From Goodbyes to Galapagos

I had such a wonderful last week of classes with my students! Besides taking their final exam, that they all did really well on (yay!), they also prepared presentations. The assignment was to invent a new product and to create a 3-5 minute TV commercial to advertise it. Yet again, their creativity and efforts amazed me. I could not stop laughing throughout the commercials- they had everything from a machine that makes someone learn a language instantaneously to a spray that magically dissolves dog poop and its odor on the spot. They had costumes, props, and AV equipment as well. I even videotaped them all so that I could keep the commercials to watch later...maybe when I'm having a nostalgic, missing-my-students moment back in the States.

On Thursday, my night class wanted to commemorate our last time in our classroom all together. They presented me with a "certificate of friendship" with all their names on it! And while it might not be worth much monetarily, it is one of the most special things I have ever received. They also gave me an Ecuador soccer jersey and a statue of an Ecuadorian man (who I have been calling my husband), so that I can take some of Ecuador back home with me. Then on Friday I had goodbye dinners with both my classes (and I must say I have never eaten so much in the span of 8 hours or so!). I met with my afternoon class at a restaurant called Marcelo's downtown, and we each got a chicken plate and ice cream for dessert. They gave me an over-sized card made of felt with photos of them and all their signatures! Sometimes I am just speechless with the measure of their generosity- their really aren't words to describe how full my heart felt for them all at that moment. I did try to tell them though, as best as I could. I had prepared a letter for all my students in Spanish, telling them how much they mean to me and how they have become my family in Ecuador. I also gave each student a photo from his/her respective class. So I stood up at dinner and read the letter to everyone, and I don't think there were too many dry eyes at the table (mine sure weren't!). I had also made all my students a mixed CD with some songs we had learned throughout the year, and then all my other favorite English songs, together with a packet with all the lyrics so that they can learn the words. So even though it didn't compare at all to all my students have done for me over the last 9 months, I hope they could tell how much they mean to me and how deeply appreciative I am.

Then after a quick stop at home, I ran over to my second restaurant of the evening. My night class had chosen to have dinner at Illusiones, a BBQ restaurant close to my house that has an adjoining dance club. So after another delicious meal, this one boasting steak, pork, and sausage (oh my!), the sentimental stuff began again. There happened to be a live singer that night who made it a point to acknowledge me and the fact that I was soon leaving...and then proceeded to serenade me and the rest of the table! Too funny. So eventually I asked the singer for the mic and I stood up in front of the entire restaurant and read my letter to my class (of course apologizing for my terrible accent). In the middle of it, because I was so choked up, some man from another table stood up and offered me a drink, "for my nerves!" It was special that not only could I tell my students how much they mean to me, but everyone else in the restaurant heard as well.

Then to finish the night off with a bang, we headed to the dance club upstairs. I was so happy that some of my old students showed up as well...in addition to members of my afternoon class! I loved looking around the room and seeing all these people who had really made my experience here all that it has been. So we danced for a long time, and then one by one my students started to file out. And while of course it was sad, it could not have been a better nor more memorable goodbye celebration, or despedida as they say here in Ecuador. I quickly went back to my house, grabbed my suitcase, got to the bus terminal, and Aubrey and I hopped on an overnight bus to Guayaquil...and then we were off to the Galapagos in the morning!

After some confusion with our departure time and waiting in the airport for hours, we finally left ground at 11am. Since we were going to the Galapagos, a place which obviously takes extra precautions when it comes to preserving island wildlife, we had to go through a few extra security measures. First of all, before we checked our baggage, we had to scan it through a special x-ray machine to make sure we weren't smuggling plants or animals. Then on the plane, the flight attendants sprayed all our carry-on luggage with a chemical to kill any bacteria we might have been bringing into the islands. Aubrey and I could not get over the amount of gringos and spoken English on the airplane, which we soon because accustomed to over the course of the week. After an hour and a half flight, we landed on Isla Baltra, and stepped out of the plane into the world of Charles Darwin. The best part about our first few hours in the Galapagos was going through "customs," as strange as that may sound. The reason being that since Aubrey and I have special visas, we are considered Ecuadorian nationals and got to bypass the line of hundreds of foreigners into the line for Ecuadorian citizens! We felt so cool:) So not only did we get through the check point in 5 minutes instead of 30-45 minutes, we also got to pay an entrance fee of $6 instead of the $100 that all the foreigners had to pay. Woo-hoo!

