Monday Test

First relaxed day in Paradise. I was hoping for a lie in but I was abruptly woken by the house maid at 8:30 as she was convinced that since I was not up by this time, I must be ill. I eventually persuaded her I was fine and leisurely strolled into the centre town, which is about a 5 minute walk. Every monday the kids have a test to see how they are coping and so I spent a couple of hours constructing test consisting of irregular verbs in the past tense. It was at this point I realised how much easier it is to learn english as a foreign language compared to french or spanish. Lucky buggars. Yet some of them are still useless. Public humiliation awaits. After I'd done that I returned back home for a lunch of surprisingly, rice and chicken. Now don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for the food they cook me and it's really tasty, but I don't think I've seen a vegetable my entire stay here and surely they must get bored of rice from time to time? Maybe they will, who knows.

My lessons start, at the moment, at 4 and end at 6. However a few volunteers are leaving and so I will have to take at least one more class which is fine, unless its the youngest (6-8 year olds) as I'm not sure my patience would last the full hour. Anyway we will see what happens. the 14-16 year old class weren't best pleased with the fact they had a test but it only made it more enjoyable passing them all out. I had given them a weekend to go over the content and so really they had only themselves to blame. After they'd all finished I let them play hangman as a treat and they bloody loved it. I then spent a couple of hours marking them. It's interesting to see a clear pattern emerge, where they all seem to understand some rules but fundamentally don't understand basic things so I will have to spend at least one lesson going over that. I've also been told I'm going to have to start working out who to put down a class and who to put up which is going to be difficult. I hate making those decisions. But such is life.

In other news, you will all be incredibly relieved to know that my sunburn is clearing up and very slowly I'm losing my pale british complexion. I'd also like to take this chance to give a shout out to my little bro Alfie who turns 13 tomorrow. You're a teenager now mate and there are going to be a few changes but don't worry it's all normal. Have a great day bro, sorry I can't be there!

Right then, that's it for now. Until next time amigos.

Trip to Waterfall

Saturday night in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is lively. The main street is a wash with kids until late and the bars are full with both locals and tourists. People either shoot pool or dance to Hispanic remixes of Black Eyed Peas and Justin Bieber. Everybody jumps from one bar to the other and the night seems to go on and on. I went home fairly early as for some reason I had agreed to get up at 8 the next morning. I managed to watch 25 minutes of the Arsenal match at 9 am before I went to meet the other volunteers to go to a waterfall. Taxis in San Cristobal are very slightly different to your standard London black cab. They’re all pick up trucks and so one can either sit in the car or in the open top boot at the back. I foolishly sat in the back. The journey lasted 45 minutes and was spent for the majority of the time on a rocky dirt track, which consequently meant that by the time we arrived I couldn’t feel the lower half of my body. We then walked for 25 minutes through the highlands of San Cristobal until we reached the waterfall, which really was beautiful. It was around 5 metres high and the clear pool at the bottom was deep and warm enough to swim in, however I was not warned before that the pool was inhabited by giant prawns which bit your feet. That was certainly a surprise. We stayed there for roughly 40 minutes before we returned to the spot where we had been dropped off. There was a little chill out room where we ate the passion fruits we had picked en route and played some more pool. We got back to town around 2 and I had to rush back home to apologise to the family for not telling them I wouldn’t be there for lunch. However they seem really chilled about that sort of thing and so I didn’t get the beating I was expecting. They kindly kept food back for me. A huge plate of….Rice! I’ve decided I’m going to need to start running to burn off all these carbs.

I’m now chilling in my room about to start writing out the test for the kids. I’m actually in a pretty good mood so I don’t think I will make it too impossible, but if I catch any of them cheating, god have mercy on them. Most of them actually are well behaved and obviously want to learn. They are there out of their own free will as it’s not part of their local school. However in one class there is a small group of 13 olds who think they’re the dogs’ bollocks. A couple of times I’ve asked them a question and they just stare back with this arrogant grin as though to say they couldn’t give a toss. I’m going to be running a tight ship so I might have to assert my dominance to bring them down a few pegs. I don’t quite know yet what I will do, but don’t worry it will be totally legal…ish.

