After a relaxing day off at the beach, I go back to class tomorrow. Classes are great so far--they're wonderfully interconnected, hands on, and all really relevant to what I'm interested in and what makes me happy.
The 4 classes I'm getting credit for this semester are Coastal Ecology and Conservation, Principles of Resource Management, Economics and Ethics of Sustainable Development, and a directed research project that we'll start soon.
We had our first field lectures for the ecology and management classes on Saturday (yeah 6 day a week classes!) in a mangrove forest that has been repeatedly destroyed for the construction and maintenance of a pipe that brings fuel from the docks to a power plant nearby. We first spoke about mangrove ecosystems, adaptations, ecosystem services provided by mangroves, and threats to mangroves. Then we explored the area to identify black, white, and red mangroves. The exploration was followed by a lecture about possible ways to evaluate the health and recovery of a mangrove ecosystem and ways to work with governments and other parties to protect mangroves.
It is amazing how much easier it is to absorb information when you are immersed in it. Hearing about the different ways to tell mangrove species apart, or talking about the different ways they get excess salt out of their systems is one thing, but exploring and touching the mangroves is a whole other thing. It just sticks better. Looking at photos of mangrove trees is one thing, taking them is a whole other picture. [No pun intended. See picasa for my mangrove pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/Emma.RachelKanji] This is why I love ecology so much. It's thrilling to look around and be able to understand the way the various pieces of world around you fit together and see the cycles and pathways that connect everything.
We also saw our first whales on Thursday, on our way home from a swim test in the mangroves. We saw them spouting water and the next thing we knew, we were surrounded by 5 or more whales--including a calf. It was so exciting--it felt like we had finally reached the moment we'd been waiting for, sitting in boats in the middle of Bahía Magdalena, not 10 feet away from these huge, mysterious animals. For some, it was the first time seeing whales. For me, it was a different experience than any I have ever had on a whale watching trip. I can't wait to work with them, to see them all the time and learn from them.
This is the most excited I have ever been about my academic situation. Though I've loved many of my classes at Colby, this new environment is just what I needed. I know I will learn SO much this semester, then be ready to get back to Waterville and apply it my senior year and into the future. We are all so passionate about what we're doing here, and it's contagious--our enthusiasm builds off of eachother and we all are so engaged in what we're doing.
On that note, I should probably go finish my homework...
(Yeah, I haven't changed THAT much.)
Love and hugs!
~Emma
~Emma
P.S. I'm updating my picasa albums almost daily. http://picasaweb.google.com/Emma.RachelKanji, click on whatever album looks newest, most interesting, prettiest, whatever. Enjoy!
"It is amazing how much easier it is to absorb information when you are immersed in it." Yeah, definitely! It's different, of course, but for me learning new things in Spanish is so much easier because I actually hear them everywhere. Study abroad was someone's best idea ever.
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