La Playa

Hello there friends! You may be wondering, Why is my Facebook newsfeed not blowing up with Jenna's blog? You may not be wondering that at all. Either way, I shall explain myself: I was at the beach without internet. So now, I will catch you all up, beginning with a journal entry from our first day at the beach, Friday:

Dearest Journal of Mine,

Here you find me at long last. I must be straightforward: I am only crawling back to you because I lack access to my computer. You also should know that anything I am writing is likely to appear on the internet in the not too distant future.

After an extra late night of blogging and Sporcle, I had an extra early morning to get in a "short" run before we met to leave at 7:45.

With the dreaded jugo de arbol in my belly, we rode off in a trusty 17 passenger van. During our journey, we ran across a less than convenient police officer who seemed to think that there were too many of us and who then decided to show off his impressive counting skills. From what we could tell, the driver gave him enough money that he ripped up the ticket and told us to have fun at the beach.

We looked out the windows through the city, the "suburbs," and the mountains. We arrived around 11:30 at what appeared to be paradise. We are staying in the cutest cabins that have ever existed with waterfall showers and decks with hammocks in bright colors. We are right on the beach with its blue water and soft sand. However, the evil was surely lurking just beyond sight.

Ashley and I were the first to plunge into the warm water, body surfing, jumping, laughing, and just generally having the best day ever. As more people joined us, my right arm starting stinging slightly, and I inquired as to if there were lea lice (also known as biting plankton). The sting increased and I determined that this was definitely the work of a jellyfish. This was not my first run-in with an unfriendly jelly, so I tried to play it cool, as I did with the next sting on the back of my left calf. By the time a jelly attacked my right shin, I immediately yelled for someone to pee on it, and the sneak attack, wrap all around Jenna's right thigh strategy eventually got me out of the water. Safely on shore, where the only jellies were satisfyingly dead, my stings started to puff and bubble and swell up. Now, they just look like bad razor burn and only sting a little, so you put away your panic face for the time being.

After a half-hearted attempt at a sandcastle, 9 of us took a walk down the beach. We discovered dead, deflated pufferfish, tons of dead jellyfish with royal blue tentacle, some kind of a leech that look like a clear tapeworm with a single vibrant blue vein down the middle, and overall just lots of things that Jason has claimed to have seen on the World's Deadliest Animals.

Eventually, much of the group turned back and Ashley, Courtney, Jeremy, and I strode onwards. We found a giant jawbone which Jeremy attached to his already frightening staff in pursuit of what he refers to as the Moses slash Samson look. While Ashely took photographs, we climbed onto a giant rock  covered in tiny barnacles and swarming with speedy little crabs. After more exploring and climbing, we walked back to the beach in front of our hotel for some hammock time.

I am now all showered and all hungry, ready for dinner. We are all so excited to be here, away from the city, the smog, the smells, the stares, the showers that choose their own temperatures, and most of all the creepy garbage truck music. Though it is a slap in the face that our summer project is already half way over, life here is good.

Content,
JB