Thursday, November 13, 2008
Class today consisted mainly of talks given by different people from the Galapagos National Park Service and other conservation organizations. In the morning, we had 5 talks that lasted about 3 hours. They were actually very interesting (except for one); my favorite from the morning session was the one given by the executive park director. (How sweet is that? I met one of the directors of the Galapagos National Park…surreal). Then we all walked back to Tintoreras for lunch, and after lunch people split up and did their own things. I went to the internet café, dropped some stuff off at the hotel, and walked back to the park early so I could stop at the National Park Store.
Around 2:30 pm we had more lectures, the first of which was in the National Park Office given by one of the directors of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. He felt bad because he was running late, and then he kept receiving calls he had to take – we couldn’t be mad though because it was the director of the national park on the phone, and really, who could be mad about that? Then we relocated back to our classroom where Fernando Ortiz from Conservation International gave us an overview of his work there. I really enjoyed his talk – probably more than any of the others – and was really interested to learn about the projects CI is/has been implementing in the Galapagos. For our last talk, the speakers got confused and went to our hotel so we got a taxi to take us back since it is about a 20 minute walk. We met with two representatives of Sea Shepherd and they told us about their efforts to protect marine mammals as well as sharks. They are stationed in many places throughout the world, with much of their efforts and manpower going towards stopping illegal whaling in Japan. They were definitely interesting characters, and I am not sure I agree with their methods. I guess I could sum them us as Hippies with rancid butter grenades (because that’s what they threw at the Japanese ships when they were getting real grenades thrown at them). Weird.
By the time our talks were done it was essentially time for dinner. Dinner was fine, and afterwards I just came back to the hotel to hang out. I ended up watching The Hunchback of Notre Dame on my computer, then going to sleep.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Today class began at 7:30 am because we had to walk to Tortuga Bay to see low tide and observe intertidal areas. It was a hot day – even before 8 am the sun was out full force and by the time we reached Tortuga Bay (approximately a 3 km walk that took about 40 minutes) we were all sweating bullets. Gunter showed us around, and we were able to see and walk through some algae blooms that had formed due to an over-abundance of dinoflagellates. In layman’s terms, I walked through red tide. We then saw a tidal pool, and Forrest and Tom stood in sand that was quite reminiscent to quicksand. By the time Gunter was done giving a 5 minute talk, both of the boys had sunk to their knees. I took advantage of this and got a picture standing next to Forrest where I am actually taller than him!
We walked around to other areas; saw exposed red, green, and black algae because the tide was so low (it was full moon just a couple days before so the tides are extreme right now). Finally, when class “ended” around 10 am we were free to hang out and do whatever we wanted before lunch. I chose to stay at the beach for a while since Tortuga Bay is probably more than a mile of white sand and bright blue waves. Around 11:30 Stephanie, Katie, Sam, and Lindsey headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back it was almost time for lunch and we were all so hot and sweaty that none of us were interested in going to Tintoreras for lunch. Instead, Steph, Katie, Sam, and I jumped in the shower and then went to The Rock for lunch. I got a tuna salad wrap again, along with an oreo milkshake that was to die for. It was definitely better than lunch at the other place, which turned out to be fish and rice and “salad” again.
After a short nap at the hotel, everyone readied themselves for our trip to the highlands. I lied and said I didn’t feel well because I was emotionally drained (as well as physically) and needed some time alone to recover. While everyone else saw more giant tortoises and lava tunnels the size of caves (I’m sad I missed that part), I slept for about 3 hours and woke up feeling very refreshed. Although I think the giant lava tunnels would have been awesome, I am glad I was able to rest and have some quiet time to myself.
