Fast forward: Friday, March 14, 2008: A Remarkable Day!

I begin my day at sunrise, 6AM. It is a glorious day. Bright, sunny and breezy! The calm after last night’s downpour.

I anticipate this day because my mother leaves the convalescent hospital where she has been for the last three months recovering and recuperating from her surgery on January 7th. She is a very strong woman, physically and emotionally. And anyone who knows Alice, knows this. It has been very hard for her to have things done for her because she has always been the one doing things for others. She has gained enough strength through physical therapy that the nurses feel that she will be okay at home. Of course, there is outside help that will come in and assist her for awhile. She has friends to help her readjust. My daughter Ali, God bless her, is spending her Spring Break from college living at my mother’s house helping her grandmother adapt as well as working her regular inventory job to build up her bank account. I consider my mother’s going home my Easter gift, wrapped in cellophane with a big pink and yellow bow, forget the chocolate bunny and colored eggs. This is our Easter miracle.

Today, I am up early enough to make real coffee before I bike to the Station for breakfast. I have never used this kind of cylinder plunger carafe coffee maker before. This house has a big 5 gallon water cooler to have fresh water to drink, and there are no formal measuring tools available to me; no 1 cup measure, no Tablespoon. I find a saucepan and eyeball the amount of water to boil. I look to make more than one cup and save the rest for iced coffee over the weekend. That sounds just perfect to me! I light the gas burner, and put the water on the stove to boil. I bought and brought a bag of Galapagos coffee, appropriately named Lava Java, with me. I take it from the freezer and measure 2 heaping tablespoons for the carafe. I think that this is good enough. I pour the boiling water into the carafe and stir it. I don’t know if you are supposed to, but I do it anyway. Then I test a tablespoon just to see the color. It doesn’t look very dark to me so I add more coffee and stir it again. This is more like it. I put the ground coffee package back in the freezer and I am ready to plunge the coffee and see what I have created. I pour a cup, and it looks good. There isn’t any container or pitcher here for me to pour the remainder into, so I pour another cup, and then another. Good. I add my milk and take a sip. Remarkable!

I am very worried about my computer. It acted so weird last night and all. I think that I may as well face the inevitable and plug it in and turn it on. It works! I am so elated that I say, Thank you God, right out loud in the middle of the dining room. Remarkable!

Yesterday I forgot to put my computer out of sight. Mandy said just in case a.) there is a break-in and robbery, or b.) the workmen working on the house come inside, it would be best to keep it hidden from view. I have chosen to “hide” it in Molly’s room on the bottom shelf of her bookcase among her toys, books and shoes. I pack up my computer and hide it upstairs.

I start and finish getting ready for work and using the water. I need to turn it off while I am gone. No need to have repeat of Tuesday.  I decide that I will bring my dirty clothes back to the dorm area and use the washing machine. Hopefully no one will be using it this morning and I can start my laundry before breakfast.

I remember that I want to dump the compost from the kitchen onto the pile outside; coffee grounds plus wooden match sticks; not a whole lot of composting, but better to get it out of the house.

It is 7:10 and time to get gone! My regular backpack stuff on my back and my laundry in a plastic bag in the front basket. My bike ride is not too hazardous. My brakes work without squealing today. There is one giant puddle in front of a speed bump on the National Park/Research Station road. I hop off the bike, walk the bike on the loose volcanic rock sidewalk around the bump, and jump on the bike and go. There are groups of touristas walking to the Station to see the environs and the tortugas this morning. I wind my way around them, saying Hola! Buenos Dias! as I ride by.

I bike to the dorms first to see if the washing machine is empty, and it is not. Drats! I think to myself, if I wasn’t so damn cheap I would just drop my wash at the local launderer. It opens at 7:30 AM and closes at 8:30 PM, and you pay by the pound. I have no idea what it costs per pound though, so I think I will still do my own laundry.

I open my room and drop the bag of dirty laundry in. I see Lilith as she comes out of her room. She asks me if I am going to breakfast and I say Yes, I will meet you there because I have my bike. We are all set to meet and eat on the porch of the comedor. The waitress, Maria, knows what I want already, but asks Lilith what she wants. As a vegetarian, she eats eggs, cheese, but no fish, meat, or fowl. I don’t know how she can pass up an egg for breakfast, but she tells me that the cook will make her eggs at lunchtime. Ah-ha, the lightbulb.

At breakfast, she tells me her friends are here and she is going with them to Isabela today on the 2 PM boat. I tell her that I want a full accounting describing what she does, where she stays, where she ate, what the boat ride is like, all of it. I really want to visit this island with George when he’s here. It is the biggest island and it has three tall volcanoes and four smaller ones on it. From Villamil, the town, you can climb up to one of the bigger volcanoes, Sierra Negra. I think that you can get a bus or taxi ride part of the way up (to a small mountain town, Santo Tomás) and then you can go on horseback for the next part of the ascent, and then even the horses can’t climb it, you have to walk the rest of the way on your own two feet. Anyway, I really want to go.

It is time to go to open the Library and I get the key to the Library’s bodega. This is a store room of old runs of journals, plus the Galapagos Research newsletter/magazine that the Station produces. This newsletter is the journal that the Library exchanges for other similar journals out there in Serial land. I only have an inkling of the work involved with this exchange program, but Paulina has asked me to help her figure it out. What I am curious about is the dehumidifier in this area. Occasionally, but not regularly, a Station employee will come into the Library, and ask for the keys to the bodega. He empties the dehumidifier here and in the Library, and I haven’t seen him for days. I think that I am doing the right thing, but when I go to take out the removable tray, it is not even full. There must be someone else who has a key to this space who empties it daily. Hmm. The things you learn. 

I go back into the Library and dump my dehumidifier. At least I know that the other one has someone watching it and emptying it. I start the OPAC PC and the Librarian’s PC. I think that the day is so spectacular outside that if anyone comes into the Library today, I will be surprised. Not to mention that it is Friday. Fridays, I have found, are really slow Library user days. I read and write some email messages. Normally, I would not do this during work hours, but today is The Remarkable Day. I get one from my friend, Marion, who is organizing my mother’s transition to her house today. She writes me and others who is doing what when and how. I am happy to read it. I pray that it all works out.

I have Library work to do. I keep finding errors in the database and upgrading it as I go along. When Michael Dvorak was in the Library he got me to thinking about the California Academy of Sciences and then the American Museum of Natural History. There was an email once a while back on a listserv (?), in the Scout Report (?) in the Docuticker (?) that indicated that the AMNH had all of its publications digitized and, cataloger that I am, I wrote to ask the Librarian if there were individual bib records for each title in MARC format available. I think the final upshot was No. But think of all of those Bulletins of the AMNH that have been published over the years. Cowabunga! What a gold mine. I get to amnh.org online and find the digital library. I search the word Galapagos for any of the AMNH publications and get 23 hits. I compare the Library OPAC data and holdings with the hits. The PDFs are humongous. There is even a warning on the amnh website indicating that these files are huge and there is a Download FAQ, to help the innocent user. As the morning draws to noon, the Internet slows way down. There is no way that I would ever download any large files like these. I just upgrade the bib records, adding the MARC 856 field for the URL.

I catalog and input one title that the CDRS Library does not own already. I know that I am supposed to have a PDF file to go with it, but I do not. Access to the information, at least in my mind, is just as good as having a giant PDF file that I wouldn’t be able to push to anyone here anyway. Too big! This is the real virtual library, baby! (And I am once again reminded how my daughter loves oxymorons. How about “real virtual” for a new one?)

When nature calls, I take a break and leave a note on the Library door. I go to the dorm bathroom and check the laundry again. Regrettably, the laundry that was in there this morning is still in the washer. I don’t think that it is a good idea to take another person’s clothes out of the washer because I wouldn’t want someone taking my clothes out of the washing machine. So I am stuck until the mystery person takes out his or her laundry.

I decide today I am going to seriously look at the Tee-shirts that they sell at the Station. There are two tiendas by the torugas; one for ice cream and drinks, another for books, posters, maps and clothing. I look at logos, see one that I want, but it comes only size is XS. Ugh! I find another that has Darwin’s finches on the back, and I try it on and buy a size Medium. It is a little tight, but it will do. I buy two circular Charles Darwin Research Station stickers, too. Total, $15 and change.

I go back to work happy with my purchases, and work on cataloging, the OPAC and the AMNH stuff. And it’s lunchtime. I lock the Library and head to the dorm to wash my hands. I look in the washing machine , it is still not empty, and I think, maybe it would have been better to have brought my laundry to the local MonYFri launderer, not even a block away from the house where I am staying. Oh darn it! I made the decision to bring it here and do it here. Get over it!

Again I see Lilith at the dorm. She is packing for her trip. Are you going to lunch? I ask. No. She is meeting her friends for lunch, then the boat trip. I tell her to have a great time. And I head down the hill to the comedor. Great lunch today. Chicken soup, chicken fried rice with veggies and two fried slices of plantain, pineapple juice, and a fruit medley for dessert. I love this place!

I leave the cafeteria as soon as I am done eating to walk to see if the washer is empty, and no, it is not. I have lots of time to spare so I go to my room, flop down on my bed and read. In the dorm, I am reading Curse of the Giant Tortoise; at the house, I am reading Beak of the Finch. I am learning so much reading this book. Rosemary and Peter Grant, David Lack, Robert Bowman, all are writers of Galapagos classics.

It is time to go back to the Library, but I see Juan Carlos and Roberto packing. Hmm. Que pasa? They are going on the boat at 2 PM to Isabela! Yikes! I tell them that Lilith will be on that boat, too. I ask them to give me a full report on this island. Roberto says that there is a festival there this weekend, maybe for their Independencia. Ah-ha! Those guys are going for the par-tee. They might be back Sunday, definitely Monday. Have fun, gotta run. And I open the Library for 2 PM.

