Santa Cruz Island
“Our Planet is like a boiled egg, or an avocado, with different layers, that have distinctive names…” That’s the way I started my presentation to the kids from the “Julio Puebla” school. I arrived at 11:30 am, and they were waiting in their only classroom, where kids from different ages are mixed together for all their lessons. I came right after their English class, so I got there in time to hear about their homework. These kids have received letters from children of about the same age from a New York school. Youngsters from the US, Spanish speaking, or "spanglish" speaking, had sent drawings as well, showing the tall buildings where they live, the waters around Manhattan Island, and their pets. Our galápagenian children have to write them back, answer their many questions about sea lions and how the Pacific Ocean looks.
I had arrived with a Power Point Presentation and videos, but once there, I decided that improvising would have better results, so I told the kids to ask me what ever they wished about Galápagos or Polaris. One little boy, maybe 8, wanted to know how I became a naturalist guide. So I started my short story, of how since I was a child I had liked everything related to rocks and earth science. I told them I had become a geologist and then, by a twist of fate, had arrived in Galápagos planning to stay just a year, but bewitched by the islands, 15 years have now passed.
The next question was about geology. A girl wanted to know what geology means….and that was the beginning of my presentation. I showed them how our planet is like an egg, and how the Nazca plate, the tectonic plate on which the islands are found, could be compared to a broken egg shell. I told them about the hot spot, about the young and old volcanoes, and then, with the help of several kids, we showed how the Nazca plate moves as a conveyer belt, with older volcanoes to the east and younger to the west. The more I talked, the more inspired I felt. The kids paid a lot of attention, and the only three teachers of the school were all ears as well. I can’t explain how revitalizing it was, how close I felt to life itself, to the future, while those children had their eyes on my odd volcanoes drawn on the white board.
In the mean time our guests were arriving to our lunch place in the highlands of Santa Cruz. Some decided to do a long hike, some biked, and many got there by bus to use the swimming pool and play volley ball before the meal. Afterwards we went to look for tortoises in the wild, and it was a successful search, not only for reptiles, but for new kinds of birds, like the vermillion flycatcher and tree finches.
It’s full moon and every body is back on board. The kids of the “Julio Puebla” school, in the highlands of Santa Cruz, must be sleeping by now. I wonder what they are dreaming of…maybe they imagine a plate moving, volcanoes that become islands, and many smiling and knowledgeable children populating them.
“Our Planet is like a boiled egg, or an avocado, with different layers, that have distinctive names…” That’s the way I started my presentation to the kids from the “Julio Puebla” school. I arrived at 11:30 am, and they were waiting in their only classroom, where kids from different ages are mixed together for all their lessons. I came right after their English class, so I got there in time to hear about their homework. These kids have received letters from children of about the same age from a New York school. Youngsters from the US, Spanish speaking, or "spanglish" speaking, had sent drawings as well, showing the tall buildings where they live, the waters around Manhattan Island, and their pets. Our galápagenian children have to write them back, answer their many questions about sea lions and how the Pacific Ocean looks.
I had arrived with a Power Point Presentation and videos, but once there, I decided that improvising would have better results, so I told the kids to ask me what ever they wished about Galápagos or Polaris. One little boy, maybe 8, wanted to know how I became a naturalist guide. So I started my short story, of how since I was a child I had liked everything related to rocks and earth science. I told them I had become a geologist and then, by a twist of fate, had arrived in Galápagos planning to stay just a year, but bewitched by the islands, 15 years have now passed.
The next question was about geology. A girl wanted to know what geology means….and that was the beginning of my presentation. I showed them how our planet is like an egg, and how the Nazca plate, the tectonic plate on which the islands are found, could be compared to a broken egg shell. I told them about the hot spot, about the young and old volcanoes, and then, with the help of several kids, we showed how the Nazca plate moves as a conveyer belt, with older volcanoes to the east and younger to the west. The more I talked, the more inspired I felt. The kids paid a lot of attention, and the only three teachers of the school were all ears as well. I can’t explain how revitalizing it was, how close I felt to life itself, to the future, while those children had their eyes on my odd volcanoes drawn on the white board.
In the mean time our guests were arriving to our lunch place in the highlands of Santa Cruz. Some decided to do a long hike, some biked, and many got there by bus to use the swimming pool and play volley ball before the meal. Afterwards we went to look for tortoises in the wild, and it was a successful search, not only for reptiles, but for new kinds of birds, like the vermillion flycatcher and tree finches.
It’s full moon and every body is back on board. The kids of the “Julio Puebla” school, in the highlands of Santa Cruz, must be sleeping by now. I wonder what they are dreaming of…maybe they imagine a plate moving, volcanoes that become islands, and many smiling and knowledgeable children populating them.
