Vanessa's Journal

Feb. 18

I hiked up the mountain today with our food carrier crew, which included another one of Lao Wang’s grandsons and his three friends. They were all 12 and 13 years old, but their youthful innocence made them seem about eight years old. They were such a riot. The whole hike up the mountain, they asked me all kinds of questions about American culture. They wanted to know what we do for fun, what we do on Christmas, and all about the basketball teams. They also asked me to teach them how to say various words in English. And I asked them all about what they are learning in school, what they like to study and what they do for fun. One of my favorite moments from the hike was when one of the bright-eyed 13 year old’s unreservedly asked me “What is your dream?” But perhaps the most precious question came from Lao Wang’s grandson who asked “Are you in middle school or high school?” I didn’t know how to answer that one. They were also very curious about my work and wanted to know about the animals that we have seen out in the wild. It was perhaps the most rewarding hike up to Wuyipeng ever. 

Once back at the field station, it was good to see the crew again.  Everyone was more excited than I expected to receive the pictures that I developed of their families. They poured over them for hours. There was not too much news to report from the trap checking, other than the fact that the birds are becoming increasingly obsessed with our meat.