Days 34 & 35: Class at USFQ

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Today I had breakfast with my family. I had granola, coffee, and a banana. Breakfast I always seem to be a bit shy at, but it's ok. After breakfast I left for the school so that I could get some reading/work done before class began at 9 am. Class was pretty good again - we had lecture for a while and then during the break we got samples of plants and flowers and brought them back in to identify them. My teacher, Hugo, is a really nice guy and I am definitly glad I am in this class and not the politics one. There is one Ecuadorian in my class, Marcos. He is a second year student here at GAIAS, and will go to USFQ next year. He is practicing his english, so I help him with that and he helps me with my spanish.

After class, Katie K and I ran into town to buy locks before lunch. Lunch, which is at Sula Sula all this week, was some sort of mashed potato thing, a stuffed pepper, and salad. Then we had a slice of pineapple for dessert. After lunch most people decided to go to the beach - I doubt it will ever get old. We got lathered up and went to Punta Carola which is about 5-10 minutes past Playa Mann. Although it is much more secluded at Punta Carola, the entire bay is filled with rocks and is not great for swimming. We made our way out past the rocks, which even more difficult because the tide was out, and did some snorkeling. I saw more sea turtles, and headed back in shortly thereafter because the water was very chilly and I had goosebumps everywhere.

I managed to scramble up the rocks to the beach where I layed in the sun with others for a while. Lindsey and I walked back to the school together. I decided to sit on the beach at Playa Mann to dry off a little more. Then I walked back to my house with Chito (his real name is Armando). We met Chito the first day here - he is a really nice guy, fluent in English because he is from Puerto Rico, but grew up in New York and the Galapagos. Turns out we live in the same neighborhood, along with half of my friends. I was going to go for a run, but when I arrived home around 5 pm dinner was already being prepared and my legs were sore from yesterday. Instead, I showered, did some reading for class, and managed to fall asleep on my bed. Karol woke me up for dinner, and the 4 of us ate together. We had rice, fish, and fresh green beans that were cooked with onions, tomatoes, seasonings, and lemon. It was really tasty. I also had the juiciest orange I have ever had. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

After dinner, Leonardo and I talked for about 30 minutes at the table. He told me about his work, and what islands he goes to and what they do there. And I told him what I saw when I went snorkeling. We looked through some books so I was able to point out things I had seen. After 30 minutes of speaking in spanish my brain was pretty tired, so I excused myself to finish my school reading. That lasted all of half an hour before I passed out around 8 pm, only to wake up at 10 pm very confused as to where I was. I got changed into pajamas and crawled into bed for the most sleep I've had in a long time!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I woke up at 7 am today feeling refreshed after about 11 hours of sleep. I got ready, said goodbye to my family, and headed to school. I got some emailing done before breakfast started at 8 am. I had granola again - possibly my favorite thing right now - and sipped some coffee while I studied for my "pop" quiz today that my teacher informed us about. At 9 am it was class and quiz time. Then Lindsey, Forrest, and I presented our articles to the class. Lindsey and Forrest split one - it basically covered all the information we had learned the previous two days, and I presented an article about island biogeography. Then it was lecture until 10:30, when we got break, and then another 1.5 hours of lecture. Apparently I really like botany because I was able to pay full attention the entire time.

After class, I bummed around, got my suit on, sunscreened up, and headed to lunch. Lunch was chicken fried rice with grilled plantains. I love plantains and could eat them at every meal, every day. When we had finished, I headed to the beach with several of my classmates. We layed out for just a short while before the mist (garua) came. That is when I decided to come inside and do some work online. I was able to talk to my mom, got some work done, and headed back across the street when the sun came out. Steph, Forrest, and I played frisbee until he had to leave to go surfing. Then Steph and I played in the waves for a while. They were much bigger today than they have been in the past, and I absolutely love playing in waves. We could have stayed in longer had the big daddy sea lion not decided he wanted to swim. Unfortunately he doesn't like to share the beach with anyone else, so we had to depart. Since it was misty we didn't feel like staying outside so we came in, where we are right now. I can hear the waves and sea lions in the background, and am trying to upload photos to facebook but it is not working...

In a bit I am hopefully going to go for a run, shower, and then do who knows what until dinner. Dinner is down in the town at Calypso again tonight - after dinner I am planning on hanging out for a while, hopefully getting to see some night life of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno!