Bienvenido a Mexico!

I'm here!

After leaving Boston midday on Sunday, I finally arrived here at the Center for Coastal Studies at midday today, Tuesday. We stayed at a hotel in La Paz last night (see photo) so that we could rest and get to know eachother a bit before the 3 hour drive across the peninsula to Puerto San Carlos. 

The drive was long, but went through very interesting desert landscapes. See the picasa album for pictures. 

The center is beautiful, with lots of hammocks (see photo), very fine sand that's incredibly soft. I'm sure that some of you will be able to feel it as it pours out of everything I own when I get back home. Each cabin has 4 sections, each with two levels. The top level of each is a bed, below which we each have a desk space and shelves. It's great--we have our own space, which is nice. 

So far, we've just had some basic orientation things. Risk management, policies, etc. Fascinating stuff, really. Classes start next week, which I'm really excited for. Everyone we've met has been great. The weather is also pretty perfect--"skin temperature," pretty dry, but not too dry, cool enough at night that I get to cuddle up into my sweatshirt and sleeping bag and be comfortable.

I'm excited and a bit nervous to start getting involved with the local community. My spanish is kind of failing me-I know I know it, but it's all a bit fuzzy at the moment as I'm adjusting. Our Student Affairs Manager, Brady, told us that students studying abroad have the local and cultural knowledge of about a 5-year-old when we arrive, and I feel like that's pretty accurate. It's kind of intimidating being so clearly an outsider in a tiny little town. We have a homestay for a couple of days in a few weeks, which should help. Hopefully I'll at least reach double-digits by the time I leave. We have a lot of interaction with the community, so I'm optimistic that that'll all change with time. Especially as I start getting more confident with my spanish. 

At this point, I'm keeping myself busy getting to know my group. There are 16 of us--15 girls and 1 guy--on the program, almost all from up and down the northeast and midatlantic states. I think we're all going to get along really well. We watched Finding Nemo on a projector set up outside today. It was pretty sweet. (The AMS quad projector set-up definitely has competition.) 

I can't wait to find some whales and turtles, and get classes started, and to explore the local community. More stories, and photos, as they happen. 

Photos so far are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Emma.RachelKanji/BienvenidoAMexico#

I promise there won't be this many from every day.... 

Love and miss you all, and a tiny little part of me is jealous of the snow you're all getting at the moment. (But only a tiny little bit.)

Adios!

Emma