The afternoon grinds by. And by that I mean waiting for the Internet to load and finish the AMNH titles. There must be something that can be done about this, but I can only imagine that it would cost money.

So I put a note on the door and go and get the mail. There are 10 or 12 new journals, 3 of which are Nature. I alphabetize them and leave them on the other desk. I’m supposed to be cataloging. Around 4 PM, I see that George has sent me an email. I am so frustrated with the Internet because I can’t even reply to him without getting a ‘time out’ on the send.

I open IE instead of Firefox and use the HTML version of Gmail. I write, I am here but the Internet is slow, in the Subject line and send it. It actually goes through. E-yeow! It is 4 PM here, 6 PM at home. George decides to phone me. The phone rings, Hola Library! And it is George! We talk about stuff, my Mom, our daughter, our friends. It is great to hear his voice. He says the same about mine. I tell him that we shouldn’t talk more than a couple of minutes; these international calls are expensive. We say I love you I miss you and see ya, good bye. Again. Remarkable!

I close the Library and try that damn washing machine one more time. If it is still full, I will do my laundry tomorrow when I am back on the campus for breakfast and my Internet fix in the Library. But Lo and behold, it is empty. I tell Mari Cruz that I will hang around and do my laundry. She is hot and thirsty, so I head to the washer, she to the tienda. But I am hot too, and think to buy her a drink and spend some time with her. She is halfway down the hill talking to Toby and Zonni. They are talking directions to a restaurant. I say, What a day! And they agree. It was and is absolutely gorgeous today. No rain, just sun, sun, sun. Remarkable!

Mari breaks away from them and I ask her about the directions. She says that Toby and Zonni are meeting Michael (see above) for dinner and she has been invited too. Nice, I say. She says Yeah, and the Grants. I say, The Peter and Rosemary Grants? She says Yeah. OMG! These are the people who put Darwin’s finches on the evolution world map! They have been studying the finches on Daphne Major since 1973! Mari Cruz said that she saw them at the Research Station at lunch. What!? I tell her the next time she sees them to find me. I want to ask Peter if he brought the Library a copy of his just published book, but really I just want to meet the gurus.

We go to the tienda and I buy groceries and a drink for Mari. And we walk back to the dorm room. Mari doesn’t have a bike, but another volunteer, Annie, is also off this island for the weekend (is this beginning to get repetitious? My money is on Isabela, yours too?). And she said that Mari could borrow her bike if Mari watered her plants in exchange.

I say that I think I know where Annie lives, just behind the house where I am staying. I can see her 3rd floor apartment from the roof deck there. Mari does not want to walk to town and not have the correct house and who can blame her? She says Dario knows. She finds Dario and I check my laundry. It washed fine, but the water is all blue. Whoops! And I am not convinced of the spin cycle, right now it is just soaking, a bad sign. I am game to walk my bike into town while Dario walks his bike into town to show Mari where Annie’s house is. Then we three will all have bikes for the weekend. I figure the laundry might be okay, just let it run its course.

We head toward town at 6:15 PM, my usual time to be coming down from the roof deck to make and eat dinner at my “house.”  There are scores of people leaving the Station Beach and walking to town ahead of us. Every once and again, we can pass these folks, but we only end up behind another group.

We take the right, exactly as I would to go “home.” We take another right, my street. I say, I think that it is this house, pointing to a pinky orange colored 3 story building. And Dario says Yes, that’s it. I say Goodbye and that I hope Mari has fun tonight. I tell her if the Grants show up, tell Peter that your roommate is the Librarian, and did he bring his book to donate? She smiles and laughs. I hope that she does get to meet and eat dinner with the Grants, and I hope that she has the nerve to tell Peter what I just said.

When I get to the gate of the house, there is a chain drawn across it and I did not leave it this way when I left this morning. I freak because I don’t know exactly how to undo this chain. But then I remember trying to use the chain on the first night here and that I could not figure out how it worked. If you don’t pull it but push it, it unlocks. Lucky for me, it unlocks. I wonder who has been here and left the chain on the lock.

I pull the groceries out of the bike’s basket and bring them into the house and drop them. Daylight is a-wasting and I have to bike back to the Station and my laundry.  I turn the front porch light on, and I am racing the setting sun. As I bike, I think that if the laundry did spin, I will pack it into a plastic bag and bring it back to the house and hang it up to dry tomorrow.

I get to the dorm to see that the washer’s dial has finished its actions, but only the water has drained out, it never did spin. I take the soaking wet laundry out of the washer and bring it over to the clothesline. I fold them over the clothes line afraid to use clothespins for the weight of them. I will let them drip dry. It is getting darker by the minute so I go into my room and grab the flashlight, to be used as a headlight if I need it, and I spray my legs, arms and head with bug spray. I bike back to the house as fast as my little legs can pump me. I look longingly at the launderer as I bike past and think that I will not be doing my laundry at the dorms anymore. In fact, I might even bring the laundry I just washed to this laundry tomorrow!! Is that remarkable? Probably not, more like stupidity.

I get home to the lighted porch and did not have to use my flashlight as a headlight to see my way there. I am very hot and sweaty, truly wanting a cold drink. I go to wash my hands and the water that I turned off this morning needs to be turned on. I trek up to the roof and dial the water, I go downstairs and wash my hands. I make a peach juice with extra water and ice. It tastes great. I eat my bran cereal with extra raisins and milk, and it tastes great, too. I take a cold shower, the only kind they have here and it feels refreshing instead of awfully cold.

I am happy that I disguised my PC since I know that someone was either in the house or in the yard today. I’m thinking that Mandy and Mark have a housekeeper who comes on Mondays and Fridays, but I don’t know that for sure. If she came here today, it sure doesn’t look any different than when I left.

I pull out my PC and blog. I am happy to have had such A Remarkable Day!

Sunday, March 02, 2008

It is Sunday, and it is the Lenten season. Easter is a few weeks away and I haven’t found a church yet for service. I’d better get on it! Of course, I’m mostly hanging out with scientists and young students or volunteers (Do they go to church?). I’ll ask Paola.

I found out last night during my ‘nature’s call’ that we don’t have water again. And that the fan was left on all last night, which was probably a good thing. The humidity is very high and it is warm. The bed sheets last night as I covered up felt like they had been just washed and put on the bed. It’s that moist. And I found out that my computer never shut down! I opened the screen and shut it down. I looked at my watch with my flash light, it was 4:15 AM!

I remember just a little bit of my dream. I was sleeping here in this bed, but I awoke in a brightly lit, white tiled room. No bed, no nothin’. The white exit door had a little door in it at chest height. A voice called into me and I replied. I’m not sure if I was speaking English, and I’m not sure whose voice it was, but in my dream it was a very real place, not dreamlike at all. I was pretty scared and I thought that if I go to sleep again, I will wake up in my dorm room. I must say that when I awoke at 6:30 AM, I was totally relieved to be in my dorm room in the Galapagos. Welcome to my wine enhanced nightmare! (Of course, it could have been the food I ate!!)

I dress and walk to the bathroom. No water still. Not having water is really frustrating! I walk to the Library get my remaining two jugs of dehumidifier water, and bring them to the women’s bathroom. I wash my face and hands and use up one gallon. I leave the other water for anyone else to use. In a few hours, I will get another gallon from emptying the dehumidifier again.

At least I have a clean face and hands. I decide to eat breakfast. It being Sunday, I have cereal. The kitchen had another flood last night but it was from the rain last night pouring under the screen door. The kitchen leaves a lot to be desired, to put it mildly. From my room I bring the milk I bought yesterday, cereal, raisins, water, spoon, and my red plastic glass. In the kitchen, I get a bowl and my juice from the fridge. This will be a feast! I prep at the big table and stand and eat. And, so do the mosquitoes! I slap and kill 3 or 4 on my legs and ankles before I can finish my cereal and get the heck out this place! Mari always puts on insect repellant to go into the kitchen. Maybe she is right.

I go back to my room, make my bed, and fire up the laptop to charge the battery. I write this part of today’s entry. As I write, nature calls again, and this time, it’s more like going to the outhouse, esp. because there is no water to flush with. I take it upon myself to use up the whole gallon of dehumidifier water to fill the toilet tank and flush it as best as can be accomplished. Not very pretty. But now that I have figured out that there is hot water in the showers, I can wash my hands in hot water, and that is great!

Now I think that I will write about stuff that I have observed, but so far haven’t written about. The birds. There is great bird life around the dorm and even without a rooster, one awakens to the sound of chirping, twitters and songs. The Yellow Warbler has by far the sweetest melody. The LGBs (Little Gray Birds, as my father in law did, and my husband now, calls them) are everywhere. Of course, these are Darwin’s Finches, mostly the Small Ground, Small Tree, and Warbler Finch. There are many Galápagos Mockingbirds, too. I have seen Smooth-billed Anis fighting in the shrubs out the back window of the dorm. I have even seen a Yellow-crowned Night Heron wandering around outside the lighted kitchen, eating Large Painted Locusts as they bang themselves against the screen door, are stunned and repelled, then eaten!

I wish that there were more of them eating the locusts. There are usually 4 or 5 locusts hopping and jumping around in the kitchen at night. If the outside or even inside light is on, they are right there under the illumination. If you open the door to in or out, then they jump in. You could spent an evening of just catching the ones in the kitchen and trying to get them back outside, just as another one will hop in and you are at it again. Trust me, I know this.

Around the dorm, there are lizards and an occasional gecko. The geckos in Puerto Ayora are transplants from Guayaquil (Phyllodactylus reissi). As I’ve written before, they are very cute! The lizards all scamper all over the place. You can be walking along and they are so well camouflaged that they can startle you! Those little imps! Sometimes I will see one with a shortened tail, sometimes I will see one where the tail has regenerated, but the color is more monotone. Fascinating little creatures.

