Weather: Sunny, no rain, and 85

Wednesday (3/6/2019)
Today I had to be up and at campus for 6:30am. The whole point of us being there so early was so we could get to Galapaguera because they apparently feed the tortoises at 7:15am and they all run for the food. Tortoises running would be an amusing way to spend the morning so my professor wanted us up and ready to go bright and early. The bus didn't end up arriving for us until 7am, so we were all pretty mad since we woke up early to see the tortoises run and we weren't gonna make it on time. Upon arrival, we ran into a group of volunteers that told us they don't usually feed the tortoises for another hour and half or so. At that point we had been watching tortoises for a half hour, so we weren't going to stick around for another hour and a half. This marked my third time to Galapaguera so it was nothing new but we saw some tortoises fighting which was pretty funny. As it involves each one getting as tall and big as possible and then eventually one gets intimidated and runs off. Each fight lasted less than a minute and we saw probably 4 of them in a 45 minute span. The tortoises were definitely the most active compared to my last 2 visits, and I'm assuming it's because they know they are getting fed. They get fed 3x a week at the same time. We went and looked at the babies and on our way out the tortoises had been fed so we saw them munchin' on otoy leaves.

After our tortoise visit we went back to Puerto Chino to pick up more microplastics. Since it was after Carnaval we wanted to see if there would be more plastics on the beach. It appeared that there had already been a cleanup before we got there because we actually found less microplastics than our first pick up a week ago. We were able to relax after the pickup for about an hour so I was able to read a little in the newest book I've been reading. We went to lunch around noon at Rancho Canada and it was absolutely delicious. I had vegetarian rice, which was rice with different peppers, and a flavoring sauce. It came with a side of beans that I mixed in with the rice and it was amazing. I'm really hoping to emulate some of these recipes when I return to the states. After lunch, we went to El Junco which marked my third visit but the first for many in my class. We got a class picture, took in the breeze, walked back down to the bus, and headed to the dump for a talk on plastics. The talk we got in my strategic management class was better because it focused on all the different types of trash and how it's managed versus just plastics. We did get to see them compressing the plastics into large blocks which was pretty cool. Our guide was named Pedro and I have passed him walking to school 3 separate times. Each time he has started talking to me/or catcalling me so that was pretty funny as San Cristobal is indeed a small island. He didn't say a word to me on the tour though so that was nice lol. After the tour we headed back towards school and picked up trash on the malecon and some of the streets near the malecon. After that we were finally free for the day, I headed home and just chilled out as it was a long day spent in the sun.

Thursday, today (3/7/2019)
Today was class as normal, and after class I headed to Fresco with Nicola, Steph, and Kayelyn for lunch. I got a veggie pizza and the dough was homemade and it was delish. After lunch, Nicola went with me to the hospital. They don't have doctor's offices here so everything is at the hospital. None of the doctors speak a word of English so I brought Nicola with me so I could communicate correctly. For the past week and a half I've had a bump on the left side of my nose, near my eyebrow and it doesn't bother me at all. However, I have been congested only on the left side of my face, so I figured it was time to get it looked at.

Apparently it's an abscess, and the doctor gave me amoxicillin, ibuprofen, and omeprazole to combat any acid reflux I may have due to my stomach problems. He said I should put chamomile tea water on my face too as it's a good anti inflammatory as well. I ended up having mom call my doctor in the states because antibiotics are what caused my stomach problems in the first place so I was VERY hesitant to take them. She said it is okay so I will start taking them tomorrow. I'm hoping they do their job and clear my face up. They said if my face doesn't clear up on the antibiotics then I need to go back and they will make an incision. However, I do not trust the doctors to go near my face with any sort of pointy thing so I will be waiting until I am on American soil for any incision that may be necessary. It doesn't hurt so I'm not too concerned about it, I won't be using the omeprazole or ibuprofen he gave me unless it starts to hurt and I have acid reflux. They are very medicine happy here and they give out antibiotics at an alarming rate. Some of my friends here have made several trips to the hospital and each time they leave with tons of meds. In a way it's like a right of passage. If you don't have stomach issues or need to go to the hospital for something, you didn't spend a semester in the Galapagos. Never in a million years did I think I'd have to go in for a bump on my face...if anything I'd think it'd be for my stomach. So many people are having stomach problems, I've decided I am waiting til I'm back in the states to deal with that if I am still having issues in 2 months.