Night stuff

A local girl gave my housemate Ben her phone number on a scrap of paper. Ben is a mangrove researcher from University of North Carolina and he speaks no Spanish. Karla the number-giver knew this, so she explained in as best she could in English what she meant by the gesture.

If you want to do...night stuff.

How great is that?

Miedo vs. confianza

In la Concha de Perla (the Pearl Shell) I like to swim laps above an eagle ray pair that lives at the bottom. The tide sank too low yesterday for turtle-sighting, and all the tourists were still at breakfast. Alone, I couldn't help but think of sharks. A man appeared on the dock to save me from swimming by myself. 

Tengo miedo! I laughed. I'm afraid!

Tenga confianza, he said. Have confidence.

We swam to the mangrove-covered rocks and back. One of the rays passed under us with his galactic night back and evil tail. Apparently they're only dangerous if harassed, or disturbed while mating. The man, I learned, is a famous artist and sculptor in the Galapagos, where he has lived for 26 years. 

Wednesday night

Here is a bottle of Caña Manabita. In it, is liquor made from cane sugar.

Last night, Jordan charged me $6 for one such bottle. Mas barato en San Cristobal, I grumbled. Yeah, well you aren't in San Cristobal anymore, he shot back, in Spanish, of course.

I bought the bottle and then, out of the blue, ran into three friends from the old island, who are here in Isabela with tourist work. There were four limes at home in the fridge, so only two things to do: make caipiriñas and find somewhere to drink them.

Caipiriña Recipe:
Caña
Sugar
Limes
Ice

We drank them at the flamingo pond behind my house. Four full-grown specimens wandered toward us in the dark, and I was very happy.