The touristas. I probably have mentioned that my dorm is not very far from the Giant Tortoise pens. The Charles Darwin Research Station, and this area in particular, is on every cruise itinerary as a port of call. Everyone wants to see those big turtles and Lonesome George. Somehow the touristas think that they are alone and there is no one but themselves to chatter on with. These people amaze me. Hollering back and forth to one another at 7 AM on the path. Their noise usually wakes me up, if I am not up already.

I blog until it is lunch time. Then I bike into town for a meal at the kioskos. The soup is always hot, the meal nothing special, but it is good enough, for $3.50. Funny how during the week, I have dessert at lunch every day. Here there is no dessert, and I miss it!

I take my sweet time coming back to through town and remember to call my Mom. I speak to her at the Convalescent Hospital, now that she will answer the phone. I say, Hello Mother, this is your daughter. She can’t believe it, and says No it’s not. I say Yes it is, and we have a nice conversation.
She tells me she is doing fine, getting better all the time. I know this as everyone who sees her emails me. But I am happy to hear her voice, just as she must be to hear mine. I leave the phone booth happy and glad that I called.

I bike the rest of the way to the dorm on a contented high. Just plain old glad to have done something so simple as a phone call.

When I get back to the room, I tell Mari that I got to talk to my Mom and she sounded good and she is getting stronger every day and will be out of the hospital in two or three weeks. Amazing.

I play my Rise of Atlantis computer game until dinner. Which, of course, is cereal again. I read until lights out.

Saturday, March 1, 2008: First of March already!

Even though I went to sleep late last night, I am awake by 6:15 this morning. There is a telephone outside on the wall of our complex two doors down, and it just rings and rings. I have never answered it. It is frightening enough to have to answer the Library phone when it rings! Hola Library! Then either the person speaks English or starts to speak Spanish. I say, Habla inglés? And if they say No, then I have to say that I don’t speak Spanish. I’m sure that it is as frustrating for them as it is for me.

Anyway, this morning someone was persistent with their phone call and it did just ring and ring. Good thing I was awake! I try not to make too much noise as I want Mari to sleep. I have no idea what time they came back last night. I think it was 2:15 AM when I had my “nature call” to the ladies room last night and she still wasn’t back.

I grab all of the stuff I need for a shower, and head to the bathroom. Ah. No water! This is really getting old. So I scrap that idea, get dressed and head to the Library for an Internet connection and email reading and writing. At 8:50, I lock the Library and head for breakfast. Sam, the interpreter, is walking up the hill from the cafeteria pulling his suitcase through the dirt road. Just as I say Hello, you can’t be leaving already! The cook and waitress are being driven down to the cafeteria in a taxi to start breakfast. Sam turns around and we sit on the outside porch at the comedor and talk during our meal. He has been interpreting for some bigwigs who are trying to figure out how to keep more of the tourist cruise money in Ecuador, specifically the Galapagos. The cruise ships need to get a special permit at the cost of $20K, but it is a lifetime permit. Sam says that these boats make a half a million dollars a year easy. So this upfront lifetime permit doesn’t help the Galapagueños all that much over time. He was hired to interpret, and may be back again in the beginning of April, to help with more talks on this subject.

So this is how it works, you meet people staying here and they are either here for the long haul (over a year) or they are here for a week or so, and then gone. I like Sam esp. because his mother was a librarian in New York somewhere and retired to New Mexico and she is president of her town library’s friends group, and runs the annual book sale. Once a librarian, always a librarian.

We leave together and I go back to the Library. While I’m walking, I look at my watch. Holy smoke! I almost forgot that I ordered cerviche for today, to be delivered to Room 3 around 9:30. I walk up the path and someone asks me, Cerviche? I say Yes. He says, Talk to Bryan Milstead. I’m confused but say Okay. I find Bryan and yes, he is about to go get the cerviche. He asks where I want it delivered and I say How about the Library? He is good with that and I go to the Library. I email a few friends, read most of my ECSU mail and I hear a noise outside the door. I figure that it is Bryan and he is having difficulty with his bike or something. I open the door, and there is a very big Marine Iguana trying to figure out how to get out of the foyer of the library. I quickly go inside and grab my camera. When I walk out the door, that spooks him and he hustles through the doorway and out. I go past him and try to take his picture in the doorway. Well, that’s not going to happen! I snap a couple pix and go back inside. Next sound that I hear outside is Bryan delivering the goods. I get a container of cerviche and a little bag of popcorn. Somehow these two foods go together down here because it is not the first time I have had them in combination.

As I walk up to the dorm, I see Mari with a group going off to town. I ask if we have water yet, and she says No. I told her that I tried to be quiet this morning and wanted to take a shower, but there was no water. She says that if I just wanted to take a hot shower, there is water. Duh! It never occurred to me that the hot water is from the solar tank, and the tap water is pumped from the station! I file that into my brain, and go to put my cerviche in the refrigerator, the popcorn in my room.

I head back to the Library for more online stuff. I am researching (still) Galapagos cruises for George and I to take when he gets here. I get an email from my cousin and we write back and forth about my Mother and her recovery from her surgery.

I know that breakfast is later on Saturdays, and I am thinking so is lunch. At 1:30, I head to the comedor, only to find out that I am too late, and it is closed. Drats! I have the cerviche, maybe I will eat that. I go to the room and Mari is there getting ready with the rest of the volunteers to go to the Tortuga Bay Beach for the afternoon, Do you want to come? I say No. I want to bike to town, shop and call my Mother. There are businesses in town that have just Internet, and others that are just phone booths. It’s pretty weird but I guess that it makes sense because I need to make an international call.

Mari suggests that I go out to lunch too while I am in town. She is right. I will go to town to eat lunch, shop, and then call my Mom. I grab some cash and head out. It is an easy bike ride to the kioskos and I park my bike on the street and head into one that I have eaten at before and it has pollo on the menu. Good thing. I go to sit outside under the roof, but the TV is turned to a soccer game (and they get good reception) so I sit inside at a table with a good view of the TV and near enough to the door so if there is a breeze I will catch it. The soup is very hot. Perfecto! The chicken comes plated with 2 heaps of rice and a salad which consists of two big slices of cooked potato sitting on two pieces of lettuce, two pieces of tomato, a teeny slice of hard boiled egg all with a peanut sauce on top. This place kills me, rice with potatoes! Whew!

I pull a bottle of water from their refrigerated case and the waiter gives me a glass of juice which I forgot comes with my meal. The juice is red and sweet, maybe strawberry? Anyway, it has ice cubes in it and I am not afraid to have a drink with ice. Hopefully my stomach has “gone native” by now, otherwise, I guess I will find out the hard way! I take my time eating and watch the game. Then I pay and I am off to the big supermercado. I find some 50% less fat milk to buy and a set of cookware to bring as a gift to the housewarming party I have been invited to tonight. I leave there and start biking home. I pass one telephone booth establishment and it is cerrado. It isn’t that late in the day for this to be closed. I am a little upset that I can’t call my Mom. I will try again tomorrow morning to see if any phone booth stores are open.

I bike home. I arrive and I am all alone. Everyone is still at the beach. I have an hour before I need to get ready, and you know what that means: back to the Library for email. On my way there I meet a woman who I have met before and she says to me I wonder if the Library is open. I say I think so. She’d like to read her email. We turn the corner to the Library’s walkway and she says, No the Library is closed. I say, No it’s not, I’m about to open it (and read my email). I’m the Librarian. She says, You’re the Librarian? I say Yeah. We go inside where it is cool and she sets up her laptop and we talk a little bit. Her name is Sarah H., and she is studying Darwin’s Medium Ground Finch, grew up in Ohio, went to UMass-Amherst for school, and lives in Virginia now. She reads and I read and she leaves and I leave.

Back at the dorms, we have water now, Hooray! And I was going to shower anyway, so I do.

I wear a skirt, my Librarian Tee-shirt, earrings, and my new necklace. This is a party after all! I think that I have this great gift for Mandy and Mark, but nothing for little Molly. I grab the box of cookies from Poland and start to walk back to town. On my way there, I pass two “gift” shops, and I see little ceramic turtles, lizards, etc. How much? Two dollars. I thank them and move to the next shop. I look inside and find a big sticker, How much? Two dollars. As I walk out of the store, I see bracelets with elastic string. How much? One dollar. Perfecto. I buy a little fake pearl bracelet for Molly, and I am walking again. When I turn the corner, I see Dennis Geist 100 feet or so in front of me walking to the party too. When he turns to see if he can cross the street, he sees me and I wave. Are you going to Mark’s party? Yes. He waits until I catch up. We cut through the park on the corner and Lo and behold, there is Paola and her daughter on the basketball court. I say Hello and introduce Paola to Dennis. She asks me how I am doing in the Library and I say fine. What about the book that the woman in San Cristobal wanted. I found it and it was in the Archive. Everything is okay. Don’t worry. Email me any time if I have a question. I will.

Dennis asks me if the Library is open tomorrow. I say it can be if you want it to be. He says that the office he was in got gutted for a retrofit of some kind and he doesn’t have Internet access. I say What time do you want to meet? He says 9 AM, and I say Fine, I’ll be there.

He figures out which house it is and we go in. We aren’t late, but we aren’t early either. There are a ton of little kids, and I find Molly. She is the first one I give a present to. Her eyes light up. I know I did the right thing. Then I give Mandy the cookware gift. She seems happy to have it. I tell her that it is small, and she can use them as serving dishes. She says that’s fine. She needs small. Then I put the box of Polish cookies on the table.

I find the wine and a glass and I roam around the house. It is very modern in its own way. This is the house where I will house sit and I will get pictures of it in a week. It has a fabulous covered 3rd floor balcony where you can see out to the Bay, and there is a hammock there too. I know where I will be! Can’t wait to try it up there in a rainstorm too.

I meet a few people and talk to a very nice older German woman, the mother in law of the BIOMAR guy. I have another glass of wine and eat some fruit salad and peanut and raisins. I am beat, and tell Mandy that I am headed home.

