We woke up the next day knowing we had the first of 2 overnight busrides coming up in just a few hours. But it was also the day Barbara got revenge on Andrew for the Penha waterfalls prank. The previous day, Andrew dropped off his laundry at the place across the street from the hotel. It's a laundrymat, but they do it for you then you pick it up a few hours later. He didn't realize it was Friday and the place was closed on Saturday and after the long afternoon at the waterfall and dinner, didn't get a chance to pick it up the night before. So when he woke up to pick up his laundry, he walked across the street to find the place closed. He freaked out. 1/3 of his clothes gone. His favorite shirts, shorts, pants… all gone. Little did he know, Barbara knew the owners and they called her to let them know he had left his clothes there so she had secretly picked them up but didn't tell him she had them. So when we were boarding the bus leaving Paraty, Andrew was begging her to help him. It was genuinely painful to listen to this grown man beg, almost on the verge of tears. After letting him beg for about 5 minutes, she looked at me and said "should I tell him?" I said PLEASE do, I can't take much more of this. So she looks at him and says "Of course I have your laundry. Don't ever fuck with me again!" and we all busted up laughing as he ran over to give her a hug. Then she looked at the other 4 participants, me, Justin, James, and Thom and with cold eyes said "Why are you all laughing? I'm going to get you next." We all looked at each other and prayed. But I also know I'm her "teddy" (her big teddy bear/buddy) so I think I might be off the hook.
But we still had a long ass busride ahead. Actually 2. One consisted of a 5 hour busride to Sao Paulo, then a 17 hour busride to Iguazu Falls. Add breaks for dinner, breakfast, and normal stops, and it becomes a 24 hour busride. None of us were looking forward to it. But the first 5 hour leg went really well. A break 2 and a half hours in and I spent most of the other time writing content for this blog. It went by really fast. We got to the Sao Paulo bus station and everyone dispersed to find food and use the restroom. We then boarded a public bus for Iguazu. The bus was super nice. The seats reclined almost all the way back. You could almost lie completed horizontal. They also had a leg rest with lower leg pad so your legs really didn't fall asleep from sitting. We had been warned that the bus is COLD though so to pack our warmer clothes for the trip. Sure enough, it was freezing onboard. I had a hooded sweatshirt that I actually put the hood up to stay warm and a blanket I had stolen from our Continental Airlines flight that kept me amazingly cozy. We had initially intended on it being a "party bus" and had even stocked up on supplies (2 cases of beer, a bottle of vodka and a bottle of rum in 2 styrofoam coolers) but when we went to board the bus, we were told the coolers were not allowed. FRICK! So they had to be stowed in the bus. Party bus killed. Sleep instead. LOL! Despite 24 hours sounding like a really long time to be on a bus, it went much better than the 10 hour flight down here. It really wasn't bad at all. I think we had such low expectations and had dreaded it so much that we were pleasantly surprised how easy it really was. We arrived in Iguazu Falls around noon and got ready to see the part most of us had been waiting a week to see.
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