Nov 3,

The La Bocana, BCS fishing competition is coming up this weekend.  The hallabaloo is amazing:

here is a picture of one of the prettier houses in town

there is a carnaval in town. this morning there was not one car on the main street (I was taking pictures for the sheriff) and now thre are huge semis everywhere

my day was incredible

first thing - cleaned again at Conny's house - his wife helped - I can't believe we packed two more bags of trash.  two days of collecting trash from her yard - ridiculous and horrid.  she found a rattle snake next to the garage and killed it. i never saw it til it was dead ...

then I rushed home and made 2 lasagnas and a salad for the American brainstorming session on how to raise money for La Bocana. These guys are smart and gave me GREAT  ideas. Present were Caroline, Larry, Gary, Les and I. For some reasonScott didn't come and I know he has great ideas.....First we talked and then we ate. they say the lasagna was excellent - since I am on my diet - none for me !!  so the ideas are -

1.  car wash - Mexicans love to have their cars cleaned every day !!

2.  a garage sale and have Americans bring me fishing stuff etc to sell. as soon as this was mentioned, Lou called and is the first one who will bring fishing/diving stuff for me !!  Yes !!!!!!  ( I have requested room to set up my table at  the competition and will sell whatever I can - the caps Kenny gave, the stuff Lou brings and anything I can find from home that someone might be interested in)

3.  my idea is to give extra fish to the coop and have them credit it to the delegado and we form a group to decide how to share the money - what to spend it on first.  very transparent.

4.  Gary gave me a ride and helped me pick up the bags from the beach cleanup.


5.  I have decided to have a petition for the governor signed by three separate groups:

the adults
the elementary school kids
the high school kids

Oralia wrote me a wonderful cover letter. I made the sheets to be signed and spent the afternoon handing them out and getting people to sign - all the while carrying my garbage bag and gloves so I could clean up as well.  One sheet went to the coop store and it already has almost 60 signatures.

Tomorrow Diana will give out the high school petition to each teacher and Apolinar will give out the petition to the little ones.

Then I stopped by the delegado's and he asked me to take pictures of La Bocana main government buildings - there is a group of 40 people who will come and clean and paint on Thurs at 3. We want pics before - during and after their work. they were donated and he wants them to come back. this way we have proof of the difference they made.  I took the pics and emailed all 38 to him. Here are some:

I also visited Diana at the high school and asked her to free the kids for 2 hours in the morning on Thurs. so we can clean the beach for the tournament.  She hasnt committed tot he time but it has to be early - too hot afterwards.

I also visited Apolinar and asked him to have the little ones clean too. Probably Friday and they will clean 3 different spots. I will take the pics before and after.

One of the bigwigs in the coop, who now lives in Ensenada, wrote to me and told me that he would support me in whatever I needed. He would let Chuey know, the guy I met the other day. How is that for some great news ?????

Now I have to shower - I am filthy and stinky.   Then I want to finish the Spanish part of the presentation. Someone has to have it printed in color.  I will ask Enrique to do it and bring it when he comes.

Later gators. Teaching three classes tomorrow.  Handing out more signature sheets.  Meeting with Diana to see what time the cleanup can be. Meeting with Apolinar to see what time on Friday the little ones will go out. Meeting with the delegado to see where I can set up my table as well as gathering stuff to sell !