I walk home in the dark that isn’t so dark again. Freddy bikes by saying Hola Kris! And he is gone. I get to the room and Mari has just finished her shower and had a good day at the beach.

I sit and we talk a little. She asks how my phone call went, and I had to say that I didn’t make it. I almost can’t face writing my blog tonight, but I get up and start writing. It’s 10 PM and Mari has to work tomorrow, poor kid! I’m calling it a day.

Friday, February 29, 2008: Leap Year Day

These days start the same. You know my drill. But this morning on the way out of the comedor, I find the marine iguanas have been seriously thinking about using inflatable lifeboats instead of swimming in the ocean. I get much better pix today of the marine iguanas in lifeboats! This is crazy!

The Library was a happening place this morning. A young woman, a student, who lives in the dorms where I live, is here reading her undergraduate thesis on ecotourism and its effect on marine life. It is 145 pages, and she will be giving a presentation on it on Monday, March 3.

Mandy is here using the Internet connection with her laptop. I told her today that I would definitely house sit for them while they are back in Ecuador.

Two persons came in looking for information on Galapagos bats. We had a total of three articles. I photocopied them and they were satisfied. All of the articles had good bibliographies so that will help them, but I still want to look in BioOne for more. Thank you ECSU and Smith Library!

The guy who came in before with Bryan Milstead, looking for all the world like Indiana Jones, is back and wanting a map of the island of Floreana this time. He lost his map, and will settle for a photocopy. He is digging around in the map case for a good map. Turns out this guy is Dr. Frank Sulloway from UC-Berkeley, a Darwin historian and all around Galapagos writer. The Library has a number of his articles, not the least of which is “Is Lonesome George really lonesome?”

Mandy strikes up a conversation with him, as Bryan has mentioned to her that “Indy” is here and working around the Station. Bryan has described him as: always wearing a green shirt and a big hat. Of course the big tip-off was that he was looking at maps. They talk about the Wittmer family and the mysterious deaths surrounding that name. He asks if there are any books on Floreana, and I just so happen to know where they are. I’m thinking 6 months here and I will know where everything is!

And that was just my morning in the Library! Sticking to my lunchtime routine, I go to the dorms to wash my hands. No water again! Cripes! But I have my stash of dehumidifier water so I can at least wash up for lunch.

At lunch, I sit with the guy who is the Head of BIOMAR and he asks me how the Library business is. I say Busy, and tell him all of the stuff that went on there already today without dropping any names. He indicates that he is glad that the Library is being used. Ah, me too!

I eat a quick lunch and I go back to the room to read. I have to say that Kurt Vonnegut definitely has his very own style of writing. His Galapagos is totally wild. Must be that I haven’t read Vonnegut in a long, long time. I think that he was certifiably crazy. Plus he always relates some character’s experience in his book to his being in the Vietnam War. These are the one or two gut-wrenching sentences that bring the early 60s back into focus for him, and for me. And I write no more on this subject.

I go back to work, open the Library at 1:40 PM and start in with a quick check on email. Luis, Head of Volunteers, has received my email saying that one of the dorm refrigerators is broken. I’d say! The door fell right off the hinges. There was water all over the floor as the frost in the freezer melted away.  Maybe I should write a book about this place using the Vonnegut writing style. On second thought, maybe not!

In the afternoon, 2 more people come in to the Library; one is returning his book, the other a student using the OPAC to her advantage and letting me know when she finds the call number of a book she wants.

I am working on a bibliography of items accessioned and cataloged for January and February. While I compile it, I double check my cataloging in the OPAC. I cataloged 24 items from scratch, added a few PDF copy 2s to the paper copy already in existence, and data entered two books; one on the natural history of Hawaii, the other an Autobiography of Chuck, er, Charles Darwin. Both were already on the shelf but not in the OPAC. In all, not too shabby, for my first time cataloging articles, books, reports and an atlas (all in Dewey!).

I have to shut the Library when nature calls, so I head back to the dorm bathrooms and see Mari while I am there. Tonight is the last night of a 3-night women’s round robin soccer tourney. Mari plays on the Station’s team and it is the consolation game, #3 plays #4. UNIGAL, Municipio, Policia, and Fundación Charles Darwin. I remember reading the email announcement on Wednesday, saying that there would be indoor futbol tourney. Of course, indoor futbol is a misnomer. It is not played indoors and to me it is not football, but soccer!

I ask her, What time is the game? 6 PM, I have to leave here at 5:30, she says. I tell her that I’m definitely going and I will be back in our room by 5:20. See you later.

No one comes into the Library from 4 to 5. I decide to type up the labels for the books that I cataloged, to process them on Monday morning. Sometime over the weekend, I will send my New Acquisitions bibliography out to Paola and Susana for their review, before I send it to the person who will send it to all of the FCD email addresses.

At 5:30, Mari and I start walking to town to the soccer court, and the CDF truck drives by. It stops and Mari and I climb in the back, happy to have the ride. We get to the Police station and there is a basketball/soccer court behind the police complex right on the water(!) There is a men’s game already in progress, and there is a little platform with chairs which passes for the grand stand. We sit and watch as more and more people arrive. I take a few pix. How can you not when this court has one of the best views of Academy Bay? You can see all of the tourist boats in the harbor, and Isla Santa Fe on the horizon. It is dusk and the onshore breeze keeps most of the biting insects away. It is quite the perfect setting.

The soccer game is played on the basketball court; 5 persons to a team, including the keeper (goalie) with a smaller than regulation size soccer ball. Even though the field is concrete and you might think that the players would play soft, but the game is actually played pretty hard and physical. In the game, the goalie can kick the ball into the opponent’s goal to score. Of course on a regulation soccer field this might happen, but I saw it happen on this basketball court/soccer field tonight. Any time the Station’s team almost scores, the Station women “in the stands” squeal. It’s so funny to hear their high pitch screaming. Any time the Station’s team actually scores, the guys from the Station who are standing at the end zone, do the wave! We certainly had fun, and the players played hard and well. Final score: Estación women 11, UNIGAL women 4. I think 75-80 people turned out to watch it. And of course it was a great game, esp. because we won.

When it is over, everyone runs out onto the court to congratulate the team. I give high fives all around. Great game! Great game! Etc. I tell Mari I’m going to head back and I leave the group. This is the first Friday night that I have been in town. There is a lot of activity. An artisans walkway that I have only ever seen closed (during the day) is open. I walk down the sidewalk and take a look. The stands have really ugly souvenirs for sale; little ceramic tortoises, flamingoes, penguins, iguanas, etc. I find a stand with necklaces. One is $3; 2 for $5. The necklace itself is waxed string, but there is a nut of some kind that is carved hanging from it. Again the images are of flamingoes, tortoises, dolphins, and frigate birds; some are flat, but I find one that is ½ barrel shaped. It has the word Galápagos carved on it too and I am out $3 as I pay and put it on to wear home.

Well now that I spent the money that I would have for dinner on a necklace, I definitely head to the Station. Because I will be walking back in the night, I have my flashlight with me. I can’t believe that it is not completely black and dark. I can see well enough to only turn my flashlight on occasionally. I walk in the middle of the road. There are so many speed bumps made of concrete (a nice light color easily seen this night) that I can negotiate the walk easily.

I am halfway from the Galapagos National Park gate to the Station when Juan Carlos bikes up from behind saying Hola Kris! I recognize his voice. He slows and we walk back together. He has not been feeling well as of late and came back to eat dinner. I am pretty hungry myself.

In the kitchen, he heats up some water for coffee and takes out his rolls and mozzarella cheese and makes a sandwich. I have cereal with raisins and peach juice with a real pear that I bought the other day at la tienda.

We talk about the words: spoon/cuchara and roll/empanada. He says Rolla? And I say, Roll. He says, Roll? and then gestures like a wheel rolling, I say Yes. Then he says, like Rock and Roll? And I have to say, Yeah, same word. He shakes his head, smiling. Yep! English sure is goofy.

I say Good night to him and leave him to his coffee and cheese sandwich. I’m going to go read. Ha! I write this blog. Mari is back from town and she and others are going to go back once the team has showered and dressed for a night on the town. It’s 11:10 PM, and they are ready to go out. Ah, to be young! For me, it’s time for Lalaland. Happy Leap Year!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008: Wheels!

Today started like any other day. I shower in the morning, and dress for breakfast. I go and eat my usual fare and open the Library and start working.

At 9 AM, I make the phone call to Graciela and finally she is there. Muy bien. She speaks English so it isn’t difficult to set up a time during lunch break to see the bike. She gives me a better description of the front of her house, so I will recognize it. Stone wall red bougainvillea hanging over it, with a wooden door. I will leave the Library at Noon, I tell her I will be there at 12:30. I have my $50 in my wallet, so I am all set.

Mandy comes in and I tell her that I am going to look at the bike today at lunchtime. She is happy for me, and I am happy for me, we are happy. At 11, the 747 flies overhead so I know that it is raining outside. Mandy has her bike outside, and I wonder if there is anything in it that shouldn’t get wet. Her laptop and backpack are inside, but her daughter’s plastic purse is in the front basket. It is okay to get wet. Mandy has a different luncheon engagement today and won’t be eating at the commodore today. This is the second time I have heard the cafeteria called the commodore. Hmm. I think about this with puzzlement, but then the light bulb lights! It is not a commodore, but a comedor; a place to comer or eat! These Spanish have a different word for everything!

