im glad i speak spanish

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Xamach Dos. my peaceful beach resort. ive learned a bunch since ive been here. I learned how to make totopes, which are fried tortilla chips, ive finally master whacking open a coconut with a machete, and ive figured out how to funnel gas into a truck. Ahhh yes, ive also learned that an exhaust is a silly part of your car and that its perfectly fine to drive without one. the exhaust on my truck fell off last night, but we just tor the part that was dragging on the ground off so now it does clink and clatter. things are done so differnetly here in mexico, so much simpler and maybe a little bit half assed but i like it. we keep our food that the bugs might get into in the oven and rarely use the oven, we cook beans and then re cook them the next day to keep them from going bad and then re cook them the next day again to keep them from going bad. we drink lots of coconuts to keep us hydrated since coconut water has 15times the electrolytes in gatorade.
i went searching for turtles the other night with a couple from palo alto. we didnt find any turtles but we found tons of turtles tracks and nests. the nests are marked with bamboo sticks usually. we found atleast one really fresh track and nest that hadnt been marked yet, so we must have just mist the turtle.
francisca and vinancio went to chetumal on sunday so that they could vote in the elections and take care of franciscas son who might need an operation for his broken arm. elections were held all over the state of quintana roo in all the big cities. it is illegal to sell alcohol all weekend long during elections. they also breathalize everyone who enters a voting location! i guess mexicans do like to drink so this gets rid of all the swaggering tequila breath guys from wandering in and causing rucous or voting for 2 politicians at once. i drive to tulum to pick them up from the bus station tomoro. its been nice having the place to myself!
my friend jaen from pez maya finally came by to visit. i showed her the ruins that are a 5min walk away. and then we went sea kayaking out to the reef. the waves were pretty big and the kayak kept filling with water but then draining out thankfully. we tried to ride some waves but only caught one good one. we then had fish tacos and fish soup for dinner(leftovers from francisca).
ive been doing tons of cleaning since theyve been gone. cleaned the kitchen almost completely(the water is out so i have to pause), and i gathered all the recycling we have lieing around and piled it in the back of the truck. im going to take it to the recycling center in tulum tomoro. i sold all of the cans we have and made 120pesos. i think they jipped me but whatever i got mas que nada.
i went over to my next door neighbor manuels last night to hang out. i got there just in time and was invited to go night fishing. i ofcourse said yes and hopped in the boat. we cruised out to were there were rocks and then anchored the boat. manuel and another guy put on snorkel gear and fins and grapped spear guns. they were off to hunt lobster! the lobster season has started and now i know lobsters hunt at night, so they come out of their rock hiding holes. we hung out on the boat for about an hour watching their flashlights move beneath the dark waters, fishing for snapper and drinking beer while we waited. they came back with 8 lobsters all strung like shishkabobs on a stick! we headed back to land thinking of juicy lobsters on the way. when we got back we were gonna drive down the road to manuels friends house to feast so hopped in the back of the pickup and waited. i see all the guys getting ready to hop in to and op! one of them plops in a massive rifle machine gun sort of thing! and then aniother and then in the dark i see that they are all wearing camoflauge now. i had no clue that they were military guys until then. they were all really nice guys, talking with them on the boat, this is my second time meeting military without the uniform on, i would never have guessed! when we get to the base that is down the road closer to pez maya, we see that the boss commander is there so we are uninvited to feast with them. darn no lobster.

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