Day 1 - Ecuador!

Hola! My name is Tanush Menon and I'll be kicking off the 2026 Baylor in Galapagos Blog. We all arrived pretty late last night and got to the hotel around 1 AM, so naturally we all were pretty exhausted. After a good nights rest, we all woke up to our first official day of the trip. We walked to USFQ campus, seeing the different buildings, statues, and we met Gastón the pig in the middle of his lunch break. After a spanish lesson from Ms. Giselle (which was really needed since I've forgotten some of the Spanish I learned in high school), we walked to Paseo Gourmet for our lunch. The food was really good, with some of their notable items being ceviche, tacos, and sandwiches. After refueling, we went back to campus for a lecture on the interactions between humans and animals and how diseases can transfer between us, led by Dr. Gabriel Trueba. After the lecture we went back to our hotels and got to know each other better through slapjack (a ruthless method of building friendships). We got dinner at La Birrería, with our group getting item ranging from burgers to salads. Currently we're all back in the hotel. Today was an amazing start to the trip, everyone here is really cool and the subject matter we're learning is fascinating. I'm really excited for the rest of this trip. Don't forget to keep reading daily to keep up with us!

Signing off,

Tanush M.