Mandy asks if she can leave her stuff here and just bike (in the rain) to lunch. Most definitely! I surely don’t care. I lock up the Library, and open my trusty OSJL umbrella and walk to town. Since I have better directions with better descriptions, I am sure to find the house today. And I do. There it is as described. The wall and gate are so high I can’t see in. I try to open the gate, but it is locked. I knock on the gate. I knock louder. I stand back to take a better look and then I see two little buttons off to the side of the gate in the stonemasonry. The buzzers for two houses or apartments that must be behind the lava wall. I buzz and the door buzzes back. And, I open the gate to a pleasant front yard, crammed with bikes. They all look pretty nice. Graciela meets me and says This way to the bike. Nuts! It’s not one of these bikes in the front. I see the bike. It is pretty old and the tires are very worn. She says that she is selling it for a friend, who wants $50. I say Fine. But I must look unsure. I know that the seat is too high. I would kill myself getting on and off of it. I ask if she has a wrench to lower the seat (right now). She says her husband doesn’t have a wrench, sorry. I probably look disappointed, because she says, Take it, get the seat lowered, get some air in the tires and if you don’t want it call me and bring it back. I like the idea of me being able to return it, so I fork over the fifty. She says Good luck with it, and walks me to the gate. Gracias. De nada.

I try riding it, and test the brakes. It is definitely too high. And I walk it to the bike shop, Benotto’s, on Baltra Ave. I have to gesture to tell the guy to lower the seat. He adjust it to make it level. I indicate, No, the seat goes down. Now he understands, gets a wrench, and adjusts it down. More. More? Si, more. The seat is almost sitting on the frame, and he stops and tightens it. He gestures for me to get on it. It is okay,  just a tad too high, but my toes hit the ground while sitting and that will be as good as it gets. I ask for air in the tires. How much? Fifty cents. Like whoa! I give him 75 cents and I have just become one of his permanent bike customers.

I slowly bike back to the Station. This is an okay bike. I am not sure if I did well paying $50 for it or not, but the bike definitely came to me, so I won’t argue.

It has a basket in the front and a baby seat. And, this is not your everyday American safety baby seat. It is some wooden contraption bolted to the bar that goes across the frame, but padded and with fringe, to make it look like a western saddle seat. When I think “baby seat,” I think some big molded seat that sits behind the pedaller. But not here. The baby seat is between the biker and the handlebars! Very different take on child safety here, that’s for sure.

Well, I bike back to the station, kind of unsure but it holds up and so do I. I am back to work in time. No lunch today, I guess. I’ll grab a granola bar later with some water.

I am psyched to have wheels! When I get back to the dorm room, I show Mari. She says How much? And I say $50, but I can return it if I don’t want it. I still don’t know whether I got a good deal or not, but I got Wheels, baby! Wheels!

Sunday, February 24, 2008: Los Gemelos

I awake at 6:15, and I start today’s adventure with yet again another gorgeous, sunny, bright cloudless sky. The rain from last night has cleared, and there is more humidity and less air movement. The temperature must be around 80 degrees, as usual. Today is the day for Los Gemelos.

I start the day knowing that I won’t shower until I come home, but what I really need to do is my laundry. I looked at the washer last night and it was empty. I want to wash most all of my clothes, so I wait until morning to launder. As I am up at the crack of dawn, I gather my laundry and start the washer. I will add to it as I change out of my ‘go to the bathroom’ clothes for the ones that I wear for this excursion. It makes me crazy how long the washer takes to fill and finally I have solved the problema. I take the hose that is used to do hand-washing and squirt it into the drum of the washer. I can fill that puppy in no time. Then set the machine to wash and it agitates! I let it run the rest of the cycle until it is back to filling again. I open the lid and fill it up. It agitates for the last time and spins. All this in 30 minutes instead of 2 hours. Hooray!

Frida told me to wear long pants because of the fire ants. Yikes! And, bring a raincoat because it might rain. I am prepared. I take everything: bottle of water, long sleeved white shirt, my cheapy raincoat from OSJL, insect repellant, umbrella, sunscreen, toilet paper (you can never be too prepared, right?), camera, baseball hat. Whew! My backpack is heavy, but I can do this.

Not bringing hiking boots, I wear socks and sneakers again. I wear the longest pants I have (capris) and a regular Tee-shirt. I put sunscreen on my face, neck, ears arms and what little part of my legs aren’t covered by pants or socks. I hate the feeling of this stuff, very gooey, oily and yucky.

I meet Frida at the circle and she asks me if I have the keys to the Library with me. No, but I can go get them. She says that there is a good book on Galapagos flora in the Library and we should bring it. I go get the keys in my room, we get the book and off we go with a taxi driver who will be with us all morning. He drives to pick up two more women that Frida has invited to come with. I have always been of ‘the more the merrier’ school, so this will be merry!

Rosemary is Galapagueños; she was born in Santa Cruz. And the other woman is Asian. I missed her name, but I do remember seeing her at the Station yesterday walking around. After I ask, Didn’t I see you walking around the Station yesterday? I tell her that I was sitting at the circle yesterday reading. She remembers me now. We laugh.

The driver takes us up to the Santa Cruz Highlands. We pass through town, then a smaller town to the north, Bellavista. We are in the National Park, but these little towns and their agricultural farms or cattle ranches were here before the Park was formed in 1959.  About 3% of the land area is not National Park; the other 97% is! We drive through an even smaller town, Santa Rosa. If we are stopped because we don’t have a National Park Guide, Rosemary will talk our way out of it because she is a native showing friends the sights (which I don’t think is legit, but I’m along for the ride, right?). Any time you go to any location in the Park, you have to have an official guide. Tourism is the islands only income and Guides are trained and must be used.

The air temperature up in the Highlands is much cooler and it is much greener. More moisture and more rain here support a forest of Scalesia trees, which are relatives of daisies, of all things! Los Gemelos (The Twins) are a pair of very large sinkholes on either side of the road, but can’t be seen while you are on the road. The taxi driver parks and we walk in on the path. Unfortunately, I don’t take a picture of the sign at the head of the trail. Others are already on the trail and at the first crater. I snap some pix. There is another much smaller sinkhole here too.

Rosemary says Let’s cross the road, and we do. No one is on this side. We walk on the trail just a little way in and there is the second twin, much larger than the first. We walk the path and look at the plant life. We find an orchid, but no blossoms. We find moss hanging from the Scalesia trees. We see only one bird, the Galapagos Dove. It is so camouflaged that I can’t honestly get a good picture of it! The walk ends when a fallen tree crosses the path and blocks our way. We turn around and go back. Now we are back where we started looking over the edge into the depths. A Guide comes along with 3 people in tow and says, Here is the other one, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, and they are gone. I am amazed that this is all these poor people got to do; see one, see the other, and be gone. Frida says they are probably on a tight schedule. I’m thinking, Yeah, but did they even know that they were here?! Anyway, then we take another path that follows the crater up to a higher area, good lookout and end of the path. We take a little rest and hike back to the taxi (which you remember is a truck).

Our driver is ready to take us to the Rancho Mariposa where we can see tortoises in the wild, but on a private farm. The driveway is a road that is windy and bumpy, reminding me of the road on Martha’s Vineyard on the way to Tashmoo. Slow going and you will get there. We arrive at the rancho, and it is set on a hill overlooking the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. We can see other Galapagos Islands in the distance. It is breathtaking in its expanse. This reminds me of a house and garden that Karen and I visited in Newport RI. The house was perfectly perched to take in the long view of the downward sloping lawn and then the ocean, complete with sailboats. At least these two persons knew how to sight a home.

There is lemongrass tea or coffee, whatever is your pleasure. I haven’t had a cup of brewed coffee since Quito, and I go for the coffee with sugar and milk. Yum. We pay a guide $6 to take the four of us out into the farm to see the tortoises. Believe me without a guide, you wouldn’t find any, and you’d be lost for on this farm for days! Rosemary reminds us to put on sunscreen and I take out my white long sleeved shirt and put it on instead.

The first tortoise is so crammed into the underbrush we can hardly see it, and it definitely is not snapshot worthy. The guide has his machete out and is cutting down branches as we proceed. The guide finds (or takes us to) two big old males. They are huge, easily 110 years old each; one has lichen growing on his back. I have no idea what they could weigh. These Galapagos tortoises have the dome-shaped shells and eat grass. These two are face to face waging some kind of machismo battle. We sit and watch for a few minutes clicking madly away. Next our guide finds another big male sitting under a tree eating grass. This seems like a perfectly logical thing to be doing on a Sunday morning; relaxing in the shade and eating brunch. Although we can get pretty close, the photos are only good when his head is raised up, and you can see it through the grass. Next our guide finds a female. She is head facing into a huge avocado tree. You can tell that it is a female because her dome is even more pronounced than the male. Since we only get to see her hind legs and tail (and shell, of course), it is amusing to note that she must have been in a muddy pond recently as the top of her dome is clean and dark brown, but she has this rust colored ‘skirt’ around the bottom, including her discolored legs and tail. Very cute, and rather feminine (a two-toned ensemble using solid colored earth tones).

We are done walking the fields and head back to the ranch for one more beverage before we go. I have the lemongrass tea this time and it is delicious. I take off my long sleeve shirt and I am cooler already. We relax, take in the view, feel the on-shore breeze once again, and have a quick preview look at our pix on our cameras. It is noon, and we say good bye and get into the taxi once again. I put my backpack in the back of the truck and we head out on the long driveway. It sure looks like rain, Rosemary says No, it won’t rain, we are headed to [south] into town. So we get on the highway and it starts to rain. Rosemary asks the driver to pull over so I can retrieve my backpack. And, off we go. It really is amazing how you can see the different zones of plant life as we descend. There are seven vegetation zones on just on this one island.

The taxi driver for the morning cost $30, or $7.50 each. Good deal!  We are dropped off near the kioskos, because it is almuerzo (lunch) time! The Asian woman declines, so Rosemary, Frida and I go to a restaurant that has the choice of pollo (chicken) or goat for the fixed price of $3.00. Rosemary wants chicken, I want chicken, Frida wants goat and we are all satisfied. The soup is chicken with rice, potato and carrot. Steaming hot. Both Frida and Rosemary can’t tolerate it (it’s too hot for them, but perfect for me!). The main meal is a small cut of chicken in a very tasty sauce with rice and one slice of fried plantain. The drink is avena, a concoction of water, oatmeal and passion fruit. Sounds kind of gummy, but tastes truly yummy!

