NRES 285/ 499

We have entered the final stretch of our trip to Alamos, and there is a bitter-sweetness that permeates our activities. Sweet because our families have been missed, and they have missed us. Bitter, because in a short time our class developed from a group of strangers' voices across the Internet to a kind of familia, although temporary, forged by the cobbled streets of Alamos and the swaying whispers of the palms. Ours has been a journey of discovery about ourselves and a small portion of the world we live in.

The bitter-sweetness was especially acute for me as I packed up my belongings and entered the bus going to Obregon to catch our plane that would bring us one step closer to the places we call home. The trip has been a kind of awakening in which I not only learned about palms, but also about the development of friendships and camaraderie that coincides with living with others for an extended period of time. The sheer pleasure of people's company and the exploration of ideas were intoxicating (although, now that I think of it, I have a funny feeling alcoholic beverages aided in this phenomena).

The tears that etched streams down my face were short-lived in that like every family a small amount of dysfunction punctuated the solemnity of our silent descent toward home. Arun, as we were standing in line to check in with Aero Mexico, realized that he had not only lost his cell phone, but he had also misplaced his passport. In a rushed excavation of his luggage, Jeff and Dr. Endress aided in a fruitless search for the magic document that would open the US-Mexico border for Arun. Luckily, the authorities at Aero Mexico allowed Arun to board the plane to Hermosillo, but a solution to his lack of documentation would need to be found before he could enter back into the United States.

Once in Hermosillo, while many of us scrambled to use up our excess pesos with breakfast and novelties, Dr. Endress located the US Consulate in Hermisillo. In what Endress described as a "movie-style taxi ride," he and Arun rushed to the consulate seeking their assistance. Like any good capitalistic venture, after charging a hefty fee, the consulate issued Arun an emergency passport that would allow him to reenter the United States as a fully documented citizen. Unfortunately, although the return trip to the airport in Hermosillo was as movie-style as the trip to the consulate, they still were not able to make the plane from Hermosillo to Phoenix. Instead, they spent an extra night in Mexico, and I assume are now back in the United States reunited with their family and friends. Although the humor of the situation was not evident at the time, once Arun's documentation had been secured, and he and Dr. Endress' fate more clearly defined, the trepidation of the moment faded. This capstone episode of our trip to Mexico has the potential to offer memorable laughs for years to come.

Once the rest of us entered Phoenix, we had to pick up our luggage and recheck it for the final leg of our trip. The majority of our group saw Zack off to his final destination, while I, in nervous excitement went through security. Once secure near the gate, I began to panic because none of my classmates were following. I had my ticket checked and a page sent to the Endress clan all while a US Airways employee tried to entice me with a MasterCard that supposedly would pay for my trip. Giving the MasterCard pusher the slip, I finally saw a few of my classmates exit security as the plane was boarding, and my sense of equilibrium returned. The security folks forced Stephanie to traverse the security line a second time due to her full bottle of water. It is a shame that hydration appears to be a punishable offense.

After a relatively benign and boring plane trip to Chicago, except for a few bouts of turbulence and a hydraulics test that seemed to echo loudly throughout the plane cabin and go on forever, all of us scurried to baggage claim. Here many of us reunited with our families, and we began a series of sad goodbyes and the exchange of contact information. With so little time alone to consider the impact of our trip and the formation of our group identity, I wonder what the future will hold for us as we reintegrate ourselves into the lives we left behind to take this great adventure amongst the palms and cacti. Will the sense of connection continue as we enter into a new semester, or will it simply remain a pleasant memory of warm sunshine, tortillas, and biting black flies. Signing out--Julie D.



photos from Stephanie L., Nathan S., Julie D., Lenna O., and Bryan E.

In my young more vulnerable years (um, three months ago) I went on a trip to Mexico; the events, of which, I have been turning over in my mind ever since. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (sounding familiar?); it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope (in January), it was the winter of despair (at least it was warm); we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.





The ship port was littered with wrecked boats that had been ravaged by a recent storm.



We sailed further out to sea and observed the plethora of birds that inhabited the area.



The group decided a bathroom break was in order, and we docked on a near-by beach. The beach was covered with the severed heads of fish and hammer head sharks.

We headed back to the docks and were greeted by some curious dolphins. We gave our best attempts to coerce the dolphins to swim beside us but to no avail, so we beat on, boats agains the current, borne back ceaselessly from the past.




We got back on the bus and went to our seaside lunch. The lunch consisted of a variety of shrimp and was absolutely delicious.

