July 23, 2008 Update

Ok, so it's taken me a while to settle in, and to be honest, I am still getting used to the way of life around here. Some of you may already know, others may not have heard...I'm in the Galápagos Islands (Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz) teaching English and will be doing massage in what will be the first spa on the islands starting mid-August. I anticipate being here through January at the moment.

***IF YOU WANT BE REMOVED from this email distribution (believe me, with the price of internet access here being cheap at $1.60/hr and normally $3/hr, I won't be sending these often, especially with beach weather outside), please let me know and I won't be offended. Also indicate if you prefer that I send this to a different email address.

First, the big news, Lonesome George may be a papa soon, that's so exciting as if you know about him, you'd know his keepers have been trying for decades to get him to procreate and carry on the species, as he is the last of his kind. Read more: http://thebeagleproject.blogspot.com/2008/07/lonesome-george-not-so-lonesome.html. I'd like to think I brought him good luck by being here. hehe I attached a photo of him and one of his mates (not clear if it's the mother or not, as he has 2). Cross your fingers that all works out for him!
MY DAY: My day consists of me jumping on a school bus about 7:45am with the kids (imagine that, I don't recall EVER riding a school bus), arriving at Tomás de Berlanga about 8am to start my day. I have 7-8th graders (our 6-7th grades as their 1st grade is our kindergarten) and then a break before I teach 9-10th, then 11-12th graders. I am done by 12:15 and sometimes wait to take the bus back at 1pm or take a $2 cab back home for lunch. I sometimes go with friends to the cooking school for a nice lunch, but mostly, I just make a sandwich or something at home. I typically check the internet, do lesson plans, go for a hike, or to the beach, or other such stuff in the afternoon. There have been many home cooked group meals between my roommates and Suzy (the friend who offered me this opportunity).


GETTING AROUND: Suzy just sold her quadrone (a 4-wheel recreation vehicle like the ones that would be used in the desert), but believe it or not, and I must get a picture of this, we can fit 4 adults, or 3 adults and 2 small children on that thing for a trip to the beach! It's got some power too! Sadly, she's sold it, so we resort to the $1 cabs within Puerto Ayora or $5 to Cascajo (the highlands), where Suzy lives with husband Kleiner. Good news is, cabs are EVERYWHERE! They have white pick-up trucks for cabs, so if you need to get a bike or a fridge home, no pasa nada, throw it in the back!

TOMÁS DE BERLANGA (the School): http://www.fundacionscalesia.com/ Well, this was the hardest adjustment, because the school is very poorly organized, with limited resources, and nearly non-existent communication. It's set in a very wooded area, loaded with passion fruit (makes for yummy fresh juice!). I typically have 8, 6, 4 students respectively in my classes. This last week, I've just had 5, 3, 1 because many of the older kids went to Brazil on what I was told was NOT a school sponsored soccer trip. If the other students showed up to class, they weren't all that motivated to learn, so I held up most of the lessons, as it seems the school doesn't have any structure or curriculum to be concerned about. The kids are generally very good and advanced in English. Just trying to get them motivated is the challenge, as a few of them are lazy. I have the Governor's son in my first class, and the daughter and son of my dueño (landlord) one each in my 2 other classes. Most of the kids are from upper class families, as it's known to be the best school (and only bilingual school) on the island.

HOME: I have 2 roommates, one of which is leaving us as she quit the school and is getting her voluntary visa revoked so she has to leave, and we need to find another roommate now. It's too bad, she's quite a character, from Cambridge, UK, and has been living all over the world, including Peru, Brazil, Spain, Italy and I think she's moving on to Colombia in Feb. The other is from Quito, and who has pretty good English comprehension considering no formal lessons, and I like having to practice my Spanish in the house, however difficult it is!

THE WATER: Washing dishes with cold water also doesn't seem very sanitary, but again, what do you do? Not drinking the water is not bad, but it is a drag when we run out and forget to call the truck to come by and fill the jugs. The good news is, we not only have hot water showers, but we also have not one, but TWO washers and a dryer! Woohoo, better than in Queens! It is a bit disgusting to put the TP in the garbage rather than flush it...but what do you do, better than cleaning up a toilet clog, eh?

THE BUGS: mosquitos, ants, spiders, geckos, lizards, dogs, chickens, mosquitos, dogs, ants, dogs, bugs, dogs, spiders and mosquitos (you get the picture)...EVERYWHERE!!! Good advice, if a dog seems to be charging, you just fake picking up a rock to throw it, and it will run away. No rabies on the island, so that's good news. I have mosquito bites all over, I don't even know what it's like not to itch anymore...I just hope they don't scar!

THE SIGHTS: Been to a few sights including the Darwin Center (home of Lonesome George), Tortuga Bay (sight of sea turtles and powder fine white sand), Las Grietas (gorge), Alamanes beach and on a few hikes to Cerro Crocker (highest point on the island 864 meters), Cerro Mesa (an amazing crater), all of which I have photos that are or will be posted shortly on Facebook site as I've yet to figure out how to set up a blog (advice welcome). We went to Floreana at the weekend, and it was amazing. We did some snorkeling and saw loads of animals. Unfortunately, we weren't as lucky as 2 British volunteers to see the Orca whales when they went to Santa Fe. This is a rare sighting, we're told...but I still have about 6 months left, so fingers crossed!

Ok, that's all I can think of for now...must get going to eat dinner shortly...food isn't as scary as I thought, I'm actually not starving here! LOL

Hope all is well, and if you feel like it, please shoot me a note to update me on what's going on in your lives!

Teresa
+593 91508855 (seems I'm not able to text England, and seemingly Ireland as well...sad!)