Community Day

So today we went to a Cassowary Habitat Preserve. We drove back in to the rain forest and met a woman named Jacks. She was about 60 years old and completely awesome she was really passionate about saving these magnificent animals that look like a very colorful emu. They are endangered animals that are essential to keeping one of the largest and oldest plants alive in the rain forest. The birds eat the seeds from this plant, poop it out and then the plant will grow, so with out the bird the palm will die out and with it one of the oldest organisms in the rain forest.

What we did to preserve the the Cassowary was to help the nursery that grows local plant to give to people to plant in their neighborhoods was to de-weed pots and fill them up with potting soil. To do this I went over and scooped up 7 shovel fulls of dirt, which I might add that I did quickly and efficiently, and everyone commented on how good I was at it. Yup, folks I'm good at shoveling dirt. Then we mixed the dirt with some Koala poop that has been broken down by worms, our group of girls picked out the worms while the boys watched... then we topped off the plants and had a break. The break here is known as tea time, even if you don't have tea, a strange concept for the Americans.

After the break we got on a bus that took us to a place where we all piled out and planted plants along the side of the road to prevent soil erosion and to entice the cassowary to habit the area. We all got really muddy and felt good when we left. The day that we got back we ate pizza and then the majority of us went out to dinner and drinks on the town. It was a good day.