Journal

Monday, December 6, 2010

Entry 10

Colloquium was not what I had expected it to be. I had heard so many negative comments made about the course that was a bit apprehensive coming into it. However, now I have completed the course, I can honestly say that I left with a much more positive aspect about the environment than at the beginning of the semester or what I had even expected to have had. I use to liter occasionally and I always felt a sense of uneasiness when doing so, but I noticed that throughout this semester I am much more conscious of it and I have stopped doing it all together. I have also noticed that I am much more aware of recycling not only while I am on campus but at home as well. There is one change in particular that I would make to the course and that would be having more fieldtrips that are much more engaging than simply following a tour guide around. I would also discard the State of the World assignments because I felt that much of it was busy work and the book reiterated much of the information that we have already been given either through lecture or fieldtrips. Although, A Land Remembered is not a book I would personally choose to read on my leisure time, out of all of the readings it was the one I enjoyed the most. The reason I enjoyed the book the most was because it was an easy read and it kept my attention for a longer period of time since it was based on a story as opposed to reading an article or text book. I did not like the readings from the Colloquium Reader very much. The information within the reader was relevant to the course but it was difficult material. I felt the quizzes did not reflect the proper grades throughout the readings because although I read the material I still answered questions incorrectly due to the fact that I did not understand the material in its entirety. I would suggest having more fun and engaging activities for the time that is spent within the classroom when going over the material besides simply talking about it. I believe that by having such activities more students would be willing to participate. I would also suggest in cutting out either the Corkscrew or the Matanzas Pass Preserve field trips because in my opinion, they were very repetitive of each other which caused me to get a bit bored with what the tour guides were saying. Overall I enjoyed the course very much and I would hope that my classmates did as well.

Entry 9

google images/puerto rico

The person that I interviewed was my grandmother who is 77 years old and was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My grandmother never went to school so she does not know how to read or write whatsoever. It was interesting to find out what her philosophy of sustainability is since she did not have any other authority figures to influence her throughout her life besides her parents and pastor. My grandmother had no idea what it even meant to be sustainable. However, growing up in a rural area, she had to plant much of her own food and she did not grow up in a farm per se but her family also had to slaughter animals in order to have anything to eat. My grandmother is what the Hispanic culture calls mulata, she is half African American and have Native American, her parents were very poor and they were slaves up until right before my grandmother was born. Therefore, a lot of the obligations that they had to do as a family in terms of gardening and hunting were for necessity. She also grew up in a small shack with a few pots and pans, a small bed and spent most of her time outdoors. My upbringing was very different from hers, since my parents provided me with all of the essentials and our food came from the grocery store as opposed to having to grow our own. I also grew up primarily in a house or apartment that had air conditioning and a bundle of pots, pans and utensils. I spent much of my time outside but I also watched a lot of television and played indoors for the most part. When I had told my grandmother what I had learned in my Colloquium class she said that what I have been taught is much of what she was however, not for a grade or the purpose of education but for survival.

Entry 8

I have been living in Lee County for about 5 years and the field trip to the downtown area and the local history museum allowed me to learn about the history of this area that I was completely unaware of. I enjoyed walking through the downtown area more so than I did walking through the museum. The reason why I enjoyed walking through the downtown area more is because I got to see various places that I would like to visit that I did not know were there in the first place such as the restaurant located at the Indigo hotel. Also, being out in the open gave us a broader range of sites to look at. When at the museum I really liked the two displays that were in the outside. The first display, a replica of a typical cracker house, allowed me to connect it to A Land Remembered. The second display, a replica of a train allowed me to see how people traveled back in the day. Although, the inside of the train made me a feel a bit cluster phobic, it was interesting to see many of the things inside of it, such as the toilet and sink that were built together as one apparatus. I do not know how I would redesign the urban area to encourage more community engagement but I believe one thing that can be implemented is creating programs that would teach the residences about sustainability and allows them to come up with their own ideas of projects that can be done to improve their community.

google images/downtown ft myers

google images/ft myers history museum

Entry 7

Out of all of the field trips that we took, the one to ECHO was the one that impacted me the most in a positive manner. I feel that what ECHO is all about in terms of wanting to assist with world hunger is truly significant. I was amazed at how different mechanisms can be made out of typical household things in order to help with gardening. It is difficult to think that others do not have anything as essential as food since I have never gone through something as equally devastating myself. I really like the fact that ECHO does not simply take donations to feed others but they use it to show them ways in which they can feed themselves and even entire communities. I really enjoyed learning about all of the different aspects about ECHO but as I have mentioned before with other guided tours, it seems to be very repetitive. I do not have much personal experience gardening or growing plants but it is definitely something to consider. I know of several family members that have done some gardening themselves so it could also result in productive time to spend with the family. With the way our society is headed, it would not be such a bad idea to start growing some of my own food and teaching others around me as well. Most people I know are struggling to keep their “heads above water” due to the condition that our economy is currently in so it may be helpful for them to take part in learning how to grow their own food as well.

