The First Birthday and a Trip to the Dismal Swamp

This week was quite eventful. We started the week with internships on Monday during which some people got to sit in on a court case, help recover baby sea turtle nests, or participate in discussion about zoning and town planning. On Tuesday we had a full day of classes, including a class outside learning about different marsh systems. Towards the end of the week, we had our first birthday at the field site, shoutout to Emily Inkrote, and we made a trip to the Great Dismal Swamp with a few special guests.

Emily Inkrote turned twenty on Thursday, so of course we had to celebrate. Since it was the first birthday in the program, we had to go all out to celebrate. We made dozens of signs to hang around the house and at her desk, we decorated her car with lots of streamers and balloons, and we made a giant cookie cake. Everybody had a great time putting together a surprise for Emily and at the end of the day we made our weekly trip to Food Dudes Kitchen where we indulged in taco Thursday.

Decorating a cake for the festivities

On Friday, we made the journey to the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia to take a scenic kayak tour with Bland Simpson and Rachel Willis from UNC. Another Rachel from the community garden we spend time at joined us as well with her husband. Our trip lasted about five hours and took us through a really interesting ecosystem. It was a good end to the week.

A view from the kayak