Written by: Akira, Class of 2017, Biology major

Today was another day of travel, as we made our way to Isabel Island. After about a two-hour boat ride, we arrived at the beautiful blue seas and picturesque beach of Isabela Island. When we got off of the boat, we were greeted by a playful sea lion taking a dip in the water along the mangroves as well as some massive marine iguanas cooling off in the shade. Once we gathered our luggage, we took a safari style bus to the IOI, where our host families were awaiting our arrival.

The IOI staff prepared a nice little icebreaker for us to find ours families. Both the families and each pair of students were given pieces of paper with a picture on it. The goal was to act out what was on your piece of paper in order to find your family whose pictures corresponded in one way or another to yours. For example, Maria-Anna and I had fish on our sheet of paper and our host mother had a penguin. We were matched because penguins eat fish.

After getting settled in our homestays, were given a tour of the small and quaint town of Isabela. Then we had free time to spend with our host families until dinner. I spent this time teaching my 17 year-old host cousin English, while she taught me Spanish. We talked about almost everything imaginable… from God, our future plans, our love lives (or lack thereof), simple phrases that we should know in English and Spanish, to our love for Ed Sheeran’s music . It was a day well spent and we finished in off with an amazing dinner, another tour of the town, and a fun salsa lesson from my host mom and her friend. I am really looking forward to the next 11 days on this island!