The last couple of weeks have felt different. I haven’t really been able to put my finger on what exactly it is, but I have a feeling that it mostly has to do with time flying by. Of course, there are seasonal transitions: my host family has added to the Christmas-themed decorations around the house, fake pine trees covered in flashing colorful lights and tinsel are visible in many windows around town (so no, Christmas palm trees are not a thing), and the news from home is full of stories of monster winter storms setting in early. Here, the holiday season is accompanied by (even) hotter and more humid days, warmer waters, and a decrease in the frequency of the spittle-like garúa mist. Last week, a juvenile whale shark was spotted traveling past kicker rock, following the incursion of warmer waters. I’m still kicking myself for not playing hookie from class to take a dive while it was there. Brand new sea lion babies are rare, and the first ones from earlier this season are starting to look especially round and fluffy. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I swear that the grey branches of the manzanilla trees that give the lowlands their desert wasteland feel are starting to appear ever so slightly greener and more lively with the arrival of actual occasional rainfall. As we approach December and my friends from home are hitting the ski slopes of Colorado or layering up against the cold Oregon rain, it feels like I’m getting a new wave of summer. It’s weird.
Did I just say December? Is that really only 3 days away? Do I really have barely three weeks left??? I’m not ready!! This study abroad journey has been flying by, and I already feel obligated to refocus on my life after I come home. I registered for winter classes two weeks ago, I’ve confirmed that spring term will be spent at the Hatfield Marine Research Center in Newport, OR, I just confirmed my living situation for next term, and I’ve started playing around with ideas for spring break and summer adventures. I’ve felt like I’m living outside of the moment here, with my mind set in the future months instead of enjoying my last sunny Galápagos weeks. It doesn’t help that there have been some extremely stressful moments at school due to unorganized group work and some faults in the program’s management that have come to light. I have no desire to give up this place for the dreary months of rain and microbiology classes that wait for me next term, but I’m also ready to be out of the homestay and aggravating class situations. It’s frustrating to say the least, especially since I don’t actually feel ready to return, despite all of my preparing. I’m nowhere near completing the goals I had set myself in relation to my thesis – in fact, I’ve started contemplating changing my focus entirely.
Seasons are changing and making me realize how limited my time here really is, and I want more time on the islands. I want to accomplish something while I’m here aside from my own exploration in Darwin’s Paradise. I want to feel like I’ve been a part of the Galápagos rather than just a visitor because I know that the experience they have gifted to me will be a large part of who I am for years to come.
And yet, a part of me is comforted to know that I’ll be home in roughly three weeks.
Before too long, I’ll have a two week stretch of lazy mornings with hot tea, fuzzy socks, a fluffy blanket, and a book to guard against chilly rain until venturing out for an afternoon wintry redwood stroll and evenings of baking yummies and eating them next to a glittery Christmas tree. Oh, and of course spending time with my family. I appreciate the incredible hospitality of my host family here, but I want my own parents and sibling back.
And of course, I’m starting to really really REALLY crave food from home. Not that I don’t like the food here, of course. Salty and sugary treats are a daily occurrence simply because fresh snacks aren't really a concept here. Fried langosta (lobster) or camarones (shrimp) is a regular dinner item, as is the surprisingly delicious scorpionfish known as brujo. Menestras (a soupy lentil side) are still one of my favorite parts of almuerzos. I can get an avocado-pineapple or chocolate-banana-mora batido (kind of like a smoothie) for less than a coffee in the states. I’ve had a fresh mango or avocado or a frozen chocolate banana almost daily and there seems to be a never ending supply naranjas and bananas from the highlands. For living on an isolated and agriculturally limited archipelago, food here is great. Still, I never really cook or bake for myself, and the actual percentage of my diet consisting of veggies is minuscule compared to my life back home. Pumpkins and fall were never a thing here, so I missed out on some of my favorite seasonal meals. Pinterest has become my vessel for procrastination via food nostalgia for the remainder of my stay here.
Luckily, most of the other students have been feeling the same, and we ended up coming together with the university’s staff to hold a HUMONGOUS Thanksgiving potluck yesterday. There was turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and everything, even a huge variety of delicious veggie dishes. We devoured it ALL after a toast of sangria, and washed it down with pumpkin spiced coffee that one student received in a care package from home. After our proper thanksgiving feast, we watched the island sunset with Christmas music blasting in the background. And for the first time in two weeks, I felt pretty ok with the holiday season bearing down on us so quickly, even though it brings the end of our stay with it.
Seasons are changing and making me realize how limited my time here really is, and I want more time on the islands. I want to accomplish something while I’m here aside from my own exploration in Darwin’s Paradise. I want to feel like I’ve been a part of the Galápagos rather than just a visitor because I know that the experience they have gifted to me will be a large part of who I am for years to come.
And yet, a part of me is comforted to know that I’ll be home in roughly three weeks.