Before dinner I walked around a little bit with Sam and Sonia, checking out the various stores on Santa Cruz. Dinner was lasagna – pretty darn good lasagna too – and an awesome cheesecake dessert thing. After we were done eating, I walked around some more with some people, got a bottle of wine to split with Katie, and went back to the hotel where Tom N, Tom Z, Forrest, Katie, Sam, and I played cards on the roof. Eventually we ended up going out to Bongo’s bar – I had not been out since Halloween and decided I could venture out again. We mostly just hung out and took in the different atmosphere that is present on Santa Cruz as compared to San Cristobal. Although it was neat, I still like San Cristobal better because I like knowing people when I go out. (And to think I was saying I was sick of knowing everyone on the island before…)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Today was another semi-early day. We had to pack up all our stuff and bring it downstairs before going on another small field trip for school. Unfortunately, it was grey, windy, and rainy out so no one was thrilled to be going anywhere and getting wet. We headed towards Las Grietas, the cliffs that you can jump off of, and stopped on the way to do some transect work at a beach. Gunter doesn’t really explain much, however, and everyone was in a pretty bad mood so it wasn’t exactly the best hour of my life. A little before 10 am we finished what work we had and now had time to do whatever until the boat departed for San Cristobal. Tom Z, Tom N, Danielle, and Forrest decided to continue to Las Grietas to snorkel and jump off the cliffs, while the rest of us headed back.
I went back to the hotel and changed clothes, went to an internet café to use the last of my pre-purchased minutes before we left the island, wandered aimlessly for a while, tried to talk to my mom but was unsuccessful (stupid Porta), and eventually went to lunch at The Rock again, this time with Danielle, Tom, Jon, Sam, and Katie. I got quesadillas instead of the tuna salad wrap since I was being adventures some, and stuffed myself silly with awesome yumminess. Somehow we managed to kill a lot of time because it was already 12:50 by the time we were done and had to get back to the hotel to get our luggage. Everyone congregated at the pier where SICGAL did their inspection of our luggage, then we waited for the boat.
The ride back was in the other boat, the Varkiyo. I can soundly say I had traveling by boat and I especially hate the Varkiyo now. Heading East is horrible because it means traveling into the wind and waves, and there were certainly a lot of wind and waves out today. Even though I took motion sickness medicine, about 1 hour into the ride which was reminiscent of taking a raft down Niagra Falls I was feeling so poorly I took a Zofran as well. By this time I was getting absolutely pummeled by water, so they closed the “top” to the boat, which really didn’t help that much other than make it extremely stuffy and caused many people to feel sick. Caroline, Jon, Danielle, and I sat with our heads hanging out in the fresh air in order to keep from getting sick. When we finally arrived in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno I could not have been happier.
Tom, Danielle, and I took a taxi back to our houses because we were not about to lug all of our luggage up that huge hill. I was greeted with a big smile from my host mom and we chatted a bit about my two weeks away. She was thrilled to see me again and I can truthfully say I was thrilled to be back. I reorganized my room and put stuff away then took a nice shower to get rid of all the sea water and salt I had accumulated on the ride over. Then I went to school to check the internet, but didn’t stay long because it was already getting late and Katie, Rachel, and I went to get dinner. We ate a Casa Blanca where I got a cheese sandwich and a batido, then walked around town for a while. Around 9 pm the three of us headed to Iguana Rock because there was going to be an Arkabuz concert tonight and we wanted to get in before the crowds.
Turns out some of our group was already there, so we hung out and played some pool until things got going. The band is really quite good and is considered to be famous in Ecuador. Not to mention I think I may be in love with the drummer who looks like Orlando Bloom…. I think half of the island came out to see them because it was really crowded, but it was definitely awesome. After they were done playing they stayed to hang out and I actually got to chat with them. I left Iguana Rock that evening thrilled to be back home (relatively speaking) and having spent a fun night out with friends.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Breakfast was with my host family this morning, and it was nice to be back home. Lisa and I ate together, then I did some more organizing and sorting of clothes in my room before heading to school. I spent just a short amount of time at the beach because it was so hot I thought I might actually melt into the sand, and then came in to study for my exam tomorrow. Unfortunately, studying didn’t really work up well for me and I wasn’t very productive at all. I got lunch with Katie then came back to the school to hang out and try again at studying. Again, I was unsuccessful. Eventually, after killing more time doing goodness knows what, it was dinner time and I made myself a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese and put tuna in it for dinner. It was quite delicious and filled me to the brim. I eventually went home because studying was just not working, and went to bed to get some sleep before school.
