This week has been all about training with the Interpretation & Resource Education Department with the Grand Canyon National Park NPS staff along with many, many other interns. Many of them from the Greening Youth Foundation who attend various HBCU campuses. Trainings have included from how...
Last Saturday I left Maryland for the Land of Enchantment. The plane ride was 5 hours, so like many plane goers, I designated my flight time as siesta time. However, when I woke up and heard the flight attendant utter “have a great day, and...
"Being Mexican is a state of soul—not one of mind, not one of citizenship. Neither eagle or serpent, but both. And like the ocean, neither animal respects borders."—Gloria Anzaldúa THE PEOPLE INVOLVED Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez (Source: Sylvia Mendez) The story of...
This has been one tough week for me! My work week is Monday through Thursday 10 hours a day. It’s an especially a long day in the hot sun and dry air. Thankfully I have been adapting to the weather as the week goes on....
Astoria, Oregon is a picturesque, storybook town along the Oregon coast. A place with deep Native American culture, where fish canneries and logging flourished in the 1900s, and has developed into a richly artistic community. I recognized it was a special place as soon as...
As I look over the horizon in daily guided tours, I am always amazed at how beautifully painted the rural plains of Idaho are. It has officially been almost a month that I moved here and was greeted by one of the many hundreds of critters...
Let me start off by saying, I hate driving. When I read the welcome letter from NPS stating that driving would be one of the most dangerous things that we would actually do all I could think was “whoop-de-doo I’m in for an interesting summer”....
In the four very different cities that I've lived in for the past six years, the ocean has always been a common denominator that gave me a sense of comfort and familiarity. Needless to say, it was strange flying into Redding without the ocean's royal blue hue...
Hi there! I just finished my first week at the Grand Canyon (GRCA), and let me tell you, the heat is out of control. The weekend I arrived, there was an excessive heat warning, meaning that in two consecutive days, the temperature was 105 degrees...
As we embark on our longest family road trip yet, I reflect on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that led to the same destination -- Astoria, Oregon. Ours is a much more mapped and air-conditioned journey of course. The famous explorers traveled west in...
Almost tucked away behind the tourists, shops, restaurants, traffic and street hustlers of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco lies the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park and Museum, home to a number of 100 year old ships. Whereas most parks are about the physical tangible...
¡Hola! [caption id="attachment_5212" align="alignright" width="384"] We looked for catalog numbers on each of those hooks and inspected them for any damage.[/caption] This weekend I was able to get out and explore Lincoln thanks to one of the artists in residence here at Homestead...
It has been 10 days since I have arrived at Craters of the Moon. Every morning I sheepishly wake up at 6:00am sharp from my bed and think “is this real?” From the blaring streets of Pacoima to the calm and rugged landscape of...
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Hello...
I've been in Colorado for a little over a week now —and what a great time it's been. My mom came with me for the weekend to make sure I was okay moving across the country. This is the furthest away I've moved from...
Sitting in the quietness of my room, alone, packing and repacking, stressing over the realization of leaving home, my friends, my family, the comfort they bring, it was sinking deeper and deeper into my thoughts, but then, like a ray of light shining through a...
Hello everyone! My name is Dyaami D’Orazio, I am from both the Bronx, New York and Miami, Florida, and I have recently graduated from Oberlin College located in Ohio. My interests and focus are in environmental (and social) justice, working with marginalized communities for our/their...
It is the first time I will be out of my country for more than 2 weeks. Living in a tropical island makes you attach yourself to certain features, faces, flavors and senses you don’t get in the north. Although Puerto Rico is a territory of...
One of the things that the Missions of San Antonio are most notable for are their impressive limestone churches, walls, and sculptures. The people of the Missions quarried and shaped the stone to create a totally new built environment along the San Antonio River. They...
“There are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other and the relation of people to land.” -Aldo Leopold My assignment for this past week has been to read social science literature on causes of park (non)use by minorities in...