There´s Sand in Places There Shouldn´t Be!

So sorry to not write for a long time...it's been so crazy here! Anyways, Ill write about the last few weeks. The last two weeks in February flew by really fast. I had so much homework along with a few trips and meetings we had to go to. One weekend we went to a town called Portoviejo because there was a friend of a girl in the group who lived there and he said we could stay with him and go to the beach one day. So we met them on a Friday night and talked for a while, spent all day Saturday at a beach about an hour away, and left Sunday afternoon. However, it was all worth it! We spent the first night just getting to know each other and then Saturday morning, the friend (William) and his girlfriend (Erin) made us breakfast before getting us all prepared for the beach. We went to a bus station about 10 blocks from their house and bought tickets to go to the beach. When we arrived it was so nice and warm...it had been raining in 

Portoviejo so we were worried it would be a bad day. Right when we got there it was cloudy and we figured the water might be a little cold so William, three girls in the group, and myself joined some locals playing soccer on the beach. It was so fun! Then when we finished because we were all tired, it was a little warmer so we went into the water for a while before lunch. We went to a nearby place for lunch because Will and Erin knew the owner. By the time we ate, it was sunny and warm on the beach so we went back for a few more hours to play in the water. When we had to leave, everyone was sad because we had so much fun and it was the first time we were on a beach in Ecuador. Also, we all got sunburned so we knew we would have a tan soon. We got on the bus and went to Portoviejo where Will and Erin made us dinner. That night, all the girls in the group except me went out with Will, but Erin and I watched a movie instead. The next morning, Will and Erin brought us to a restaurant down the street from their house for a brunch and when we got back to their apartment, it was time to pack up and prepare to leave. We waited outside for the private van we rented and said goodbye. Traveling in the van was not bad, but we were all excited to get home because we all smelled of sweat and salt (there was no running water in the apartment because it is rainy season there so the town shuts off the water). We were a little over an hour away from Cuenca when there was a landslide in the mountains! We waited three or four hours before it was cleared enough so our group could walk over the mess and get into another van on the other side of it. We got back to Cuenca late and all I did was unpack and go to bed.

That same week my family and I were moving to another house, but it is only a few blocks from the old one. That entire week there was a lot of moving around and packing/unpacking and lots of confusion. For the longest time, I could not find my computer charger and a few of my shoes, otherwise I had everything. So I had one pair of shoes I had to wear everywhere-thankfully I didn't need another one in that time. The only other problem I had was not getting a lot of laundry dirty because we did't have a washing machine hooked up...we still don't actually. The moving is also why I was not able to keep this updated. In the new house, there is still no internet but my mom says we are supposed to get it soon. I don't mind much except for when I actually need to use it but there is an internet cafe a block from here that I used when I really needed it. The new house is a lot bigger and I love it! It's made of almost all wood so it's very creaky but I don't mind because it is kind of like my house at home then. I also have a balcony that is connected to a bunch of other apartments behind our house and it also goes on top of our house so I can go up and see most of the city during the day and a bunch of stars at night if it's clear. I love it! I liked the old house too but this one I like a lot but in a different way...but I can't say which one I like more.

We had a meeting to talk about our upcoming trip to the Galapagos for spring break and we visited Museo de las Conceptas, which is basically a convent with part of it turned into a museum. It was very different seeing something like that on the inside, but then again they said it was renovated to become a museum. They had many ancient, spiritual oil paintings of various saints and other things found in old churches like an entire altar. We were also shown antique objects found in convents a long time ago and small replicas of the Nativity...one of them being about the length of possibly two couches and about half as wide! This entire time we are visiting the museum, the nuns are in a closed off part of the building, which can only be opened from their side. Once you become a nun in that place, you no longer see anyone outside of the convent. The only time they come through the door connecting the closed-off part and the public area is at night when everyone is gone to take care of the gardens that are in the middle of the open spot. In the olden days, sending your daughter to this convent was a sign wealthiness and honor. Sometimes, these girls were sent as young as seven or eight. Today, however, the convent accepts only women willing to enter and I believe the youngest one there is nineteen or so.