Before too long, I’ll have a two week stretch of lazy mornings with hot tea, fuzzy socks, a fluffy blanket, and a book to guard against chilly rain until venturing out for an afternoon wintry redwood stroll and evenings of baking yummies and eating them next to a glittery Christmas tree. Oh, and of course spending time with my family. I appreciate the incredible hospitality of my host family here, but I want my own parents and sibling back.
And of course, I’m starting to really really REALLY crave food from home. Not that I don’t like the food here, of course. Salty and sugary treats are a daily occurrence simply because fresh snacks aren't really a concept here. Fried langosta (lobster) or camarones (shrimp) is a regular dinner item, as is the surprisingly delicious scorpionfish known as brujo. Menestras (a soupy lentil side) are still one of my favorite parts of almuerzos. I can get an avocado-pineapple or chocolate-banana-mora batido (kind of like a smoothie) for less than a coffee in the states. I’ve had a fresh mango or avocado or a frozen chocolate banana almost daily and there seems to be a never ending supply naranjas and bananas from the highlands. For living on an isolated and agriculturally limited archipelago, food here is great. Still, I never really cook or bake for myself, and the actual percentage of my diet consisting of veggies is minuscule compared to my life back home. Pumpkins and fall were never a thing here, so I missed out on some of my favorite seasonal meals. Pinterest has become my vessel for procrastination via food nostalgia for the remainder of my stay here.
Luckily, most of the other students have been feeling the same, and we ended up coming together with the university’s staff to hold a HUMONGOUS Thanksgiving potluck yesterday. There was turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and everything, even a huge variety of delicious veggie dishes. We devoured it ALL after a toast of sangria, and washed it down with pumpkin spiced coffee that one student received in a care package from home. After our proper thanksgiving feast, we watched the island sunset with Christmas music blasting in the background. And for the first time in two weeks, I felt pretty ok with the holiday season bearing down on us so quickly, even though it brings the end of our stay with it.
In other news, updates since my last post include:
1) I was lucky enough to share the last couple of weeks with some new friends I met through another student here, Colleen. She's a good friend of mine, and happened to be indirectly connected to some people visiting from the states. One group were guys our age from Berkeley, California, and the other was a couple of surfers from New York. We had several fun days of snorkeling, evenings of cooking good food, some nights out, and even shared waves at Puerto Chino with some local friends as well. (Photos courtesy of Dane Riva and my most favorite Colleen Henn).
1) I was lucky enough to share the last couple of weeks with some new friends I met through another student here, Colleen. She's a good friend of mine, and happened to be indirectly connected to some people visiting from the states. One group were guys our age from Berkeley, California, and the other was a couple of surfers from New York. We had several fun days of snorkeling, evenings of cooking good food, some nights out, and even shared waves at Puerto Chino with some local friends as well. (Photos courtesy of Dane Riva and my most favorite Colleen Henn).
2) Björn (my brother, for any readers who aren’t a part of my immediate family) turned 18 last week, which absolutely blew my mind. I can barely handle 4 months of study abroad flying by so fast – how is he already on the verge of college himself?
3) I’m officially PADI Advanced Diver certified! I’ve collected 19 dives so far, 15 of which have been here in the Galápagos, and I have another 6 or so (at least) to enjoy before leaving. I’m officially hooked. Last weekend I returned to kicker rock for some underwater adventure and caught some fantastic footage of over one hundred Galápagos and Black-tip sharks that have been cruising the area:
3) I’m officially PADI Advanced Diver certified! I’ve collected 19 dives so far, 15 of which have been here in the Galápagos, and I have another 6 or so (at least) to enjoy before leaving. I’m officially hooked. Last weekend I returned to kicker rock for some underwater adventure and caught some fantastic footage of over one hundred Galápagos and Black-tip sharks that have been cruising the area:
4) The final module of classes starts next week. I’ll be taking Techniques of Marine Research 2. Highlights will include one last week long adventure, this time to Santa Cruz for some diving adventures (fingers crossed for Hammerhead sightings at the wild current-filled dive site of Gordon Rocks!!). By the end of it, our class hopes to have a paper put together addressing the human and climate-related threats the Galápagos face and their impacts here, with a proposed improved management scheme to present to the local government. We’ve already started working on it, and hopefully the group work headache turns out to be worth an awesome piece of published material!
5) A sea lion decided to try out classes with us the other day.
5) A sea lion decided to try out classes with us the other day.
I’ll be home in exactly 22 days. My time here is rapidly coming to a close, but it’s still enough time to really ask myself: what have I gotten out of this trip so far, and what more meaning can I bring to it? What impact can I have here? What footprint do I really want to leave? What can I do before it’s too late and I’m pulled away from the Galápagos, a return trip just a fuzzy dream to hope for? How will I carry this experience with me into the future – how will my life be permanently changed from all I’ve lived here?
“As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.”
-Bob Dylan
“As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.”
-Bob Dylan