Post-Tour Reflection: Thinking about Yunguilla

Mermelada de chihualcan, mermelada de uvilla.
Image courtesy of Picasa web album of collaguazodeysi.

Over the past two days, I opened and sampled the jam that I bought in Yunguilla. The sweet flavors of the uvilla (gooseberry) and the fruitilla (wild strawberry) reminded me of the warmth our group experienced in that community.

The more I think about our day in Yunguilla, the more I realize it was my favorite part of the trip. The closeness of the community, the open arms with which they accepted our group, the beauty of the landscape... all of those things have formed happy memories for me. I miss little Melanie and Brittany and find myself hoping they are happy and working hard in school. And Melanie's song, with its emphasis on building a fruitful, happy life as a result of hard work and study, has become a refrain in my mind. Please consider watching the video or reading the translation of the lyrics if you haven't already!

The cloud forest in Yunguilla.

Post-Tour Reflection: Sharing a Laugh

This weekend, as I was reflecting on the many cultural differences I observed on the trip, I remembered a moment in which I shared a laugh with a woman at the Mercado de los Ponchos in Otavalo. She and I could not have been more different. She is a merchant, and I am a teacher. She is a mother, and I am not. Yet we shared things as well. We speak a common language (Spanish) and we use the same currency (US dollar) on a daily basis. 

Someone from the group was hoping to get a discount for buying 20 souvenirs priced at $1 each. This is standard business practice in Ecuador. The exchange typically goes something like this:

"¿Cuanto cuesta?"

"Un dolar."

"¿Y por veinte?"

"Diez y seis dolares." 

This woman's daughter was working in the market with her. So when we got to the final step of the exchange, the daughter piped in "Veinte dolares por veinte." It was obvious she was joking, not trying to trick us or anything. We laughed over the child's budding business sense, and of course the person who bought the gifts got a deal ($15 for 20 of them). The ability to laugh together over a child's silliness was just such a wonderful experience! I'm glad to have that memory.

Day 10: HOME!

We had an uneventful flight from Quito to Houston, TX, though I was still sick. (Believe me, it is NOT fun flying when you are under the weather!) Customs went quickly. In fact, we’d pulled away from our gate on our flight home from Houston and were about to take off for Boston when the captain came on the loudspeaker to announce that an engine warning light had come on! We ended up leaving the plane and standing by the gate for a while. Turns out the plane was fine, so we just had a 90-minute delay getting home, which stunk!

It was a bittersweet moment coming home. Of course I was happy to be in familiar territory and to see my family again. But I felt a bit sad to end my travels, and a lot sad to say goodbye to the network of fellow educators I’d built over the past 10 days. Guess I’ll just have to go on another study tour in the future so I can do it all again!

Day 9: Travel from Galapagos to Quito

Our group’s time in Ecuador coincided with two interesting events: the elections and the inauguration of a new airport. We spent much of our final day in South America in transit. Tuesday, the day we flew from Quito to the Galapagos, was the final day that the old airport was operational. The old airport was basically right in the city; the centrality of Fenway Park to Boston would probably be a good analogy. It took 20 minutes for us to get from the old Mariscal Sucre airport to the hotel where we stayed.

In contrast, the new Mariscal Sucre (yes, they kept the same name) is further outside the heart of Quito. It took us TWO HOURS to get from the new airport to our hotel as we returned from Galapagos. It escaped none of us that we’d be returning to that same airport in less than 12 hours to head home to the U.S. Of course, since we left our hotel at 3:30 a.m., there was no traffic in Quito and it only took one hour to get to the airport.

Logo of La Estacion.
Image: from Twitter.

After we quickly packed our belongings for the trip home, we headed out to dinner. It was fascinating to many of us that at 7:30 on a Friday night, the city was hopping! It seemed as if everyone was excited to be out. We went to a bohemian restaurant/bar/coffee shop called La Estación. It was dimly lit, so we had candles placed on our table, standing simply atop saucers. The décor was heavy on posters of classic rock musicians. I had a great time there, though I kept kicking myself for having forgotten my camera back at the hotel. La Estación gave us our first look at punk-rock and hipster Ecuadorians. They were young and cool, and they could easily have been found on St. Mark’s Place in New York or in Allston. One cultural difference from America: included on La Estación’s cocktail menu, priced at $0.40 each, were three types of cigarettes!

