The Quest for the Argentine Passport, Pt.2

Before we went to Iguazu Falls, Henry secured a copy of his birth certificate, the first step toward applying for an Argentine passport. When he had talked to the officials at the Argentine Consulate's office in Los Angeles, they had suggested that Henry obtain a second, notarized copy of the birth certificate; the original would be submitted with the passport application; the copy would be his to keep.
The afternoon we returned from Iguazu, we continued the quest. When Henry picked up the birth certificate, he was told he needed to get it notarized. We headed that direction  around 2:30pm but couldn't find the office. We walked another block to the next official-looking building and asked for help.

We were given specific directions -- and told the office had closed an hour earlier -- but that we might be able to talk to someone.

We managed to get into the office, only to be told that it was indeed closed and that we'd have to come back the next day. Fortunately, a second person at the counter was more helpful; he explained that  we would need to first go to the Colegio de Escribanos first, where the certificate would be notarized.

We found that building and went to the first entrance we saw. We were sent around the corner where we talked to a man at the desk. We were told again that the birth certificate required a special, certified stamp but that we should have an official copy made first.
We went back across town, near where we started last Thursday. We walked into what looked like a typical copy shop. However, when we explained that we weren't there to just make an ordinary copy of an ordinary piece of writing, more time and money was involved.  We waited about twenty minutes in an almost-deserted shop and  paid 25 pesos to have it copied and certified that it was an official copy of an original document.

That was enough chasing around for one day.We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping and had a lovely dinner at Puerto Madero.

Super Extravaganza Tour & Boatride

Sunday morning found us signing up for the rainforest and falls tour, guaranteed to get us soaking wet. We bought disposable raincoats at the hotel gift shop and set off for the departure spot.

We clambered aboard a WWII-era truck with long benches welded to the bed and headed along the bumpy road to the rainforest. Our guide told us that there are more than 150,000 acres in the preserve where many endangered animals live.

We didn't see a jaguar, of course, but we did see a toucan and a coati (below).

When we reached the docking area for the boats, we grabbed our "rain gear" and grabbed a seat. We were concerned about getting soaked, but apparently some of the other tourists were not.

Raingear or Speedo, we all had to wear the lifevests. We headed toward the falls, with the boats getting as close as safely possible.

Because the water was so high, some areas were closed to the boats, but we were close enough to get soaked.

Iguazu National Preserve

The flight from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu took only 90 minutes, but the destination felt so different from the big city.
We arrived at the airport and found a taxi for the twenty-minute ride to the Sheraton Hotel located on the preserve. The moment we arrived we were taken by the scenery, and as soon as we unpacked our bags, we headed outdoors.

This is a giant fig tree was one of a pair that were visible from our room. The fruit, not edible for us, was a main attraction to the capuchin monkeys.

We found this little critter perched on the railing of our balcony. Beyond him is the trail to the falls. We walked down the trail in a slight mist. All the while as we walked, we could hear the roar of the falls ahead.

This water under this first bridge we crossed didn't give us much of a clue to the amount of water we would soon see.

Soon, we found the water, brown from all the sediment it carried with it, cascading down the hill.

Iguazu Falls, comprised of more than 200 water falls, are two and a half miles of falls that border Argentina and Brazil. We were told that to really see the falls, we should go to the Brazilian side, but we were quite happy with our views.

We walked to both the lower and upper viewing points. The paths went right through the rain forest, a marvelous tangle of vegetation.

The warm, moist climate is very hospitable for orchids and bromiliads, some of which we saw in the trees.

We saw several of the falls, Adam and Eve, the Two Sisters, and the Three Musketeers among them. While the heavy mist obscured the view of the falls from the hotel, we could hear their roar inside the room, even with the windows closed.

Argentina, Day 2: October 16, 2009

Today we moved. Well, all we really did was move hotel rooms. We were dismayed by the condition of the bathroom in our hotel, so when the manager asked about our stay, we jumped on the opportunity to tell him. They graciously offered to change our room at the end of the day. Since we would be here for about a week, we didn't want to deal with a small space and moldy bathroom any longer than necessary.

After the room issue was worked out, we headed for downtown, returning to the government office to pick up the copy of Henry's birth certificate. His original was  a negative print -- white lettering on black background. The new one he received today is the opposite and, most important, it has a date stamp on it. Next week, when we return from Iguazu Falls, we'll pursue getting it notarized.

Later in the day, as we walked about Buenos Aires, we ran across the National Theater Cervantes, along with its own museum. We spent time wandering through the museum, looking at pictures of old stars of the stage and screen.
On a lark, we decided to buy tickets to a one-woman show for the evening. We were anxious about getting back to the theater on time, worried that we might have to vie for seating, since seats were unassigned. No worry necessary. That night, we were among fourteen (14) other folks who had come to the show. The actress was very expressive; however, my rudimentary Spanish completely abandoned me, and if it hadn't been for Henry's sotto voce comments every once in awhile, I would have had pretty much no idea of what was transpiring.
After the theater, we returned to one of last year's favorite restaurants: La Cholita. We had appetizers, steak and fries, and plenty of wine for under $30.