Monday, November 17, 2008
When I arrived at school at 7:15 am and the food was already out (because Gunter wanted food before 8) I was thrilled because for some reason I was really hungry. I was also excited to have real coffee (as real as it gets down here at least) and granola with yogurt again. I enjoyed my breakfast and was able to check my email before heading to class. Class wasn’t too bad – we mostly learned how to make a log book and talked about different species we had seen before taking a trip to do more transect work at Punta Carola. Today’s class was actually the first one with Gunter I have actually enjoyed – we walked around the intertidal zone and identified all sorts of marine life. I saw all kinds of crazy stuff including a moray eel, several kinds of crabs, snails, sponges, bennies, sea stars, chitin, and many other things. I left class and headed to lunch with a smile on my face, actually excited about the work we had done.
After lunch, which was at SulaSula, Katie and I walked into town to stop by the post office. I picked up my package that had arrived while I was on my tour of the other islands, stopped by the store with Katie where we purchased 4 snacks for a total of $1 (I think the guy was stoned) and moseyed back to school to study for our exam. We all studied pretty much right up until exam time. At 5 pm we headed to the classroom and were delivered the most absurd test I have ever taken with questions regarding specific quirky facts that have nothing to do with Marine Life of the Galapagos. I think most of us walked out of there thinking we would be lucky if we got 50% right…oh well, thank goodness this grade doesn’t transfer back to MSU.
At this time I decided it was a good idea to go for a run. It had cooled off and was overcast so I was thinking it would be nice to run before dinner. I headed out, ran to the airport and then headed towards La Loberia. It ended up getting really dark really fast and I decided I should probably turn around. Just as I was about to do so, a car came down the road towards me. The combination of me being blinded by their lights and deciding I should move over to make sure I wasn’t in their way ended up being a problem when I stepped off the road, rolled my ankle and slid down a dirt and lava rock slant. At first I was in shock with how much pain I was in, and then it hit me and I started sobbing. I couldn’t move my ankle which had snapped and made a cracking sound, and I was covered in dirt. I laid there crying for a while until the pain subsided a bit, at which time I decided I had to try to walk back. 30 minutes later and in a lot of pain I ended up at Calypso where we were having dinner and collapsed crying into a chair. All I could think about was how stupid I was and how much this was going to suck for rowing.
Stephanie gave me some advil since I had nothing but my house key on me, and I propped my swollen leg up at dinner. Dinner was pretty awful, aside from the ice cream dessert, and afterwards I walked with Katie and Sam to Casa Blanca where Rolando gave me ice for my ankle and I got a cheese sandwich to eat since I hadn’t really had dinner. Even though it was only about 8 pm by this time, I headed back home because I was not about to walk to school and then back home on my bum ankle. I made it home, iced my ankle while reading, showered, then iced my ankle some more and went to bed.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
I didn’t sleep well last night – I don’t know if it was because I went to bed so early or because I was in pain – but I woke up at 4 am, 5 am, and 6 am, at which point I just got up and read. I didn’t exactly want to tell my host mom Ines about my ankle because she worries a lot, but I couldn’t exactly hide it from her when I walked. She gave me some stuff to put on it (although I am pretty sure it did nothing) and called a taxi so I wouldn’t have to walk to school. Class was ok today, and we had a talk from a guy who works at WildAid on Santa Cruz so that was nice and broke up the monotone lecture Gunter was giving us.
Lunch at Sula Sula was pretty crappy but I managed to eat it anyway because my stomach would have eaten itself had I not eaten something. I then hobbled back to school with Katie, where I proceed to get my stuff for the beach. Shawna, Rachel, Sam, and I laid on the beach for a while. When the sea lions got a bit rowdy and the sun had disappeared behind clouds I came into the school to do some reading and was actually productive for once! Me being productive is a very exciting thing so I rewarded myself by catching up on my blog and going online. Now I have a very exciting walk home on an ankle that can’t move. I think after dinner I am going to the farmacia to get an ace wrap and maybe just hanging out with some people for a while. Please let my ankle be better by tomorrow…
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