Written by Kate Sandoval, 2022-23 Latitudes Student
Arriving on a beautiful Sunday afternoon (beautiful by the Seattle Washington definition), I settled in the small apartments in Las Rosas to meet my first roommate, Vanessa. Daniela and Misael of Biosean allowed me a couple days of downtime until Nathalie, our third roommate arrived. Vanessa showed me a little intro of the beautiful beaches and led me around to memorize the necessities such as SuperDino in Ten Bell, the Panadería in Venus, how to use the bus, and a little shop that sells the best arepas in Las Galletas.
Tuesday was the start of my first whale watch tour with Biosean. I watched as Misael and Vanessa set up the boat and filled out the data sheet. Leaving the port I looked out towards the sea and saw what had to be the most beautiful view of my life. The sun, peaking through gaps in the clouds, beamed on the calm ocean making it shimmer and shine. Watching this view, I knew immediately that I wanted to experience something like this everyday. Let’s just say that night I told my parents that I decided what I was going to school for. For the rest of that month whale watch tours were the focus of the internship. Waking up at 8am to eat breakfast (whoever comes here next has to try the muesli cereal) and dress in the clothes that I most likely wore the day before. Misael would pick us up at 8:30 and we would get to the port to ready the boat and fill the data sheet waiting for the customers.
The first tour would be at 9am, lasting 2 hrs, the second tour is at 12, lasting another 2 hrs. Then, we would clean the boat and be on our way back to the apartment to figure out what we do next. The other half of the internship was more dive and research focused. See You Diving was our meeting point, which we would normally take the bus to. Then we would have a class, or a dive, or sometimes Alice would pick us up and we would go to a new dive spot. Being on this internship, I get to see the best of both ocean worlds. The surface through whale watch tours where I see Pilot Whales, Spotted Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Turtles, Jellyfish, sea birds, flying fish, and the wonderful surprise on the faces of the customers that are enjoying this experience with you. Then there’s the diving. Going underwater and seeing a completely different universe is absolutely amazing! Through the dives in the Canary Islands, I’ve seen so many different species of fish, Bullrays, rays, angel sharks, shrimps, colorful sponges and algae, crustaceans the size of my pinky nail to my forearm, and much much more.
Even better is the opportunity to be taught by Alice from See You Diving about the career of Marine Biology. Not only am I seeing these amazing creatures and marine vegetation, but I am getting in depth lessons into the what, why, how, and where, either through hands-on learning like walks on the beach, and dives, of course, and snorkeling or presentations. Getting a chance to look at the tiniest of living beings to sampling sea grass in Abades writing manuscripts on what we’ve learned. I truly get to experience the Marine Biologist life. Never in my life did I think work could be so fun.
On our off days we go out and explore the island like Los Gigantes, Fuertaventura, La Laguna, Los Abrigos, the flea markets and of course, the mall. I have a serious addiction to earrings and the mall has one store that is always on sale – I will leave there with more than four pairs. I have to say, I don’t know if I would be able to have this much fun without my two roommates. The best things about a Carpe Latitudes Year is knowing you will meet knew people along the way and create lifelong connections. Sharing fun times, getting lost at night in a desert (though not really we were 5 minutes from the city), keeping each other from spending 100 euros, laughs at two in the morning, introducing new music, burning food in the kitchen and watching the sunset. My semester is that much better because of the two people I get to experience it with.
Carpe Diem: What has challenged you about this experience so far?
Kate: Being able to make the most out of an experience. While here there are so many things to learn from both Biosean and See You Diving that it’s hard to pick up everything. I wish I could record everyday so that I could analyze the video and take notes on things I missed. And it will be the smallest things like how to tie a double figure eight knot for the boat, how to know what the best scuba gear for myself is, why the whales are reacting this way today and not yesterday. I wish I didn’t have the memory of a goldfish because everything I do here is something knew and I learn so many things that I just can’t remember them all.
Carpe Diem: What have been some of the top highlights?
Kate: I’m glad highlights is plural. First and foremost it’s my first time on the boat with Biosean because I realized my life calling, which is important. The second is the night dive. I thought day diving was cool but, oh my gosh. I saw so many sea urchins and sea cucumbers, two octopi, three cuttlefish – I saw diatoms!! And I love diatoms – shrimps and BIOLUMINESCENT ZOOPLANKTON IT WAS SO COOL!!! Third highlight is hiking a small mountain in Los Cristianos with Nathalie, Vanessa and Alice. The view was breathtaking and it was a great place to just sit and think and relax. The last, but most important, was our goodbye night with Vanessa before she went home, we watched movies and ate snacks, listened to music and laughed until 1am.
Carpe Diem: What has surprised you about this journey?
Kate: In the couple days that I had been here, the first thing that surprised me was the sociability of the people. Here they will talk out loud not even expecting a response but receiving one anyway. They’ll come up and start talking about how late the bus is or how good the cafe across the street is, honestly about anything and I love it. It makes me feel so at home and connected with the Island. And the food! Tortillas aren’t tortillas anymore, papayas are called something else and, oh my gosh the pastries, I melt.
Carpe Diem: What new skills have you gained throughout the process?
Kate: Being able to be more comfortable and just make a home wherever I can has helped me develop new skills and cross new boundaries. First of all I learned how to take public transport. It’s not my favorite because you can’t control your time, but it’s fun to take. I’ve learned how to separate need and want either through budget, space, or just saying “for now I don’t need it”, and I know for sure this will come in handy. Planning ahead is another beautiful skill, I have had too many mishaps of taking 5 buses just to get to my destination because I didn’t plan my route and therefore had to refill my card thrice in one day. Last I feel just that much ready to take on the world, live on my own, experience paying taxes and rent (maybe not those actually) and starting jobs, I just love the feeling of being on my own, making my own decisions, learning from mistakes, it’s great! I’m definitely looking forward to start my future now with more confidence about what I want to do with my life and where I want my paths to lead me.
Inspired by Kate’s gap year? Learn more about the Latitudes Year and carve out your own journey!