We also went to a zoo (which are very rare in Ecuador) for our biology class. We saw a bunch of the animals that we talked about in class which was really cool. Our teacher used to house these animals before the zoo was established so she knew all the animals' names and some even recognized her voice when she called them. We also went to an orchid garden for this class where we saw a bunch of orchids  in different stages. However, they didn't just grow orchids, it was pretty much a huge garden and there were so many varieties of flowers.

The first weekend in March, we went to a town called Giron. Here, we visited a waterfall (or chorrera in Spanish) that was so huge! Last year at this same waterfall, there was a young boy who died here because he fell while going off the trail a little bit. This boy was actually the nephew of a girl's host father in my group and so I feel like our group was very careful here. The part of the waterfall we went to falls about half or three-fourths of the length of a mountain. A few girls and I were gutsy enough to step onto the bridge about a hundred feet from the base of the waterfall and stand there. Only one of the guides and myself went to the other side of the bridge but no further. The day we went, the water was especially rough because of the amount of rainfall they had just had in the area. When you stepped onto the bridge, you were pelted with water and tons of wind and if you weren't careful, you could have been blown away. After the waterfall, we went to a hostal about ten minutes from a nearby town and just enjoyed the outdoor pool they had there (there are hardly any pools in Ecuador). Everyone stayed for about two hours, but a few other girls and myself decided to spend the night and have a day to relax. So we stayed around the pool for a few more hours and then we were going to go exploring and take pictures. However, when we were ready to start walking around, the workers closed the front gates-preventing us from going anywhere but inside the walls. So instead we found a soccer ball and field and started playing. Half of the field was so muddy and holey and the other half was dry and rocky but I was the only one who had problems with it because I kept falling over everything! After about two hours of playing and a worker joining us for a while, dinner was going to be served. I was so full of mud that I had to have someone come with me back to our room and unlock/open everything so I could take a quick shower and change before I ate. That night we went back to our rooms and talked for a while and then went outside to look at the stars because some people had never really seen them before. The next morning we woke up a little early and ate breakfast before sitting out at the pool a little bit more. We packed up and found our own way to Cuenca by using public transportation for the first time ever (for me)! When I got home I unpacked and studied for my Spanish final the next morning and started a final paper due that Tuesday.

Last Tuesday we left for Guayaquil for the first part of our trip to the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS!!! When we got to Guayaquil we got to our hotel and settled for a few minutes before going on a tour that lasted about an hour and a half. On the tour, the president of St. Ambrose joined us for the first time in her few weeks' stay in Ecuador with our group. The tour only went a few blocks because the city is so huge and it was getting dark so we quit. We were able to go wherever we wanted for dinner that night so two girls and I went to an Asian place nearby and everyone else stayed in the hotel restaurant. The next day we met up with an education teacher from St. Ambrose and got on a plane and flew to the island of Balta, took a bus to a dock, took a ferry across a strait, and then we were on Santa Cruz. We took another bus to a place where 

tortoises roam free for an acre would be my guess. We then jumped back on the bus and went to a town nearby and settled into what would be our hotel for the night. By then it was almost lunch so we had to drop everything off and then go to a restaurant about a block away. After eating, we went to a Charles Darwin exhibit where we saw lots of finches and turtles. We saw how the tortoises are raised by humans artificially (so as to help make the population bigger). Here is where we also saw Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind from Pinta Island. He didn't do anything for the most part, he just kind of sat off in the corner sleeping for most of the time we were there and right when we were about to leave he woke up and started eating. Not very exciting but I can say I've seen him. On our walk back to the hotel, there were shops along the way, which would be the only time this entire trip we could but souvenirs but there wasn't much in them that I would want. I swam in the pool with another girl in my group for about an hour and then we went to dinner at the same restaurant as earlier. When we got back, I went swimming for a bit by myself before hanging out in someone else's room for a few hours and then going to bed.

