I must say that I had some concerns about coming back to CLV Summer Camp. I know I promised by good friend Kika that I would come back this Summer to El Lago del Bosque, Wilder to work with her, but I had some mixed feelings about losing my precious free time during the Summer.
But anyway, work at camp is not bad at all. I enjoy most of it. This Summer I am Assistant Dean AND Business Manager again so my days are pretty full. Although I am trying to balance work time with rest time. While working here I also have to create my show about water for In The Heart of The Beast Theatre. That is going well.
Camp is going well as well. We had a pretty nice (and small) session with the younger kids. We'll see how things go the next two weeks with the older ones.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Almost there (inside the Xcel Energy). Go Obama!
Yesterday was truly an important historic moment for USA. Obama
claimed the presidential nomination for the Democratic party at a HUGE
rally in St. Paul (Xcel Energy). I was very excited about it and
decided to go there. But it was a little naive of me to think that I
could get in. The doors opened at 7 pm and I arrive around 6:30 pm and
there were blocks and blocks of people. Downtown St. Paul turned into a
human maze with thousands of Obama fans and supporters. I just ended up
at one of the gates but behind the fence and just watched people get it.
So much enthusiasm and joy! I was not able to see him live but just by
being there I felt, like many others, that I was part of great moment in
history.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Guantanamera in the streets of Ensenada, Mexico
Street musicians singing "Guantanamera" in by a taco stand in Ensenada, Mexico
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
We are back in the US!
We arrived to the hostel in San Diego around 9 pm on Tuesday night. We had a great spaghetti dinner and we got ready for bed. We are all FINE but TIRED! See you soon!
Monday, May 26, 2008
We are fine and HAVING FUN!!!!
Sorry for the lack of posts and updates but we are in Bahia de Los
Angeles since Friday and internet access has been extremely difficult
to find.
Angeles since Friday and internet access has been extremely difficult
to find.
We are all fine and happy and having tons of fun. Hopefully updates soon.
paulino
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Visiting the sea turtles facility
At around 5 pm on Saturday afternoon we visiting the place where they do
sea turtle research. This was started by scientist and researcher
Antonio "Toño" Resendiz (*) which happens to be the owner of Camp
Archelon (where we are staying). He gaves us a brief history of the
place and the research projects on turtles that he had done.
sea turtle research. This was started by scientist and researcher
Antonio "Toño" Resendiz (*) which happens to be the owner of Camp
Archelon (where we are staying). He gaves us a brief history of the
place and the research projects on turtles that he had done.
(*) Antonio Resendiz, a Mexican conservationalist, used to tend the sea
turtle facility on north of town (Bahia de Los Angeles). Volunteers
helped Resendiz care for several endangered species of sea turtles.
Though visits are usually planned though organization in the US,
enthusiast might inquire locally for a change to see the facility (from
"Sea Kayaking in Baja" book)
Exploring the surroundings of camp Archelon: Lighthouse
In the afternoon the other group when kayaking with Teo (one of the
instructors) while Jeannie, I and four students (Storm, Zoe, Ina, Liza
and Clare) went for a nice hike to Punta Arena, a little south of our
camp Archelon (where we were staying). We walked all the way to the
lighthouse. It seemed abandoned but people from town told us it was
working (we were able to confirm that at night when we saw it working).
There was a brick wall all around it. We climbed it and then went
insight the lighthouse. A set of ladders took us all the way up. We had
a great view from the top. We could see the whole bay, the town, the
mountains and the islands. On our way to the lighthouse and back to camp
we gathered all sorts of interesting and beautiful shells, snails and
treasures that the ocean brought to the shore for us.
instructors) while Jeannie, I and four students (Storm, Zoe, Ina, Liza
and Clare) went for a nice hike to Punta Arena, a little south of our
camp Archelon (where we were staying). We walked all the way to the
lighthouse. It seemed abandoned but people from town told us it was
working (we were able to confirm that at night when we saw it working).
There was a brick wall all around it. We climbed it and then went
insight the lighthouse. A set of ladders took us all the way up. We had
a great view from the top. We could see the whole bay, the town, the
mountains and the islands. On our way to the lighthouse and back to camp
we gathered all sorts of interesting and beautiful shells, snails and
treasures that the ocean brought to the shore for us.
Kayaking on Saturday morning
We had breakfast. After breakfast Roger divided us in two groups: one for kayaking and another one for snorkeling. Even though I was hoping to do snorkeling fate put me in the kayak group. I was on a tandem kayak with Jovan and that was an interesting challenge. The problem was that my weight is more than double of Jovan’s. There was a little bit of wind but it kept blowing Jovan and not me. When we went out Jovan was in the front and shore was on our left side. The wind was blowing towards the shore therefore the front of the kayak was also going towards the shore and not towards the sea. We struggled a little but we kept going. We finally decided to switch places so that the front of the kayak would point towards the sea. But at that time the wind started to pick up and Roger decided that it was not safe to go to one the closest island as we had originally planned. Then we turned back. Coming back was a little easier since we have the wind on our backs.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday afternoon and last night in Punta San Jacinto
We had some yummy tostadas. We are really getting spoiled with all the good food that Miriam prepares for us.
