so I{m in the Galapagos...

So it turns out there is internet here. Spotty internet, slow internet with keyboards that don{t know how to make apostrophes, but I{m not complaining because I can email Mom and she can keep me updated on North Ridgeville gossip. Anyway, Thursday night the kids went out but I "worked" on my final project (aka played solitaire while waiting for Mom to get on Skype) and my internet died right as she called me. Bummer. I woke up probably a little after 5 because we had to be at the airport at 6, tried to be quiet, ran down to my taxi which was early, then sat in fear as the driver zoomed through Quito. He didn{t stop and wait at the red lights, but supposedly the normally don{t do that at night because people attack them of they do. Great. When I got to the airport, he asked for $5. I know that{s a bargain in the US, but this was pretty much the biggest ripoff ever; the only other time I had paid $5 was when I split it between like 4 other people, one of whom lived forever far away. I tried to argue but I was a little scared, gave him four and told him I didn{t have any more, fished around in my purse and brought out 62 cents. Whatever. I then grumpily waited in the airport for everyone else to come; I was 25 minutes early but the taxi should have been picking me UP at this time instead of dropping me off. Jerk. Everyone got there, we had to go through some special lines for Galapagos, we waited around a lot, then I got through the security line. I didn{t know this, but my brace is chock-full of metal and so of course it set off the alarm. This lady went over me quickly with a detector and shooed me away. Like I said, what terrorist in their right mind would target Ecuador? More waiting around; I talked to Felicia. I do hope that I have emphasized that she{s the best ever. Anyway, first we took a flight to Guayaquil where all of the bad things seem to happen. At least, the few times I have watched the news it{s been about something bad happening in Guayaquil. Afterwards, we flew to Galapagos. It was nice because the airplane was pretty chev, gave us food, AND there was a little TV with an episode of Glee. Ah, American television. We touched down in Balta, an almost uninhabited island with one of the three airports here. It was pretty flat and impressive; it looked Galapageño. We had to go through a customs-thing where they checked out passports (we all gave Felicia a hard time because she only had a copy when they told us to bring an original; they let her in anyway) and they checked our bags. We waited for a crowded bus that took us along some more flat brown country to a boat, which took us to another bus that drove us over hilly greenish land; it rained and we slept. This bus took us to another boat... although it was really a panga. They{re kind of like little floaty boats with motors. We got the lifejackets and the panga took us to Estrella del Mar, our REAL boat. Which was nice. There was an outside deck, dining room, and lounge on the first floor, 6 bedrooms below, 2 bedrooms and an open lounge up top along with the captain and an open lounge on the VERY top. Pretty cool. Our guide, Enrique (REALLY cute) gave us an orientation, told us things we should and shouldn{t do, ect. We then had lunch (fish, beet salad, fruit) and I did feel a little sick, but I had taken Dramamine. Next we went onshore...