An Apology, My Tan, and 500 Baby Sea Turtles

1. It has been far too long since my last update. I apologize.
2. This entire post is going to be in list form because it prevents me from writing far too much.
3. Little interesting things:
   1. In Mexico, you never flush the toilet paper. Paper goes in the trash can.
   2. In the States, you can nod your head to mean “yes.” In Mexico, you may hold up your index finger and wiggle it up and down to mean the same thing. This is especially cute when my Mexican roommate Laura does it and is convenient when snorkeling.
   3. Here, it is traditional to lean over and take a bite from your birthday cake when your friends finish singing to you. It is also traditional that your friends try to smush your face into the cake while you take that bite.
   4. In Spanish, popcorn is called palomitas, a word that literally means, “little doves.”
4. Things I never thought I would do but have in fact now done:
   1. Kayak in the Sea of Cortez
   2. Teach English classes to children and adults and thoroughly enjoy it
   3. Get a horrible stomach parasite while living in a tent on the beach (I’m leaving out the nasty, nasty details for those of you who can’t stomach such descriptions. Ahem, Bryan.)
   4. Swim through a big, swirling school of fish
   5. Go to a movie theater and see a movie in Spanish and actually be able to follow what people are saying
   6. Snorkel with sea lion pups
   7. Drive a boat
   8. Be able to identify different species of mangrove
   9. Climb down a mountainside in a bikini
   10. Eat raw pen-shell scallop straight from the shell (Salty, rubbery, not necessarily recommended)
5. Also, I am very, very tan. It is almost ridiculous. Pictures don’t really capture it.
6. We got to help release Olive Ridley sea turtle hatchlings. 500 of them. They are tiny and leathery and move their flippers like little webbed wings and fit in your hand, and they are lovely.
7. My research project here involves doing life history interviews and asking questions like, “How did you meet your wife? What do you remember of your grandmother? Who taught you to cook?” I am in heaven.
8. Here are some pictures:

Where I Live

At Asupmatoma Beach: Holly, Logan, Me, Emma, and Katey

From the cemetery on Isla Magdalena, where we’ve been doing life history research.

We went to Las Dunas for my birthday. Emma and Katey are napping.

 

 

The San Carlos Park. Our favorite part is the Spinny Thing.

 

 

This is Tania, a scallops researcher, giving us a lecture on aquaculture.

 

My hut-mate Laura and our friend Emma

 

BABY OLIVE RIDLEY!

 

Me and Baby

So I think that’s all for now. I hope you are all well. Peace and sustainability, friends.

P.S. The current header picture is the view at the back of ‘campus,’ right after sundown. That’s Georgina, one of my beloved SFS professors. I took this during a fútbol game, and Georgina was goalie. If you look behind her, you can see the silhouette of Isla Magdalena.