The following blog was written over a few days...
The food is quite delicious but expensive. I had my first caipirhina, which includes sugar cane liquor, lime, and sugar. Boy my first drink here was strong. We stumbled back to the station giggling the entire way.
WE GOT RAIN!! Rain means food and food means breeding birds. The rain gauge estimated 1.5 inches in the past few days. This is fantastic for both Jen and my projects. The first day of rain we spent 2.5 hours under a tarp with Team Pinzon entertaining ourselves with Jaime’s iphone applications and photos. This was not our first day of rain. The other day we went up to Los
Gemelos (The Twins) to catch birds of the highlands. This is where I saw my first woodpecker finch and warbler finch – both incredibly gorgeous brown birds. Los Gemelos was named after craters near the top of the “mountain.” We were soaked. I took out the hardest bird ever from a mist net (and I’ve mist netted well over 10,000 birds).
The most exciting social event we have had was last Friday night. We first went to dinner at the “Sabrosa”. It is one 10-15 kiosks on this tiny road. Fantastic food – I had the encocado de camaron (shrimp in coconut sauce) + fried sweet plantains over rice. After sharing a cervesa (there is only 1 kind of beer in the Galapagos: Pilsner from Ecuador) we headed down the street for $0.75 ice cream cones then to Bongo for a game of pool. After a few beers and caipirhinas, dancing came natural. Luis (part of team pinzon) likes to dance salsa so we all tried to keep up with him. At midnight we strolled home but not before stopping for a round of karaoke. Luis and I sang “La Bamba” then I grabbed one of 20 English songs on the list. I hopped onto a bench and gave my best go at “Gangsta’s Paradise”. I’m really surprised at how many words I remember.
Today I spent my 3 day in the ocean. There are beautiful crabs, marine iguanas swimming by, blue footed boobies diving near by, sea cucumbers, bluish-green water. The only problem is getting into the water. The beaches are surrounded by lava rock. When the tide is low, you are safe. But if you swim later in the day, be prepared to walk down jagged rocks to get to your destination!!
So I have finally rid myself of my parasite(s). For 3 weeks I had the worst (let me be blunt) gas of my life. My flatulence was coupled with horrible stomach pains each morning and evening. I thought it was the food, but after 3 weeks… it’s probably a parasite. I was told I had an amoeba and sure enough, after medication my suffering ceased.
The past few days have been brutal in the field. Today, the temperature was well over 105 degrees F and we checked 21 nests with our ladder, “Sancho”. Fortunately, Jen is a great person to be in the field with because she is extremely positive and does not complain. I think one of the worst things that you can do when times are tough, is complain. I’d rather be with someone who is a novice in the field than a complainer. Besides the heat, Sancho, cacti, and acacia, WE HAVE 21 ACTIVE NESTS already! This is a GREAT start to our season. Each day, after trudging around with sancho for 5 hours, we feel like we have been hit by a bus. However, it’s also a feeling of ac
complishment…. I guess this feeling shows that we are really working hard????
So we haven’t been eating out at the kiosko lately. Instead, we’ve been making lunch and dinner with whatever we have in our pantry/fridge. Regardless of the food item we always add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and curry. These 4 items can make anything (eg tuna, pasta, potatoes, etc.) taste good. A few weeks ago Jen and I made pizzas from scratch for Team Pinzon (Mom’s recipe – thanks Ma!). Since we have a small gas oven (horno) we are able to bake/cook a few items, which usually involves bread and cheese sandwiches or “far”. Far is a dish that Jen learned from our post doc, Celine, that includes an egg, milk, sugar, and flour. We’ve tried placing mango or bananas or sweet plantains on the top to switch things up a bit. The food we are able to purchase is unpredictable. Some days the tienda will have zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, mangos, etc., and other days, the only thing that is fresh is bread (and even bread can be hit or miss).
Everything is going incredibly well. Nothing has gone too horribly wrong (except being stuck by a cactus) so I don’t have any wild adventures to tell you quite yet. Don’t worry, I will be here for 3 months J
