San Ignacio

My trip getting to Argentina went about 70% as planned.  It involved my first flight getting canceled, being put on a plane to a different airport in Buenos Aires with promises of a bus waiting to take me (and 7 others in the same situation) to the correct airport, said bus not existing, wandering across the airport a few times, and finally getting the airline to pay for taxis to the other airport.  But luckily I had a 10-hour layover, so there was plenty of time for all the confusion, after that it was fine!  I easily found the correct buses to get from the airport in Posadas to where I’m staying in San Ignacio.

San Ignacio is a small town of about 8,000-10,000 people in Misiones Province in northeast Argentina.  It’s right on the border of Paraguay, and not far from Iguassu Falls at the junction of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay (which I plan to visit!).  San Ignacio is a quiet town with not much in terms of recreation or entertainment.  Everybody knows everybody, and the most common thing to do in your free time is go visit friends or family and drink mate.  There aren’t really any bars to speak of, just restaurants that also serve beer, but without the bar atmosphere.  There’s one nightclub, but it’s only open on Saturdays.  There’s a “cyber” that seems pretty popular and consists of computers, pool tables, photocopiers, and some videogames, but that’s more for teenagers.  There are some paved roads, a bank, a post office, a few parks, a nice town square, a library (I’ve been told), 2 “gyms” that consist of a few hand weights, and a disproportionately high amount of bakeries, grocery stores, pharmacies, and stores in general, such that none of them are very successful.  There’s a lot of trash and stray dogs in the side streets.  Some houses look nice and new, but many appear to be run down and some are almost falling apart.  The electricity and running water usually work, but go out every so often, as does the internet.  Argentina is definitely a bit behind Uruguay and Brazil in terms of development.

The main attraction in San Ignacio are some Jesuit ruins.  There is a tour you can go on, and a “light and sound show,” which, from what I understand, is a movie projected on the ruins.  About 3km from the town is a beach on the river, and 8km from town is a provincial park that is supposed to have some interesting plants and foliage and such.  There is a fair amount of tourism here, mostly from people traveling to or from Iguassu Falls.

I’m going to be living with a family here until the beginning of December, and in exchange for room and board I’ll be nannying for their one-year-old daughter, Romina.  They own and run a hotel (http://www.pragamisiones.com/), which is actually several small cabins.  The father, Ramon, is from Italy, and the mother, Lili, is from the Czech Republic.  They have traveled, lived, and worked basically all over the world, and are full of interesting stories!