In elementary school I had a hurricane day when there was no school because the winds and rain were too strong. This is fairly understandable when you live on the eastern coast of the United States. Well, now that I have been living in the Galápagos for about 6 weeks, I have experienced a tsunami day. Due to the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan yesterday morning, President Correa declared a state of emergency for the country of Ecuador and everything was shut down. I was confused because I woke up thinking that I had to get to school to finish working on a presentation and take a midterm that I had been unable to take the day before due to medical reasons. (I will explain later in this post.) However, my host-mom was trying to tell me that I did not have to go to school that day and that we were going to be heading up to the highlands at 12 until that evening. I still didn’t understand what was going on until my host dad mentioned “tsunami.”I made my way to the school in order to get breakfast and see if there was anything in my locker that I wanted to bring with me to the highlands. I also wanted to speak with my friends in English to fully understand what was going on with the situation. That is when I learned about the earth quake in Japan and the fact that Ecuador could be hit by a tsunami therefore the whole island had to head up to the highlands.
I actually very much enjoyed the tsunami day. Aside from the fact that we didn’t have school and I didn’t have to give a presentation or take a midterm, I saw it as a very interesting cultural experience and I was able to meet other members of my host-family. My host-family is actually quite large and I may have more host-siblings/less host-siblings than I initially realized because some of them are older and people who might actually be host-cousins may be living with me. I would have wandered and taken pictures if my foot had not been bothering me and taken part in the games, but observing the interactions of the people that were in our clearing was interesting and much of the day was rainy. The clearing was just that… a clearing that was down a dirt road where there were shelters and hammocks. There was food and beer and volleyball and soccer. I mostly read and watched what was going on and would talk to people when they came up to me. There was also a tourist couple that spoke English but kept to themselves. 
We ended up being in the highlands from noon until around 9 at night, which meant I simply read and went to bed when we got back to my home-stay where there was absolutely no damage. The next morning I wandered down to the university expecting to see the beach changed in some way or the streets flooded with seawater. The boardwalk may have been flooded the night before because there were trash bags bundled up on the streets. The line of the tides seems to have changed a little on the beach across the street from my school, but other than that there was no notable damage from any large waves. I know I had promised to write more about Cumbayá and the island before I leave for more 2-week siesta from San Cristóbal; however, this week did not go as planned at all. Wednesday ended up being a sick for me including taking a trip to the doctor’s office on the naval base because after a night with a fever I woke up with a swollen ankle and a rash on my leg. There is nothing to worry about. My foot that has had pitting edema for the past 3 years is more swollen than normal, but everything is slowly getting better thanks to the help of some antibiotics, ibuprofen, and a shot of penicillin. My only worry is that I may not be able to go on all of the excursions in Santa Cruz, but I’ll make it all work somehow. Being sick in a completely different culture is certainly interesting. When I had a fever, my host-mom rubbed half a lemon on my forehead, as well as ice and cold water. Now with my foot she has had me soak my foot in chamomile tea. I don’t think there are any guinea pigs on the islands to rub over my foot though.
Before I set off tomorrow, I would like to tell you about what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks. The last thing I told you about in San Cristóbal included the excursion to Leon Dormido, Isla Lobos, and Puerto Grande. The weekend after that we went on another excursion with the same class that included going to la Galapaguerra, where the giant tortoises are kept on San Cristóbal, el Junco, which is the only freshwater lake in the Galápagos, and Puerto Chino. We actually started the day by going up to el Junco and looking at the different vegetation that grows up there as well as viewing the frigate birds taking their baths. There are two species of frigate birds on the Galápagos: the magnificent frigate bird and the great frigate bird. They lack an adaptation to the ocean in that they cannot dive into the ocean because their feathers don’t have the correct oils protecting them. This means that to clean themselves they need freshwater so they go up into the highlands and up into the clouds when it is a rainy day. They also are kleptoparasites, which means the steal food from other animals, particularly pelicans and boobies, since they cannot fish for themselves. 