Our lunch conversation is once again me trying to solicit advice on how to figure out how a boat tour for George and I in May. At least May is not the high season, and we won’t be spending a major fortune (just a minor one). Frida says come back to my house and we’ll surf the Internet for cruises for you. She knows the boats and many of the tour operators, so I say Yes.

We each pay for lunch, and I buy an extra bottle of water for 60 cents, too. I think of it as Just in case. Rosemary parts company from us and we walk to Frida’s apartment. It is on the 3rd floor of a 4 story apartment building. It looks newly built and her apt. has a little balcony facing south overlooking Academy Bay. Very nice. She used to live on the 4th floor here, where the view was even better, but it was a studio (smaller). This apt has 2 bedrooms. We surf the net and she gives me some ideas.

I thank her for her hospitality, and walk home. It is 2 PM, the heat of the day. I’m not going to stop to put on sunscreen, so I put my long sleeved shirt on again.

I decide to walk up to the house I think is Graciela’s, the woman selling her bike. I think I have found the house, and I knock at the wooden gate. No answer. It is very warm and very sunny on the rest of my walk back to the Station. I stop several times to drink my water. I decide to go straight to the Library, to return the flora identification book to the shelves and to cool off in the air conditioning and read and write emails. It takes my body a long time to cool down. I write Lolly, Judy and George. Today was the Slater Museum of Art (Norwich, CT) reception for their annual art show. George had two pieces in it. I am sorry to miss it, but he wrote to tell me about it. I write Marion. I write Marcia who lives in Guayaquil to get the email address of her best friend’s daughter who lives and works in Galapagos (I am hoping Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz where I am).

The Polish woman told me that I should definitely read Vonnegut’s Galapagos, a novel, if I haven’t. It is on the library shelf and I check it out to myself, lock up the Library and head back to my room. I think that I might go swimming again, but I talk myself out of it.

I take my laundry off the washline, bring it back to my room and fold it. Mari is resting; remember she had to work today.

I unpack my backpack, and read Vonnegut. He has a very peculiar writing style that I really like. He tells you what is going to happen as he writes about what is happening. An interesting approach. I have given up on Stephen Fry for awhile.

At 6:30 PM, I eat my cereal and raisins with milk for the first time in a long time. It tastes so much better than cream and cereal, it is amazing! It never did rain, and the stars are out. I can see Orion, the Big Dipper, etc. I need to get online and see the Southern sky constellations to name more. Mari asks if she can recharge her MP3 player on my computer. Wha? Yes, you turn on your computer, I plug the MP3 player into a USB port and my MP3 gets recharged. I’ve no problem with that and so my computer is now on, and I start to blog.

As I consider Los Gemelos, I am reminded of what my friend Meg says, Well, well, well; three holes in the ground. And she is absolutely right, I saw three sinkholes in the ground today myself! Well, well, well.

I wash my face and brush my teeth. It is 10:15 PM now, time for Mari and me to head to dreamland. It was a great day in tortuga-land for me today. Well, well, well.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

There was an all-night party next door last night. I am talking loud music, loud voices. Too much cane sugar alcohol, I think. I think it was a direct reaction to someone (I heard it was a research scientist) complaining about the last night loud noise in our area.

Mari and I tried desperately to sleep, and we ended up closing the wooden door to keep the sound just a tad softer. It made the room warmer (no cross-vent) plus the noise, and it was a pretty rough night for dreamland.

I’m up at 6:00 and the day is yet another picture perfect morning in paradise. It reminds me so much of the morning sun in Arizona. It hits the cacti and other vegetation with that rosy-orange-pink brightness at sunrise. Gorgeous.  I lie in bed and read from a book that I checked out of the library last night called A Traveler’s Guide to the Galapagos Islands, by Barry Boyce. It is the 3rd ed., 1998. It has contents like Choosing a tour, and Tour Operators Index. Good stuff to read and learn about, esp. if you haven’t booked a Tour, which of course, I haven’t.

I know that breakfast is served later this morning than weekday mornings so I take my shower, fighting the mosquitoes for the showerhead. I tiptoe around the room as Mari is asleep and I don’t want to wake her. Today is her only day off, and she needs her rest.

I decide to follow one of the group tours to the torguas and listen in as the Guide or National Park Ranger tells of the tortoises here. I listen in at an interpretation building to the tortoise history. There used to be 14 species, now there are only 11. National Park Galapagos (NPG) staff go into the field and take the tortoise eggs and bring them here to incubate and hatch. There are too many introduced predators for them to survive in the wild (really inside the Park). We will see the hatchlings later. I feel like an intruder, plus the insects have found my just-showered body and I decide to walk further up the path to the next pen.

In here, there are 6 giant male tortoises. The guide says that the group can walk in, but don’t walk on the cement platform that these 2 tortoises are on. You can walk around them, don’t touch them, great photo ops here. These are the ones that I saw on my first day here, but I learn that the males and females are only brought together during mating season. I have no idea where the girls are, and never did learn when mating season was. It is hot and windless. I am swatting flies and mosquitoes, and I know that it is time to go. These tour groups are backed up, two are in the tortoise pen, and another just came up the path to get in there also. Whew! Just for the heck of it, I snap a picture of the tourists! I will try another tour another day, to (hopefully) see the hatchling. I regret that I didn’t visit Lonesome George, but he was going to have lots of company today without me.

I go to the Library instead of typing at my laptop in the room. Being a good do-be, I dump the dehumidifier water on the plants as previously directed. It makes me happy to do this; my little part of preserving a piece of Darwin’s Galapagos.

Being in the Library means that I am in air conditioning and I have Internet access. Being a librarian does have its perks. I read and write some email. At 8:45 AM, I lock up the Library and head for breakfast. Fernanda, a tall slender beautiful student from my dorm, is already there and I sit with her. We make conversation, not the least of which is, Did you sleep last night? I say, Some. How about you? Not too much at all.

Seems the boys next door kept everyone around us awake last night. She says that the party ended at 5:20. This morning? Yep, this morning. Whoa! I know that I awoke several times last night, but never realized that the party lasted until dawn!!  Fernanda and I watch Porky Pig cartoons as her roommate comes in and joins us. Breakfast is now always the same for me, and the waitress knows it, so I don’t have to order any more. The juice, hot milk and fruit salad come first. Then the same round ball of whatever it was just as last Saturday. I tell the waitress, No thanks. Fernanda says, You don’t like it? I ask, What is it? She says that it is plaintain. Raw? No boiled and then ground up and fashioned into this ball, with pieces of cheese rolled in for extra protein (and calories). Hmm. Maybe next Saturday I will try it again. Right now I am asked if I want a tostada or a roll. Tostada, por favor.  The cook is very accommodating, and I am very spoiled by the service. What will it be like to back to eating oatmeal and coffee every morning? Hard to say. Anyway, I eat pretty fast because I am hungry!

Fernanda tells me that the group is going to Las Grietas this afternoon, if I want to come. I thank her, tell her that I was there last weekend, and I will stay here today. I want to call about the bike and maybe go to town to see it. I have to wait for my encebollado delivery at the circle between 10 and 10:30. I want to take out my camcorder and see if I can figure the darn thing out. I want to surf the net and find some Galapagos Tours that aren’t too expensive (as if that was possible!) So much to do, and so little time! Not to mention that it is a glorious day, and I am thinking of spending much of it inside.

I go back to my room. I grab my new library book and my Stephen Fry book (not knowing what I am in the mood to read) and head to the circle to await delivery. I read Boyce because it has info that I am going to need and use to either book us a Tour, or not. Time might be of the essence. Boyce says that most of the big boats are booked a year in advance. If that is so, then George and I are so completely out of luck, it is scary. The prices in Boyce are from 1998, and I know that everything has gone up dramatically, probably three-fold if not more. Too bad too because I really like those 1998 prices!

Every time a taxi pulls into the circle I look up. Nope. No delivery. Then Mark Gardener bikes in with his daughter Molly in the bike baby seat. I say Hello. He says that it is moving day for them, and I know from Mandy (his wife) that the woman, Graciela, who is selling her bike lives only a few doors down from their new house. I ask Mark for directions. He draws me a map and explains the directions. I will find it now, if I ever get connected to Graciela. He is riding off, and I go back to reading and await delivery.

It is 11 o’clock now, but I am patient. A man comes from la tienda, carrying a plastic container and asks me if I am Kris. Si, gracias. He hands me the container with a slice of lime and a plastic spoon. The fish stew is still warm. I thank him again and head to the room. I find a plastic bag and put everything in (even the spoon) and walk it to the refrigerator in the kitchen. I have to say that having it in a bag keeps anyone from seeing it, taking it and eating it. Plus you wouldn’t want it just out on this refrigerator’s shelves!

I am free to do what I want for the rest of the day. I tell Mari that I will go to the Library and read/write email etc. I will see her in the cafeteria for lunch. And I’m gone.

I hit the Amazon.com and Alibris.com websites looking for two books. Boyce’s latest ed. (2004) and Lonely Planet Galapagos Guide. The Lonely Planet book is selling here for $36. I can buy it on-line for $17, but then it has to be shipped! The cost of shipping to an international address is $18.99  for the first book and every book thereafter on Alibris. Darn. No savings there unless I buy them and have George send them FedEx, which is a good possibility. Wonder if Puerto Ayora has (or needs a bookstore)?

Anyway, it’s time for lunch and I don’t want to spend all of this beautiful day in the Library. I see Mari as she is leaving the cafeteria. She already has on her bathing suit, and is going with the gang to Las Grietas this afternoon. I eat lunch (cerviche) on the porch facing the harbor. Again, it is a fabulous day, and I am NOT going to spend it in the Library… but I go back to the Library to do more research.

