Galapagos

Noah,  this post is veryyyy overdue! Sorry it took so long to finally write it, but here is finally the overview of my 5 day trip to the Galapagos!

yes, this was the color of the water. 

We started out in the airport of my city, Guayaquil, and all 75 of us took a quick plane ride to one of the small Galapagos Islands called Baltra. From there we took a beautiful boat ride over the turquoise water to our hotel where we stayed for 2 nights.

Dolphins! 

On the way to the hotel we got to see sting rays, flying fish, and
dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water right next to our boat!

The island we were staying on was really small, but was nice because we could walk around. There were sea lions everyone!! They would be laying in the middle of the street or on a playground napping as they please, but don't get to close, because they like to bite.

Chilling out in the sun

The first night at the hotel we just all hung out and bought up about what we have been up to in our cities since the last time we saw each other in December, or as late as October. The day after we took a boat taxi to another little island that was discovered by germans yearssss ago. there we got to see the famous giant tortoises! The older one, George, had just died a few months before, so we didn't get to meet him unfortunately. At this island we got to climb to the top and get a beautiful view.

Every day we took a few hours to snorkel is different spots, and see an amazing variety of exotic fish. I got to swim next to sea lions, and eve caught a ride from a sea turtle by grabbing it's shell and having it pull me through the water! On our second to last day we went to a special rock formation that sticks up out of the water that was formed from lava. Here, in the canal between the 2 formations, giant speckled sting rays and hammer head sharks come to swim, so of course we went to swim with them! This was terrifying but so cool at the same time! I saw a few sharks and 1 sting ray, and some of the braver guys swam down to touch the tail of the sharks!

Update

Sorry i've been doing a bad job lately of keeping up with my blog! I have so much to write about, but as my time is coming to a close, I feel like i never have to time to write about it! I will have 2 big posts coming up within a few weeks, one about my trip to Galapagos in March, and the other about the end of the year trip, which I am leaving my house in a few hours to start! We will begin this trip in my city, Guayaquil, and go up through the Andes Mountains and all the cities there. But while you guys wait for those posts, I will give you a little update on my life here.

Dr. Suess decorated lobby

My amazing 2 1/2 month summer break came to an end April 16 and I returned to school. I don't mind being in school, because I get to see my friends every day, some of which I hardly saw all summer because I was traveling in Ecuador, and they were traveling in the US! I'm only in school here as a senior for 2 months before I go home, so for these 2 months i'm not focusing on doing all the exams, more of learning as much spanish I can from every class. This wednesday in school we started something call Las Campañas, which is when the senior and junior class each pick a theme, and for 1 week decorate their half of the school lobby to their theme, dress up, and do game type things. At the the end of the week, the students form the younger grades vote for which class did best. In the past classes have done the circus, Harry Potter, leggos, ect. This year my class selected Dr. Suess, and we are battle the junior class who selected Madagascar. Because of the trip i'm leaving for today, I was only able to experience Las Campañas for 2 days, but those 2 days were so much fun.

Last weekend I went to the city of Cuenca for the weekend with my friends to visit some exchange students there. For me, Cuenca is one of the prettiest cities in Ecuador because it's in the mountains, so the climate is sunny and fresh in the day, and a little chilly in the night, which is a nice break from the heat of my city, or so I thought! I've become accustomed to 85+ temperature in my city, that I was always freezing when I was in Cuenca! I had to sleep with multiple layers and 5 blankets to be warm at night, while my friend who has been living there for 9 months only needed a blanket and normal shorts and a t-shirt. The magnitude of it's beauty makes up for the coldness. All the streets there a made of cobblestone, and this combined with the architecture of the buildings gives ti a european feel. It was also nice to see real trees, other than just palm trees that we have in Guayaquil. It was nice to visit, but I was glad to get back home to my city after the weekend and be warm again!

As of yesterday, I have exactly 1 month left here in Ecuador, which is crazy to me! The time here has gone by so fast, I can't believe i've been for 9 months. I remember before I came to Ecuador, the trip here felt like a dream and would never happen. Now, my 2 worlds have switched roles. My life back home in Vermont feels like a dream, and I honestly find it hard to picture myself back there sometimes. I'm excited to be home and see my family and friends, but at the same time I realllllllyyyyy don't want to leave my life here! I have such an amazing family and friend groups here. I've met so many amazing people, some of whom I can't imagine my life without them.  June 16th is going to be the most bittersweet day of my life.