Today at the hospital I had the opportunity to scrub into a cesarean section. There were five of us in the room, and I was able to be right at the young mother’s bedside. Beforehand her family had asked me to snap some pictures after the birth, so I was excited to have a task at hand. I lucked out in the end though and got to help the nurse clean the newborn’s eyes, ears, and nose after he was born. It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of the first few hours of this child’s life. The most rewarding part was going into the waiting room and showing the pictures I had taken of the anxious family’s newest addition. ... read more

Charles Darwin is the famous philosopher who is most commonly known for discovering the pristine and enchanting beauty of the Galapagos Islands. The first island that Charles Darwin discovered was San Cristobal (the one I am currently living on). He originally spent only 2 weeks on the Galapagos Islands, and spent the next 25 years working on his book called “The Origin of Species”. This book is said to be the foundation of evolutionary biology, and introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process called "natural selection". It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose through a branching pattern of evolution and common descent. More information on this topic can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species... read more

All islands in the Galapagos are a short boat ride apart, so day and weekend trips are easily arranged. My first trip was to Santa Cruz, which is one of the 4 inhabited islands and is the most highly established of those. It was about 4 times the size of San Cristobal, giving tourists much more access to hotels, restaurants, and daily activities. A group of my friends and I rented a boat to take us sport fishing. Around 11am I managed to reel in a 35 pound tuna fish, and by 2pm we were eating homemade sushi and tuna heart. We continued to troll around the island of Santa Fe, taking frequent swimming and suntanning breaks. We caught 7 fish throughout the whole day, and mine ended up being the biggest! That night we took ... read more

SLEEP!!! ALL THE TIME!!! sleep on a rock, sleep on the sand, sleep on the sidewalk, sleep on another sealion..... SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!!!... read more

Just as planned, the beginning of November brings about change in my travels. I will be moving to the island of San Cristobal, which is a few hours off the coast of Ecuador. A local family is "ädopting" me for the next few months while I volunteer at Hospital Oskar Jandl. My experience in Quito has been a very memorable and unique one. I have learned many valuble lessons about Ecuador, Latin America, and life in general. By quickly adapting to this new lifestyle I was able to make the most of my month in Quito. I not only learned the ways of a new culture, but also the ways of a big city. Before this trip taking a metro bus in Ottawa was an intimidating task for me, let alone taking a bus in a ... read more