March 24, 2010

Oh my poor friends you must have thought me dead! No, probably not since my real friends will be stalking me through the various other means provided by the internet and will have known at this point that I have been living in San Cristobal quite successfully for the past week. But for those who did count me as a departed soul and had already begun making the proper arrangements (going through my clothes looking for loose change and the like), let me assure you that you are not too far from the truth! But unfortunately for you and your piggy banks I am only mostly dead and as Billy Crystal has taught us, there’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.

I am mostly dead because without me knowing I have embarked on my capstone course, a 400 level writing course about Evolution. Very interesting, yes. Full of intelligent discussion, yes. Mind-boggling amounts of homework that force me into the depths of my room every afternoon from lunch until past dinner, a thousand times yes. From the moment I arrived in San Cristobal I began studying for my 7 hour, 2 part Tropical Biology Final. After the final there was little time to celebrate because Evolution began and I have since been preoccupied with barely staying up to date with my readings while trying to negotiate my schedule and housing situation for next year.

Oh but no one wants to hear me moan and whine over poor little me in beautiful Mexico with so much work. It’s like watching the OC, when you’re lying out with your perfect, tan bodies, by your pool, outside your mansion no one cares about your problems. In this scenario I will be playing the super tan, living in luxury “hot chick” but only for the sake of the metaphor I assure you (and to live the dream for even just one fleeting moment…). Though I do admit to being pretty darn tan at this point. But here’s some pictures of my room! Just to prove that I’m not living in a beachside mansion. It’s a little cramped, but cozy so it’s really not bad at all. Plus it’s bathroom adjacent.

So let’s talk about the fun things I’ve been up to. Last Saturday we took a daytrip to el cañon del Sumidero and el zoologico de Tuxtla. Basically, we saw the Grand Canyon of Chiapas and the Zoo in Tuxtla.

Below are the pictures of the canyon. We were motoring along in a boat on the river within the canyon looking up at the immense cliffs. The weather was foggy, cold, and eventually rainy which didn’t lead to the best picture-taking conditions (this it forced us to hide under a “boat poncho” which was basically a big yellow tarp full of holes that we had to hold onto as the boat whizzed through the wind and rain and this, as it may seem clear to you all, was not the most effective way of staying dry during the rain). The fog did add a cool effect to the pictures though and made the cliffs seem infinitely higher (not to take away from their impressive height).



After our boat adventure we travelled to the Zoo in Tuxtla which was actually underwhelming. I mean, it was a zoo so I still had a blast (I will always be content with a zoo trip), but compared to the Zoo in Merida, well, the clear focus in Tuxtla was birds, which suddenly illuminates why the Dawleys think so highly of this zoo. Unfortunately, at this point in the trip, no one in the group is particularly enthralled with birds anymore.
Here are some of my favorite pics though



Occasionally though, the zoo posted mixed signals…



Well this is should be enough for now, especially since the week itself has been rather lack-luster. I should also mention that internet is limited to the school for me, so postings might be more dispersed than they were in Merida. But I will do my darndest to keep everyone informed for these last 4 weeks! Can you believe it? Only 4 more weeks in Mexico….