So that’s about it for now. My sunburn is rather painful so I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Until next time.

Snorkelling Trip

Wow. Today we went on a snorkelling trip around San Cristobal. The trip lasted 7 hours, I paid $50 and would have happily paid twice the amount. The first stop was to 'las islas lobos'- translated roughly as the 'sea lion islands'. I've seen plenty of sea lions already but as we snorkelled around the small island, baby sea lions swam right up to us to play. It was slightly unnerving at first as they would swim right up until you were almost nose to nose and so I couldn't tell whether they were about to bite half my face off, but very quickly we realised they meant no harm. They followed us around for about an hour before we went on to our next stop. I said yesterday that I had already been told we MIGHT see sharks and so I wasn't quite prepared to be literally swimming amongst a school of them. It was not a good couple of minutes for me when I got stung on the neck by a jellyfish, only then to look down and see a 6 foot long shark swimming about a foot underneath me. However like the sea lions, the sharks were harmless and I even managed to see a couple of hammerheads as well. We also saw sea turtles (Finding Nemo) and a collection of different rays. Alas I didn't manage to exact my revenge on any sting rays, but I still have 5 weeks left here.

It was one of the most incredible experiences I reckon I will ever have and it was only made sweeter by the news that tottenham drew with Wigan. Now I am sitting in a bar by the port sipping back on a pineapple juice. The only downside today the day is I classically forgot to put sun cream on my back while snorkelling and so now, according to the tour guide today, I look like a lobster. Charming fella.

My experience with Ecuadorian cuisine so far has been very good. A pattern that I have seen emerging in the last few days is that I will most likely be having rice for every single lunch and dinner, which at the moment isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not sure how appetising it will look after 4 weeks. We shall have to wait and see. I'm having dinner in about 2 hours time, and I'm willing to place a bet that it will be rice, fried plantain and chicken. Guaranteed.

Tomorrow I fear shan't be as exciting as today. The only two events I have planned are watching the arsenal match at 9 am, followed by creating a test for the children for monday. I'm very tempted to make it fiendishly difficult and make a pass mark of 95% just to assert my dominance like Mr Doyle when he first started teaching me physics in year 11. The man was a machine. Anyway I digress, Until tomorrow.

more sea lions and tortoises.

Tortoise Shenanigans

Today was an early start. At least I think 6:30 am is early. I soon discovered that by 6:30 that the locals had already started working. My walk from my host family’s house to the school is only a short one along the main road. At the moment it is a complete building site as they are implementing a new water system and so it’s not the most picturesque journey to work. I had to wake up at 6:30 because we went to help out at the tortoise reserve, half an hour drive into the highlands of San Cristobal. We gave the tortoises their food and then went to clear out areas where plants had become overgrown. When I asked how we were going to do that, the park ranger produced a 3 foot long Machete. Never have I felt so powerful. with sharpened machete in hand I laid waste to overgrown shrubbery. However something got lost in translation and I failed to understand when he warned us about the fire ants. I understood soon enough.

Today will be my first day of proper teaching. Up until now I’ve sat at the back watching and picking up tips from other volunteers. The kids’ ability largely varies, from surprisingly well-spoken English to the kid who sits at the back of the class and slaps himself in the face over and over and over again. Though he does provide amusement if not linguistic accuracy. I was fairly calm about the teaching until I was informed yesterday that around 80% of the teaching volunteers are leaving next week and so there will be 4 of us taking on 7 classes, which will certainly be a challenge, but certainly manageable. I hope.

It’s surprising how quickly I’m picking up Spanish. It’s still at a basic level but I am beginning to express myself more accurately and I can hold a conversation for more than 4 or 5 sentences, before I just smile politely and hope I’m not asked any more questions, occasionally slipping in a laugh when it seems appropriate.  I’m going on a snorkelling tour tomorrow around the island where I will apparently swim with sharks. Not quite sure how I feel about that. I’ve also been told to expect to see stingrays as well but after one stung me a few years ago, it’s the rays that should be worried. I will have my revenge. Even if I’m arrested.