Then we met up with our tour guide and began the journey to our hotel, Tortuga Bay, in the town of Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz. First, we took a 15 minute bus to the water where we crossed in a ferry over to Santa Cruz. Then we took another bus for an hour to Puerto Ayora, the most populous town of the Galapagos. I absolutely fell in love with Puerto Ayora. It had so much charm- cute gift shops, pretty parks, and an incredibly beautiful view of the bay. And while it still had everything Ecuadorian that I love, it lacked the crime and pollution that so many towns in Ecuador have. So we were able to walk around at night without fear, which is a definite no-no in other places in Ecuador, especially for women.

Now I guess I should give a short description and history of the Galapagos Islands. The islands get their names for the giant land tortoises that are unique to the island, in Spanish known as los galapagos. There are 16 main islands and 6 smaller islands, of which Aubrey and I visited 4. The islands were first discovered by a Panamanian bishop in 1535, and became an official part of Ecuador in 1831. The islands were visited by Charles Darwin during his famous expedition The Beagle in 1835. Darwin was especially interested in the islands' finches, which differed on each island, and that eventually lead to the development of his theories on natural selection and evolution. He then published the famous book, The Origin of Species. The Galapagos Islands face many threats in recent times, including invasive plants and animals and the damage done my humans. But hopefully with strong conservation efforts, the Galapagos islands will be around for many many years to come, to be appreciated for all their marvels.

After we checked into our hotel, our first stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here we learned about the history of the islands and Darwin's influence, in addition to seeing some island animals up close. The most famous animal of the island, Lonesome George, is a giant tortoise who is the last surviving member of his specific species. He is suspected to be around 90 years old (!!!) and though they have tried to get him to mate, for unknown reasons (though maybe we can guess), George is just not interested. We also saw many little lizards running around, sea iguanas, and crazy cactus trees. Aubrey and I were also very lucky in the people that we met during the week- we shared all our activities with two mother-son Ecuadorian pairs, Sonia and Jose and Elvia and Juan. We soon became like a little family, chit-chatting on our outings and eating our meals together. And because we had booked our tour as Ecuadorians ourselves, we were not with any other foreigners at our hotel and during most of our activities, which we loved! So we got all our tours in Spanish and really felt like we were getting the real Ecuadorian view of the islands.

On Sunday, we headed out early to the Isla Sante Fe for a snorkeling expedition! It was by far one of my favorite experiences of the week. We got to swim and snorkel with sea lions, giant sea turtles, and tons of beautifully colored fish. And the animals were sometimes just inches from us! We also saw tons of blue-footed boobies perched on the rocks. We went over to a little inlet in the island (I actually got to steer the boat a bit!), and it had the most crystal clear waters I had ever seen. Aubrey and I could not believe when we looked up at one point at another boat, only to see our good friend and co-volunteer getting into a launch boat! So I guess even in the Galapagos, it's a small world after all. And though we were in yelling distance to each other, we couldn't meet up with Mark because he was off to a land tour of the island, whereas we stayed in the water. So after a full day out at sea, we returned to our hotel to explore a bit more of Puerto Ayora before going to bed.