- All photos taken by me

Entry 6

I enjoyed the first part of this trip with having the speaker tell us her personal experiences in Fort Myers Beach during her childhood and hearing much of the history of the area from her point of view and not a historian’s. Much of the guided tour through the boardwalk I did not enjoy however. The reason I did not enjoy it is because a lot of the information that was given was much of the same information that was learned throughout the Corkscrew Swamp tour. Also, I felt like much of what was said mainly had to do with how the issue of the mosquitoes was being dealt with back in the day and the different types of mangroves. Nevertheless, during the boardwalk tour I enjoyed the beautiful scenery in which we were able to see a good view of the ocean. The conservation 2020 program is mainly focused on obtaining property that considered essential to the environment, restoring and maintaining them. The program consists of a portion of our tax dollars being used in order to keep the program going. This was the first time I had heard of this program, I was unaware that our tax dollars were used for land preservation or that the government would have even considered implementing and supporting this kind of program. I have never been to any of the preserves acquired by this program other than the Matanzas Pass Preserve. I think I might visit one of this preserves in particular, which is the Gator Hole Preserve because I am interested in the fact that gopher tortoises live there and since they are native to Florida I think it is an essential area. I do not know of any other programs existing elsewhere. Information regarding programs like these is not readily available or automatically provided by our professor’s for instance which is where as a student I get most of my information from. I think it is a good thing that our tax dollars are being used for land preservation. I feel that our tax dollars are sometimes being used for things that in my opinion are not that important so it is relieving to know that a portion, however small it may be, is being used for something as essential as land preservation.

Photo taken by me

google images/matanzas pass preserve. ft myers fl

Entry 5

Corkscrew swamp was a very interesting experience for me because I had no idea that this place even existed. I was unaware of how relevant a small amount of difference was needed in order to have diversity among the plants, weeds, trees, etc for them to grow in certain places but not another. I was also very surprised with the history of the Corkscrew Swamp and how much work went into actually keeping the area preserved to the degree that it is. However, to be completely honest the most exciting part of the trip was getting to see the alligator that lived with her babies just outside of Corkscrew swamp. I do not think I would visit this particular area again because although I do like nature, I would rather see more wildlife than what we actually saw which were mainly trees and plants. I felt that after a short amount of time, a lot of the information that was given was a bit repetitive and a lot of what I was seeing became kind of a blur since I knew I would not remember the many differences among the plants and trees that we were observing. I must however agree with our tour guide Adam for the fact that being out within the area did make me feel a lot more relaxed then when I had first arrived.

Photo taken by me

Entry 4

Photo taken by me

The neighborhood that I currently live in has many duplexes and most of the driveways are filled with rocks. I believe these are sustainable features because not only does the area provide ample amount of space for a single family but they have condensed it to where several families such as in duplexes share that space. It is very rare to see an actual house within the neighborhood, let alone a house that is very big and takes up more resources. Also, placing rocks in the driveway is less expensive than having it paved. Not only are the materials for paving costly but so is having to pay the workers for the labor and it is harmful to the environment for the several trips that have to be taken in order to complete the work; with rocks, one trip is sufficient. I have also noticed at least one of neighbor’s to have a clothing line that they use every time they wash clothes which is sustainable as well since they are not using as much energy as if they were to use a dryer. There is not much wildlife that can be seen with the naked eye within my neighborhood but there are several birds as well as insects. Another aspect within my neighborhood that I have noticed is the fact that there is an abundant amount of grass area behind many of the duplexes that may be used for children to play in and have generally safe surroundings as opposed to playing out on the street. I see several children outside each day and I even take my daughter out to our backyard as well. Having this green area available for children to play in also saves a trip to the park and is less harmful to the environment since parents do not have to drive their children there.