I seem to have a time lag on posting which doesn't totally surprise me. I was never very good at diaries or any of that. Anyway, new pictures are up! Both from whale watching and our death-defying (ok not really) hike through Isla Magdalena. Just so you don't have to go digging through my posts again, here's the album.

Yesterday was fairly slow, even though it wasn't supposed to be that way. We were supposed to split up into two groups and have kayak lessons and some free time (sound like summer camp yet?). But the first group took twice as long kayaking as expected, so my group basically had the entre morning off. They got back at lunch, so we grabbed lunch to go (this awesome kind of Mexican shepherd's pie with potatoes, ground beef, cheese and guac) and drove out to the beach where Brady was waiting with our kayaks.

Kayaking was interesting, I think I like it. You're much closer to the water than I expected, and you're fairly locked in once you have the spray skirt up. I feel like claustrophobic people (Mom) would probably have a problem with it. And the stroke is different from canoeing. If you do it right, your paddling force should be coming from your core rotating, not your arms rowing or something. I was just starting to get it right before it was time to leave. We also had to do a wet exit, which is fairly miserable in a cold lagoon. Since you're so locked in, it's important you know how to get out. So we had to flip ourselves over then pull up the spray skirt and kick out of the kayak. Then there's a process to get the water out of your kayak before you get back on (at which point you pull a sea lion move). I didn't plug my nose when I flipped, so I was dripping seawater for the rest of the day, and of course you're soaked and cold. I managed to do it, but I don't plan on flipping very often after that.

We got back and had Spanish where we went though conditional tense. We had a couple of minutes left, so we finished with Scattergories in Spanish. We had some time off again, where most people worked on their lab reports due for Vero on Monday. Then we went to dinner...and there was none! On Saturdays the cooks make something in the afternoon and staff of the day reheats it before dinner, only Martin forgot it was his turn. So dinner was a little late, but it was great anyway.

After dinner we all went out to Alcatraz, which is the only really nice restaurant in town. There was a soccer game that Jose really wanted to catch, and Alacatraz was the only place likely to have it. It's a nice hotel with a big open patio and good food and a complete gringo magnet. For reference, in Mexico "gringo" just means American, with none of the stupid American connotation we think it has. Not sure if it has that connotation in other countries, but according to Jose it's not some insult or anything. Anyway, I think just about everyone in there was gringos or other sorts of tourists. After the game we went to Los Arcos for drinks (much cheaper!), then the local "club". It's really just a bar with a dance floor with all the tables pushed to the sides. It was packed last night though, apparently for Valentine's Day.

Today was a lazy Sunday. I finished my section of the lab report, then essentially spent the rest of the day reading in the sun. The weather today is ridiculously awesome, bright and sunny and warm with enough of a breeze to not get too hot. This is the first time I've been inside since like 10 this morning. Apparently there's some plans in the making for Valentine's festivities, we'll see how it goes.