A Brief Summary of the Final Weeks in March

I meant to post a blog earlier this week but kept forgetting with all the activity going on. I wanted to talk about the week my family came to visit in a separate post but I just got back from IES Abroad Island hopping spring break so I have a few things to talk about. Both my family visiting and vacation were a blast and I am so sad both of them ended. To start off my family visited me about a couple of weeks ago during the third module. I had a great time, it was refreshing to see them and spend time with them after class since I haven’t seen them about in two months. My mom, younger brother and one of my cousins came to visit me. They flew into the island Baltra and stayed on Santa Cruz for the weekend and took a tour to Isabela. They came to San Cristobal after and stayed here for about five days. I tried a few different restaurants with them, took them snorkeling, went to the Galapaguera Tortoise Breeding Center, and a bunch of other things. I miss them a lot and it was hard to let them leave but I know I will get to see them soon because home isn’t that far away.

I really think I underestimated how much I am going to miss this place when I have to leave. Up until this point I figured when the time came to peace out I would be dying to get back to the states. But that has absolutely changed; I think I am going to be split down the middle about the situation but I am trying not to worry about it right now. I just returned from IES Abroad spring break today and that was an overall good time. A few friends and I headed over a day early do we could do a morning dive on Saturday at Gordon Rocks. That dive was absolutely life changing, it’s supposed to be a tough dive because of the changing currents. We must have been there on a calmer day because I didn’t find the currents that bad… or I just didn’t notice them. I saw schools of Spotted Eagle Rays, Golden Cownose Rays, some White Tip Reef Sharks and the usual fish. 110% want to go back and dive Gordon again, I just need to find the funds.

With IES Abroad we interchangeably spent days and nights on three different islands, Santa Cruz, Isabela and Bartolome. It was really cool seeing different islands and getting off of San Cristobal for a while. We got to snorkel in both Bartolome and Isabela where we saw sea lions, rays, sharks and turtles. In Isabela we hiked a volcano, I already forget the name if it, but that was really cool because you could see for miles. It was also crazy seeing the change in vegetation across the volcano. At one point there was green everywhere and then just lava rocks.

This post was very choppy, I just had so many thoughts and did so much over the break that I just bounced around. It was a great experience and time, probably the coolest part was I got to see Lonesome George preserved.. Creepy but totally cool. Will try to post some pictures tomorrow or later today but we will see how the internet is holding up.