The Best of All Worlds—in the Middle of the Pacific

After having spent just a week on the island of San Cristóbal, I’ve really started to embrace the island life—especially the concept of doing homework on the beach.

Being able to learn about island ecology and conservation while living on such an ecologically rich island has been my favorite part of this portion of the trip. Every day, we go from sitting in a classroom discussing endemic species, island ecosystems, and island development, to experiencing each of these things firsthand during our free time or through field trips.  Although I’m an environmental freak through and through, there’s something so rewarding about learning in a real-world context (as cheesy as that sounds).

But so far, we’ve made sure to leave plenty of time for extracurricular activities, too.

With either Ecuador or USA World Cup games every few days, our group has ended up at the same local restaurant for each game, where the servers have come to expect us to roll in around 10 minutes before game time. For the Ecuador match this past Wednesday, most island residents either took off work or received the day off. Almost everyone in town donned their bright yellow or blue jerseys, and we cheered and chanted every time possession of the ball changed throughout the game. Even as an amateur soccer fan, the energy during the game was electric.

From ocean kayaking to snorkeling to buying chocolate bananas on the walk home from class, I love everything about it here—with the beach on one side, the boardwalk on the other, and friendly faces in between.