The first block is Foundations in which we learned the basics of Thai language (including how to read write and speak!) and learn about Thai culture. It is in this block that we had the home stays for five weeks. This block has ended and we are all now in the second block, Sustainable Food Systems. We moved into what the Thai's call "dorms," but are really apartments and we all struggle with having too few hours in the day to do everything we want to do. We are in the midst of the intensive week and are learning about Thai farming practices, sustainable practices, ecology, cover cropping, composting, succession planting, niche packing, nutrient cycles, crop rotations, which plants repel pests, and many other things. We leave on monday for our expedition of three weeks and head out to stay with host families on their farms who practice sustainable farming. One thing I am really excited for is the day where we go with our host families to the market and sell their goods.
The third block is Political Ecology in Forests, in which we will backpack from hill tribe to hill tribe learning about the prejudices against their ethnicity and their relationship with the forests. The fourth block is Culture and Ecology of the Andaman where we will kayak the Andaman coast and stay with home stays in a Muslim fishing village. We will learn about marine resources depletion, fish stocks.. etc. So basically we are on the go the entire time and learning so much.
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