Kate's Ecuador Adventure: Life on Island Time

It's hard to believe that we have already been here for over a week. Our second class, Marine Life, is great. Soledad Luna (Sole), our professor, is really cool. She keeps taking us snorkeling during class. Today, for example, we went to La Loberia. We were actually attempting to take data on some transects, but it was still a lot of fun. La Loberia is probably my favorite place to snorkel here. There are so many fish! We also saw like ten sea turtles hanging out and grazing. It was fantastic!
We've also been snorkeling at Playa Mann right in front of the university, at Las Tijeretas, Punta Carola, Leon Dormido, and Isla de los Lobos. Everything has been great. We saw sharks (Blacktip, we think) while snorkeling at Leon Dormido on Saturday. I've also seen an octopus, fine spotted moray eel, two tiger snake eels, a bunch of diamond sting rays, and more fish than I've seen in my life. While at Isla de los Lobos (also on Saturday during our group trip) we saw marine iguanas feeding. It was incredible.
Everything moves at a slower pace here. Not only are we on Ecuadorian time, but we are also now on island time. We've gotten used to people being half an hour late (except for class) and to nothing being open for three hours in the middle of the day or at all on Sundays.
In the mornings we have breakfast either with our families or at the university. Then, we have class for three hours. We do have some normal class time with Sole as we learn about shapes and species of fish, how they behave, and how their bodies work. Usually, we take about half the class and go snorkeling though.
After class is lunch! We have lunch on our own, so we either go get a cheap almuerzo somewhere in town or make food. We have lots of free time to hang out at the university and do work. Unfortunately, we also do have a fair amount of work to do. Yesterday, I had a quiz (although to be fair, it was in game form) and a presentation on fish reproduction. Now, I'm working on two other presentations for later this week and early next week. Anyway, we hang out for a while and then go home or walk around the boardwalk or something. I love the Malecon (the boardwalk). It's always so peaceful, especially in the evenings as the sun is going down. We eat dinner either with our host families or at a restaurant with the university. Then, there's more free time. We've been hanging out at Iguana Rock most days after dinner. Yesterday, we started a series of salsa lessons, so we'll see if those pay off. I like the bar, and it's not horribly expensive. I usually won't stay too late, though. My host mom worries about me when I'm out at night. It's cute. The first night I went out, I came home to find her still up with all the lights on. She's amazing. I've gotten much better at talking with her and can usually understand her, so long as she speaks slowly. My room, and the house in general, are minimalistic but I have everything I need.
There are lots of stray dogs (and stray chickens) here. I've been barked at (and almost attacked) by a few of them, but I've learned how to avoid/ scare them off. They're more annoying than anything. Some of the dogs are really pretty and good natured, though. It amazes me that they're still strays.
Well, that's pretty much life here. I'll add some pics if the internet lets me. It's been off and on the last couple of days.