sunday MAY 16

sitting in an internet cafe in the mountains of CREEL, in chihuahua

the train ride was long and beautiful. we took the cheaper one, non tourist, it was clean and air conditioned and there were other tourists

getting there was a trip in and of itself:  ferry from la paz to topolobambo.  left at 11 at nite !!!  slept and woke up at 6. got a cab to los mochis.  got a bus to el fuerte. took the train to creel.  and everything worked smoooth as pie

the train was slow and steady ....and after divisdero for me was the best part

trees and trees and more trees .. for miles and the train climbs and climbs and climbs more

the newspaper was one i started to read at dinner, only to find a portion of it is in German ... come to find there is a community where they live off  the land. speak only German.  live life in a very simple way ... amazing and totally unexpected find

Creel is very pretty. It is high in the mountains and we are feeling difficulty breathing.  we are off to dinner. our hotel includes dinner tonite and breakfast inthe morning and all for 30 dollars.  it is called Margarita's Hotel and it is in front of the main square. the souvenirs here are dirt cheap.  20 pesos for beautifully designed snakes made out of whittled wood. dolls of all shapes and colors.  not sure of their cost.  mata ortiz pottery from 20 pesos to thousands of pesos.  and all different colors and shapes as well.  there are woven covers everywhere, but i forgot to ask how much they cost since we are not interested in them.  the indians sell the baskets starting at 20 pesos and upwards.  they smell of pine. the larger ones are a cactus leaf. the smaller are pine. all are colored with a stone mixed with water. we have heard that the colors never fade

we are ready for more !!  what a fun trip so far :)

Jan 12, Tuesday

it is an absolutely gorgeous day at 70 degrees in the shade and much warmer in the sun

started a new English class for doctors this morning and they are good

also cleaned up around Connie's house for 2 hours. very sad that they have not kept up the first cleanup from a  month ago.  really frustrating. it was filthy.

met the garbage guys and they picked up prieto's trash, all the tires formthe salitral AND did a mass cleanup at someone's house down Erizo street. and I only asked them this morning. very cool. they got paid and they are happy and so am I.

the Canadians left saying they may still return.  they knocked down a telephone pole near Connies yesterday. i guessed they were undone by the whole ordeal.  like i told them.  la bocana is a place to de-stress and certainly not to let stress get to you !!!

now I am off to teach another English class tot he Punta Abreojan students at the school
then I am off for the rest of the day

BUT  I now have to drum up more prizes. Carlos just realized that women are in a separate category in the surf competition !!!  OM gosh !!!  This is the hardest thing I have ever done !!  It is non ending and I need sponsors.  Wrote to Derek at Kaplan. who knows. there are miracles.  the good part is that there is someone who can bring the stuff down to Ensenada this week. maybe.  that will save all of us from a lot of hassle, since Dave was going to have to bring the boogie boards that we lost .... would be soooooooooooooooo  nice to have it come down earlier via the coop !!!!!!

--------------------------------------------- later on -------------------------

so, the students got out early and there was no class. that being the case, I went around looking for trash to clean. there are some locations where there are still abandoned fridges for the guys to pick up. i  spent about an hour cleaning up in front of the coop - so many plastic bags. and started to think that we could have 2 days this month dedicated to cleanups. one for the road between la bocana and abreojos (and they could participate starting from their end). and another in front of the fisherman's beach. so filthy.

Aida wrote from Wild Coast and said that she knows a group that was giving garbage cans away. Let me tell u, I would be beyond happy if I could reach my goal of 320 now .... heck ... even one more can would be a start ...

Carlos is a mover and a shaker. I did reiterate to him today that he has to finish high school and then get himself a college education. He has family in TJ. Needs to get out from under his dad's house and create his own life. But the kid is so talented. I would like to have him as promoter of any event on the face of the earth, he is amazing. really creative and does manage to reach his objective.
So, we have Aida who will coordinate san diego to ensenada drop off !!!  yahoo !!

and we have prizes from Ben et al at WildCoast. Life is looking better and better by the moment.

The waves are so big that the fishermen did not go out today. which is good - I met Juanchys and he will help me paint the new recycling center this Sunday. actually - he and julio said they will start on Saturday. I have the carwash with the surfers .. makes for a long day ....

I also wrote to Celerino of the Vizcaino Bisphere - it would be great to have him as speaker at the Environmental Day Jan 30th. I heard it takes glass  4,000 years to disappear. No wonder the pottery from the Egyptians is still around .... good for archeologists but bad for Mother Earth.