I am such a slacker

Hello-

It has been quite some time since I've made a post. Its just sort of difficult to want to sit inside and write about things since I'm doing them all day and then homework (sometimes) at night, but I really wanna keep in touch with things at home plus recount everything that is going on right now so that I can remember.

I'm starting to like it here more and more. I'm finding my footing with my Spanish and cultural differences, and I'm also making more friends outside of the GAIAS American students. I broke down and bought a cell phone. It was just too difficult to make/coordinate plans without one.

Ahh jeez, where to start? I finally got to see the tortoises, although it was rainy and kind of miserable. The coolest part was seeing the babies. They were all clumped together, and at first it looked like they were attacking one, but actually it had turned over on its shell and they were helping it right itself. Awwww.

Disclaimer: Next part is a bit gross

So this was part of a camping trip that our Botany professor took us Monday-Wednesday. Dios mios, this guy is crazy, fun, and really animated. I thoroughly enjoyed his class. I think my favorite part of the day was when we were hiking through the Miconia forest (raining miserably) and he wiped out in a small pond of sorts and emerged covered in mud. He pointed out the mud on his butt, and then proceeded to demonstrate what a dog does after taking a dump and dragged it across the ground. I laughed so hard I almost threw up.

Okay, gross part over.

One disconcerting part of our trip to the highlands was that the invasive species were EVERYWHERE. We semi-enjoyed the presence of mora (blackberry), but it is introduced and has spread to overtake native and endemic plants. Its really sad because there isn't any way (at this point) to get rid of it. People cut it with machetes, but afterwards it just grows back. However, there are a lot of prevention programs going on right now that give a little more hope.

Conservation wise, one really cool part of the trip was when we saw the windmills. San Cristobal gets more than half of its energy through these, and they're beginning to start similar programs on other islands. Sustainability! The recycling here is better than the US with about 97% compliance. All organic waste is composted, and almost everything that can be recycled is recycled.

We got back from the Highlands on Wednesday and my friend Hannah and I finished up our research project on algae. We made a pretty good presentation, but we still need to write a paper. Most likely, I am going to continue this research for the rest of the semester and take the last 3 weeks off to concentrate on it. I'm finally getting into research! I've been wanting to do it for a while, and hopefully I'll get one of these internships this summer.

I was snorkeling with Hannah yesterday and we saw a sea turtle, a couple eels, crazy algae, sea stars plus a lobo (sea lion) wanted to play with us the whole time. When I was little, I was obsessed with turtles, and now I've seen giant tortoises and a sea turtle all in one week. Today I saw a HUGE lobster.

Okay, so i really should write this paper now.

I LOVE IT HERE!

:)