Dinner was delicious, and our meal was enhanced with live music. The group mostly played Beatles songs but they had other music in there as well, including some original songs. It was a great way to unwind after a long day of travels, and a great last night in the capital of Ecuador. I’m ready to come home!

Day 8: Bartolome Island...if I hadn't been sick!

I spent today sick in the hotel. I missed an excursion to Bartolome Island, where Master and Commander was filmed years ago. From what I heard, there wasn’t much wildlife there—just lava rock, climbing, and lots of sun. It, too, was over two hours away from Santa Cruz.

On Wednesday’s boat ride back from Isabella, I started to feel sad and homesick. The ride was also extremely choppy, so I was extremely unhappy. By the time we reached the hotel, the amount of sun we’d gotten was really bothering me. I had very little appetite at dinner—for those who know me, you know exactly how strange this is!

Since I can’t say much about Bartolome, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a little bit about the supportiveness of our group of travelers. We have each other’s back with most things. I’ve shared my notes with other teachers, and we’ve shared snacks, travel medicines, tissues, towels, Band Aids, and more with each other. On Tuesday, as we flew to Galapagos, one teacher was sick in the bathroom of the plane; watching others care for her, particularly Mr. Norton of Center School, demonstrated how caring the other individuals on the trip are toward other people. On Wednesday, one of the teachers got pretty sick and even briefly went to the hospital. We all tried to help her as much as possible—before, during, and after the hospital. (She’s ok now!)

So, when my turn came to be sick, the others took good care of me. On the boat ride returning from Isabella, everyone could tell I wasn’t feeling well (and I wasn’t the only one). Lynne, a guidance counselor from Medway, distracted me from my discomfort by striking up a good conversation, and Toby, a special educator from Middleboro, gave me her water to drink. I could tell that Janine, an elementary school teacher from Medway, wished she were sitting next to me so she could make me feel better; we spent the morning boat ride getting to know each other, sharing details about our lives and forming what I hope will be a lasting bond. After the group returned from Bartolome on Thursday, my fabulous roommate Jo brought me soda, bread, water, and Gatorade. No fewer than 10 people from our group of 22 visited me on Thursday evening to check on how I was feeling. As Dr. DeMello said recently, from looking at our group, nobody would know who was from which district, since we’ve all helped each other in times of need.

It stinks to be sick on this type of a trip, especially since we’ve been traveling and moving NON-STOP since we arrived. But knowing that there are nearly two dozen people who have shown that they care about me has definitely helped me feel better. Several people on the trip have been dealing with issues in their personal lives, and others have gotten sick. The support of the group has been instrumental for each person dealing with his or her challenge.

The lesson to be learned here is simple: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We get so wrapped up sometimes in our individual lives that we forget that we need each other. I hope each of you can take this experience as a reminder to be kind, warm, and generous in spirit, even if you don’t have to be—especially if you don’t have to be.

Day 7: Isabela Island

Map of Isabela by the boat dock

We walked to the port in Puerto Ayora bright and early on Wednesday morning to travel to Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos Islands. The island is shaped like a seahorse and the plan was to go for a walk and go snorkeling while there.

Two sea lions sunning on the deck.

After over two hours, we docked on Isabela. There are sea lions everywhere on these islands. It seems that they’ve learned to beg from humans. We even saw one trying to steal a freshly caught fish, and a group of three climbing on a boat that was a few feet out at sea.

Iguanas getting some sun to warm their bodies.

On our walk around the island, we saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, of marine iguanas. These animals sun themselves all day until they are warm enough, then dive into the water to find food. They dig holes to lay eggs in, and often challenge one other over who has territorial rights of the holes. We witnessed a couple of pretty good iguana fights. I hope to be able to link to video from Dr. DeMello at some point. For now, you can view my video of some iguanas below.

Restaurant on Isabela
where we ate lunch.

