Final Reflection

One of the recurring themes of the Baja experience is "seeing"—seeing things from new perspectives and seeing the same things from completely different perspectives, disciplinary and otherwise, all oriented around how it takes multiple perspectives to get a better view of the world, and worlds, we live in. Thus, we view the same things and have the same experiences, but have somewhat different understandings of them, depending on a large number of variables, the most basic of which for us in Baja is that we have two biologists, a sociologist and an artist running three separate classes, while at the same time combining them into one experience.

The unifying factor is that we agree to have this conversation—and it is a conversation, one that goes on for three weeks, and into which we invite our students. At this point in the class, we are starting to see the fruits of this effort. Art students and biology students are asking sociological questions; biology students and sociology students are understanding the nuances of perspective in art making; sociology students and art students are appreciative of, and yes, learning, different plant names, identifying birds, and seeing how natural ecological systems are also related to global economic systems.

In her wonderful book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, a reflection on nature and theology, Annie Dillard points out that as humans we just can’t see the world as it really is—our brains naturally edit the types of information we can receive and thus with which we can interact. She notes that it is only the simplest, one-celled animals that experience the world in an unedited way—thus seeing the world as it really is. As a sociologist, I include in this “editing” process such things as culture, gender, race, social class, religion, etc., through which we experience reality differently depending on where we are located in these different classifications.

So where does that leave us? Is this some sort of nefarious postmodern perspective as some would have it, or is it an honest approach to understanding a complex and multifaceted world? I suppose the answer to that lies in the way that we have organized this whole Baja experience—valuing multiple perspectives as a way to get an understanding of life in the fullest sense, physically (biology), aesthetically (art), socially (sociology), all embedded within the spiritual realities that we seek and claim. In this understanding, the spiritual dimension of life is enhanced when we come to at least a partial understanding of these other areas. For us then, one of the challenges of the Baja experience is to give our students the opportunity to attempt to overcome their perceptive limitations, and hopefully see a broader range of the reality within which they live.

Departing Bahia

We'll be departing Bahia de Los Angeles at 6am tomorrow morning, driving all the way home to Biola by tomorrow night. The trip is a long--15 hours or so--journey home. It is an event in itself, from literally rolling out of bed and into the vans, to the border crossing at Tijuana. Hopefully since it will be a Monday evening, we won't spend too much time in line waiting to cross back into the U.S.

The students will probably start calling once we cross the border and their cell phones pick up the U.S. signals. If they call while connected the Mexican system, it can get kind of pricey!

Anyway, here we are in all our glory. Three weeks in Baja, a little dirtier, lots of new friends, and hopefully at least slightly different than when we left three weeks ago.

Our Visiting Scholar

We have been remiss in mentioning that we have had the privilege of having Karen Riddervold, a 1999 Biola graduate who currently works as a scientist for the Royal Family of Norway (or Norwegia as one of our students called it!) along as a visiting scientist on our trip. She has been invaluable to our students and to the trip overall. She is a bright and inquisitive person who has contributed mightily to the students' lives. Here she is giving a talk about Baja plant life.

Remember the Boat?

Here's a current picture of the fishing boat that several years ago was anchored just off shore of the field station, and for the past four years has been beached just down the way. As you can see, it has been almost completely reclaimed by the sea.

When we get home, we'll try to post pictures from the past couple of years so you can see its gradual deteriorization.

San Borja

We drove out to the mission at San Borja today, a mission that was only in service for about 20 or so years in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It has been being restored for the last several years and is now approximating what it originally looked like, although the restoration is still continuing.

While we're there we take the students through the mission building and around the grounds of the mission. One of the traditions that has been established over the past couple of years is an off-road hike (i.e. no trail, lots of cactus and rocks) to la "cueva mascara" or the mask cave. As it sounds, the cave looks like a face—holes in the rock cliff face that looks like two eyes and a mouth, which the native Cochimi shamans lit fires as a part of their religious ceremonies.

The first picture is evidence of the cholla that somehow magically appears attached to your skin. Derek “willingly" (not) stuck the back of his hand into a cholla and ended up with this beautiful attachment. Notice how the skin is pulled up by the barbs on the end of the cholla spines. Just a bit uncomfortable...…

Notice the donkeys--we encounterd a small pack on our way back from San Borja-on the formerly almost impassable road that is now nicely graded.

Quote(s) of the Trip or, Rafe's New Name

Ted: "Why do they call you Jeff?"
Rafe: "They don't."
Dick: "What does Jefe mean in Spanish, Ted?"
Ted: "Jeffrey."
Dick: "No it doesn't."
Ted: "Yes it Does."
Dick to Carolyn: "How do you say Jeff in Spanish?"
Carolyn: "You Don't."
Ted: "I don't think I like this game anymore."

Dumbest Quote We Heard in Baja

"This is almost like another country."

