I am finally sitting down to write, and I promise you will all get some awesome pics and stories. Today was my first full day on the island, and it is all anyone could ever imagine and more. I went to see the tortugas with my host grandpa, who is the island bus driver in the morning. Having a grandpa who is the island bus driver is pretty awesome, because whenever I see him and I'm walking somewhere, he tells me to get into his bus, and he drives me where I need to go (even if there are other people in the bus). It rocks. My host family is awesome. My mom is 6 months pregnant, and my dad is the coolest. He is an accountant by day, but does salsa dancing videos for exercise at night in the living room. He's quite good actually! He also said he could take me night snorkeling, which I am super excited for!! I also have an 11 year old host sister who will be my best friend by the end of my study abroad experience. When she found out I was from New York, she got super excited and asked if I had ever been to Disney World. (Wrong state, Ashanti). I gave her a bunch of Siena clothes, and she wore them all day today!
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| My new tortuga friend |
This afternoon, a bunch of my friends and I went snorkeling. It was probably one of the top 10 best moments of my life. I kept getting water in my snorkel mask because I was smiling so much. As soon as I walked into the water, I literally tripped over a giant sea turtle. We saw an incredible amount of marine life. Fish of all kind (including Gill from Finding Nemo), sea turtles, manta rays, and more! I could have stayed in there for hours. I took some amazing pictures thanks to my gopro, but I don't have great wifi here, so I can't upload too many. There are SO many sea lions here. There were a ton at the beach, and one came right up to me when I first got there. I was a little terrified because they bite, but it was ok. Because Galapagos is a protected area, you aren't allowed to touch any of the animals, and there is a recommended 6 foot boundary. We saw some gringos on the beach who kept trying to go up to a bunch of baby sea lions to take pictures. The daddy sea lion got really mad and chased them away growling. It was really scary, yet really entertaining to watch. Right near my house is a beach called "Playa del Oro", which was originally made for people, but instead is populated by about 50 sea lions. It smells horrible, but it is so cool. Yesterday night, when I was walking back from my school, there was a sea lion sleeping on a bench on the boardwalk. It was very entertaining, and apparently it is a normal thing.
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| Post snorkeling |
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