Happy Birthday, Callie!

Amy, Callie, Angel (and Jose Cuervo) at Callie’s Farewell Party in Galapagos, 2001.

Callie helping out with our paper-making project

When the Peace Corps sent me to finish up my last year in Galapagos, I thought I was in heaven. Then I realized that Island Fever is a very real thing; when you live on an island with less than 1000 people, it starts to get kinda tight.  Especially when you’re the foreigner.

Then I met Callie.  Beautiful, hilarious, kind-hearted, and adventurous.  The spunky, red-headed Canadian was on a cruise in Galapagos with her family when she fell in love with Angel, who worked on the ship.  So what does Callie do upon returning to Canada?  Buy a ticket to Galapagos, of course! 

Callie spent several months living with Angel’s family and volunteering on the island, which is when we became best of friends. She didn’t speak much Spanish initially and Angel spoke no English. The family lived very simply, and Callie had to adjust to a lot of things: bucket baths, bugs, always being The Gringa, and of course the diet:  lots of rice, not so much protein.  Protein wasn’t cheap!   So on her birthday, I thought it was perfectly appropriate to give her a . . . Chicken.  Yes, a chicken.     

The love affair between Callie and Angel ended, and she returned to Canada.  She is now with her media naranja (or “better half,” as the Ecuadorians like to say, which directly translates into “half of the orange“), and just had a baby boy. 

Things are different now, but we still crack up over that birthday chicken.  I’ve never gifted anyone a raw chicken before, and I probably won’t ever again. But it was the best gift I’ve ever given, and one of the funniest gifts she ever received.  She was never so happy to see pure protein in all her life!  

Happy birthday Callie!  Te quiero mucho!