We woke up early the next morning and went to another dock to get on a boat for a few hour boat ride to reach Floriana Island where we would spend about half the day. On this boat ride is when I found out that I can get sea sick if I don't watch out (don't worry I didn't actually throw up, just got nauseous). On Floriana, we went on a hike to see the island, which happens to be where the first people settled on the Galapagos. We saw where pirates had hidden their treasure, where there was a fresh spring that we actually drank from, and other sorts of ancient life on the island. When we returned to the dock, we got back in the boat and went off the coast a little bit where we snorkeled for the first time. This was my first time snorkeling and I thought it was awesome! I saw lots of different kinds of colorful fish, a ray, a blow fish, and lots of sea turtles! I wasn't supposed to touch them but I did accidentally touch two but they didn't seem to mind. We snorkeled for at least an hour before getting back in the boat and going to Isabella Island, which is the biggest island in the Galapagos. Along the way, we drove by Tortuga Island where there were lots of different birds flying around. When we docked at Isabella, we unloaded and went to our hotel for the rest of the stay. We quickly dropped everything off and did a quick hour-long visit to the beach which was only a few blocks away. We returned only to eat and watch a little bit of a movie before going to bed for another early start.

There was a 7 am wake up call with breakfast soon after. We also had to pack a lunch supplied by the hotel, which was two tuna sandwiches, apple, juice box, and a candy bar. We drove about 45 minutes to a trail, at the time I didn't know what we were doing. However, after a 2 hour hike up a hill I figured it out. We were on a volcano...and an active one at that! The last explosion was in 2005 or 2006 but it is still very dangerous there. It was the biggest volcano on the Galapagos, a shield volcano if you know what that is. It was about 19 kilometers around the rim of it, but thankfully we didn't travel all around the rim...only about 5 km haha. I didn't realize until halfway through this hike that it would be a 16 km hike round-trip with only a lunch break. Surprisingly, the hike was almost like any other hike through nature except it was extra hot because we were by the equator and the rocks on the ground were different because they were volcanic rock. There was a lot of green everywhere with birds and bugs, but no any animals that I could see. Anyways, we traveled almost the whole way one way before we stopped for a short break and a few people thought it was lunch...it was only 10am and we don't eat lunch in Ecuador until 1:30 or so! We continued on past our lunch spot but left our bags and lunches and then we came to this place where it was what you would think a volcano looks like. Hardly any plant life in sight, lots of rock, and even more hot. Our guide was showing us holes in the ground and explained that they were lava tunnels and we even got to crawl through one! It's hard on your hands though, I wouldn't suggest doing it unless you have protection on your hands and knees if you want to use them and also some band-aids. We walked a little further and the guide showed us some holes where there was hot air from the lava escaping from the earth. I felt it and it was very hot and I didn't even stick my hand in all the way! At this point, my knees were really hurting from the hike so I asked how much we were going to be walking before lunch and the guide said at least another hour and a half. I decided to turn back 

because the volcanic rock we were walking on is so bad for grip and slippery and it hurt my knees more than anything else. The teacher from St. Ambrose and I walked back to where everyone left their bags and rested for a little bit before heading back down the volcano-which is soooo much easier. By the time we reached the base where we were left off, it was time to eat lunch so that is what we did. Then I crawled into the back seat of the bus/van that took us there and took a quick nap before the group got back, which was only 45 minutes or so later. From what I heard, I didn't miss much on the last leg of the trip and some people were even jealous that I left because they only saw rock. Once everyone got back, we went back to the hotel and we 

had the decision to rest for a little bit and either got see flamingos and then go to the beach or just go to the beach. My roommate and I decided to just go to the beach because the flamingos were not in mating in season-in which case they dance for one another-so they would have just been like any other flamingos. We were at the beach for about an hour before the group and guide joined us again. The guide showed us the area where there was a bunch of marine iguanas and then we returned back to the beach for a few hours before dinner. After dinner, the guide had told my roommate, Rachel, that there were soccer games that were always played at night on a field right next to the beach so we decided to go and see if we could play. There was a game being played when we got there, but it was two men's teams playing. We watched the whole game before we played for a little bit by ourselves afterward with some random person's ball. After Rachel juggled the ball a few times, a guy came up and told us to come again the next night at 7:30 and play so we said we would. A little bit later, Rachel began shooting on me and a girl came up and asked if we wanted to play so we said yes. We played for about an hour and a half with a family that didn't know any English and we didn't know much Spanish so it was interesting in the communication sense, but it was still really fun. It was guys vs. girls and there was a little boy who kept attacking me and Rachel but he was so small that I thought I was going to run him over and hurt him if I didn't let him take the ball and he kept slide tackling Rachel so she let him take it too. However, the older boys were fun to play against because they were really good but Rachel showed them up with all of her moves and I just had fun because I got to slide tackle once and they were amazed that I did haha. It was a game just for fun but it was also a little competitive so it made it even more fun.

