11/10/13 Andrew Busker

    Night  

  Andrew Busker

Once upon a time there was a mouse, but this mouse was not some ordinary mouse. It was a kangaroo mouse. It had big black feet, white fur, little black beady eyes, and a long skinny tail with an adorable puff of fur at the end. This mouse enjoyed scampering and hopping around as it scavenged the sand on the beaches of Baja California during the cool desert nights. It never enjoyed being out in the hot sun, so it slept in late and came out to explore the sand under the bright moonlight as usual. But one night the kangaroo mouse discovered something different. These large things were on top of the sand! And these large creatures laid between these large things! There was something else different as well: a delicious smell, but the mouse had to move about these strange, scary things to get to this delicious smell.

So it sat a moment and debated whether it should stay or should explore. Curiosity grew inside the mouse and it quickly scampered to the edge of these large objects on top of the sand. “Oh, cool.” It thought, “I can squeeze myself underneath most of this weird thing.” And so the mouse moved toward the small, keeping itself close beneath the smooth, large object and the fine sand at its feet. It grew really close to the source of the smell when the large object above it moved away, exposing the kangaroo mouse to these bright, blinding white beams. Terrified, the mouse began to hop around the large creatures in hope of finding a dark, small place for it to feel safe. It took a few moments of panicked hopping before it found a divot between the sand and another large, smooth object and felt safe again.

Frustrated that it was so close to the source of the smell and it ran away, the mouse decided it would try to reach that delicious item. It scampered along the edge of the curved, long, tall objects and was nearly to the source of the smell when that object moved too! The blinding lights returned and the mouse began to panic. After hopping two large jumps out of fear, it remembers its challenge to itself. The kangaroo mouse mustered up the bravery to find the source of the smell despite the bright lights and the loud noises coming from the large creatures. The mouse darted to the left, the right, then under a corner of white material, and finally it arrived to the source. It picked up the little tortilla crumb and nibbled on its delicious new find in silent victory. The kangaroo mouse scampered away from the large objects and creatures until it reached the green plants by the sea water. And then, it found a new smell.

11/05/13 Shayla Hill

"Kayaking and Sand Sculptures"
Shayla Hill

This morning we got to sleep in a little bit and we woke up at seven rushing around to get out into the water in our sea kayaks. As we were all putting our cots and sleeping bags away, Francisco was hollering to us, “Come on! Hurry up! We gotta go!” By the time I got out to the beach all of the kayaks were already out on the sand. When Francisco says it’s time to go he really means business and he means right now. =) It was time to take full advantage of a learning experience while the wind was calm and time was something that we didn’t have much of.

 Most of our group had never kayaked before so we got to get comfortable with it and the feel of the kayak. We paddled around for a few hours and then headed back into shore just before the winds picked up again. After we got everything cleaned and put away we walked over to the museum in town. The museum was full of so many neat things about the ocean life and the history of the people here in Baja California. It was small but abundant with information and even though it was only open from ten to one every day, I could have easily spent the entire time there.

 Once three o’clock rolled around Francisco informed us that there was going to be a sand sculpture competition for the local children for conservation week and they needed some judges. Three members of our group volunteered while the rest of us joined in on the fun of building sand sculptures. Two hours later the judges had to declare who the winners were for the sand sculptures. I’m so glad I wasn’t a judge because they were all so good. All in all it was a great ending to a wonderful day because we all got to play in the sand like we were six again.

 “A life spend making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” –George Bernard Shaw

11/03/13 Cassandra Roy

Welcome to Baja California
Cassandra Roy

 We left San Diego State University and Jims wonderful hospitality this morning at 6 a.m. All 13 of us loaded into the vans to continue on to the next leg of our expedition, Mexico. We began the drive in high spirits, bellies full of donuts thanks to Jeff. A short while later we arrived at the border. Now I was expecting a search or at least a stop to see everyone’s passports but after a quick glimpse of the vans we were free to pass. What I saw next was nothing like I expected; houses on house, a huge border wall, and graffiti everywhere. For some reason I did not picture Mexico as such since I had had my visions set on the beautiful sandy beaches.

As the cities got smaller we picked up the infamous Francisco; a close friend of Jeff’s and our instructor for Baja California. After all the stories we were finally meeting him and now Baja California’s portion of the trio was coming into realization. We drove farther and farther and soon all of the towns disappeared and the desert surrounded us. Cacti, shrubs, and rocks became our scenery and what a beautiful sight it was. 12 hours later we finally arrived; Casa Azul sat waiting with the beach only hundreds of feet away. A new adventure is awaiting us and I know we all cannot wait to begin it.

“Live the life you love and love the life you live.”