Huevos de la tortuga (by Karlie)

Yesterday I was privileged to witness one of the most amazing things I've seen so far in this life time. I was walking along the beach just before sunset and ran into a friend. We decided to sit and chat and watch the sunset together and soon after we sat we realized that there was a big mama turtle about 2 meters away from us diligently laying her eggs in the sand. She was at least 2 feet in diameter and absolutely breathtaking. There were about 8 people sitting around her as she did her work. Then a lifeguard realized that she was there and he went to get a bucket and wait for her to finish so that he could collect her eggs and take them to the nest. Since sea turtle eggs are a delicacy for both humans and dogs the local lifeguards here who are also keepers of the local environment dig up the eggs and take them all to one spot where they can remain protected until they are released. My friend and I watched the 10foot waves crash as the pink sun descended and sky divers were released over head, Puerto Escondido at it's best. Soon the lifeguard lifted the turtle's bottom to see if she was finished with her work and then he moved her aside as he dug up each of her eggs and moved them for transport into his bucket. All the while that he was gathering her eggs she continued her work of burying them in the sand. Unaware that she wasn't above the nest anymore, her fins kept working and moving the sand behind her. I was able to look her in the eye at that point and that was the most amazing part: she was SO focused on protecting the eggs. I could actually feel it and see it in her face. Soon it started to get dark but I stuck around to watch her tail as she waddled back to the ocean and then with the help of the lifeguard she was swept up by the surf and disappeared under the waves.

Documentary Film Recommendation

There's a great little theater here that's run by a Canadian kid. He's been around for quite a few years and has changed locations in the past few years since his place has become more popular. It's called Cinemar and it's a book store,video rental, hangout, with a home made theater that seats 12 AND has A/C(now that's livin')! Occasionally we stop in to partake of the A/C and the screen that's larger than our 14" and with a much better picture. Recently we saw a French Canadian film called MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES.
We highly recommend it. It's about how industry has effected geography and it's a little dark, but there's a lot of found art in it and it's highly thought provoking. We're destructing the planet in ways you might be aware of but it's different from a photographic point of view.

Top Ten Hip Hop Songs White People Love (oh, and let's save the planet)

So my friend Julia's blog turned me on to one of the funniest things I've read lately...it's another blog. It's called Stuff White People Love. Pretty funny! http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
It's an ongoing list and my personal favorite is "Top Ten Hip Hop Songs White People Love". Another thing that white people love is Recycling(read that one too!). This is the perfect segue to our newest piece of news. Puerto Escondido is now recycling plastic. We're not talking Euro-US curb side fancy recycling of course but it's a start. So starting this week we're going to start collecting the plastic bottles that students toss and take them to the recycling center. Then we can all feel like we're saving the world and stuff and maybe people in this town will even begin to burn less plastic so we can all breathe easier.
Well it's almost March--beware the Ides!--and Feb. was equally as busy for us as Jan. but the winter rush is calming down and we're still busy but not so slammed. In other news: Our next door neighbor's property went up for sale last week for the hefty sum of 2million pesos(really just about 200K usd). It will be interesting to see if it sells quickly as they hope it will so that they can go from having literally nothing to the house they've always wanted. Pretty surreal.
Mike's music project has been going well and it's fun. Reggae,jazz,improv...lots of Manu Chao covers, some Mexican standards, very Mexican in a way but very fun! There's a weekly Sunday night gig at our "regular" beach bar that's been consistently crowded and people really seem to dig it! Mauro, our friend the Italian bar owner seems pretty stoked about it and there are some regular fans turning up. It also seems like they may have a Wed. night standing gig at a popular,hip spot called Casa Babylon. I wish we had some photos to share about all this but right now we have no camera although hopefully one will be shipped to us soon.

Not your ordinary birthday party

Last week we attended a birthday family gathering unlike any other we'd known before.( -And for those of you who are familiar with Rainbow Family Gatherings, the pun is intended. It was strikingly similar to a rainbow kitchen meal- )Our next door neighbors invited us to their grandmother's 85th birthday. It was a perfect opportunity to get a big dose of Mexican culture even though there's a small part of us that thinks they just keep trying to get us out to the sticks because they want to sell us some of their land. Whatever their intentions are however it was quite the experience. So on a Monday evening off we went out to the hills of rural Oaxaca to encounter where the elders of our neighbor's family live. The grandparents and great grandmother stay in a very small 1 room cabana and live traditionally. There is an outdoor earthen cooking area, a full size soccer field complete with sticks in the ground fashioned as goals, lots of empty space and no electricity or running water.
When we arrived the women, barefoot and with braided hair to their waists, still had masa on their hands from making tamales and we were offered fresh coconuts that were gathered for the occasion. These particular coconuts were young and perfect and brimming with coconut water as sweet as it gets. We sat and talked with the grandpa as the kids played a soccer match and the women washed dishes. Soon more family arrived as the sun began to set an kerosene lamps were lit around the picnic table. In this family when it's someone's birthday, a meal of tamales is prepared for the whole clan. The meal that was prepared was very traditional for Oaxaca: chicken mole tamales(probably one of their very own chickens from the coop) wrapped in banana leaves, atole(a sweet corn meal drink), and later pineapple "dulce tamales" for dessert. We ate in the dark around the picnic table while the birthday honoree who not only prepared the meal also served it. There was no gift exchange or songs to be sung only a family of people happy to share a freshly prepared meal.
As soon as we ate one of the eldest grandchildren who is also a teacher at our school came bearing a more modern tradition: a birthday cake! Everyone oohed and aaahed at the perfectly decorated cake and the grandmother spent several minutes debating with herself about where and how to cut into the masterpiece until eventually everyone started chanting "Muertelo! Muertelo!(Kill it!!)" By this point there were no more styrofoam plates to be had and there was little silverware to begin with so we all ate cake with our whipped creamy fingers.
Several hours had passed by the time we finished the cake so we said our goodbyes assuming that we would be giving rides home. And what started off as giving 1 neighbor boy a ride, quickly snowballed into loading the 4Runner up with as many people could possibly squeeze inside of it as is typical in these parts except no one was hanging out of the bed of a pickup truck.