I have a Google alert set up to come to my Gmail account whenever there is mention of the Galapagos on the Internet or in a blog. This is why I have so many Gmail messages. I search my Gmail archive for emails having to do with “Baltra,” which if you remember, is the island where my Quito flight landed. I read several entries and go to their Travel blogs to see if any mention the boats they were on. Several mention different boats and between their blog entries and good old Boyce, I find a few decent Travel tours. Many, many include the flight from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra and return. I don’t need this. Mostly because I am here already, and George will travel to join me here. Some packages include the international flight too! Aiyee! Boyce says that it is hardest to be in Puerto Ayora and book a good tour. Great, like I need this!

I find a great tour that lasts for 7 days and tours 9 or 10 islands. Now we are talking! I review the itinerary online and it starts on a totally different island, and not on Santa Cruz, where I am. Of course, the cost is upward $2,700 per person. A lot of cash, actually. Coming in around $350 per person each day. I suppose if you consider the boat, the crew, the staff, the berths with private bath, the food and the guides for only 16-20 persons in one week, I guess that it’s not too bad, just expensive.

If we stay in a hotel, eat and drink, and do day-trip touring without guides, etc., it would be cheaper, but not as tidy. The idea, I guess, is the “package,” not the Chinese menu that we would get if we just made it up as we went along. Plus, if George and I tour for the first week, we’ve blown all of our (non-existent) money, and what do we do the second week (that won’t cost us anything!)?? Such is my dilemma.

Lolly writes me about the snowstorm, and I answer her email and tell her that I am going to the beach today, come hell or high water. George has written me also of the Friday snowstorm. He stayed home from work and will work on Saturday to make it up. He also wrote to say that my daughter, Ali, was in a car accident. She was not hurt, Thank God! But there is some damage to her car. Poor kid! More adult responsibilities to take on, and this, an unfortunate one.

It’s 2 PM and I shut down the computer. Hooray! For me. I go back to the room and Mari is sleeping. Hmm. I thought that she would have already left, but maybe she didn’t go with. Unlikely, but possible. I quietly organize my beach bag and change into my suit. The beach that I go to is very close to the dorms. It is like a giant tidal pool with sand (instead of volcanic rocks) leading right into the water. There is a family of five, and a mother and her two children already in the water. I’m sure they are wondering why I would choose to come here. I don’t have a little child, so it’s a rather peculiar choice.

I don’t care, I just want the sea, salt and sun for a half hour. Against all of the advice from all of the professionals, I don’t wear sunscreen. I won’t stay long as I can see the storm clouds building over the central mountains behind me. It will definitely rain soon. I peel off my Tee-shirt and shorts and sit in the water. It is heaven. The waves crash just enough over the rocks so the pool is calm but moving. I sit and watch two kids on surf boards out in the bay riding any wave that looks good. The young boy is having a great time just being in the water with his mother and father, baby brother and big sister. The big sister is 8 or nine years old and is trying to shore up some cute little fish that doesn’t want to be caught. I join in. Every once in a while a bigger wave will crash, and the water will rock me. This is what I am talking about! Heaven.

After 40 minutes of unprotected sunshine, I stand to dry off and walk the little beach looking for shells, but finding only fragments. I dress and walk back to the dorm. Mari is gone, and so is everyone else. The place is quiet and I have it all to myself. I hang my bathing suit, Tee-shirt, and wrap around on the clothesline, knowing the final rinse will come with the anticipated rain. And I start to blog this entry.

The rain starts with a little shower at 5:30, and continues with a light rainfall. The temperature is a bit lower with the rain. Not cool by any stretch of the imagination, but feels cooler. It is 7 PM, and Juan Carlos is back, and singing. Other bikes arrive and so too will the rest of the group. I will go to have my famed cereal dinner and read tonight.

Tomorrow I am off on an adventure with Frida.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Glorious morning today. In the east, the sun is rising and in the west, a huge cumulous cloud is all pink and beautiful with the sunrise. It is so stunning, I take a picture. Today’s weather gets only better. It is the perfect day in paradise.

But then there is work! Mandy comes into the library to look at the aerial photo again. And gives me back my $50. She gives me the phone number of the woman who owns the bike and draws a map to her house. Mandy and her family will be moving to a house right down the street from there as soon as it has been prepped for occupancy. The Gardeners will be staying for the long term.

At lunch, I sit with Eduardo, Juan Carlos, and then Frida joins us. I ask her where she is going on her vacation. She looks puzzled and I tell her I read about it in the CDF email. She says, Oh, it is my boss who will be taking leave, and the email said that I am covering for him. Least he could have done was ask me. Oh, I say. I really need to read instead of skim my Spanish emails!

Frida asks if I would be up to do something together this weekend. You bet. She will set it up to take a taxi to some highland place and we will hike around somewhere. Great!

After lunch, I go back to the dorm to read Stephen Fry, and repack my backpack for the long email marathon that I am planning in the Library after hours tonight. I grab my flashlight (really George’s flashlight that he uses for tying flies and negotiating in the dark on the river), a bran granola bar (believe me, “granola” bar is a stretch), a candy, and some gummy bears. Fabulous meal, wouldn’t you say? Yeah, me neither! But so it goes…

In the afternoon, Bryan comes into the Library with some Aussie looking bloke. Even though he introduces himself, I don’t recall his name. Bryan and Aussie-bloke start rummaging around in the famed locked cabinet where the aerial maps are. I stand clear, and then sit and work while they search. They certainly are finding maps, but not the ones from the 40s. Then, I think they hit paydirt. Yes, these are what I am looking for. All’s well that ends well. Now Bryan will tell Mandy about them.

At 5:15 PM, a staff member comes in and asks me if I want to buy some encebollado. This is the food fundraiser that I read about in CDF email. Two persons on staff are raising money for some unfortunates by making and selling this fish soup on Saturday. I asked Frida about it at lunch. It surely isn’t that I know what this is! The cost is $4, including home delivery! I say that I live at the Station, but if they would deliver it to the circle, I would gladly buy one. He says, Yes, we can be here at 10 AM or so. I pay and now I have a dinner meal that won’t be cereal!

After he leaves, I lock the door and head over to la tienda to buy some necessities. Today, I need milk, new box of cereal (definitely going back to corn flakes with a touch of honey), and raisins. I find a box of milk that says “50% libre de grasa” (Woo hoo!); half fat is better than all fat, esp. since I have been using cream on my cereal as of late. And, I buy a soda. I go for a coke again today. Uh-oh, this might become habit forming and I will stop buying soda as of today. Promise.

I truck everything back to the Library. And start in on emails; both Gmail and ECSU email. In the Library, there is one window behind me to my left, and the clock is on the wall facing me. I know that today was a gift weather-wise and I look to see what the evening is doing. I decide to take a break during twilight and grab my erstwhile described dinner and head to the walkway where I can eat without inviting critters into the Library. While I’m standing there, Mark Gardener walks by, in wet trunks and a towel. He stops, and asks me if I am burning the midnight oil. If he only knew! He has just gone for a swim, and says the water is fabulous. I have only been in the water once here at the Station, and that was a pretend bath!

I say Buenos noches, and go back to emails. My friend, Lolly, writes that she was on a conference call this morning with many of the staff (physical therapist, head nurse, social worker) of the convalescent hospital where my mother is recuperating. My friend, Judy, is on the ground at the convalescent hospital and has organized this meeting. It lasts for an hour and a half. Wow! Lolly is esp. knowledgeable as a nurse (in a previous life) and can and does ask the medical questions. Judy has gathered the troops to assist my Mom to get her health and strength back, to find out why she is not improving as she should be, that is, to keep food down, to walk solo, to climb stairs, and to return to her home in (possibly) three weeks time.

Another dear friend, Marion, is also local to Fairfield, and she and I grew up as friends (almost as sisters, as I have none) since the day that I was born (as my mother and her mother were friends to start with). She visits my Mom as well and sends me email reports on my Mom’s status. As you can read, I have very devoted friends, not only to me, but to my mother as well. I am fortunate to have them, and for them to care so much about my Mom. I am truly blessed.

I read that the meeting went well. I can go back to the dorm with the knowledge that a plan will be forthcoming to assist my Mom recuperate on all fronts. I feel both relief, and regret because I feel helpless being so many miles away. My saving knowledge is that she is in many good hands.

I gather my things, lock up the Library, and head to the dorm. There is a full moon, and no clouds in the sky. I don’t even need a flashlight. I send up a prayer of thanksgiving and keep on walking.

I get to the dorm and Mari is out. I decide to zone out with my Rise of Atlantis game for an hour before bed. I have much to think on, be thankful for, and dream on.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I awoke today at 4 AM and when I went to wash my hands, no water again. Boy! Does this get old fast.

This time I fell asleep until 6:20 AM. I got up and fired up the computer to work on my blog entries. The cloud gods have decided not to rain today, and I am glad. No sun, but no rain either.

Yesterday, I decide to take an empty gallon water bottle to the Library and pour the dehumidifier water into it as my own private water stash. This morning I throw on some clothes and head to the Library to get the jug of water. I will use it to wash my face and hands, etc. Luckily one of the sinks in the bathroom still has one of those old fashioned sink plugs on a beaded chain. I can plug the sink, pour water in, and luxuriate in no salt water! Actually, this might as good a place as any to discuss that my face absolutely does not like salt water as a permanent washing medium. I truly look forward to a real, well water shower and cleansing on one fine day in the middle of May.

I dress for breakfast now, pack my computer, backpack, baseball hat and walk the path to the Library to dump my computer off, and head further down the path to the cafeteria. The tide is incredibly low. Dennis follows me in and says to sit outside on the porch. I agree. Lo and behold if it isn’t a big old sea lion sitting in a foot of water with her head stretched way back enjoying herself. I can’t believe I don’t have my camera with me. I truck the darn thing everywhere, but not today. Then we see a Great Egret (all white) checking out the intertidal volcanic rocks for snacks. Then we see a Great Blue Heron. Then we see a shore bird that is not in my Wildlife of the Galapagos book. Dennis thinks it’s a curlew, but I will have to look this up. This why it is important to have Internet access while writing! I can verify my facts and hyperlink to cool things. Anyway, it was quite the morning for wildlife and I didn’t have my camera!

