This week was very busy and involved a lot of school work. When we weren't off on a brigade or in class learning, we were in a cafe working on our group and personal essays, but we did find time early in the morning to escape on this water adventure. Here is a picture of us leaving the bay to go dolphin and turtle watching.
The tour guide promised us we would see at least 20 dolphins and he wasn't kidding. Dolphins surrounded us from all directions. Here we are trying to touch them they got so close.
Here is a better picture of how close we were to touching them. They were literally a foot away from us and they seemed to love the attention. Some dolphins were jumping four feet in the air. It was like we were at see world or something.
Hard to believe right? Because it is so hard to display the experience through picture, here is a video that helps clarify what I am saying. It is a little shaky at times but it shows how many dolphins were around us. Noticing that there was snorkeling gear on the boat, we began to stick our heads underwater as the boat was moving in order to see all the dolphins underwater, which was a much higher amount than what we were seeing above the water.
After dunking our heads in the water, my friend Jonji asked the tour guide if we could swim with the dolphins. What's funny is that the question was kind of vague in that it didn't specify when. Therefore, when the tour guide said yes, four of us jumped in the water immediately. Unfortunately for us, when the tour guide said yes he was referring to a later time because at that time there were jelly fish everywhere. This picture is of us frantically climbing back on the boat after being stung a few times haha. The stings only burned for a few minutes and it wasn't that bad. The tour guide just laughed at us. He said that there were a lot of jelly fish right now because the water was cold, but we all thought he was kidding because the water was 85 degrees haha.
We also saw several turtles on the trip. Here are two turtles that are "hugging" haha. Our tour guide said that turtles can "hug" for as long as two days. He also said that the female turtle was around 65 years old. We made sure not to disturb the two very much.
Later we found another turtle and the tour guide jumped in and brought the turtle on the boat. It almost looks fake but we all made sure to take plenty of pictures.
Next, the tour guide placed the turtle back in the water an we each took turns holding on as the turtle took us for a ride. We had to be careful though because the tour guide said the turtle could break our fingers with its bite. The boat trip was really cool and it was fun swimming with some of the most friendly creatures of the sea.
Like I mentioned earlier, the majority of the week was spent on brigades and working on our papers. This weeks topic was tropical diseases. We spent Monday and Tuesday learning all about the different vectors, mosquitos and chinches, that transmit tropical diseases like Malaria, Dengue, and Chagas. On Wednesday we went to a nearby town called Chula, where these diseases were a big threat.
We spent the first day with an entomologist learning about the mosquito that transmits Malaria. The mosquito is called Anopheles and they grow in lagoons and places with still water like above.
After catching some Anopheles larva, he showed us where adult mosquitoes go during the day to rest. Wells and other cool places are very common.
The next day we met early to receive a demonstration on the fumigation process these entomologists use. The entomologist work very closely with the local clinics in order to prevent an outbreak of tropical diseases.
These men are like the modern day ghostbusters haha. When a person is infected with one of these diseases, the tema of entomologists must fumigate that house and the ten houses that surround it.
After the demonstration we went to a few local houses to see where the mosquito thats transmits Dengue is found. This mosquito, called Aedis Aegypti, is found instill water tanks and containers. This mosquito will even grow in plants that are growing in your house.
After spending the entire week learning about these tropical diseases, it was our turn to present this information to the women in the community. Here, we performed a skit using the audience to act out how Dengue is transmitted. I played the guitar to set the mood of the scene haha.
Here are a couple more people in my group performing a scene about how Malaria is transmitted. My friend Ngabo makes a really convincing mosquito haha. The presentation was really fun and the audience really appreciated our help. It was a big challenge for us because none of the women in this community could read or write and very limited on their vocabulary. Therefore, we had to create a presentation that was very visual and also simple so that they could put our teachings into practice.
This part of my blog is just to gloat a little bit haha. It is my understanding that the weather has now turned cold and winter is well on its way. Here, it is at least 80 degrees everyday and the beaches are gorgeous. This is the beach that is only a block away from where we are staying.
You also find little surprises at this beach. Here is a puffer fish, but we also saw several bat rays leap out of the water like dolphins. I wish I could have caught it on film. We would be body surfing and a bat ray would jump out of the water and flap its wings only ten feet away from us.
This isn't on of my videos but this is what we would commonly see!!!
Here is a picture of the beautiful homes that line the beach. There are also bars and restaurants everywhere. It is a lot of fun. That ends another great week in paradise. Please comment and stay tuned for the blog on my last week in Puerto Escondido later this week.
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