hello from Guaymas

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Just thought of something.

ON the busride from Tecate to Mexecali, you go over these really cool, rocky mountains. The road winds down for miles, and you see it snaking below you. You also see unfortunate cars that have gone over the edge and rolled into a pile of twisted metal. I wonder about those cars, there were hundreds of them. Are they all unfortunate drivers? Or are some rigged and flung off, being worthless and old? I suspect many are accidents. These cliffs are steep as can be, and the bus just turns on down. There is little protection on the edges.

Oh yeah, we went swimming in the California gulf, and there were some pelicans right out there. THese pelicans are giant! All of a sudden, I said to Tess, Look at that! I saw something rise out of the water, a big green back. Wait, not a back, a fin. And not green, black! She said, no its just a pelican. Then we saw it again! Dolphins! We tried to swim out to them, but they kept going farther out. The pelicans followed them, for there were probably fish there. We swam pretty close to the dolphins.

I got pretty burned that day. I was swimming for about 45 minutes with no sunscreen. Then I laid out without any. It's a good lesson.

Oh yeah. So we were walking along the street that night, and tess sees this plant. It's aloe, she says. She proceeded to pull off a big spike of it. Later at the house, she cut it open, and it was all slimy and smooth. Rub it on me, she said. So I did, because her back was sunburned. She said it had a cooling effect. I had to try it. She cut a piece for me and put it on my chest, for that was where I was burned. And my legs. And it is fantastic! Tess is the amazon nature girl.

The next day, we got up at 730 to try to climb the mountains that are near, Tetakawi, or goat teats. We walked up a construction road that went around them, looking in awe at the cactus trees that arose 20 or 30 feet! Some people were making a road there or something. It went right down to an amazing beach, with pelicans soaring over mountains. We tried to bushwack up the mountain, but it was too brushy. I saw a big spider web. I walked around it, not mentioning to tess. Suddenly she screamed, panicking. There was a giant, 3 foot spider glaring it's jaws right at her! It was trying to eat her! Just kidding. But really there was this huge spider, about the size of a golf ball. I know the other one makes a better story, but I'm sorry, I have to stick to the truth!

We headed back down to the beach. The location was beautiful, but there is all this trash on the beach, like everywhere. And the road, they just plowed through a sacred mountain. Man. I had my slingshot, which I've been shooting alot, got it for 50cents. I shot a few bottles and it was fun. Anyway, gotta get going! It's taco time or something like that.

Wait we're going to stay a little longer, because this is fun.

So, I shot my slingshot, and suddenly there was a giant spider! Just kidding...but really, I shot it and hit a tecate can, it was pretty sweet.

At first, our trip was expensive, we were hanging near the border. We had a few lessons to learn. We bought some 6.50 virgin pina coladas, yippie! That was in Tiajuana. We weren't smart and forgot to ask how much they were. Virgin ones, because I stopped drinking when we left berkeley. That's been going well. You save money, and don't get dehydrated or anything. I have been eating more sweets though, but been pretty healthy.

Every day you rise to a sweltering sun.
Go down to the beach, jump in the refreshing water.
Let it glide across your body.
Enjoy every moment.

Then we face the ocean and reach up to the sun, stretching.
It shines through my fingers and I see gold,
gold far more precious than metal.
Then reach down and touch the earth, touch the sand.
Try.
I am still far from it, yet it is so close, and I will reach it one day.

Breathe deep and be relaxed.

The end.

I haven't written much poetry or anything. What are my reflections on things?
In this kind of heat it is hard to do anything. You move slow, you think slow, everything is slow. There is no reason to rush around, and it would be silly to do. You would get sick and dehydrated.

As for health, I am pretty healthy. Had one case of stomach problems, but it moved through, and now I'm doing well.

What really helped us was, at first we were moving all around, not knowing what we were doing. We were trying to go down to La Paz, but they told us it was about 100 dollars. It's not that far! I think we were being had, but there aren't many bus stations in the Baja. Nor many accomidations, and it's a bit more expensive. So I said, why not go back to the west side, it'll be more reasonable. And it has been much better here. Also, since we rented this big room on the beach for a week, we got a good discount. And it has a nice kitchen, air conditioning, close beach, two big rooms...it's the nicest place we've stayed! So we're thinking of doing the week thing. Another place in town we asked how much for a month, and it was about 300 dollars. But per night, it was 50. So you can see where the deal is! We'll have to hang out some nice places for a month. If tess and I split that, it's quite reasonable.

Then we went grocery shopping instead of eating out all the time, and it's just been a lot better on the budgets! Anyway, we cook better than a lot of the eating out, I think. They give you tortillas wrapped around some meat, with some salsa, maybe some veggies. Depends where you go. But I have to note the mexican food here is much different than we're used to in the states. And I haven't yet found the fat burrito full of goodies, the way I usually make them.

We made some tasty nachos, quesedillas, and now tostadas. I get tired of eating out all the time. Do anything all the time and it gets boring...it's all about variety. So last night we had mexican pizza, which we made ourselves. At least that's what I called it. It was pasta, with tostadas. Pretty tasty though. We needed a break from mexican food.

In the night, walking back to our hotel, there were dogs on the street. They barked at us and looked scary. Tess picked up some rocks far away, and the dog didn't see. We got close, the dog still barked. I reached down for a rock. But as soon as I reached the dog ran. It was funny. We have since tried this again. The dogs run when you reach, because the locals throw rocks, so I've heard.

Well I'm sure I'm boring you, so that's enough for now!

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