First week in Isabela
Thursday, July 26th, 2007Our classes have been put back until Monday now (don’t ask, we have no idea) so we have another week to kill here before work, leaving us plenty of time to kill on the archaically slow internet connection!
Now sure why classes have changed, but we are quickly learning not to question why things happen here and just get on with doing things our own way. After the coordinator (William) failed to turn up on Monday, no surprise there really, I eventually got hold of him on Tuesday and he said he might turn up next Monday, but we’re not holding our breath. But anyways, we’re not worried we have figured out what and how we’re going to teach so we’ll just get on with it. We are also quickly getting used to the pace of life here and how strenuous it is doing absolutely nothing! Only a week in and I am already two and a half books through my supply!
You’ll be pleased to hear the package finally arrived yesterday from home, only a month later and after costing almost $500!! Ridiculous! Turns out that after having been stuck in Guayquil for two weeks (without DHL contacting anyone and charging us for storage at the same time) it had then been stuck on the Island of Santa Cruz, because William hadn’t done anything about it!! So I demanded a phone number from him and asked the lady in my house (Gladys) to help me contact DHL and have it shipped here. We sorted the whole thing out in less than an hour and she had it on the plane the next morning. It’s amazing what we could achieve with a couple of phone calls when an international agency like DHL couldn’t with all our money. Still we will try not to dwell on that and chalk it up to experience. Needles to say we were horrified to open our package and find a hoard of flies in there!!!
Paul’s mum very kindly sent him four cans of baked beans they had burst in transit, covering his England shirt in goo and rust and filling the box with flies!! Luckily my stuff was ok and we managed to save most of the papers but his shirt is ruined and it was so annoying. Anyway, like I said we’ll try not to dwell on it and importantly my Marmite arrived in tact!
The marmite is particularly appreciated since I really don’t like a lot of the food here. I am trying really hard to eat everything and not to be fussy but I do draw a line at chicken feet and pork still with hair on. There are also mountains of rice with every meal at least twice a day, with eggs and white bread for breakfast; I will get so fat if I eat it all, and I vomited so much in Bolivia to lose it. I keep trying to stress that I can’t eat the amount she is giving me but it doesn’t make that much difference and I am starting to dread mealtimes, having to explain why I can’t eat everything – still, I expect we will get used to it and she will eventually give up and stop feeding me so much!. Under the instructions of her boyfriend it would seem, our hostess herself is on an interesting diet, eating only white rice and bread and leaving the vegetables and meat, with a black coffee and three sugars with each meal – not sure she’s on to a winner.
Anyway, enough ranting about life in paradise. I really can’t complain about anything. In the afternoons Paul and I usually go to the beach for a couple of hours, stepping over the iguanas and watching the sea lions play in the surf just a few meters away. Yesterday we went for a walk to the end of the beach and spent hours watching some sea turtles play in the waves, getting flipped over by the surf then sticking their long necks out of the water to watch for the next wave. There was about a dozen of them, up to about two foot in length each I reckon. It was wonderful to watch, and just minutes away from our house. So obviously the good outweighs the inconvenience here.
Also, good news, my IPO is working again. I took it to the Mac shop in Guayquil and after playing with it they got it charging again. I think it was just so out of juice it needed a bigger power source the get it going again. But I am happy to have my music back again. I have started going running on the beach here too so it is good to have music to keep me going. Well, so far I have only been once and I hurt my ankle and am limping now, but I plan to keep going. Can’t have you fitter than me on the Inca trail, and I have to do something about all this rice!!
There are more volunteers from an island home staying with us this weekend, just for a few days which will be nice so we can chat to new people. There were people here last weekend as well and we all hired horses and went up to the volcano which was great. The volcano is very impressive. All around the island you can see lava tunnels and in places you can feel that the rock is still hot under your feet, although we are assured there is no danger of imminent eruption.
Paul has managed to join a local football team and so is very happy to be playing again. We have also been to a couple of the local bars, with strange experiences in each – there are some odd people here. We went out on Tuesday with some volunteers form the tortoise sanctuary (we might volunteer there too if we have time) and ended up at a house party with the locals. It is great to meet people and be sociable, but the problem is that everyone looks so remarkably similar, it is difficult to tell them apart when you meet them the next day! Especially only knowing them at a party lit only by strobe lighting, I have to blink rapidly now to recognize anyone on the street. There is also a distinct lack of women, all the young people seem to be male and really there only interest in gringos seems to be in trying to pull them, so I’m not sure they’re that interested in talking to me at all, can’t say that I’m devastated! Some of them are enrolled in English classes next week though so maybe I’ll learn more names then.
Back to the house now then, to deal with the manic puppy that lives with us. She is gorgeous, a little thing like Snowy, I forget what breed, but she has a fetish for shoes and here teeth are sharper than she thinks. Every time we leave our room we have to run her gantlet and then shoot into the house before she can follow us through the door. It was funny for a few days but a pain in the arse now! She followed me to the shop yesterday too and before I could stop her shop into the shop and caused havoc in the fresh fruit section! She also managed to tear a pain of Paul’s trousers yesterday too. He was no happy, having had his shirt ruined in the package, an electric shock from the shower and severe sunburn on his belly; he was ready to kill the dog, until Gladys threatened to kill him if he did!
As well as the dog they also look after a little girl of a cousin each day who is two and a half. She is ever so cute and well behaved but I made the mistake of playing with her in the kitchen on the first day and now every time she arrives she asks “Cocina?”.
Anyway, enough ranting and waffling, this is a very long post about vagueness now, but like I said, we’re not busy! I am developing a lovely tan though!!
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