pred nai, trat

waiting for my eggs to boil (my breakfast!). thinking about the last four days and how much i learned from seeing, doing, and listening. i can't wait until i have some courage to speak more. what will i be able to contribute?! more thinking and synthesizing needed on my part.

summary of activities: taking photographs, videos, and interviewing (don't know why i consider this separate, must be the spirit of communication) participants involved in the community-based research for mangrove reforestation in pred nai, trat. seriously, this is where science and local wisdom meet.

so wonderful to learn about the ecosystem and mangrove habitat locally, by which i mean through local names and learning from villagers how to discern the morphological differences between crab, fish, shrimp, and plant species. learning how to sex marine creatures and learning the best way to eat them and which ones have the most income value in the market. learning what it means to rely on your natural resources for income. eating crab you caught and measured earlier that day, by which i mean, tasting the freshest and sweetest crab i'll probably eat in my life. learning how important it is for communities to have skills and knowledge of this kind and how important it is that this is not lost. but this is also dependent on whether or not younger generations will need these skills, that is, will they choose to continue supporting their community forest? will the choose to return home to live a life there? learning about the challenges of community forestry, or rather the challenges of sustaining a community.

leaving for northern thailand tomorrow evening. be back in a week.