I'm back!

I know it's been awhile, but I have returned to fill you in on the last couple weeks. We have now transitioned from summer camps and spending most of our time at the Ranch to more of our year round activities and spending more time with the nearby communities.

I just realized that it has been 3 weeks since my last post -- wow! So, the first of those 3 weeks was our last week of camp. It was very different from the other weeks of camp. It was a beach/surf camp. But the beach/surf part didn't start until Thursday. We had only one orphanage and 2 groups of amigos come, but the amigos did not arrive until Wednesday. Thus, we structured all the activities for Monday and Tuesday. We ended up doing some very different things than usual. Monday we spent most of the day in downtown Ensenada. We spent some time near the water (we got to see two seals kiss...it was really cute) and we walked through the fish market (it was really smelly). The cooks from the Ranch brought lunch to us (tuna sandwiches) and after lunch the kids got to play on a play ground for awhile. We then walked around some more of downtown Ensenada and got the kids small ice cream cones from McDonald's.

Tuesday we did Discovery activities with the kids in the morning and then headed off to Jersey Park after lunch. We then found out that Jersey Park is closed on Tuesdays, so we went to La Bufadora instead. La Bufadora is a blowhole located at the end of a peninsula near Ensenada. The water can shoot up pretty high at times. I didn't get to see it from a very good angle, so I didn't take any pics or videos, but there are some on youtube if you're interested. There are lots of shops on the walk up to La Bufadora. I didn't do any shopping (we were with the kids and I didn't bring money since I was planning on going to Jersey Park), but I have been told that all the prices there are subject to bargaining. Supposedly, you can get a pretty good price on stuff if you're willing to hold your ground.

Wednesday morning we went for the hike that we usually do on Fridays. It was kind of sad realizing that that would probably be the last time I would do that hike. When we returned to the camp the amigos had arrived. It was a pretty chaotic afternoon. We did a few activities to help the amigos and niños get to know each other. From there on we (the staff) just tried to help the amigo groups with what they had planned. They had brought VBS-type teachings with them, which they mostly led with some of our help.

This is getting long, so I'm going to upload it and then working on writing about the rest of surf/beach camp!