(From a Canadian tourist camped at Bahia Concepcion, apparently forgetting, as Carolyn Zambrano noted, that they went through two international borders, and the Baja Sur y Norte border to get to where they were.)

Quote of the Day

"You have Oreos on your beard and it makes me think of baleen." (Matt to Derek)

New Friends

Today we had a visit from several high school students from the new high school in Bahia. Luis, Jesus, Angel, Ysica and Brian all came by with their teacher, Simona and the school director, Julio, at 10:30 this morning. Throughout the day the students showed us their art work, and then the sociology students presented their projects. Following the morning activities, we all enjoyed lunch together--including fresh vegetables and salad provided by the high school students, which was a big hit with all of us. Following lunch, Dan led a drawing workshop and all of us sociologists discussed life in Bahia with Simona.

One of the interesting things we noticed was how "branded" by American popular cultural products the students were. The products represented in their hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts included Billabong, Quicksilver, Volcom, Hurley, and Vans, among others. The prize for the most inter-cultural consumer product was the straw cowboy hat that Ysica was wearing that had a "shaka" sign sewn onto the front. Sort of Hawaii meets Baja.

A Rude Awakening

So we all went to bed last night to clear skies and warm sleeping bags, but it didn't last long. That is right; it rained last night. I was fortunate enough to be roused while it was only drizzling. Two of the guys on the trip were not so lucky. Ted and Eric were awakened to the feeling of cold and wet coming straight through their sleeping bags at about 6:30 this morning. They both are fine and the sun is now out and drying everything off, but this was my first experience with rain in the desert of Baja as well. If the weather stays nice, we might go out in the boat this afternoon to look for dolphins, whales, and seals. It could be fun.

Quote of the Day

On the Mike's Mountain hike:

"Matt, your mouth tastes funny." (Ted)

A Mike's First

We hiked Mike's mountain today--an eight mile hike (round trip) that starts at sea level and ends at 4,000 feet. A mere 1,000 foot increase in altitude per mile.

The Mike's first is that everyone--everybody--made it to Mike's cave. We are very happy about that feat.

Turtles!

Today was a magnificent experience. There is a small research facility in town that has been doing work with the sea turtles that can be found in the Sea of Cortes. Some of the students went over to the facility and helped out the head researcher with the cleaning of the tanks and the animals. There were 12 turtles that we helped to weigh, measure, scrub, and clean the huge salt water tanks in which they live. Everyone was just giddy with delight and many pictures were taken with the littlest of the green turtles that we named Squirt. David, the researcher, was very grateful for the help and we were grateful for the opportunity to help with the research that is sponsored by the Mexican government. Now we must go and get the algae smell off of our hands.

Mike's Mountain Tomorrow

Tomorrow we hike Mike's Mountain, one of the more physically taxing experiences of the class. Mike's Mountain is probably about 4,000 feet high, and the trail is about 4 miles from start to finish. Just looking at Mike's, it doesn't seem like a big hike, but thinking about the elevation gain per mile, we're going up about 1,000 feet per mile--strenuous by any account.

The rules are simple: Everyone hikes, you either make it to the top--and Mike's cave--or you turn around and hike back down regardless your progress at 1pm. It's a great experience, and one that is fun to watch the students tackle.

BTW, This year Dan and I are hiking to the top. Neither of us have gone to the top in a few years, so that will be fun to experience it again with a new group of students.

We'll post more about Mike's--and include pictures--after the hike.

Plant Test Today!

Some of you out there have experienced the angst of anticipation before the plant test (can you still identify the Haplopappus sonorensis?)--well, everyone here is in the throes of preparation for the test. And we mean everyone--even the art and sociology students are helping in the preparation...not that they can put the plant with the name, but, on the off chance they are ever asked about the Haplopappus sonorensis, they can at least bluff their way through...kind of like in any class....

See what happens when the Profs go to bed?

Ojo de Liebre--Las Ballenas Gris

We've been a bit slow updating the blog--tough to do when we're on the road, but since we're back in Bahia, we're going to crack the whip and get this thing moving!

On Sunday (Jan 14) we were camped just outside of Guerrero Negro for our annual whale watching experience. We're a bit early in the season, as there are only about 50 whales in the lagoon now, but, we did see several whales, including some moms and their calves. The weather was bright and cold...and wet! Note--don't sit in the back of the boat if you don't want to get wet! The boats are little fishing pangas, not the big diesel belching fishing boats you might be familiar with if you've gone whale watching in California. If you're ever down this way, you really need to see these magnificent creatures.

From Beautiful Coyote Bay

Greetings from the Sea of Cortez. We have been on Conception Bay for a few days now and some of us have taken a trip into the town of Mulege.

We stopped in the city of Guerrero Negro and had the ever tasty fish tacos at Tacos Henry. They are a hit every year.

