A post from Danielle Golon
I have finally made it to the islands!
Time is both flying by and yet also going really slowly.
Sea lions:
When we first got the islands, we went through customs and
took a bus to our school. The school looks out to Playa Mann, which is a
beach filled with sea lions. Tomorrow will mark the second week of
living here and I am still completely amused by the sea lions. It can be
summed up as this — deer:united states :: kanagaroos: australia:: sea
lions: galapagos. The sea lions literally are everywhere and at night
time they sleep in the street parallel to the boardwalk.
Studying:
These first few weeks I have been studying health on the islands,
this has taken me to some very not picturesque places–such as the land
fill, water filter plant, water treatment plant (which actually also
just filters water, instead of treating it) and the electric plant. It
is definitely apparent that there are health issues on the island but I
will save that for a blog post I am working on for later this week. My
thesis work is starting up and I am excited to actually be here and to
be able to observe the surroundings and interview people. I am really
hoping my spanish holds up for the interviews.
Whales, sharks, and turtles–oh my!:
Last weekend I went snorkeling near kicker rock (this really
awesome land formation of volcanic rock) and near an islet that had many
blue footed boobies, iguanas and sea lions on it. The water around the
Galapagos is very choppy and the tide is very strong and I learned that I
am not a great swimmer. haha. I also learned just how insanely salty
the water is, as I was trying to swim but also dealing with the strong
waves. Anyways, I saw some incredible wildlife including the infamous
giant sea turtles there and hammer head sharks. However, the most
exciting part was during the boat ride back. I was sitting (really
holding on for dear life, remember I mentioned how choppy the water is
haha) on the front end of the boat we took out to kicker rock, when all
the sudden about 300 feet away a huge humpback whale breached out of the
water. I mean this thing was by far the largest animal I have ever seen
in my life. I don’t even want to guess measurements because I don’t
even know where to begin. Then right after that a younger, much
smaller–but still could have taken down our boat– whale breached and
then the big whale jumped out of the water again. Our boat spent the
next 20 minutes following this whale around. Remember I am sitting on
the front of the boat, I was at times about 20 feet away from this
massive, beautiful, creature.
Family life:
I am currently living with a couple both in their
thirties. My mother works for the government and my father is a local
radio DJ. I am so thankful for my family, they have really been above
and beyond what I could hope for. For example: my dad asked me what my
favorite beverage was (iced tea) and low and behold the next morning I
had ecuador’s version of iced tea for break fast. Or my mom and I will
have hour long conversations where she and I are both genuinely
interested in what the other has to say. She has also helped me with my
spanish and edited things I need to write in spanish for my thesis. I
have found that I am very tired at the end of the day, every day. Last
night I went out salsa dancing. A group of my friends were going on
dancing and my dad had a free ticket for me because of his job. I got to
the salsa place around 10 and left around 12:50 am and this morning my
parents were asking where I was– they ended up going to the salsa night
because my dad is friends with the musician. It is kind of funny that I
was in bed before they even got there. It is amazing how much exploring a
new place, and being surrounded by a new language, and using that
language more than your first language can really tire a person out.
As I mentioned before, I am working on a post for later this week
about social issues on the island. I am definitely interested in seeing
your perspectives. My work on my thesis so far has been really
interesting and really–unexpecting. I am excited to see where it goes
and the trends once I have interviewed and surveyed the 240 people I am
hoping to hear from. However, for now I am going to go.
Hasta que
danielle
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