sorry this is late!

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mexico is wonderful! the research base is great, location, staff, other volunteers, beach, coconuts, magrove lagoon(have been seasrching but havent found the crocs yet), the reef, the fishes. verything!!!!
im living in the sian kan reserve 1 hour south of the town tulum. ill give you a quick briefing of what ive done so far.
the first night i stayed in the town, met a german, follwed him to a resort on the beach and camped for 2 nights, in tulum i went to the mayan ruins, right on the coast overlooking a big cliff. i made some good freinds in tulum and partyed with them at an electronica party the first night. the resort sxaid i could come back anytime! on friday i waited at the grcery store and was picked up by a gvi van full of volunteers and we headed down to pez maya(the rsearch base im stayin at).
pez maya is in the middle of the reserve on the coast, behind lies a big mangrove lagoon. in front the second biggest barrier reef in the world. we have some great staff members, smostly from the uk, they are al friendly except boss lady, very good teachers too! the other volunteers, also mostly from uk are cool too, making some good friends, i am in town now using internet with 2 friends from mexico who got scholarships to do the program. good fgriends with a chick from sf too! it is communal living so we all do different jobs like coking, raking the sand(to mess up sandfly eggs), cleaning toilets, geasring up the boats. cooking for a day is a lot of work, you spend most of the dsay in the kitchen. we have set schedules each day which only change beacasue of weather wave conditions.
we have a scuba instructor and we have been diving 3 times, only once from a boat onto the reef. we are learning sdlowly but surely, different manaeauvers and rescue techniques, they make sure we a re super duper safe divers! the dive to the reef was amazing, 6meters deep, saw lots of fish and the biggest corals i have ever seen! did some underwater sumersaults, the gear is not heavy unless yourcarrying it out of the water. hopefuly we wil dive tomoro! we have studyed our fish tlike caraazy and i can identify most when under water but still have to lñearn juviniles too!
yesterday was our day off and i built a coconut headed wooden woman with marcela(mex amiga). i also created a drum set out of trash i fgound on the beach(washboard, beerbottle chime, bass drum, maracas, and other pans and buckets to bang on), we had a few good jam sessions but the volunteers have no rhythm, the staff was good tho. i feel much closer with the staff, cause they are more my age and like me so we get along well. we had a bday party for lizzy last night and got to keep the generator(genny) on until 2 am(usually it is only on from 6-9pm). we take bucket showers and flush toilets with rain water. we have to also take turns filling the scuba tanks and manning the radio when boats are out.
today sunday is our day off so i got to drive in my friend luis´s white bug(bocho en espanol) 1 hour t tulum the closest town. we ate CHEEEEESE!!!!! (at base there is only ice for beer so no butter cheese or meet). we stopped at papaya playa(the resort i stayed out when i first arrived) said hi to friends and took a a swim and a real shower too! the little things in life! cheese and shower and internet too all in one day! que buena!
there are some birds here, pelicans, magnificent friggets, lesser tern nesting site right in front of our beach so we have to be careful. will start birding in the morning with sam(staff) soon. lots of grackels(annoying birds) an osprey nest without ospreys, great blue heron, and some more, ill get better soon. turtles nest on out beach too, that wil start in a couple weeks, we get the young when they hatch, in may-aug, and let them out at night to the sea so they have a better survival rate. i am learning tons tonstons!
i miss everyone muchisimo!
some spanish lesson
universe=tata
dude/buddy=wey
arrecife=reef
dont excpect to hear from me to often tho sinceinternt isnt easy to get to!
besitos a todos!
dana

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Comments

[Dorreen]

Tulum Hotel Recommendations?
Sounds awesome! I'm headed to Tulum in a couple weeks! A friend recommended Zamas. What do you know about it?

[Jahooly]

papaya playa is where its at, camping is free and plentiful anywhere in the sian kan bioreserve