21 October 2025: Spanish Tutor/LLA Brett’s Studying Abroad in the Galápagos Islands
21 October 2025: Spanish Tutor/LLA Brett: Studying Abroad in the Galápagos Islands
On July 14th, 2024, I boarded a plane bound for Ecuador to take part in the IES study abroad program. This trip focused on connecting students with a local host family and furthering their skills in field ecology. I was joined by 8 other students as well as Dr. Karin Nelson, a professor of biological sciences at UIC. While I spent time on the mainland, most of my time was spent on San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago and where Charles Darwin first set foot on during his famous expedition. I too would be studying ecology, specifically a conservation project focusing on the human impact on the Galápagos sea lion.
While many imagine that luxurious hotels are standard on study abroad trips, my home for a majority of the next three weeks would be, well, someone’s home. Upon arrival at the tiny airport in San Cristóbal, I was met by a smiley middle aged man named Ron. In our brief conversation in broken Spanish and English, he told me that he and his family would be hosting me. This interaction helped calm my nerves and prepared me for life on the island.
My homestay family was kind and generous – they made me breakfast each morning and cleaned my clothes. However, the home was a cramped space for all of us, and communication was hard due to our language barrier. While I did have a decent grip on Spanish speaking at this time, I had a hard time understanding the quick galapagueño accent that was very distinct from what I had heard before. It also wasn’t possible to rely on English at all, and google translate only works when you have cell service or wifi, which the home didn’t have. Something else I found out the home didn’t have was running water.
I didn’t take this to be doom and gloom, however. There was a charm to this little yellow house on the street corner that made me feel like I was in the right place, and I was here to learn. With this in mind, each day, usually at dinner, my homestay family and I would speak slowly and deliberately to exchange our cultures and languages. We found we had a mutual love of soccer, and Ron in particular could tell me everything about the up and coming Ecuadorian players. I picked up the phrase ‘¡Qué bestia!’ which roughly translates to ‘How crazy!’ while Ron’s son couldn’t stop saying ‘cool, man!’ whilst making a funny gesture with his hand.
I also had the chance to speak with the host families of some of the other students on the trip. I spent nights translating between students with no background in Spanish and their families about what we did on a given day, whether it was about our research on sea lions or excursions to coffee plantations. While the conversations were far from smooth, I not only learnt new words but got valuable experience speaking with a fluent Spanish speaker.
My 3 weeks on San Cristóbal flew by, and while I got used to life in my little yellow house, the novelty of the island never left. I spent hours sitting on the beach fascinated by the incredible spectacles of nature, and each night returned to my homestay to learn more about Ecuadorian culture.