buzzards and playpens

Jon's birthday was a success, we took the bus out to Bucerias (a nice bus! with padded seats!) which was about an hour and a half of ride. Rancho Banderas, the time share, is a fun place, with several tiered pools cascading down (which we took advantage of to shoot some playboy esque waterfall shots, ha.) We all helped to cook up some shrimp fajitas for dinner, and along with a great chocolate cake, and a couple of jesus candles, jon turned 26! Given the long distance, we left around 7. Getting back was not quite as easy. We waited for a bus on a pitch black empty street. Unfortunately the first one that came by was not as plush as the one we had there, and after jolting terribly finally broke an axle half an hour from town and we had to switch.

The next day, I had a fun time babysitting for a girl from seattle, whose family conveniently decided to come to Puerto Vallarta for their winter vacation. It was great to see her, we watched the fireworks from her balcony, and ordered a fabulous room serviced meal. All these great visitors made it so nice to spend time away from our house!

Finally, yesterday, Jon and I met with this guy for a tour of Children of the Dump. It was a very impressive organization. They started as just a retired couple who would bring hot meals to the families who lived in the dump and made their living sorting through trash. From there, their project meshed with a local church, and they started taking care of the kids, eventually starting a daycare center for the little kids, an afterschool program that teaches english, computers, and math to the gradeschool kids, and has a womens group for the single moms. Whats funny is that the guy that started it does not speak a lick of spanish, and doesn't want to learn even after living here 25 years! Anyway, Jon and I met a few volunteers, visited the daycare and school, and then helped bring meals up to the remaining workers at the dump. It seems like a very welcoming and informal organization, and we are excited to get jobs there. The pay is only $200 a month for volunteers, but I think it will be plenty worth it. 25 little toddlers for me! woo hoo!

whales came by again today. but the stupid jet skiers scared them off. ugh.