We stopped briefly at a museum that had some odd pornographic displays of the devil (for which the owner forbid us to photograph).

Back in Navajoa we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local taco stand. After our nightly routine of consuming spirits, the group retired to bed. --Arun P.

photos from Nathan S., Julie D., Stephanie L., and Lenna O.

Dear Diary,

Today was our day of culture. We left Rancho Acosta early in the morning and drove over the east side of the Sierra de Alamos. We stopped at a few different indigenous villages to learn about the people and see the work they do.

We saw carvers, weavers, leather workers, and shoemakers. We also stopped at a gift shop that was build and funded by the state to help show the wares of the local people.






Lunch was eaten on the side of a hill created by a lava event, which also included the shade of Suauro cacti! Nothing too exciting on this day, people were a bit tired and not in the mood for shopping.











People were on their own for dinner in the evening. Some drinking ensued but nothing too crazy.

Love,
Corrin B.

Zack's Tip of the Day: If you plan on wearing the same shirt for multiple days, make sure it has no writing on it so people don't notice it is the same shirt.

photos from Stephanie L., Nathan S., Corrin B., and Lenna O.

Today was data entry day...definitely the most interesting and exciting day to write about. The day started off with me making up very dehydrated and the smell of the previous night's fire permeating the air. I made my way over to the dining room at Rancho Acosta to eat some huevos con chorizo and drink their delicious tangerine/ Tang concoction.

After everyone had finished breakfast and coffee we got to work on our report and data entry. Luckily, I got to work on the largest (in terms of palms) transect with Crystal. Crystal was great, the data entry was even better! Thank God Crystal not only knew how to use Excel, but was actually good with it because we would have been there all day if I was on the computer...I know my strengths though, so I chose to stick with reading the data off of the sheets. Crystal was extremely patient, and in return for this patience I showed her my "O" face (she actually got it when I did it; people reading this will probably just assume I am a creep. See Office Space).

When we finally finished with the data we went to lunch with Tony, Bryan, Christa, and Leonel. Cafe del Sol has the fastest service in town. We only waited for an hour or so before getting our food. The other two patrons must have been regulars or something. The food was actually really good though. I had chipotle chicken apple cider cream crepes; Tony got a salad that looked really good; Leo and Bryan both got chimichangas or something; Christa got apple crepes; and Crystal got the best looking ham and cheese I've ever seen. Refills were free, but not necessarily what you had originally drank--keeps things interesting.

Side Note: There is a roof top palapa at Cafe del Sol. I wandered up to take a look, and it was pretty neat. Lots of people seem to grow plants on their roofs, and there is a very nice view of the cathedral and the mountains. It would also be the easiest place to be a cat burglar since everything is connected, and everyone has a hole right in the middle of their house.

After lunch I went with Leo to grab some cash and stop at the Internet cafe. Writing an email on a Spanish keyboard with half of the letters worn off is a challenging endeavor.

When we arrived back at Rancho Acosta, we broke off into groups and began to analyze our data. Then we had a very nice meal of steak tacos, soup, beans, rice, and some type of corn dish. Was anyone else dumb enough to eat the big pepper in the soup? We also had margaritas, which were pretty refreshing. I love the sea salt they used throughout the trip--the best salt ever.

Then we drank on the porch for a while. It was a good time. All in all the day was pretty relaxing and pleasant. Although I love Palo Injerto, it was nice to be back in Alamos, even if I did feel a little claustrophobic with a roof over el bano. I'm glad we didn't finish thatching it, and I hope it never gets finished either.

Some other highlights/ favorite things so far:

• The group. You all have been really fantastic and made this whole experience even more enjoyable.
• The birding/ photographic opportunities…countless
• The food. Everything has been very good.
• Dinners have been particularly enjoyable for the amount of hilarity that occurs.
• Climbing up the mountain with Leonel when we were trying to find the trail and blazing our won.
• Sleeping beneath the stars in the orchard. I’ve never slept open air before.

And many more.—Joe M.


photos from Nathan S., Don Chavez, Salipaso, and Stephanie L.

First thing this morning we packed up our things and sent them down the mountain with Carlos in his white pickup. Everyone seemed a little disappointed to be leaving Palo Injerto, with most people craving one more day at the ranch and another night under the stars.

