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!