Galapagos: Nature walks, seasickness and nature

So here goes my first entry from my time spent in Ecuador. Simply to please Sally because she will not leave me alone!!

I have been in Ecuador almost a week now and much has happened.

Traveling for more than 16 hours is really exhausting, seriously. I was sooo tired by the time I got off the plane in Quito and I was just ready for bed. I arrived and went through customs which wasn't too bad. Next I went for my luggage and that was fine. Now the moment that I had been nervous for had arrived...I was to meet my host family.

What was the most terrifying part about the whole thing was that I knew absolutely nothing about my arrival in Quito. NOTHING. It was as if I was just traveling to Portland for the day with nothing planned. I was freaking out!! WHAT IF MY HOST FAMILY HATED ME?! WHAT IF THEY DIDN'T COME PICK ME UP?!!!!!

Of course I was being rather irrational but who wouldn't?! Well, I was thrust into the arms of my host family and whisked off to my home. My host mom's name is Leonor and I have three host siblings. Diego, Maria de los Angeles and Cristina. Only Cristina and Maria de los Angeles live at home still and they are about 30ish. This is apparently normal. They are not married so they remain at home until they get married. Very normal in Ecuador.

They are the best. Even though they work a ton they are very nice and helpful. I do not know them that well yet though because On my second full day I was whisked off to the Galapagos!

We flew from Quito to Guayaquil and then to Baltra, a Galapagos Island. It was so hot and it was still early! We then got on a cruise ship, it was my first time and we got settled. The first island that we disembarked at was Bartolome. This island did not have much wildlife on it and it was rather desolate but some of my best pictures came from this island.

We first went snorkeling and it was AWESOME. I had never been snorkeling and I am not a very good swimmer so I was pretty nervous to do this whole open water thing but it was worth it. I swam with sharks, penguins, fish, sea lions and saw a lot of underwater things. Super chido. The "hike" that we went on was said to be of "intermediate level" which meant it was difficult.....well it wasn't and they are liars!

The hikes were nature walks really, which makes sense since they want the Galapagos to remain "untouched". I think every single nature walk had a much better view than the 16 mile hike of death that I did on the 4th of July. However, I did miss the two idiots that I would normally hike with (Sean and Laura).

On Saturday I decided that it would be a good idea to have a couple of free drinks...and then some. As it turns out, being hungover and seasickness are not enjoyable, especially at the same time. Throwing up over the side of a dhinghy or however you spell that shit, was not my best moment.

The Galapagos was seriously an amazing time with great friends. The weather was great and I probably spent too much time in the sun without enough sunscreen on but it was totally worth it. We also celebrated Alec's birthday on that damn boat and it was pretty fun.

Another highlight of the cruise? Getting told not to grab flyers from people on the street because those things will fuck your shit up. Okay, Fernando didn't say it quite like that but that is what we all heard. If we grab those flyers during the night, then our organs will be stolen....okay, okay he didn't exactly say that either. He just said it was LIKELY that we could have our kidneys taken while the drug knocks us out in less than 5 minutes. I am actually scared to leave my house at night....FUUUUUU.

Although, I think we plan to go explore Quito a little more in the next couple of days...I will keep you posted if my organs get stolen!

Anyway, so much has happened and it is hard to fit it in this blog. I will post more concise ones once I settle down.  Enjoy the pictures.