So I will tell y’all about it tomorrow. Though if I don’t post anything tomorrow please contact the British embassy in Ecuador to say I am currently being held in a Galapagos prison cell.

Until next time.

Airport and Sea Lions

Finally here

So after a journey, door to door, of 36 hours I finally arrived on the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands. I was hit with that wall of warmth that seems so exotic to anyone from Britain. Due to the fact it’s a world heritage site every tourist on arrival has to pay $100 and so I begrudgingly handed that over at immigration. I was then met by a representative of the volunteer company who took me to the house of the host family who I will be living with for the next 6 weeks. My room is extremely basic as I expected, with just a bed, a small bedside table and an area to keep my clothes. There is actually a fairly sizeable TV in my room, but after two minutes attempting to turn it on I came to the conclusion that it probably hadn’t worked in a very, very long time.  Around 12:30 I had lunch with the father (great lad), his daughter and the grandmother. Now I may have quit Spanish very early on in my A-levels, but shout out to Mr. Urreaga for at least teaching me enough so as to have just about enough to hold a brief and basic conversation. My first meal consisted of soup to start , followed by a main course of a rice dish containing sausages and peppers accompanied by fried bananas. Since lunch I’ve been told to expect fried bananas a lot and I’m fairly confident it’s something I could get used to. Eventully.

At 3 pm I was taken for a tour around the town. The main hub of activity is by the port on the boardwalk with an abundance of cafes and bars. However it wasn’t the shops that attracted my attention. Being in the Galapagos I expected to see wildlife all around but I did not expect Sea Lions to use public benches and sidewalks as areas to sunbathe. The temptation to hug one of them was all too much and I had to be forcibly restrained, tasered and escorted away. I hope people pick up the subtle sarcasm there. After I had been shown around town I was taken to the headquarters of the volunteer organisation where I will be teaching each day. At the moment there are about 9 or 10 other volunteers mostly from all around Europe and a couple from Canada. Speaking to the director of the project, He told me that the town has a population of just over 6,000, with 45% of the population being children. Ecuador has the second highest teenage pregnancy count in South America and so I’m bracing myself for the moment where I see a pregnant 14 year old.  I’ve been told that on Friday morning I will be going to the giant tortoise park to help clean up the area, so I will let you all know if my attempt at stealing one is successful or not.

That’s about all for now folks, but stay tuned for more hilarious antics on a regular basis.

First Post

I haven't done this before, so be kind to me. Sadly to say at the time of writing I haven't actually reached the Galapagos Islands. At this moment I'm 2 hours in to a 14 hour wait in Guayaquil Airport, Ecuador. It's mildly horrific and I'm still bewildered as to what kind of twisted human being would schedule my flights in such a way. I'm sure they're laughing at me wherever they are now. My journey start off with  a 2 hour flight to Madrid followed by a 13 and a half hour flight to my current location. It's currently 10:20 pm local time and 4:20 am London time. 'Go to a hotel' I hear you all cry in unison, but at this moment in time I'm so tired that it makes more sense to find a quiet spot and read 'I Partridge: We Need to Talk about Alan' than risk venturing out of the airport in search of the nearest Holiday Inn. 

The funny thing is that the airport is buzzing. it seems it's a popular night life spot for the locals. Either that or they're waiting for me to fall asleep and rob me of all my possessions. But I like to think I have more faith in humanity than that. Christ, in 5 minutes time I will have been up thereabouts for 25 hours. I suppose it's character building and all part of the 'gap yar' experience. Despite this air of negativity and cynicism produced through sleep deprivation, I really am excited about the next leg of my journey. I will be teaching in a primary school during the week and travelling around the islands during my spare time. I'm staying with a host family and I hope to god I will be able to find somewhere showing premier league football. 

So think of this as an introductory post. I shall hopefully be blogging daily depending on whether I can find an internet connection. Right now I'm going to try and get some sleep. Wish me luck. 

Until next time.