we left for Port Iguazu and went to see the falls. They were magnificent in their beauty. Too much for words to describe. In some ways I found them to be too beautiful, too big, they were just amazing. Many photos later, we returned home. With a small town and little to do, bed was a great place to end up. Paraguay In the morning, on Friday, we all headed out to go shopping in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. I had no visa for Paraguay, and my visa for Brazil had run out the day before, yet there were no problems for me to check out of Argentina. From this point on I was in no-mans land, a place of the unknown. Amazingly I was able to visit both Brazil and Paraguay without ever stopping at their border control. Some inquiries by one of our group revealed that this whole area is considered a tourist zone and visa checks are infrequent, allowing most people to move around without concern. Unfortunately I only found this information out after returning, and was quite convinced that I was avoiding proper procedures as I evaded the border controls each time. The events surrounding the entire escapade into Paraguay starting from leaving Argentina to the return again are worth their own space. Needless to say that this was one of the more interesting events during our journey. To travel on a motorbike between moving traffic into a city known for its corruption and avoiding border control as I went was certainly an adventure. The most exciting part of Paraguay for me was that I actually made it back into Argentina again. Return Home That night was another easy night, and the next day we had enough time to wander around the city of Puerto Iguazu before catching our bus back to Buenos Aires. It was a very interesting journey for me. Much of the work for which I had gone there ended up happening without me while I lay in my bed recovering from the fever, but I was able to get out to some of the events near the end. The last few days of sightseeing were also a lot of fun and helped to make the whole trip worthwhile. Misiones. It was a great adventure.