Went kayaking for real this time today, out in the lagoon behind the school. I'm fairly tired, because paddling didn't really click until about 15 minutes before we left. I was having a hard time and pulling at the paddle rather than pushing with the other arm. Finally realized that if I think of it like pedaling something with my arms, I could get the feel right. Saw some more birds-pelicans, great blue herons, a White Ibis, some small shorebirds, lots of gulls, and an osprey. And then once I got back to school I saw a great egret.

Before we went kayaking though we watched this documentary called de Nadie (Nobody). It was about central americans going through Mexico to get to the US. Getting through Mexico is the most dangerous part for these people, there's a gang called the Mara who target immigrants and will rob, beat, kill & rape immigrants. A lot of people try to jump on the trains (immigration doesn't really check them), but sometimes the Mara will be in control of a train and require payment. If someone doesn't have the money for the Mara they'll throw them off the train. And the Mexican police are just as bad, robbing people and beating them. A lot of the people they talked to were leaving because they couldn't earn enough money in their country to feed their children. One man had a distended stomach-literally coming out of his abdomen-and was trying to get to the US to get an operation, and then send money home to his children. Brady told us about how she's helped some of her Mexican friends apply for visas. Her one friend paid over $2000 on applications, got to the interview and was turned away. When she asked why, the guy told her "no reason." The people who want to, and need to, come to the US can't afford to do so legally and by the time they get to the US border they've already come through 4/5 of the journey and have probably gone through worse than most of us could imagine.