Acapulco!

Of all the ports we have visited, Acapulco seems to most closely match the image I
had in my mind before we arrived.  Ironically, I have not seen the famous cliff
divers of Acapulco, but everything else basically matches: a long strip of hotels
and restaurants wrapped around the bay, with taxis zooming back and forth among the
buses. The happily crowded beach with food and souvenir vendors offers ample sand,
surf, and fun in the sun for everyone.

A large Mexican flag marks the center of the semicircular beach.  At this point we
met Jimmy, of Jimmy's Diving Center, with whom we went scuba diving!  Angie, and
her boyfriend Ryan (who drove down from Minnesota to see her) plus Kattrean and I
had met a woman named Rosie who basically offered locator services: answering where
we could find the best hotels and restaurants and, in our case, scuba diving.  She
called her friend Jimmy, who quoted us $45 each, to which we readily agreed, given
Ryan had been quoted $80 the previous day.  Kattrean chose not to dive (because
diving involves swimming) but went around town with Rosie.

Angie and Ryan had never been diving before, but Jimmy offered a verbal guarantee
they would be able to dive, and we headed out to an island on the north (?) end of
Acapulco bay.

We dove to about 3 meters in a relatively calm area with large rocks offering
places for fish to hang out.  I can't name any except for what I'd call black and
white angel fish.  I'm thankful that I brought two things along for the dive:
Francois, my stuffed rabbit, and my underwater camera case (and camera).  I got
some great pictures (and many not so great); the underwater camera case has been a
great toy on this trip!

Here's a link to the pictures!

http://robnugen.com/images/travel/Pb/49th_May-Aug_2005/diving_in_acapulco/index.shtml

Also, I just uploaded four rough versions of some lectures by Erik Leaver, a man
who is doing education and outreach on issues surrounding Iraq and multilateral
institutions.

http://robnugen.com/writing/Erik_Leaver_Iraq/

  I hope everyone is well!
  Love Love Love
    - Rob!