Our Campus Everglades

Walking around in the high grasses with shorts on has got to be one of my less thought out ideas

Yesterday was our campus hike. Well was I surprised or what. I wasn't even aware that there was a swampy area on our campus. I mean obviously there are the wooded areas that are protected, but I had never even thought of stepping foot in there. Not even on the nature trail. The last time I had been so deep in the forest was when I would go camping in New Jersey. That was more than 11 years ago. And it was New Jersey, completely different landscape; definitely not as wet and sticky as Florida.

But we are in Florida, so I figured it was going to be hot. So I wore shorts. Not the best idea by far. I'm short as it is, so most of my body was being attacked by the grass and my legs were the main victim. By the end of the trail I had scratches all over my ankles and lower calves. And yet somehow that wasn't the worst part of the hike. I did, of course like always, get a couple mosquito bites, which is never fun.

Aside from the scratches and the mosquito bites, I have to say I did enjoy the hike. I was getting a different type of fresh air, air that can't really be found anywhere else. And there were so many different things to look at, although I have to admit most of the time I was looking at the ground watching my step.

It really takes you time to get adjusted to so much greenness and nature surrounding you. There was so much to take it. If I hadn't been looking at my feet the whole time, I think I wouldn't know where to look. There was just so much. Even a knife in the middle of the forest and measuring tape. The random purple flowers that were so beautiful. And the giant bug that landed on a fellow student's shirt that made me scream. Yea I'm glad I decided to go on that hike.

Although I have to say that my utmost favorite part of the entire hike was hearing Professor Wilkinson's ringtone....they see me rollin'...they hatin' definitely an unexpected laugh.

The Everglades

This week we were assigned the swamp readings. The first one was an excerpt from Marjory Stoneman Douglas' The Everglades: River of Grass.

Honestly one of the hardest things I have ever had to read. I literally read the first page about 10 times and I still didn't understand what she was saying. As I would go on to the next sentence I would have to reread the sentence before. She was so descriptive in her writing that it almost didn't go anywhere. She kept describing the same thing for about two paragraphs and she still wasn't done. Definitely the hardest reading ever. I'm sure that she was very passionate about the Everglades and that's ok. The Everglades truly are unique and one of a kind. There is nothing else like it in the world, and that's what makes it so special. One thing I did find especially interesting was the way that the Everglades name came to be. It went through so much just to be named something that seems so simple. I would have preferred for the name to have stayed "El Laguno del Espirtitu Santo"

The second reading was an even harder excerpt to plow through. The Swamp, by Michael Grunwald. Grunwald went into detail about the political processes behind the territory of the Everglades. I think that if it wouldn't have been for this reading I would have lived the rest of my life not knowing that there was a close possibility that the most unique aspect of Florida would have been turned into yet another airport. How could that even cross someone's mind? Turn something so unique and strangely beautiful into just one more everyday thing? Overall not my favorite readings from the bunch, but definitely full of information. Yes I was severely confused most of the time and didn't fully register it all, but the little bit I did understand was just eye opening. To think that I have lived in Florida for about 11 years now, and not once did visiting the Everglades ever cross my mind. Now it is definitely on my list of things to do. It should be great because I know so much of it before even seeing it.

Plan B 4.0

I'm not much of a "green" person. I try to recycle, I try to cut the lights out, turn off the water, and walk to as many places as I can. But I know for a fact that my carbon foot print is huge. I have a truck; so that pretty much vomits carbon emissions just by having it on. I do travel a lot, between school and work, school and home(which is a 8 hour drive back and forth) and just to take my friends out. Back in New Jersey, I would walk everyone. My family had one car, and thats because my dad lived a but far from work, but other than that we walked everywhere. I walked to school, I walked to the store, I walked to the strip mall. And it's the same thing in Colombia. No one own's cars unless your rich. Most people own motorcycles, take taxis or buses, and even take what we call "metro cable"

I really think we should think of something like this here in Florida. It could be a big boost to the economy and help reduce carbon emissions. In Colombia, this is a tourist attraction, with big sections of it running through the poorest parts of the city, and it travels all over the city with many stations, which is very helpful.

When we were assigned to read Plan B 4.0, I wasn't too crazy about it. And even though I read it and I took all the information in, it didn't really hit me until my group presented the chapter to the class. I knew all the information, and I knew what the data was pointing at, it just didn't really sink in until I was telling everyone else. It's a scary thought, that at some point half of Florida is going to be under water. It's such a populated state, where are we going to put everyone that has to relocate? What will happen if there isn't enough time to relocate?

Fort Myers Beach

So today we made our way to Fort Myers Beach. The bus ride was not so great, seeing as there was crazy traffic and we decided to get out of the bus and walk the rest of the way. Walking wasn't so bad, except the bus pretty much caught up to us so it makes me wonder if it was worth it. Anyway the sights we saw on the way there though were beautiful. I had never been to that area and was pretty amazed at how beautiful it really was. Lover's key sounds like a great place to visit.

Once we walked into the Historic Cottage, I was taken aback by how it looked. For some reason I imagined a crummy looking place, but this was beautiful and well kept. There were so many displays and things that were interesting. It's hard to imagine that people actually lived in cottages like that back in the day. That's barely enough room for a family to live in. Something Jo told us that really got me thinking was that the school was 1 classroom, and the teacher was everything in that place, including the janitor. How crazy is that? I was looking around at some of the displays and suddenly this picture really caught my attention for some reason, it was funny and seemed almost out of place.

Anyway after Jo talked we got a chance to go on the trail. Honestly I was too dizzy to concentrate on what Professor Wilkinson was saying. The path kept winding and there were too many creepy sounds coming from the mangroves. I mean it was a really nice place and there was a lot of information, my head was just spinning. I did really enjoy looking out at the water. It was so peaceful and quiet. Makes me realize just how important it is to keep areas like this clean and safe from other harm.