La Galapaguerra is, as I mentioned above, where the tortoises are kept. This is the tortoise reserve for this island. It includes raising baby tortoises and a fence to keep the tortoises in but otherwise the guides there look after the tortoises and allow them to wander. They are interesting creatures to watch because they are so big and I find it really difficult to imagine them drifting 600 miles off of the coast of the mainland to reach the islands. On our upcoming trip I believe we will be making a visit to see Lonesome George, who is the last tortoise of his species. During the tsunami warning he was evacuated as well because the Galápagos takes great pride in him and are trying to at least preserve his genes by having him mate with females of very similar species. Thus far this has been unsuccessful, but it is possible that one day a Lonesome George hybrid may be born. Puerto Chino is a beautiful beach that is across the island. The sand there is white and the ocean water so clear, but there are also many horse flies and they don’t go away! While we were there, there were the remains of a baby blue whale that had washed up at least a couple of months ago. I didn’t go over to the bones to look at them because of the flies, but you could see them from a distance and there were a lot of them. 
My next adventure was biking down from near el Junco with my next class and taking the time to look at the plants along the way. This course, my third course in the GAIAS program, is an introduction to the native and introduced flora (plants) of the Galápagos. I have learned more than I thought I learned and must still do more work for the class before we head out tomorrow, but I feel that I could have learned much more had my professor not been summoned to go to Tiputini (yes, the Amazon) for a weekend and I hadn’t been sick. The bike ride was really beautiful to be able to look down on the town where I walk around everyday and see the green of the trees, the town, and the blue of the ocean behind it. Plus, I hadn’t been biking since last summer and it felt good to do something active for a day that wasn’t swimming, even if most of the activity was downhill. Just to give you some plant knowledge about the Galápagos: there are not that many species of plants here, but there is a high uniqueness amongst the plants in that many of them are endemic to the islands. There is also a very large problem with introduced plants, no matter if they were accidentally introduced or brought here for cultivation. Some of the biggest problem plants are the mora (raspberry), the guava, and the guayava. There are also a lot of flowers that have been brought here for aesthetic reasons that are not non-invasive, such as the hibiscus. There are groups of volunteers in charge of ripping out mora from the highlands in an attempt to eradicate the plant from the island. It may seem futile, but at least something is being done.
Due to my professor going to Tiputini for the weekend, we spent Friday (as well as Monday) with the other group of students who are studying people, politics, and the environment. On Friday we went up to the recycling plant, which really was not much different from the recycling plants at home except it included organic waste and they have to send their recycling to the mainland to sell it or it would just pile up here. Once again, it is not the most effective system, but at least there is a recycling program going on at all. After the recycling plant we went over to the wind turbines. There are 3 giant wind turbines up in the highlands that you can actually see across the way from el Junco. These turbines supply a good deal of energy to the island and I believe are still in their experimental phase to see if the island should put up more turbines. Standing next to the turbines reminded me of standing next to some of the trees in Tiputini because of how large they are. It is amazing that we can construct something so large and actually have it doing something good for our environment. For a community of no more than 8,000 people to have 3 wind turbines is great compared to the lack of turbines back home. That is most of what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks, other than celebrating my 21st birthday in the Galápagos by snorkeling for a good chunk of the day. Actually, we saw about six or seven sea turtles, including, I kid you not, one that was large enough to sit on its back if that what was at all legal. There were also cool fish and sea lions that briefly came to check us out. I have been swimming so often here that I am going to severely miss the ocean when I am in Burlington for the summer. I missed it last year badly enough. But I suppose the Atlantic off of the coast of New England is a bit colder than the Pacific off of the coast of the Galápagos this time of year and you cannot snorkel as well there.
There was also a day when I took my own time to go to lunch by myself and wander around the boardwalk a bit taking really tourist-y pictures. I often feel self conscience about taking pictures and feeling like too much of a tourist. I have actually had Ecuadorians ask me for directions to places before or had tourists ask about shops around the area. The pelican picture was taken across the street from where I was eating lunch. It was perched above a group of sea lions that were napping underneath a bench. Then near the board walk there sea lions playing in the water with an empty gallon container. This was cute and very depressing at the same time because these are supposed to be pristine islands and there is litter all around us. I wish I had more power to change some of the ways of what is going on here and how to make things more efficient. The other two pictures include one of the board walk and one of a lizard that might be a lava lizard, but might not be. I have become slightly obsessed with the lizards in general and get really excited when I see lizards in the morning on my walk to school. (Don't forget to enlarge the pictures!)
I hope everyone is doing well at home and if you know anyone who is suffering through the natural disasters of Japan and the surrounding area that they are doing well, too. Tomorrow we head off to Santa Cruz for 5 days, then to Isabela for 4 days, and then we will be on a boat cruise for 4 days so I will be out of touch for about 2 weeks. I hope to come back with some awesome pictures and stories to share with you all! (Here is one of my favorite sunset pictures I have taken thus far.)
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