After lunch we all have some quiet time alone. It was great to reflect about how things are going in our trip, reflect about the amazing place where we are, read or just relax.
Later in the afternoon the activities were a little more diversed and we separated in different groups. A few students went back to the water and now we can really see the fruits of their tenacity and effort. Some of them are able to stand on their board already. I joined 3 students to a falt site outside of the camp grounds to fly a kite. It was one of those big kites that you can maneuver and make it turn and such. I must say that I failed in the task of making it turn but the whole experience of flying it or watching the others playing with it was a lot of fun! When we came back I took a few pictures of the site and a group of students who were sculpting a mermaid as part of their presentation for the talent show at night.
We had spaghetti and meat balls for dinner... mmmm... I am still licking my fingers.
After dinner we had a talent show around the campfire. Each students (or group of students) had the task to think about our surrounding and come up with a presentation and share it all so us. It was a great display of talent and Joe, Vicki and Santi (the three kids in our group that are not part of the 8th grade class were the judges. They even imitated the judges of American Idol. It was lot of fun. Some of the numbers were: A song from the play "Secret Garden", a short story abot the mermaid, jugling billard balls in the dark, some attempts to improv comedy, a picture with painted rocks with "surf" as a theme, a sketch draing of a surfer, reading the lyrics of the 8th graduation song (music yet to be composed), and more.
It was a fun night but also we were all tired and ready to go to bed early... well... kind of early. We are leaving to Bahia de Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Our goal is to be there before it's dark so we need to leave our site by or before 9 am. Will be able to do it? We'll see.
I probably won't have internet access over there. I'll just go back to the archaic pen and notebook and type on my blog when we are back to civilization :-)
...
Before closing my last post from Punta San Jacinto I went to the shore for one last time. It is very dark. It's a little cloudy so you can't see many stars. But you can hear and see the waves and feel the power of the sea talking to you. During some of the talks that Roger gave we learn that waves are formed by a comples interaction of the sun, moon, wind, the bottom of the ocean and of course the water. Being alone in the dark but feeling the presence of the waves in front of me made me realize how small we are in this "place" (universe, beach, live, country, ocean, etc.). But it also made me feel vibrant, full of energy and at peace. I always say that I am a very urban person, I love to live in a city but how amazing is to find this energy and peace in this remote wild places.
I'll close the laptop now and walk back to my tent (did I mention that I have a whole tent just to myself? and that I even have a cot to sleep in?). I am not sure what my dreams will bring tonight but I know that they will be filled with so much inspiration that I have collected these days.
After lunch we all have some quiet time alone. It was great to reflect about how things are going in our trip, reflect about the amazing place where we are, read or just relax.
Later in the afternoon the activities were a little more diversed and we separated in different groups. A few students went back to the water and now we can really see the fruits of their tenacity and effort. Some of them are able to stand on their board already. I joined 3 students to a falt site outside of the camp grounds to fly a kite. It was one of those big kites that you can maneuver and make it turn and such. I must say that I failed in the task of making it turn but the whole experience of flying it or watching the others playing with it was a lot of fun! When we came back I took a few pictures of the site and a group of students who were sculpting a mermaid as part of their presentation for the talent show at night.
We had spaghetti and meat balls for dinner... mmmm... I am still licking my fingers.
After dinner we had a talent show around the campfire. Each students (or group of students) had the task to think about our surrounding and come up with a presentation and share it all so us. It was a great display of talent and Joe, Vicki and Santi (the three kids in our group that are not part of the 8th grade class were the judges. They even imitated the judges of American Idol. It was lot of fun. Some of the numbers were: A song from the play "Secret Garden", a short story abot the mermaid, jugling billard balls in the dark, some attempts to improv comedy, a picture with painted rocks with "surf" as a theme, a sketch draing of a surfer, reading the lyrics of the 8th graduation song (music yet to be composed), and more.
It was a fun night but also we were all tired and ready to go to bed early... well... kind of early. We are leaving to Bahia de Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Our goal is to be there before it's dark so we need to leave our site by or before 9 am. Will be able to do it? We'll see.
I probably won't have internet access over there. I'll just go back to the archaic pen and notebook and type on my blog when we are back to civilization :-)
...
Before closing my last post from Punta San Jacinto I went to the shore for one last time. It is very dark. It's a little cloudy so you can't see many stars. But you can hear and see the waves and feel the power of the sea talking to you. During some of the talks that Roger gave we learn that waves are formed by a comples interaction of the sun, moon, wind, the bottom of the ocean and of course the water. Being alone in the dark but feeling the presence of the waves in front of me made me realize how small we are in this "place" (universe, beach, live, country, ocean, etc.). But it also made me feel vibrant, full of energy and at peace. I always say that I am a very urban person, I love to live in a city but how amazing is to find this energy and peace in this remote wild places.
I'll close the laptop now and walk back to my tent (did I mention that I have a whole tent just to myself? and that I even have a cot to sleep in?). I am not sure what my dreams will bring tonight but I know that they will be filled with so much inspiration that I have collected these days.
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