Snorkeling was pretty disappointing. We only saw a few fish, and the water was somewhat murky. I also suspect I took in some sea water that caused me to get sick. After snorkeling we had lunch at the quintessential seaside restaurant, almost like a New England clam shack. For just one hour after lunch, the trip felt a little like a vacation, as we got to swim in the Pacific prior to our departure. On our way back to the boat, we stopped to look for flamingos and we were happy to see a beautiful one up close. I used my binoculars to take a closer look at his beak. It was gorgeous!

A flamingo in the wild.

Unfortunately, this was the last time on the trip that I felt healthy (see my Day 8 post). But I got a good 7-8 days in before feeling too sick, and I hope to be better to fly home on Saturday.

Day 6: Travel to the Galapagos

Bookstore shelf in Quito airport.

On Tuesday, we flew from the Quito airport to the Galapagos, landing in the airport in Baltra. Before we left, I browsed the book shop inside the airport because I have been curious about the literature of Ecuador. They had just one book by an Ecuadorian author on the shelves. I noticed several political books on the shelves, a testament to the passion that Ecuadorian people seem to have for all things political. In fact, on the flight, Ms. Koelbl, a learning specialist at Hopkinton Middle School, and I talked with another EF tour guide who shared a lot of information with us about politics. Normally, I prefer to read or do work during flights, but I really enjoyed this conversation since I learned a lot!

Top of the declaration form.

Ecuador is very serious about keeping the Galapagos as protected as possible from outside contaminants. On the flight, each passenger has to fill out a declaration form for any materials that originate from animals or vegetables.

On our way to our hotel on Santa Cruz Island, we stopped at the Twin Craters, two huge sinkholes.

Ms. Meyer in front of the Charles Darwin Research Station

We had lunch at the hotel, then walked a short distance to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Several people in the group and I remarked that we expected to learn much more information about Darwin himself—almost like a museum. Instead, the station is a place where animals Darwin studied—such as turtles, tortoises,  and iguanas—are bred, studied, and cared for.

There are 900 baby turtles born each year at the Darwin Research Station, and each one is color-coded with its island of origin. When they are old enough, the babies are placed into a “training ground,” then eventually released back into the wild.

Baby turtles at play in the training ground.

Lonesome George, a land tortoise from Pinta Island, lived here until his death in June 2012. He was the last of his species, so with his death, the species became extinct. However, shortly before Lonesome George’s death, two females were brought in to mate with him. The female tortoises can retain the sperm inside their bodies for a very long time—as much as a couple of years—so they are remaining at the Research Station until researchers can be certain that they are not carrying fertilized eggs.

Plaque commemorating Lonesome George, or El Solitario Jorge.

We learned a lot about tortoises on this visit:

• Tortoise populations were as high as 250,000 before pirates and goats arrived in the Galapagos in the late 17^th century. They are now at 30,000 and growing, but slowly.
• They can survive for 6-12 months without food or water
• The lines on tortoise shells oxidize naturally over time. When the lines are gone, that is a sign that the tortoise is 100 years old or older.
• A tortoise weighs approximately 180 kg, and the shell is approximately 30% of the weight.
• The tortoise’s shell is made of bone, so it never decomposes.
• Male tortoises are double the female’s size. They also have a concave area under the shell to assist with mating, and a tail up to 3 times as long as the female’s.

We also saw some iguanas and finches. I am 2 days behind in writing these posts, and the iguanas were everywhere on Isabela, the second island we visited, so I will say more about them there.

Puerto Ayora, where we are staying, is the most populous town in the Galapagos, with 12,000 inhabitants. On our walk back from the Darwin Research Station, we went inside a beautiful cemetery. We also stopped in many shops as we walked to the hotel. The stores create the feel of a classic seaside town. They reminded me very much of the Cape, with art galleries, jewelry stores, and souvenir shops. It is really beautiful here and certainly an interesting contrast to the uninhabited islands.

Puerto Ayora cemetery. All of the gravestones were white,
and most had colorful flowers.

Funky shop in Puerto Ayora. The shelves are made out of re-purposed
Rubbermaid containers that have been painted & mounted on the walls.