We spent two nights in the oasis of San Ignacio. We had some blustery winds and a lot of dust to wipe out of our ears but it was a good time nonetheless. Everyone who tried them thought that the date bread cakes sold by a local woman were fabulous.

We then traveled on down to the city of Santa Rosalia to stop at the world famous bakery in town and to get some fresh juice squeezed out right in front of us.

We ended that travel day setting up camp at Coyote Bay. The sites are gorgeous and fish are friendly. People have enjoyed hiking and snorkeling and washing their hair in the ocean. We will be there for one more night before heading up to Mulege for a night.

We had a great discussion around the campfire last night about what it means to see. It morphed into everyone discussing some little blessing (we call them pennies) that they have witnessed on the trip. It was touching to hear everyone share from their hearts about some amazing occurance that they will never forget.

Well, it is time for me to be off. Please continue to pray for us. Now that the weather has turned good, we would like it to stay that way. Until I can find another open computer...

Off to San Ignacio

We leave early tomorrow morning for San Ignacio (see the links in our post with our itinerary and the map of Baja). We'll stop in the desert for a plant walk among the giant cardon cactus, some as old as 200-250 years old, cross into Baja Sur and eat lunch in Guerrero Negro--the best fish tacos you'll find anywhere--and then on to San Ignacio.

Imagining the Landscape

Tonight Dan is going to lecture on the perception and conception of the landscape in western culture from Plato to Postmodernism...all in one hour. Talk about high level academic work!

Greetings from Bahia de Los Angeles!

We arrived at the Vermilion Sea Field Station (vsfs.org) yesterday afternoon about 5pm. Everybody’s safe and in good condition, albeit a bit dirtier than when we left the U.S. The weather here is clear, with a strong north wind blowing since last night. Hopefully the wind will die down by tomorrow.

We had a great couple of days drive down here and will spend today and tonight here before setting out on our eight-day camping trip down the peninsula. Be sure to check the itinerary throughout the next several days to see where we are, and of course we’ll update the blog during while we’re on the road as we are able.

We’re also going to have our Teaching Assistants blog this year—which is a change from the last couple of years, so be looking for their contributions to the blog and their perspective on our experience in Baja. You can check out their bio’s if you click on their names in the right column of the blog.

We’ll post more later; we’re off to take the students on a little tour of Bahia.

Where in Baja is Biola?

During the three weeks we're in Baja we'll travel more than 700 miles south of the border. We'll be traveling in large vans making frequent stops for roadside rambles, both for lectures and observations of the landscape and the towns. In general, we will not be in places where we can be reached, however, there are internet cafes in several of the towns we visit, so we will have intermittant access to email.

Here is our itinerary, as we have planned it. We will be in these loctions more-or-less on the days listed. I've included a notation next to the towns we know have internet access, and a link to more informtion about each of our different stops.

Use the map to see where we are as we travel around Baja (you can click on it for a larger image).

Jan 3 Camp in Colonia Vicente Guerrero near San Quintin. Here's the weather forcast for San Quintin.

Jan 4 San Quintin to Catavina. Weather for Catavina.

Jan 5 Catavina to Bahia de los Angeles. Our home base throughout the program is the Vermilion Sea Field Station (internet) Weather for Bahia de los Angeles.

Jan 7 Bahia de los Angeles to San Ignacio (internet two years ago, not last year, so...), traveling through Guerrero Negro (and enjoying a legendary almuerzo de tacos pescado at Tacos Henry!). Weather for San Ignacio.

Jan 9 San Ignacio to El Coyote on Bahia de la Concepcion, with stops in Santa Rosalia and Mulege. Bahia de la Concepcion is the bay just south of Mulege. Here's the Mulege area weather.

Jan 12 Bahia Concepcion to Mulege (internet)

Jan 14 Mulege to Guerrero Negro and Scammons Lagoon. Weather for Guerrero Negro.

Jan 15 Guerrero Negro to Bahia Los Angeles

Jan 22 Bahia Los Angeles to Biola

Note that these dates are subject to change due to variables such as weather, fuel supply, and road and sea conditions over which we have no control. But that's a life lesson in itself....

What is Biola Baja?

The "Baja class" is a three-week long Interterm (January) program in which students and professors from three classes travel together throughout Baja California, Mexico, observing, writing, reading, discussing and experiencing Baja. It follows, what program founder Rafe Payne has called the "Janovy method": "a ramble...punctuated with discoveries."

The Baja program at Biola University was pioneered by Rafe Payne, Professor of Biological Sciences, over 25 years ago as consisting of a class titled, "The Natural History of Baja California." Over the years the program has grown to include two additional classes: an Art seminar taught by Dan Callis, "Visual Studies in Baja" and a Sociology field research class taught by Richard Flory, "Baja California in Social and Cultural Context."