RANCHO GUAYABA

Just up the road from Sabinito we stopped at Ranch Acost Guayaba, the house of Alejandro and his family. It was obvious they were proud of their home, particularly the garden. Only recently have they started learning to grow vegetables like beans, radishes, onions, and other vegetables to use for cooking meals for themselves and guests. Alejandro was pleased to show us a gourd in which he had carved a figure of a horse while the gourd continued to grow. It was nice to see him emerge momentarily from his shy exterior to reveal some true emotion and share it with us.






SABINITO

A few miles down the road we stopped in the village of Sabinito to drop off Felix and to purchase some artifacts made by the ladies. They had been given word of our visit in advance, so they had an abundance of blue palm woven baskets and mats, adobe figures, and embroidered cloth. All of the work was beautiful in a crude yet artful way.



DINNER, DRINKS, & MORE DRINKS....

Shortly after arriving back in Alamos, we went to dinner as a group. The food was good and the drinks went down easy. More drinks followed dinner at Rancho Acosta. It was apparent that everyone had become comfortable with each other and stories were shared, laughs were had, and even a dog-pile occurred.--Nathan S.



photos from Nathan S. & Lenna O.

Hello there, Steph here (for those of you who don't want to flip back to the first few pages). Week 1 comes to a close with a plethora of awkward "caught at the wrong time" comments, Spanglish and other interesting facts (apparently guys just should drown when they get married--don't ever try and second guess your wife). But, I digress-and like to make extremely compound sentences so don't plan on taking many breaths for this passage.



Sleeping on cots has been better than expected this week--more comfortable, but I still get nervous about waking up with a scorpion or spider in my bed. As ironic as it is, I am disappointed at the lack of seeing a tarantula, but I have seen some ridiculous spiders on this trip!

Today was our first free day filled with tejido-ing and palm roofing, river/ canyon swimming, hiking, birding, eating (always so much eating!), horseback riding, and your general outdoor merriment activities. I was disappointed I missed out on the birding, but I didn't realize the coffee top didn't stay on and spilled an entire new pot of coffee ALL OVER THE FRESHLY WASHED PLATES AND TABLE. Well done! I assume Maria and Juana were thinking "stupid gringa," but were very nice about it--better the plates than the food right?



Tejido-ing was an interesting experience-it was really cool to be part of the process (shaving the spines off the palm leaf, tying two palms together, and then realizing that our palms were getting untied and retied to the roof anyways) and it was much more difficult than anticipated. I'm also convinced that about two minutes after we're gone tomorrow, all of the one row of completed roof will be redone. At least we tried? I feel another "silly gringos" (Trix is for kids!) coming on.

Zack, Arun, Jeff (kind of, he was a speed mountain walker), Nick and I walked up the mountain which was a harder hike than I anticipated, but it was beautiful and it was nice not getting picked and prodded by the hookers of the woods. We met Felix, Alejandro, Tony, Bryan, Christa, Robert and his family, Nathan, and Stephanie at the top of our viewpoint. Crystal enjoyed a frigid lake swim, and las aras chicas (Kaitlynn, Lenna, Corrin, and Julie) headed to the canyon for just as cold of a bath. Joe also joined the girls....he brought the nail polish and enjoyed the girl talk (I actually have no idea--except he did have some serious cuts on his arms coming back--girls are vicious).

Ramon, Nathan, and I had the opportunity to ride horses and mules back down the mountain, and my mule was sassy--he was slow! It turned out that slow was better for the rocks we were going up and down though--I am in no mood for a broken leg. As I'm sure Zack can contest--speaking Spanish has its advantages when you are speaking about another person, much like Ramon and I were doing for a brief moment about Nathan.

The rest of the evening was filled with appetizers and a full 3-course meal as per usual--and it was all delicious! I've enjoyed getting thrown into our NRES version of MTV's the Real World with meeting and getting to know all of my classmates (teary-eyed yet?) and know that what happens in Mexico best not stay in Mexico because I expect a reunion at las casas de Lenna y Crystal in Champaign on Feb. 2nd for tortillas--and I will definitely be sharing stories from this trip with my friends! And I'm spent.


P.S. I have to send a shout out to Julie for an absolutely lovely walk to our Lady of Guadalupe this morning--a lovely view with a lovely lady! (It's called a sistance (which we later modified to womance after conferring with Corrin) and it rivals the bromance.

P.S.S. An extra special anecdote from Joe who loves the fact that the bathrooms have no roof, so he can star gaze at night or bird watch during the day. Charming.--Stephanie L.

photos from Stephanie L., Nathan S., and Bryan E.

video from Bryan E.

