04 Jul One Month Down

Today marks the completion of my first month here in Grand Canyon. I feel like I have learned a ton about the people, the way the park works, the wildlife, the plants, the rocks, everything about this place, and yet I think I hear a new word every day. There is so much to discover in this park, and I am lucky to have learned so much about this place. I also feel lucky to be in my position because I am usually doing something every minute of every day that I am here. Whether it is working on programs or checking on the interns, or working on my Latino Conservation Week, there is never not anything for me to do. I also feel lucky that I get to go to our Education Days, because they are pretty fun and you get to learn a lot. For our Education Day this week we learned about photography, ethnobotany, and went on a hike. The interns took pictures the whole day and get to submit five photos to our social media people to be featured on the park’s Instagram! I am very excited because they get to show the park through their own perspective, plus they will be reaching approximately tens of thousands of people with their pictures which will be a cool experience for them. For our ethnobotany we learned uses for some of the common plants around the Canyon, like yucca, pinyon pine, and juniper. We talked about making teas with them, eating them, using the sap as a replacement for a band-aid, etc. So that was a pretty cool part of the morning. Then on our hike we wanted the interns to know how difficult our rim-to-rim backpacking trip is going to be, with the heat and the elevation, so we did a mini-hike. We went too late in the day, however, so it was really hot, but the hike itself wasn’t too bad. Well, that’s all for this week!