Cacti and Sand and Tortillas

 So I’m here! Baja California Sur is hot and sticky and sandy and there are stray dogs all over and the roads are bumpy and right now I’m looking at the ocean, which is the exact same blue as the sky. If there weren’t any  islands on the horizon I wouldn’t be able to tell where the water ends.

Getting here  involved two flights and a four-hour drive over bumpy dirt roads. The tire on the van blew out. I got to see a tumbleweed. Actually a lot of tumbleweeds.Have you ever seen a tumbleweed rolling across the desert? Have you ever picked one up and tossed it in the air? I was practically giddy.

I also got really excited when I saw my first cactus. And then the second. And then the third. Eventually the novelty wore off, and then I saw a bird on a cactus and I got really excited all over again. Some of these cacti are over 400 years old. The look like slouching  giants.

The people in my program are lovely. The faculty are wonderful. We eat tortillas and rice with every meal. My first night sleeping in a cabana was… interesting. (Remember how I’m a clean-freak? Living under a palm-frond roof with a family of crickits is going to be an exercise in patience.)

I feel little homesickness pangs every once in a while. This still feels like a bizarre dream. It will get easier as we go.
As soon as I can beg a USB cord out of one of my program-mates, pictures will appear. Te lo prometo.

I miss you all and love you so much.