Weather: Sunny, 82, and HOT

This week has been a really low key week for me and not too much going on. For class we don't have any field trips this week but we do have a good amount of studying and preparing work that's due this week. I can't believe I only have two more days of this class and then it's over! Time is flying but I am thrilled to start my next class which is Political Ecology. It will be an intense course since the professor is only here on the islands for 2 weeks. We are cramming everything in within those 2 weeks and the third week all of us will have a research paper and exam to do. I am excited to be challenged as it is going to be a lot of class time and not a lot of time left for reading and homework. I think it will feel a little similar to being back in Maine..maybe? We shall see what Monday brings, for now I am soaking up the slow pace of strategic management.

Hopping back to Monday (2/18), it was a fun day despite a major IBS flare up. I didn't have class today until 3 so I just hung around the house this morning and then met up with some friends for lunch. Paco's two sons Kevin and Kenneth came yesterday. Kevin is 17 and super quiet, he didn't even say hola. I figured he was a bit shy since I am a college aged white girl living in his dad's house. The younger one Kenneth is 10 and he ran right up to me and shook my hand. He immediately started talking to me in Spanish and seemed disappointed when I told him I only speak a little bit of it but if he talks slow I'll understand him a bit better. They seem like nice kids which was a relief because I was expecting them to be a bit rude and wild because they're boys. We went back to Nicola's host moms friend's restaurant...a true mouth-full. The lunch was good, not my favorite as it was too much fish for my liking. The soup had fish in it this time and the vegetarian option was fish once again. I won't be going back anytime soon because I've been having a lot of fish with dinner. I don't want to eat too much fish and end up not liking it. Speaking of Nicola, her and the boy she went on a date with not too long ago are now official. Boys here waste no time, and there is no such thing as "talking" or having a "thing" with someone. People would naturally think that this was fast as we've only been here two and a half weeks and I would agree to an extent. However, Nicola is happy and Jhosias is a really great/nice guy which can be hard here as you don't truly know if a dude is a land shark or not.

Anyways, today (2/18) is like our independence day. It's the day that the Galapagos became a province from what I gathered. No one works (except Paco had work as the airport doesn't close) and the entire day is a fiesta. All day I was bloated to the point where I looked 2 months pregnant. It was truly alarming and it shocked me a bit because I haven't been that bloated since before I left. I was worried I may have had a parasite or something, but then once I calmed down and came back to Earth I realized it was just a really bad flare. I'm not exactly sure what caused it, but it could have been the fact that both riday and Saturday I swallowed a fair amount of salt water while snorkeling. That paired with a lot of rice and dairy is no good. Overall, I've been eating cleaner; I'm trying to dodge dairy anyway I can, and Paco has respected the fact that I don't want fried foods.

Despite my stomach, around 9pm I headed down to the concha for the concert that was supposed to turn into a big dance party. There was basically no one there when I showed up but some friends were so we all hung out for awhile. Eventually more and more people came and I ended up dancing with Kayelyn and her host family around 10ish. We were one of the few dancing in front of the stage, but I had a lot of fun. I hung around til almost midnight and headed home because I was about to fall over I was so tired. I learned the next morning that this thing went on til 6am!! Some of my friends stayed til 2 or 3. They said it got more fun as the night went on and more people were dancing. I can hear all the concerts and fiestas that occur in the concha because it's about a block or two away from where I live and boy does the sound carry. I end up turning on my fan and putting in ear plugs which usually do the trick. It was a really cool experience and definitely a cultural experience I'm happy I got to be apart of, if it wasn't a Monday night I definitely would have stayed and danced!

Tuesday (2/19)
Today I went to class in the morning and headed to Fresco (my fav. vegetarian spot) for lunch. I got a cheese quesadilla with salad on the side and it was delish. I was able to save some for tomorrow's lunch which I was very happy about. Josanna always makes amazing food and it's worth every penny. It has become a favorite eating spot for people who aren't even vegetarian and I think it's because everything is so fresh and you get so much for the prices. Every lunch is either 6,7, or 8 bucks. Post lunch, Sara, Nicola, and I went to Sabor Cuencano which is the bread shop around the corner from my house. It has wifi and AC so we were able to get some work done there. I just searched for Summer internships while they did field reports and studied for their marine class. The internship search has been discouraging because I had the one interview with Ahold but I have yet to hear back from anyone. I keep reminding myself it's really early since most places don't start looking for interns til March. I'm hoping I hear something soon, worse case scenario I go back and intern at Clean Harbors which isn't a terrible option. I'm doing my best to ensure I have a new experience this Summer.

After leaving the bread shop around 5:30ish Nicola and I went on a run! I've seen people running here and always think they are nuts but for some reason I just felt the need for a run. I haven't ran since being at UMaine so I was expecting this to go terribly however Nicola and I ran 3.5miles with a rest halfway through (we stopped for water at the university). Her phone said 4 miles, but we were skeptical. I was thrilled cause we had a good pace going and did some small hills too. I was going to be happy with a mile because in Quito going uphill I'd be out of breath at times. However, the altitude got me into good running shape apparently. We plan to continue running because I felt amazing afterwards. It cleared my head and I stopped worrying about my stomach. We have to be careful with the heat but if there's an ocean breeze we'll run. For dinner, Paco made sandwiches and he was gonna make just a grilled cheese but I asked for an egg too so it would be an egg and cheese. He had never heard of such of thing but he made one killer sandwich. It was delicious and I explained that it's a common food within the states.

Wed (2/20)...today!

Today I had class in the morning, and then I came back to the house for my leftover quesadillas. I headed back to the school for 3pm because I had a meeting about doing some research but it didn't really go anywhere. The woman my professor put me in contact with wasn't the right person, apparently she is just the research person helping us out with the plastics analysis we are going to be doing in the coming weeks. She had me sit in an office with her and 2 other office assistants while she breast fed what looked like a one and a half year old. It was a weird experience. She told me about the project we were going to be doing in my next class and told me to come back tomorrow to talk with this guy Juan Pablo. I also ran into Ashleigh who is the woman that Priscila (our coordinator back in Quito) put us all in contact with. I spoke with her last week but she didn't think research would be happening til at least March. My hope talking to Daniela was that I could get involved sooner. It's just another example of island time, and getting used to how slow things move. I know in due time I will be able to get involved in some research.

When I got home for the day, Helena ran up to me and hugged my leg. It was really cute and made me realize she actually does like me a bit lol. I think she misses her mum lots, I think she returns Friday or Saturday. She knows how to cook vegetarian a bit more than Paco so I'm hoping for a nice omelet or something when she gets back.

In the next three weeks, there is a Summer camp that takes place for the kiddos and they need volunteers. On days I don't have class in between the times of 2 and 5 I plan on helping out there. I'm taking every chance I have to get involved here. I want to be a local and not be viewed as just a temporary tourist. Also, Kevin who is Paco's oldest son headed back to Santa Cruz today. He was really quiet but from what I met of him he seemed like a nice kid. Kenneth is staying with us his entire Summer break so I think that will be until the end of March. Once Tania, Anahi, and Mateo come back this house will be full once again, but I like Kenneth he is a character. He talks to himself a lot but always says "hello Julia!" He talks extremely fast so I can't understand him too well but hopefully in a months time I'll improve a bit.