PTPI Blog

Our delegates have returned home safe and sound! Read about the final portion of their adventure in Argentina, when they visited Iguazu Falls, then toured a local school, learned first-hand about the Guarani tribe, tested local specialties such as roasted corn and chipa guazu, and were serenaded by a children’s choir during the farewell show:

Iguazu Falls

Today, we left our beautiful hotel, Loi Suites, at 7:30am for a 30 minute bus ride into the Iguazu Falls National Park.  After entering the park, we took a small gauge train to a drop-off point where we then walked along a metal walkway that took us over a river intermingled with mini-islands, walking about .6 miles to the area of the falls called the Devil’s Throat.  Words cannot describe the sense of power one feels when standing over this incredible sight.  As Eleanor Roosevelt said upon seeing Iguazu Falls, “Poor Niagara!”

Viewing this wonder of nature lends perfect credence to her assessment.  We then returned to the train station, took another short ride to another drop-off point and walked a much shorter distance to another area of the falls in which several individual falls extend over a wide swath.  We then left the falls and took a short walk to a Sheraton Hotel where lunch awaited us.  After lunch we took an incredible boat ride called the Great Adventure along the river below the falls. Then a thrill of thrills as we actually approached the falls and literally were as close to underneath the flow of water as we possibly could be. How exciting!!!  Then after leaving the boats, a truck drove us back to the Park Entrance.  We waited for our bus and spent a relaxing night in our beautiful hotel, enjoying a delegate dinner together, and preparing for our final full day in Argentina.

New friends made in Argentina - members of the Guarani tribe

Michael Zanders, Delegation Leader
PTPI Board of Directors

To learn more about People to People International, visit www.ptpi.org 

After three days in Buenos Aires, our delegates boarded a plane and headed for Mendoza, to continue seeing the sights, learning about the culture, and meeting the people of Argentina. Michael Zanders, the delegation leader, wrote with another update:

Mendoza is a beautiful city at the base of the Andes, or as they are called here, the Pre Andes. To see the big mountains in the distance is quite a sight as there is plenty of snow up there and some of the peaks are snow-packed year round.

EHI Argentina delegates pose in front of the Conin Foundation

Our humanitarian mission in Mendoza was very rewarding as the Conin Foundation was very grateful for our gifts and our interest. The Conin Foundation is dedicated to malnourished children – both prevention and cure. We visited both the Rehab Center and the Hospital, and we saw both infants and their mothers. The mothers are receiving education in proper diets for their families and the children are being rehabbed back to health with proper nutrition, courtesy of Conin.

New friends at the Conin Foundation

Our time in the city also included a tour. Mendoza is unique for its irrigation canals. A Wikipedia fragment says: “Before the 1560s the area was populated by three tribes, the Huarpes, the Puelches, and the Incas. The Huarpes devised a system of irrigation that was later developed by the Spanish. This allowed for an increase in population that might not otherwise have occurred. The system is still evident today in the wide trenches (acequias, popularly known as ‘yanqi traps’), which run along all city streets, watering the approximately 100,000 trees, which line every street in Mendoza. The Spanish founded the city at the bank of the river Rio Mendoza, only later realizing that the ‘river’ was a wide irrigation canal dug by the indigenous Huarpes people.” It truly is a unique, lovely city with many parks and squares.

Our memories continue. Hasta luego.

Michael Zanders, Delegation Leader
PTPI Board of Directors

To learn more about People to People International, visit www.ptpi.org 

Delegates attending PTPI’s Educational & Humanitarian Initiative to Argentina arrived in Buenos Aires on December 2 and have been busy experiencing the country ever since. Highlights of the journey so far include a visit to a local school, a tour of the city, and a introduction to the gaucho way of life.

Percussion performance in Argentina

Argentina 2011 started off very uneventfully.  The majority of the delegation flew in from Miami, arriving in Buenos Aires at 7am, most of the rest coming from Dallas and arrived at 10:30. The Miami contingent hit the bus running with a tour of South Buenos Aires, followed by lunch at La Barrica. Then we visited El Envion in the “barrio” of Buenos Aires, a very poor area where El Envion serves the young adult population by providing training in certain fields such as plumbing and construction, as well as providing an introduction to the arts.  We then walked to an elementary/secondary school in the same area where we heard a 4 piece drum band play some high energy percussion.  We donated cash and supplies to both institutions…very rewarding. Following that we went to a wonderful steak house where we were served wonderful meat, cheese, wine and desert.

 

Delegates experiencing Argentina on PTPI's Educational & Humanitarian Initiative

On Saturday we took a wonderful city tour, visiting the cemetery where Eva Peron is laid to rest, the parks of Buenos Aires with a beautiful rose garden, viewed some sculptures and some monuments.  Once the morning tour ended we had the rest of the afternoon for self-exploring.  I have a cousin in Buenos Aires and the cousin took us to a restaurant called Kansas. That evening we ate a wonderful meal and saw a wonderful Tango Show at Esquina Carlos Gardel Theatre.

Pam Zanders finds a reminder of home in Argentina

This morning we went to San Telmo Square where every Sunday is a flea market. Then we drove an hour into the Pampas where we visited the ranch of Capilla de Senor and had a wonderful gaucho experience.  We started with a happy hour of empanadas and wine then followed that up with a marvelous lunch of meats, salad, deserts and MORE  wonderful wine.  Then we boarded antique horse-drawn carriages for a ride into the Pampas.  After a break of coffee and sweets we returned to the ranch house.  We then left and returned to the hotel for a night on our own.

A carriage ride in the Argentinean countryside

Michael Zanders, Delegation Leader
PTPI Board of Directors

To learn more about People to People International, visit www.ptpi.org