So I actually wrote that last post on Friday afternoon but the internet was being sketchy and I couldn't get it uploaded. I decided to leave it though and start a new post because otherwise that other one would be in serious danger of becoming even less brief and less frequent.
As a sidenote I tried to upload the video of the dance and it's just too big a job for my interwebs as they are right now. I'll have to do it when I get home.
Friday: After I left the internet cafe I went with Yajaira to visit Miguelito, the 10o-year-old Galapagan tortoise. He arrived here in Bahia about 100 years ago as a tiny little guy stowed away on some ship. The story goes that the captain found him and gave him to a family living here in Bahía because he wasn't going back to the Galapagos soon so he figured it would be better to leave the little guy here. The family apparently got bored with the tortoise after a while or just thought he would be happier living on the beach so they put him out to sea. He didn't get far though. He just washed up into the rocky part of the shore on the same beach and hung out for a while until he was found by a father and son who were out taking a walk. They took the little tortoise home with them and after a while he started becoming a big tortoise. A really really big tortoise. Whatever they were keeping him in was made out of wood and he was soon able to break out and stroll around town. For a while he would go down to the marketplace every morning and the people there would feed him fruits and vegetables and then he'd go gallumphing back home. But one day our friend the tortoise stumbled upon the garden of a wealthy lady in town. It was a big and beautiful garden admired by all, including Mr. Tortoise. So naturally he went in and ate all the lady's vegetables and flowers and pretty much laid waste to the place. The lady was furious and convinced authorities that he was a public menace and should be put away. I should mention here that they had once tried to return the tortoise to the Galapagos but since he was so used to being fed carrots and fruits he had trouble getting accustomed to eating cactus and became very sick for lack of nutrition. The Bahíans had also tried getting him a lady tortoise at some point but they didn't get along well. I think maybe he was just confused by the whole business... Anyway. So the rich lady had him relocated to a school for boys where the walls are concrete and the gates are metal and he can't get around town so easily and he's lived there ever since. The school is called Miguel Something Something and therefore our tortoise was christened Miguelito when he was moved to his new home.
So I met Miguelito. He's an AMAZING creature. His current state is a little sad though. I mean he's 100 years old and he's a HUMONGOUS tortoise and now he's blind in one eye. So he doesn't really do much moving around. He doesn't really do much period. Except for sit and sleep and wake up and tolerate people. But I'm really glad I got to meet him. It was very cool.
After Spanish I went to my dance class and then went over to Vladir and Sandra's house for dinner. They had invited us (the volunteers and the art teacher from Genesis) over for a special dinner. It was very very nice. After dinner we watched part of a video of Cirque du Soleil that Vladir has and that was pretty awesome as well. Then the Cerro Seco crew showed up. We had invited them to our house party but we hadn't totally expected them to come so that was great. Vladir also had a few friends that came over and eventually Diego (Genesis English teacher) showed up too with his brother and his friend. The party went off really really well considering what a last-minute decision it had been. For a while it was English-speakers inside and Spanish-speakers outside and bilinguals in your comfort zone but eventually people started to mix a little more. Then a few of us moved all of our furniture and put on some dance music and the living room became the ballroom for a while. Later we all went down to the beach where we encountered a bunch of people playing didjeridoos, drums and a strange mix of other instruments. At least some of them were Planet Drum volunteers but I don't know who else was there. THEN there was beach volleyball and more dancing and lots of talking and a few of us were out on the beach until around 4:30 in the morning. It was TONS of fun but a fairly poor decision because
SATURDAY: Rachel, Kathy and I were scheduled to meet Carmen and Yasmin, two Genesis teachers, at the dock at 7:30 this morning. We got ourselves up and out there on time but it was a bit tough on Rachel and me, who had gotten almost 2 hours of sleep each. But we met there on the dock and took a ferry across the estuary to San Vicente, Bahía's little brother. From San Vicente we took a bus out about a half hour to the middle of the countryside where we got off for our tour of La Isla Corazon. Isla Corazon is a naturally occurring mangrove island that appeared about 8 years ago and is named for its resemblance to the shape of a heart. A mangrove island is not necessarily what you would typically picture as a tropical island. It's essentially a big swamp in the middle of the Chone River, and it is home to many different kinds of interesting bugs, crabs, and birds. The tour is done on a canoe. We travel through some natural canals in the island under a canopy of mangroves and come within inches of some really incredibly colorful crabs and the famous frigate birds which are Bahía's symbol. They are big black birds with white throats and a deep clicking call that almost sounds like a tiger purring. The adult males have a red air sac on their throats that they inflate when they want to find a mate. They are really beautiful birds and the island is absolutely full of them. I couldn't believe how close to the boat they were willing to fly. The tour was really fascinating and allowed me to forget how tired I was for a while. Afterwards we came back to Bahía, got some lunch and GOT SOME SLEEP. So now I'm feeling quite good. I have quite a few things to get done before I go though. I can't believe how soon it's ending. But I'm gonna think instead about how much of it hasn't actually yet ended. So it's off the computer and back to my life to enjoy my last few days in this beautiful place.
Love to all
Hasta Luego
Kelsey
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