It is 7:58 AM and the Library opens at 8. I gotta move! I usually talk to all of the marine iguanas on my way from the cafeteria to the Library. Me and Dr. Doolittle, I guess. I see a man turn into the walkway to the Library, and Whoops! I’m not at my station. I yell to him, Here I am! He says the first door is unlocked, but the Library door is locked. Hmm. What he doesn’t know is that it has only been unlocked since I dropped off my laptop less than 20 minutes ago. So he introduces himself as Brian Milstead, Head of Something, and he is looking for aerial photos. There were aerial photos taken of the islands in the 1940s when Baltra was a big military base (fortified to protect the Panama Canal). I am at a total loss. He says that they are in a locked cabinet. Well then, there ya go. I don’t have a clue what’s what. They are not in the regular map case, so I’m no good to him. He says that he will write Susana (you know, pregnant in Quito) to find out. I ask him to cc the Biblioteca when he does. Okay, thanks. Good to meet you. Ciao.

Mandy comes in to look at the other maps and asks if it is okay to bring in her laptop to plug into the hub. Sure, the more the merrier. She goes and comes back. I tell her that I have been reading the Outlook Inbox since I arrived and that the Biblioteca is on the Foundation/Station distribution list. There are 880 emails in the Inbox. Within the last year, no one has ever deleted spam, or announcements, or any such rubbish. I have been doing this since I found Outlook on day 1. I tell her that there are announcements for internal presentations (which seem to happen once a week), bingo, bikes for sale, etc. She mentions that she knows of a bike for sale. I jump on it. Oh yeah? Someone she knows in town wants to sell one. A girl’s bike? Yes. How much? $50.  Like Whoa! I tell her I am interested. She says that after I am done with it she would like to buy it from me. A perfect situation. I say that I don’t carry that kind of cash around, but will get it at lunch. Good. We will see.

Paola comes in to ask me, How are you doing? I get some of my Library cataloging questions answered and Paola shows me where the aerial photographs are locked up. Mandy is there and she wants to look them over. I immediately write Brian Milstead that Paola showed me the locked case, and Mandy was here at the time. The convention at the Station is to read email after 5 PM. Of course, that’s definitely not me, and I will use it as I need it. At Eastern, I leave it open all the time. Here, I open and close it maybe 4 times a day.

It is lunch time and I always go to the dorm to wash my hands, well, yeah, there’s still no water. But I have my private water stash. I can wash my hands and do, and head back to the cafeteria WITH my camera this time, just in case. I sit with Frida, Frank and his wife, Frauke, and we have a fine conversation, mostly about Windows XP and Vista, and printers, etc. There was a big run on lunch today. The chicken choice is all out, and there is beef or fish. Frauke chooses fish as do I. Frank will eat whatever is ready. Men!

Lunch is over, not one specimen of wildlife to take a picture of, either. Hopefully tomorrow morning there will be a repeat performance. I head back to the dorm to brush my teeth and read. I remember my $50 bill and put it in my wallet and head to the Library again. The Library is a happening place. It must be my karma.

The Polish woman comes in for her last day in the Library and she has brought me thank you gift of Polish cookies: E. Wedel, Delicje Szampanskie Pomaranczowe. They look to be vanilla cookie with an orange topping and chocolate covered. Wow! She left me her business card and I gave her mine. Maybe I will get a copy of her book on the Galapagos in Polish someday!

A woman working on her thesis on her laptop is in the library. At 5:20 PM, I tell her that the Library will close in 10 minutes and she starts to clear out. Paulina, my direct boss, comes in for a chat and to see how I am doing. I tell her about my introduction to Brian was this morning. I tell her that I have never been a solo librarian and it is very different from being a head of a department.

OMG, I almost forgot! This morning a CDF gofer walked in with 3 new Charles Darwin Research Station STAFF shirts for me. Like Whoa! One golf shirt; two V-neck Tees, one white, one dark blue. Yeow! I tell Paulina thanks for the shirts.

Again, my early evenings are filled with checking my Gmail and answering them. I tried to get to the Z:/ drive at ECSU tonight. I’m sure that I will need the Sistemas guys (like Juan Carlos) to help me. Ugh. I walk home in the almost pitch dark tonight. Mari is in the room. First question asked: Do we have water? Yes. Excelente!

If tonight is the night for the lunar eclipse, there is no chance that the cloud cover will clear at the right time, or for long enough for me to see it. Drats! Now that would be one for the blog! I eat dinner (yeah, this time cereal, raisins and cream!) while watching a soccer game with Dario. I wash my bowl, and take a hot shower. This time, water, even saltwater, flowing out of the showerhead feels great.

Back in the room Mari asks me, What are you doing tonight? And I tell her, You know. Write my blog. She finds something to do, but eventually everyone is outside our door playing bongos, guitar and singing.  Someone either has or has fashioned a castanet, and that is added to the musica. It’s great to have them playing outside, and esp. outside the screen door as I type. Wonderful rhythms and then some song that everyone knew and sang together. Just like camp!

It is 10:35 PM. Time to hit the head and wrap it up. If Mari stays up a little longer (and outside), I will read until she comes in for lights out. Yet another good day.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

I awoke today at 3:30 AM, when the skies opened up and it poured. This must be what it is like to live in the tropics with 360 inches of rainfall per year. I try to resume sleep but can only think of my Mom. I toss and turn, and finally sleep. I wake up just finishing a dream about my mother and some party that we were attending. I think that it was a celebration of her being home again. She was back to her old energy and I could not get her to slow down or rest. That is definitely my mother!

I decided to write her a letter to tell her about my dream, and email it as an attachment to my close friend, Judy, who is doing all of the work that I should be doing for Mom in Fairfield.

It continues to pour. I bought and brought 2 of those compact, cheapy plastic rain ponchos at Ocean State Job Lot (OSJL). Today is the day to open one. I open the package to find that it is built more like an extra long windbreaker; over the head, long sleeves, and with a hood. It will serve my purpose well. I get my backpack on, and hike the poncho over my head, I get it over my backpack, then I grab up all of my computer gear to my chest and wriggle the plastic on down in front. I have my OSJL umbrella and I am ready for the elements. As I walk out the door, Dario has just come back from biking down to breakfast. It is 7:40 AM or so, and he tells me that there is no breakfast. The door to the cafeteria was closed. So I turn on my heels back into the room, grab a bran granola bar (out of the box that I bought here) and my last little box of raisins to eat for breakfast. I have a bottle of water in the Library to drink.

I go to the Library. Although I am supposed to be there at 7:30, I am usually 20 minutes late. Since breakfast now starts at 7:30, you know where my priority lies. I am always at the Library at 8 AM, which will sound shocking to most of my ECSU Smith Library colleagues. So I get there and it is still pouring, I manage to open the first door and put my computer down. I stand outside under the overhang and munch my on-the-go breakfast. Here is one library in which I will never eat; way too many critters to invade the library and wreak havoc in this locale.

So I am early today, and because of the weather I expect to see no one until the rain subsides. I fire up my laptop as well as the two in the Library and read my Gmail. Hey! I’m early and I’m taking advantage of it. My friend, Judy, has sent me an email saying, maybe you should write your Mom a letter. The cosmos must be aligned! I write and tell her that I have just written one and I attach it for her to print out and give to Mom. Sweet! Thank you Judy! Esp. for all you have done and will do. God bless you, amen.

As predicted the morning was slow. I am more and more comfortable with the collections and what it is that I should be doing. Actually, I should be doing more cataloging. But I find the hunt for articles in JSTOR, BioOne and Academic Search Premier too attractive. Mostly I look for freebie PDF of articles on Opuntia (Giant Prickly Pear Cactus). There is a researcher here working on these.

It’s noon, and I am definitely ready to eat lunch. I walk to the cafeteria, and sit on the deck with Eduardo and Dario. They are facing out to the ocean, I’m facing them. We talk and laugh and one little girl is standing at the railing looking down. Eduardo points and there is a seal. I wonder if it is Stinky. Say, don’t I know you? Weren’t you at the Red Mangrove Inn for lunch the other day? Ha! Now I know the local animals by name.

In the afternoon, I lock up the Library for a few minutes while I go to la tienda to buy milk and a cold drink. The shelves are slowly being depleted. I remember Dennis told me that a freighter was headed here from Ecuador but it had too much cargo and it started to list. The Captain in his infinite wisdom, decided to off load weight into the ocean in order to continue to sail. I wonder how much of what there was onboard was coming to Puerto Ayora, probably all of it. I wonder what’s at the bottom of the ocean now…

Anyway, I look on the shelf for a box of milk, I see the name brand that I bought before and haul it down along with a box of what I think is peach juice. I buy a cold Coca-cola in a glass bottle, too, and drink it on the spot. I remember that I had an early rising and this jolt will (hopefully) pick me up. Now I will have milk for my cereal tonight.

The day goes by, the 5:30 to 7 PM emailing frenzy is over, and I lock the library for the end of the day. It is almost dark, but I can see well enough to take the path back to the dorm. I drop my stuff, and off to the kitchen/lounge I go. There are three volunteers in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I walk in find a bowl, dump the cereal (Frosted Flakes, yuck!) and raisins. I cut the spout out of my boxed milk and start to pour it out. It is all curdled looking and very thick. I smell it and it smells fine. I look again at the box and find that I have purchase crema, not leche. Heavens! It’s like drinking a cholesterol heart attack! At home I am a skim milk drinker. Here, there is no such thing, but cream? OMG. What a mistake, and a new lesson learned. Read the darn label!!

I wash my bowl out in the sink, and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth. One fluid movement of eat and get ready for bed.

I am reading Stephen Fry’s Moab is my Washpot. An autobiography. I loved him as Jeeves, so this should be a fun read.

And off to bed.