The next morning it was another early wake-up call. We ate breakfast before getting on a boat to a little place off the coast. We were shown a bunch of different kinds of iguanas and we even had the chance to see baby sea lions! Then we went snorkeling elsewhere and I saw a bunch of more fish, a lot that were similar to the ones in Finding Nemo, and I saw a ray that was as big as my arms stretched out. I swam with sharks and with a few sea lions too! We were snorkeling for two hours and then went back to the dock where we walked a little ways to a mangrove on the coast and the group snorkeled again there. However, I was feeling a little sea sick so I just swam a little bit when I felt better and took pictures. We went back to the hotel for lunch. We had a short break before we went on another trip to a place called the Wall of Tears. Basically, it was the remains of the wall that kept people prisoners who built the wall themselves. On the way back, we stopped at a big lava tunnel and a small part of the beach before going back to the hotel. We ate dinner quickly and then

 Rachel and I went to the soccer field to find out of we could play or not. We watched some little kids finish their game, watch the two men's teams play each other again, and then while we were practicing after that game, we were asked to play in the next game-which was a women's game. Now if you don't know, it is very rare for women to play soccer in Ecuador so we were impressed that they had two teams on this island. We played for different teams so it was competitive for us. The first half I was placed as a forward but then the coach realized that I had no idea what I was doing after a while so in the second half he put me as goalie. Rachel and I had a lot of fun and were told that the next game was on Tuesday...they didn't realize that we were tourists. So we said that we would be in Cuenca and would not be able to come back. Now I can say that I was asked to be on an Ecuadorian team...technically a Galapagian team and that I could have stayed on it my whole life because there were women played that looked like they were in their 30s or 40s. We left the field sad because we couldn't stay and be on a team and also disappointed that no one from our group came to watch us play even though we told them about it multiple times. (Therefore, no pictures)

Sunday, we woke up extra, extra early...meaning at 4:50am because someone knocked on our window to wake us up before our alarms at 5. Anyways, we hurried up and did last minute packing before getting in our truck/taxi to the dock where they checked our luggage and then we climbed into a boat. We went a little bit over 2 hours in a boat from Isabella to Santa Cruz, then on a bus across Santa Cruz, the ferry back across the strait from Santa Cruz to Balta, then a bus from the dock to the airport, flew to Guayaquil, and took a van from Guayaquil to Cuenca. All of this between 5:30am and 10pm...not fun at all. We only stopped in Santa Cruz for breakfast, Guayaquil for a late lunch, and a bathroom break in-between Guayaquil and Cuenca. I got home at 10:45 on Sunday night and unpacked everything before going to bed.

Yesterday, we started classes for the new semester and so far it seems like my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be very crazy. I'll have class from 8am to 5pm those days with only a 2.5 hr break to go home and back for lunch. Tuesdays I have only one class and Thursdays I have no classes. However, because we are starting education classes this semester, we will be volunteering at the CEDEI school across town (grades Pre-K to 7th). I'm pretty sure my whole Thursday will be spent there and possibly part of my Tuesday as well just for fun. I am excited to get in the classroom and start helping out but I am also nervous because most of these kids are native Spanish speakers and despite their knowledge of both English and French as well, I am afraid that they may not know what I am saying half the time...guess this is where my Spanglish comes into play! Anyways, I think that is about all I have for news now. I will try my hardest to actually update this in a week ;) Chao!