On Monday morning, we ventured off to Tortuga Beach, the most incredible white sand beach I have ever seen. The coolest part about the beach, though, were the sea iguanas that were just roaming around and swimming in the water. We stopped at an inlet for a bit to soak up some sun (and to defend ourselves from huge wasp things), and our hotel friends took the opportunity to go kayaking. Then we took the long walk back to the street to catch a taxi to the hotel for lunch. In the afternoon, we all headed to the "Parte Alta," where we first visited two huge craters that had formed from sinking land. Then we took a stroll in lava tunnels, which had formed from the stream of lava that traveled from the mountain to the sea in the earlier years of the island. Finally, we went to a giant tortoise ranch where the tortoises roam about in their natural habitat. I was blown away again by their size, and I really felt while looking into their faces that I was looking into the face of a dinosaur. Aubrey and I got to climb into giant tortoise shells, and then we all relaxed for a bit while drinking home-grown Galapagos coffee.

On Tuesday, we stayed close to Puerto Ayora and really got to know the bay. We first stopped at La Loberia to get an up-close and personal look at some more sea lions. Then we went snorkeling in a canal of sorts that is known to house many small sharks, but because it had rained the night before, the water was too cloudy to see anything (but to know they were swimming below me was enough of a thrill!). Afterward, we walked to La Playa de los Perros to see tons more sea iguanas climbing about the rocks. And lastly, we went to a swimming hole known as Las Grietas, where the turquoise water and surrounding rock walls were quite a spectacle. Because we still had the afternoon free, the six of us jumped into a cab to the Garrapatero Beach 45 minutes away, where we were hoping to see flamingos. Though the flamingos were nowhere to be seen, we did get to explore the tide pools before the park closed. Since our hotel friends were leaving the following morning, we decided to all play hookie from dinner at the hotel and instead go to a nice dinner together. I loved sitting there with our new little family, eating delicious seafood and looking back on our memories of the week. Juan and Elvia even gave us each Galapagos figurines with their names to take back to the States with us!

On Wednesday, Aubrey and I were left on our own. We booked an extra tour to Isla Bartolomé, and because it was so far away, we got picked up at our hotel at 5am. Then we took an hour bus ride to the port where we began our 2.5 hour trip to the island. Along the way, we got stopped by the Ecuadorian Coast Guard, who came onto our boat to check the captain's documents. After a 30 minute delay and a bit of a scare, we were off again. One of the best parts about these boat day-trips are all the cool foreigners you meet. We made friends with a kid from France, an Irish couple, an Israeli couple, and a Ecua/American couple. It was cool how in the middle of the Pacific ocean there existed such a beautiful and eclectic mixture of cultures- all gathered to appreciate and learn about the same breathtaking sights.

Now Isla Bartolomé is one of the Galapagos' smallest and youngest islands (young meaning 4 million years old). Because of that, one can see the remaining lava formations and craters all around the island. There is also almost no vegetation or animals on the island...they are still a few million years off. When we reached Bartolomé we climbed really steep stairs to the peak, which had the most beautiful view of the ocean and surrounding islands- displaying incredibly browns, blues, and greens (see below photo). Then we went down to the water and spent an hour watching the frisky penguins swimming around. Our Captain also came and gave Aubrey and I a personal tour of the inlet in a launch boat, and we got to see more sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and penguins up close. Finally, we all loaded up for our long trek back to Puerto Ayora.

That night we made a lot of Galapagos friends out on the town. Aubrey and I found everyone to be so friendly, unlike the Ecuadorians in Ambato who are a bit more reserved. I think the young people in the Galapagos are just so used to tourists that they are very welcoming and open. On Friday, we spent the morning shopping and then our new friends invited us to watch them surfing. Sitting on the beach, watching surfers with the sunset in the background is not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon, I've learned. And there ended our Galapagos adventures. It is surely a trip that Aubrey and I will not soon forget...and thank you to all of you who helped to make it a reality for me!

Aubrey and I spent 2 extra nights in Guayaquil with friends before heading back to Ambato early Sunday morning. Now I have little more than a week left in Ecuador, though I feel like I have 3 weeks worth of things to do! I need to run errands, visit people, and just tie up all my loose ends. And I am afraid with all of that to do, this week will just fly by, like the rest of the year. So I am going to try to live up my last few days in Ecuador as much as I can! Because before I know it, I will be home again and I will have to pinch myself to realize that all of this actually happened.