Location, location, location

I moved into a hostel on Santa Cruz Island 24 days ago. The hostel is in a prime location. I am two blocks away from the major street of restaurants, one block from the pier, one block from the hospital where I work, one block from the water store so I can refill my gallon of water bottles at a much lower cost than buying a new bottle (25 cents to refill compared to $1.25 to buy), close to stores and internet cafes, and am much closer to my friends now.

For seven days prior to moving into the hostel, I was living with a host family (there are a few blog posts on my experience at their home). While the home is located further from the center of town and was not the optimal place to live, there are a few things I miss encountering on my farther walk to and from home.

When walking to the home from work and the center of town, I walked about 11 blocks on one of the two main. On the way home or on the way to my destination, whether it be to the hospital, a restaurant, or a friend’s home, I had the ability to stop in many small stores. This allowed me to take care of some errands on my way to work, such as dropping my laundry off at the lavanderia, or stopping by the bank. It also allowed me to get a snack to eat during my walk. I would pass the daily market where there are fresh fruits as well as many other small convenience stores where I could pick up a piece of fruit to eat. And one of my favorite stores to pass, the bakery- a store I found difficult to ignore especially during the early morning when the aroma of freshly baked bread is spilling into the sidewalks and across the street. I loved being able to pop in the store for less than 30 seconds to buy one or two rolls of fresh bread and eat them on my walk.

Now that I am living in the hostel in a more touristy part of town, there is no bakery close by. So sometimes I leave my room early for work so I can walk to the bakery to get fresh bread prior to arriving at the hospital (passing the hospital on my way to the bakery).
I felt more as a local when living with the host family- I walked in their neighborhood consisting of houses instead of apartments; passed many people I have met or passed people that recognized me from some encounter; stopped by the local shops for snacks and dry goods; etc. plus lived in the home of locals and experienced their daily ways of living.

While I am much more happy living in the hostel, there is something to say for living with a host family and living further from the center or town (but of course still within walking distance of any destination). I am still experiencing life on the island as a local, but am more of a tourist living in the hostel compared to living with my host family. I prefer to live like a local- stay in a home, cook, clean, go to grocery stores, and see life as they do. In order experience their way of living and still do tourist activities, a one week of vacation time isn’t sufficient. Which makes the amount of time I have in the Galapagos quite prime. I enjoy both sides of the spectrum- I know the information the locals know, live in a room not quite like a local but not quite like a tourist either, and still get to do the tourist activities (with an insight of how to do things with spending little money).