Weather: Humid, Sunny, and 81

At 7:15 this morning I was leaving Ines’s and heading for the university so we could get on our way to the airport. Ines fed me one last amazing breakfast and when it was time for me to leave her I got really teary eyed. It was truly a mixed bag of emotions. I was excited for the islands but also overwhelmed and nervous. This whole day was like that.

I said goodbye to Ines and hopped in the cab heading for USFQ. The cab driver asked me if I had a boyfriend and how old I was. I stupidly responded saying I didn’t have one. I should have just said yes because it sparked a whole other conversation about why I don’t have one. It was a pretty hilarious last impression of Quito and quite fitting I may add.

We all loaded up our luggage and headed for the airport. Our flight was at 10:40AM and we landed in San Cristobal around 1:45pm. I’m now an hour behind the states which is throwing me a bit, but I’ll get it down eventually. As soon as we arrived in the airport we got our things and loaded up these little trucks with all our suitcases. We took buses to the university and met our luggage there. There were people on the beach just watching everything we did. Our arrival is a big deal here as we are 40+ white people invading their island for 3 months. The guys here also have limitied options when it comes to women so apparently some guys have a whole scheme they play. Our director calls them land sharks. She says that they’ll ask how long we’re here for but they know exactly who we are and what we’re doing here. I’ve heard there’s one dude that gets himself a new girlfriend every semester. It’s going to be interesting because we stick out here 10x more than in Quito. Here, they don’t even use street names they literally just use house names. Like if I were to take a cab I would just say “casa de Tania Valencia.” (Tania is my host mom) the cab driver would know exactly where to go.

Anyways, we had lunch when we got to the university. The university is actually a renovated hotel that opened in 2002. Im 2012, they added on a science center that’s directly behind the hotel. The lunch had beans and rice of course, but also a lot of vegetarian options. While eating lunch, I along with my friend Nicola were discussing how anxious we were. I was just nervous of starting all over again. I’m once again in a new place living with strangers I don’t know. I was also worried about the food choices here, I’m going to have to eat fish...I know that. I’m dreading it a little bit, but I need to make sure I’m getting enough nutrients and protein.

After lunch we had a half hour break, so Nicola and I headed down to the beach (Playa Mann) that’s right across the street! There were so many sea lions and a baby one came right up to our feet. Apparently the colony of sea lions that lives on San Cristobal is the biggest one in the Galápagos. There were also a lot of crabs roaming between the rocks. Some of my friends saw blue footed boobies. I know I’ll have my chance to see them, but I was pretty jealous as they’re my favorite birds. Nicola and I talked further about how starting over will be kinda rough at first and how we need to get used to the humidity here. It’s not nearly as bad as the amazon, but definitely enough to make the hair unmanageable. I was just glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one having these thoughts. Everyone seemed so chill and happy (I guess I would’ve too) that it seemed like I was the only one that was a wee bit anxious and overwhelmed by the sudden change.

We attended an almost 2 hour orientation for the Galápagos. It was informative but they also made it sound like we’d die doing things. They were just trying to warn us to not be stupid but I think the amount of times they brought up death was a bit much. After the orientation, we all went to the main entrance to get our belongings. Our host families were all waiting for us and what was funny was that at the same time everyone was hesitating to go outside to meet their families. Everyone was exhausted from the day of travel that the thought of communicating in Spanish was a lot to handle. People were really overwhelmed too because it was a lot to take in. In just hours, we were uprooted from a family we had gotten used to, introduced to a new place, and placed with new people.

I finally just grabbed my luggage and headed out the door of the university. Paco (my host father) picked me up and called a cab. Cabs here are little Toyota trucks. I went in the cab with all my things, and Paco followed behind the cab on his moped. Here there are barely any cars, pretty much everyone has a moped. Everything is close there’s no need for cars which is amazing.

When I arrived at the house I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a much smaller house than Ines’s but it has a modern feel to it. Everything is really clean, and my room is a decent size. Paco gave me a little tour of the house, I share a bathroom with all of them. Again a difference I will get used too. I met my host siblings as well, Ana (she’s 13), Mateo (turns 6 in March), and Helena (she’s 2). Helena was taking a nap, so I got to know Ana and Mateo a bit while Paco went to pick up Tania from work. She’s really sweet and knows basic English. Tania and Paco know basic English as well which is helpful because they’ll understand my spanglish a bit. I gave them all their host gifts and they were so grateful. Ana and Mateo immediately started coloring with the books and crayons I brought, it was quite adorable.

After talking with Paco and Tania for a bit I went to my room and unpacked. I ended up calling Mom because I knew it’d help me get adjusted a bit. The wifi here is really slow and doesn't work well in my room at all so FaceTime is no longer an option. It will be nice to be unplugged for 3 months, but Im hoping the wifi at the university will allow me to copy and paste this from my phone to my actual journal...fingers crossed. Talking to Mom helped me calm down a bit and not feel so overwhelmed.

Tania made me spaghetti with veggies for dinner and I was really happy with that. I think they’re gonna have my try tuna from a can for dinner at one point. They said it’s imported from the states and Ecuadorians love it. We shall see...

Tomorrow is the start of class for me and we have one more orientation to attend too. This one is for a tsunami drill but I guess along the route they’re gonna show us some good lunch spots. There’s a vegetarian place here, and for a lunch it’s about $8. Obviously this would get expensive if I ate there everyday for lunch, but I’m hoping once I get my bearings I can figure out ways to make my lunch a couple days a week. I kinda wish we had one day off when we first arrived to see the island and just breathe for a minute. At the same time, it’s an island and I know I’ll find my way around very quickly and being busy is good.

As I type this, it’s pretty hot and there’s tiny bugs chilling around my ceiling light. When I took a shower earlier there were a couple bugs in the bathroom. This doesn’t mean my host family is unclean. They really can’t get much cleaner, it’s the fact I’m living on an island for 3 months. Again, I know I need to adjust and I’ll be fine. Give me a couple days and I’ll be all good just like I was in Quito. I was freaking out about the buses in Quito and it turned out to be just fine.