Isla de la Plata  

This weekend started out interesting. On Friday, I was teaching Science and all of the sudden everyone felt a shaking sensation and a bit of noise. I experienced my first earthquake while teaching. It was very small and didn't last but a few seconds. I've checked the US Geological Survey site and it isn't even listed. The worst thing that it did was move water bottles. Nonetheless, it was interesting and an experience that I have never had before. I left Friday after school to go to Montañita to spend the night and then off to Puerto Lopez the next day to go whale watching and to go to Isla de la Plata. Humpbacks are in the middle of their migratory pattern, and were easy to find. I was very fortunate to be on the correct side of the boat to get a perfect view. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't believe how easily we found them. I got some pretty good pictures. However, in typical Jeremy form, I missed the most spectacular shot. A whale breached, with a whole half of its body out of the water. What was I doing? Playing with my camera, of course. It looked like one of those old Prudential commercials . . . just stunning. I feel priveledged just being able to see it. I do plan on doing it again (and again), so maybe next time. From there, we went to Isla de la Plata. Some guide books refer to it as "the poor man's Galapagos".

It is a national park that is uninhabited with great wildlife. The draw to the islands would be the blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, magnificent frigates, among others. It is an interesting world. Everything is extremely dry. The island is only green a few months out of the year. The birds are easy to spot and not scared of humans. They really don't have any predators, so I guess what's to fear? As you can see from the pictures, I saw many of the birds that I stated. However, the guides gave us a choice. There are two trails and you can see different wildlife depending upon your choice. The next time that I go, I will try the other trail to see the difference. I have a video of the whales. Just take some Dramamine before you watch it or some other type of motion sickness medicine.


It was a little rough where the whales were. In this particular trip, I went by myself. So, I decided to take the earliest bus from Montañita on Sunday. I left at 5 o'clock in the morning and got back around 7.

Montañita is the type of town where people were still out and about from the night before as I was leaving on the morning bus. Everything else is going well. I am meeting some very nice and interesting people. I'm enjoying the school and the students, but at the same time I really miss my old school, friends, and student population.
Here is a link to the rest of my pictures of whale watching and the island:


The whale video:


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Montañita  

With the first week of school down, things are going really well. It is taking a little bit of time to adjust to the school life. There are just a lot of differences between school systems. It is not better or worse, just different. My students are a very diverse group. They are an interesting group, that I think I'll enjoy. Since the last time that I wrote, I've been to the beach for the first time, and bought a mountain bike. We went to Montañita. It was really cool. However, it is not beach season. The weather, believe it or not, was almost chilly at night. It was cloudy, which is typical for this time of year. During the rainy season, the coast has its beach season where it is sunny during the day and may or may not have an afternoon shower. Right now, we are in the dry season. It has not rained a single drop since I've been here (almost a month). It is strange, since I've been used to coming to Central America during the wet season. Everything is pretty brown. However, the beach was really pretty. We found all sorts of sea animals when we were walking along the beach and rocks. The town itself is a really small surfer town. Walking along the streets, we went into this small place that was supposed to have music. With a sand floor and an open fire in the middle, it was an interesting place. The bands played reggae and ska, which was nice. I had a great time. I'm really excited for next weekend. I'm going whale watching from Puerto Lopez to an island called Isla de La Plata. On the island we'll go for a hike and do some snorkeling. They say that this is the best month to see humpbacks. We will see. Here are a few pictures of Montañita:




For the rest of them, you can visit the following link:
Here are some links to a few pictures of my school, neighborhood, and first mountain biking trip:
Take care!

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First Impressions  

I thought that I would give everyone an idea of where I live. I live in a gated community outside of Guayaquil. My neighborhood is called Puerto Azul. The school where I will be teaching at is also inside Puerto Azul. The neighborhood is nice, but the thing that I was most impressed with has been the school itself. The campus is gorgeous. There are tons of green space and the grounds are impeccable. There are flowers, shrubs, and palm trees. My future classroom is in an amazing position. It is located above the library and lined with windows that look out over the campus. My apartment/condo is really nice. It is way more room than I could possibly use. It is set up in a horseshoe configuration. It has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and a small living room. Both the living room and my bedroom overlook the pool and barbeque area. Guayaquil is a hard city to describe. It is beautiful and eye-opening in different instances. I'll explain it further once I've experienced it more. For now, here is a video of my place with a few photos. Enjoy and take care!!


Okay, well I've been having some issues with uploading the video and photos. You'll have to go to the following links to check them out.


*** The Spanish that I'm writing is not an exact translation of what I have written in English. It is the main concept with a few differences.

***El español que estoy escribiendo no es una traducción exacta de mi “post” que he escrito en ingles. Los dos contienen el mismo concepto con torcidos diferentes.

Pues, pensaba que daría una idea de donde vivo a todos. Vivo en una comunidad cerrada en las afueras de Guayaquil. Quiero decir que hay puertas en las entradas con oficiales de seguridad. Mi vecindario se llama Puerto Azul. La escuela dónde estaré enseñando, también está colocada en el mismo vecindario. El vecindario se ve bonito, pero me fascina mas la escuela. El campus es muy bonito. Hay montones de espacio verde y la tierra es impecable. Hay flores de colores diferentes, arbustos, y palmeras. Mi aula está situada en una posición perfecta. Está colocada encima de la biblioteca con muchas ventanas que tienen vistas muy buenas del campus. Mi apartamento es muy bueno también. Hay demasiado espacio para solo una persona y nunca podría usar todo el espacio disponible. Es en la configuración de una herradura. Tiene dos cuartos, dos baños completos, una cocina/comedor, y un salón pequeño. Los dos, el salón y mi cuarto tienen vistas de la piscina (alberca) y del área de barbacoa. Guayaquil es una ciudad muy difícil describir. Es muy bonito y sorprendente al mismo tiempo. Explicaré cuando la conozca mejor. Por ahora, aquí hay un video y unas fotos de mi apartamento. Disfrútenlos. Cuídense.

Bueno, he estado teniendo problemas con el video y las fotos. Tendrás que ir a los siguiente sitios para verlos.

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