NOTE: A lot has happened. My last entry was on the 5^th, but the time slips by so fast… Over the weekend, I went to Iguaz� Falls, the most mind-blowing thing I’ve ever seen. It was big water. Bigger than Niagara. It took a 17-hour bus ride to get there, to the northern part of Argentina, but before I get to that story, I’m going to cover a few important events.

Friday, August 6 — We went to Rodizio Campo, a ranch about an hour outside of Buenos Aires, to relax, ride horses and eat good food. Remember what I said about Argentines not serving excessive amounts at restaurants? Apparently I lied. There was so much delicious food there it was incredible.

It felt very Argentine to eat meat and drink red wine to exhaustion. The meat is everything it’s cracked up to be, too (the country is famous for the quality, taste, etc.)

Afterward, students rode horses, played volleyball, snapped photos – anything to pass the time.

That night I went to Sugar Bar in Palermo (one of the barrios in Buenos Aires), where I met Argentines and conversed about the decadence of Argentine society. A lot of natives here say that Buenos Aires is a place where everyone tries to take advantage of other people. You find those people everywhere, though, and so far the people I’ve met in this city have been really nice. My parents said the same thing – things are different in South America, everyone is trying to exploit everyone else, etc.

Because of this, I’ve gone around having mostly short, quipped conversations with strangers that interact with me, even shopkeepers, no matter how nice they seem. I haven’t felt exploited yet – keyword: “yet” – but people are generally more guarded than they need to be, is my conclusion.

There are robbery schemes that involve supposed “helpful people,” though, and those nice people end up stealing your things. One person will spill mustard on you, for example, and while he tries to “help” clean you off, in your confusion, his partner will steal your belongings. So that’s something to watch out for.

And I keep forgetting to mention this: the danger with taxi drivers is a real one. IES warned us about unscrupulous ones, putting it in the handbook, going over it in their safety presentations, etc. They can give counterfeit cash, rape single women, rob unsuspecting foreigners with the help of friends, all kinds of horrible things.

In all, it sounds pretty dangerous. The way cities usually are.

Location: Avenida Pueyrredon, Buenos Aires, Argentina