the devil´s backbone

this morning i got on the bus from Mazatlan to Durango without having done my homework. most of the 6.5 hour ride is through mountains which I´m sure were beautiful but since I spent most of the trip with my eyes closed trying desperately not to throw up, i´ll have to take your word for it. The driver was taking switchbacks and hairpins at 80km an hour and passing semis on blind curves (another good reason to keep my eyes shut).

i got on the bus with a large yogurt and an even larger chocolate muffin (as an aside, is there really any such thing as a chocolate muffin? isn´t it just a giant cupcake?) and settled in, looking forward to the ride and to my breakfast. Three hours later the yogurt was steaming hot fresh from my stomach in a clear plastic bag (why do i have to keep barfing into plastic bags on or near public transportation?) and the muffin had either rolled off the edge of the seat or been nicked by the dodgy old man sitting behind me.

By the time we got to a rest stop (after I had been holding the bag of vomurt in my lap for about 40 minutes) I was such a mess I had forgotten the word for "garbage" (basura) and was pestering the lady behind the counter for a bag (bolsa)..."where is the bag?" "is there a bag here?" finally she figured it out, told me what the correct word was and then.....gave me a bag.

some new photos from Mexico

i'm having a lot of trouble lately with Flickr (Yahoo won't accept my credit cards and I've lost my Pro account) but was able to upload a few new photos from Mexico:

Sea Lions in Guerrero Negro:


Also saw lots and lots of grey whales in the lagoon there but they're not quite as photogenic...

Hummingbird in Baja:


Vanna White in Mazatlan:

(the van I've been staying in)

One of the Carnival floats in La Paz:



More on Flickr.

you can take the girl out of the trash, but you can't take the trash out of the girl

so I live in a van. yes, I live in a white cargo van, this week and last.
I'm in Sayulita, north of Puerto Vallarta, with an old friend I met in Spain 2 years ago and who just happened to be in Baja when I was there. So we travelled together to the mainland.
The van is actually pretty cool, much bigger than you'd think...if I'd seen more Dr. Who I could make an appropriate reference here.

I have more freckles than I've had since I was 12.
I'm not a very good surfer.
Today went snorkeling for the first time and saw a variety of fish and dolphins and even a humpback whale. We accidentally caught a pelican with a fishhook (that part was not so cool). The pelican survived to see another day.

We'll probably be here till Monday at least, then I might catch a ride a little bit north (Ira is heading home).
Battery is out, more soon.

sunburn already

mexico. yes.

currently in Baja California where the days are nice and warm and the nights are colder than expected.

apparently there are whales around here someplace but all I see are eagles.