Dangerous Items

After many weeks in Brazil, we've arrived in Argentina! I'm in love with Argentina, and am now trying to make a plan to move here some day. We crossed the border at Iguacu/Iguazu after spending a day on the Brazilian side of the falls. Beforing arriving, I asked a lot of people which side of the falls was better, and most people say somthing along the line of "Both sides are great, just different." While I agree that they are both nice, I'd say the Argentian side is better. The park is much larger, and you get the same spectacular views as the Brazilian side + close up views of smaller waterfalls.

Before leaving the states, I made sure to pack several essential items. I have my waterproof jacket, malaria pills, a bikini, and (because of experience living in Prague) a 6 month supply of tampons, with applicators. My supply is made up of a hodge-podge of random sizes and brands, collected by my sister who gets free samples in the mail, and leftovers from my parents house - stuffed into a gallon-sized ziploc bag. What I've learned in my travels is that most of the world either doesn't use tampons, or doesn't use tampons with applicators. And, to be honest, I have no idea how to handle one of the applicator free variety. Unfortunately, just before our arrival at the falls, it was time to break the supply out of the bottom of my big bag, and keep it in the day pack. Rich has had an obsession with getting down to one bag, while I seem to be gathering more and more stuff, so we'd been using his rucksack as the day bag during out tours of Iguazu. 

We had a great time in Iguazu, and I still can't get over how beautiful and impressive it is. We left Iguazu for Buenos Aires, using our favorite mode of transportation - the night bus. We're experts at the night bus now. Armed with snacks, the sleeping bag, a film on the laptop, and spare toilet paper, just in case, we boarded for the 18 hour bus ride from the falls to the big city. We watched "City of God", which is a great film, and settled down for some terrible bus sleep around 11 PM. The next morning, after having our bus-provided breakfast, we stopped at a securty check point, and two policemen boarded the bus. The did a quick scan for suspicious looking persons, and approached us. One policeman asked to see our passports, and then, deciding that we were very suspicious indeed, asked to see the contents of our bags. Rich, being the aisle seat, handed his over first. The policemen riffled through the bag...and that's when he pulled out a gallon of tampons. He opened the ziploc bag, and began to investigate each perfectly sealed packet. Then he turned to Rich:

Policia: Que es esto? (What is this)
Rich: Umm... para ella. (For her)
Policia: Que es?
Rich: (Looking at me in desperation)
Me: Son...algunos productos femininos (They are some feminine products)
Policia: (Calls for his comrade, holding a fistfull of tampons up in the air, shouting across the bus) Sabes que es? (Do you know what this is?)
Policia 2 : (picks up tampon and begins to look it over, feeling the shape of it through the packet.
At this point, everyone in the bus is looking at us. The woman in front of me, gives me a knowing look, and laughs a little under her breath at the genuine ignorance of the policemen, and Rich is frozen in his seat.
Policia 2: AH! (whispers to his comrade) Para Mujeres... (for women).
Policia: (still confused, begins to smell the bag and the individual packets)
Policia 2: (whispering...as if everyone else on the bus hadn't already figured it out) Tampones...(tampons).
The first policemen is still skeptical. "Why are they in his bag?" You can see him wondering. Policeman no. 2 walks away, after giving me a little nod. Suddenly, policeman no. 1 realizes there is an applicator device.
Policia: Ususalmente son pequenos, no? (They are usually small, right?)
Me: Si.
Policia: (smells another one) Y tienen olor? (And they scented?)
Me: Si.
He hands Rich back his bag, and reaches for mine. Upon opening it, bars of chocolate spill out into my lap, followed by two more tampons.

Policia: "Porque tiene muchos?" (why do you have so many?)...