sleepless in sija....

New photos, in no particular order.............

Which one is it??

Birdwatching......

Thirsty and adorable....and recycling.

Emerald green Sceloporus smaragdinus out enjoying the sun

Been doing a lot of this lately.

My summer camp group...reached the top!

ok more like restless, but i couldnt resist. And, not me restless, but my puppy (and yes, i think im just going to be one of these people that talks about her pet constantly in her blog...at least until the novelty wears off). And there is nothing worse than a restless puppy. Restless puppies try to hurl themselves up onto the kitchen table to get at the toaster oven baking your sweet potato fries, knock over all your clean dishes and the french press with old coffee grounds in it....

I have now been trying to start writing for about an hour and a half, after taking her for a short walk around town. But now, after her second dinner, she seems to have calmed down so its possible that she was just hungry. And now she's sleeping...phew.

Last week was the first meeting of the summer camp I started with some local kids. My idea was to offer an informal education/hiking activity weekly during their school vacation that will culminate with a campout on the last day of the camp. So far we've covered 'observation' and today birdwatching! They learned what a Townsend's Warbler and a Tufted flycatcher look like, how to find birds in the binoculars, and why we wear the strap around our neck when using the binoculars (mine got dropped and kind of broken...but i guess thats what i get for not pointing out the obvious....). I learned that 10-year-olds dont have the patience or stamina for a hardcore four hour long morning of birding...which is what i envisioned for some reason. But thats ok, i know when to throw in the towel so at some point i conceded the birding lecture and we hauled ass to the top of the hill to arrive at the letters of chivaretto, which are these giant metal letters, a la hollywood, that overlook the next county. All in all, a successful day, and a successful activity that I am really enjoying. Ideally another (guatemalan) adult would be collaborating with me so that i can pass the torch when i leave, but that can be a goal for next year. The park is such a great resource, so close to town, that it would be great to establish a program like this here and that is what i will work toward for the next year.

My challenge now is trying to scrounge up camping equipment for a group of 10-20 people (probably more) and put together that logistical nightmare, coordinating 10-12 kids and their respective parents/guardians and making sure everyone brings what they need for a night out in the woods. Am I ready for this, or just overly optimistic and blissfully unaware of what im getting myself into as usual?