Update

I just arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, today, along with Roxie and Charlotte, the identical twins from Australia. We stayed together, along with Alex from D.C., in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay for a couple nights. Now, Alex is headed back to Montevideo, then back to the States.

I was hoping to go to Tacuarembó, Uruguay, for the gaucho festival, but everything was booked—no place to stay. Coming here earlier than planned will be fine. It will give me time to arrange for language school, which I will attend for either one week or two weeks.

Here's a quick summary of my last week-and-a-half. I left Iguazu Falls and entered Uruguay from the northern end, at Artigas. From there, I traveled to Salto, then Paysandú, Montevideo, and finally Colonia, staying a few days in each of those cities.

Today, I traveled from Colonia to Buenos Aires, via a high-speed ferry. The ferry is a tunnel-hull design, holds over 400 people and a number of cars, is about seventy meters long, and has four 5,400 kW diesel engines. I'm not sure how fast it goes, but it makes the trip in less than an hour. On board, there was singing, clapping, and whistling—continued from in the terminal in Colonia—because of a soccer game on TV.

I'm staying in a hostel called El Candil. It is excellent. If you need a place to stay in Buenos Aires, I recommend it. The bathrooms are big and seemingly never occupied. The staff is very nice and helpful. Breakfast is included. Accommodations are nice.