Haiku: Palmillas

Palmillas
Immeasurable monocots
Cow-bitten, Palmero-Scarred
Nature meets culture irrational
Gratefully Illinoid
Aculeatas

Group Interviews:

Grupo Flojo (Christa, Julie, Crystal, Zack, and Felix
Self Assessment: A+

This group obviously surpassed the other groups in efficiency, accuracy, and overall congeniality. The group covered two very difficult plots with the expertise of a highly-seasoned sampling team, overcoming adversity without flinching. Notably, the group had one injury: Julie slid down a steep slope, pruning cactus plants along the way down.





Grupo Most Aesthetically Pleasing (Jeff, Corrin, Joe, and Bryan)
Self Assessment: B+

The group covered two plots. Significant injuries included Jeff's contact with a large (8 inch) Hecho cactus. Joe, "the man," awed the group with his 50 meter sprint up steep slopes. Jeff expressed that Bryan's superior education gave the group a serious advantage. Corrin didn't do much, but did win the award for finding the smallest palm. Corrin, not meaning it in a bad way, felt that the group didn't "mess around" like the other groups.



Grupo Bandidos De Amor (Arun, Lenna, Kaitlynn, Leonel, Alejandro)
Self Assessment: B+

The group described themselves as the happiest group and felt they divided the work evenly and perfected their technique (the all on single transect team approach). Leonel made sure that the lives of the women were not endangered, but seemed willing to risk Arun's life without hesitation. The group was confident enough in their efficiency to spend 40 minutes in rock skipping group therapy. They found a recent Puma kill and also saw a very large cow. Kaitlynn said she was frightened by the cow's inappropriate advances.



Grupo Los Bosillos (Nick, Tony, Stephanie, Nate)
Self Assessment: A-/B+

The group felt the effort was there, but they could be more efficient. They explained that they were inefficient, only finished one plot, because of several factors: 1) Tony takes too much time finding equipment hidden in many, many pockets (hence the name of the group: Bosillos); 2) they have no research leader to guide them; and 3) they often find themselves tangled up in the red light district with hook bushes. Their motto seems to be "Accuracy just takes longer."--Zack M.


photos from Corrin B., Lenna O., and Stephanie L.

7:15 a.m.

After waking from a restless night,
I found everyone ready to view birds in flight

I don't like birds so Crystal and I stayed behind.
Perhaps they will come across an interesting find

I would also like to mention,
yesterday Nick chugged an entire can of V-8.
Afterwards, he said he was feeling great.






9:05 a.m.

After a breakfast of chorizo, beans, and eggs,
we are ready to get into the forest and stretch our legs

Some ate yogurt and granola.
I hope we see some locals and greet them with "Hola!"








6:15 p.m.

Spent the whole day measuring palm lots.
Now we're ready to collapse on our soft cots.

Scratches, bites, and cuts we now bear.
Our professor even required minor medical care.








Arun and I waded across the river during the day,
while Lenna and Leonel took another way.

Some of us took baths in the river.
The water was so cold it made us shiver.

Dinner will be ready soon.
Then we'll sit by the fire and gaze at the moon.







10:15 p.m.

For dinner we were served pork and cabbage.
After a long day of work, the food we did ravage.

So now I say good-bye, its been really fun.
I really like rhyming, but thank God I'm done.--Kaitlynn O.






photos from Nathan S. & Lenna O.

The sound of roosters and dogs kicked off the morning. We ate a hardy breakfast at 8 a.m.: muffins, eggs w/ sausage, tortillas, beans and salsa. Supplies were loaded at Stephanie's; we took off around 11:00 a.m. After a couple of hours of driving we picked up Felix in Sabinito.








We stopped at one of the ranches for lunch: sandwiches, pasta salad and chips. Thank you Stephanie!




After lunch we hiked the arroyos: Devil's Pool, Iguana invisible only too Tony and four donkeys.






At sunset we arrived at Palo Injerto Monte Mojino. Ramon, Alejandro, Evan, Marla and Juana greeted us when we arrived. For dinner we had: tortilla soup, beef, mashed potatoes, and baby Jesus bread (for epiphany): Lenna and Crystal got the two baby Jesuses, so they will be throwing a party on February 2. At dinner, we received gifts from the staff: a bandanna and baskets made of blue palm leaves.






A red spotted toad joined us for dinner, and a scorpion was spotted in the dining area: Leo promptly killed the scorpion.





Bird survey tomorrow morning, looking forward to hearing what rhyme-master Kaitlynn has to say. --Nick B.







photos from Julie D., Lenna O., and Stephanie L.