Hello again, Buenos Aires!

Thursday, October 15, was our first full day back in Buenos Aires. We knew this trip would be different, in part because we were by ourselves. We would also be splitting up our eight days, as we were scheduled to fly to Iguazu Falls for a two-day visit.
Eighteen months ago, Summer 2008, we traveled to Buenos Aires for what was our first trip to visit as a family. While Henry was raised there until age ten and had returned to visit his godparents twice in the intervening years, Buenos Aires was all new to the rest of us.
On that first trip, we spent most of our time seeing the major sights of a South American capital that had the feel of a European city. One of our first stops was the famous and much-visited Recoleta Cemetery with the crypt of Eva Peron among many beautiful monuments,

We also went to San Telmo, where tango began and where someone is always dancing in the street.

We also rode the oldest subway and saw the "flower" in the park.

We met Henry's godmother and her family who graciously hosted us for lunches and dinners and took us to unusual events such as the Argentine Rural.

 

This trip was to be different in many ways, some unexpected. Going to Argentina was something that we decided to do after we made our decision to take the Peru/Bolivia trip. We decided we wanted to see Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina in addition to visiting Buenos Aires again.

When we were first planning our trip, we had heard we might need visas for Argentina, so we inquired at the Argentine consulate in Los Angeles. We were told we wouldn't need them; however, Henry was also told that he might be eligible for an Argentine passport. "All" he needed was a certified copy of his birth certificate; therein lay the unexpected.

Henry wasn't exactly born in Buenos Aires. He was actually born on a boat with Argentine registry, the Mendoza, when his parents immigrated to Argentina from Italy. His "birth certificate" is actually a portion of the captain's log.

Thursday, our first day in Buenos Aires, we dropped our dirty clothes at the laundry service and headed downtown to the government office to see about the birth certificate. The building resembled any social services agency: lots of people in lots of long lines,  waiting. The young man we met at the information desk said that it would be possible to get the certificate, but we'd have to show proof (our flight plans) that we'd be in the country a short time so that our appointment could be expedited. We were told to return by 2pm. We went back to the hotel to retrieve our paperwork, and after a stop for gelato, we returned to the government office. This time, we were told that the record was in the system and were given an appointment for the following day.

Since we had the rest of the day to ourselves, we shopped some. One of our favorite places from last year's visit was a small housewares shop named J.B. Penney,  not the more familiar JC Penney. We also went to an upscale shopping center, Patio Bullrich, which was walking distance from our hotel.

Our plan for dinner was to go to El Yugo, a restaurant we ate in twice last visit. The beauty of the place was delicious food, simply prepared.

Another surprise: the restaurant was gone! We knew exactly where it should have been; in fact, we found the building, but it was boarded up and the sign was gone. Not surprisingly, we soon found another place to have a delicious dinner.

 

Note to my readers: All of the preceding pictures are from the 2008 trip.  Stay tuned for the Quest for the Birth Certificate and other adventures.

La Paz, Bolivia

Tuesday, October 13 we were in La Paz, Bolivia for the last day of our group tour. Our first stop of the morning was at the Valley of the Moon.

La Paz is set at the bottom of a valley surrounded by high clay cliffs. Erosion has made this interesting landscape.

From the stark, desert-like landscape of the Valley of the Moon, we went higher in the city to get a view of the world's highest soccer stadium. Bolivians are acclimated to this altitude, and their soccer teams used this to their advantage when playing in La Paz.

This European-looking arch is in a city park area, high above La Paz.

Once again in the downtown area, we had time to visit the town center, the parks, and the government center.

The park offered a great opportunity for people-watching.

From there, we headed toward the market area where we had time to explore. Our first stop was the Witches' Market which sells all manner of amulets for curing ills or causing something wished for to happen.

After the Witches' Market, we continued to walk around the market area, picking up a few souvenirs.

Henry told some shopkeepers that he wanted to ride a "colectivo" the local bus. He didn't want to ride far; he just wanted to say he had ridden one in La Paz. Before I knew it, he had handed the driver his coins and hopped on the bus.

When he came back from his short ride, we took his picture with the shopkeepers. After the picture, the women helped us negotiate with a taxi driver for a ride back to the hotel. Taxi drivers do not have meters; instead, they nogotiate the fee before the trip is taken. We rode for almost twenty minutes back to the hotel for 20 Bolivianos -- about $7.00!

This day ended our formal tour. The next day was a travel day: three flights before we ultimately landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina where we would spend a week on our own.