We've been working a lot again this past week, trying to coordinate research projects. We had tests Monday and Tuesday, and then for the past three days I've been editing my paper, which I think is at 24 pages of actual text, 28 with the copy of my interview questions.

The staff decided that my group shouldn't present to the town, because they're worried that the fishermen in town will be jealous that the island guys are getting so much money and help from so many people. Also, their "marine protected area" sounds a lot like the "natural marine park" that is proposed for the entire bay and has people up in arms. So they're also worried that people will get confused and angry.

Today we had a cooking class with the cooks. They showed us how to make all the salsas we have (which are very easy-all a combination of chiles, tomatillos and blenders). Then we made empanadas. You get corn flour and add water until it's about the consistency of Play-Doh. Then you squeeze off a ball of dough, flatten it with your tortilla press, fill it with whatever you want, and fry it. Of course, the only tortilla presses readily available in the US are at Williams-Sonoma and cost like $200. So I'm buying one and packing it in my luggage. Goodbye 5 lbs of personal property. I'll definitely be leaving things here to try to lighten my load, or just to fit everything!

We also had a tour of the sardine cannery today. I have to say it wasn't that impressive. They weren't working at the time, and AJ said that when they're working there's fish guts flying everywhere and it smells awful and it's just really disgusting. Instead we got to see rinsed concrete floors and machinery. Not as effective an "ohmygod look at this" tool.

I'm not horribly excited to come home right now. Yesterday or the day before that I couldn't wait to come home. But now I'm a little depressed. I'm in Mexico studying ecology, and I get to come home to a country that just created a racist immigration law and had a massive oil spill.

Speaking of which, now for a bit of soapboxing. That oil spill is the size of the state of Rhode Island. Imagine taking Rhode Island and wiping all of the living animals (not even considering effects on plants) from the surface of the state. That's what that means for the environment. It's essentially ecological genocide. Some ecologists are predicting that the Gulf may never recover. Not just "not our lifetime" but never, in all the time you could give it. Now take the Arctic Sea. It's the migratory and breeding home of many species from all over the world, including important fishery targets and endangered marine mammals (such as the gray whale we've been studying all semester). An offshore drilling accident there, similar to the one in the Gulf, would be catastrophic. Not only would it be hitting really sensitive wildlife, but they probably wouldn't be able to get to the problem for much longer due to harsher conditions. So maybe you'd be interested in signing a petition to stop offshore oil drilling in Alaska. It takes 5 seconds, and doesn't cost you a thing. Off soapbox.