Life, Pictures, and Whatnot

I realized that after my two--more-so educational--posts yesterday, that they really do not show what I'm doing here.  So... That's what this post is about.  Lots of pictures and stories not related to environmental management.

This guy was at the tarsier reserve.  That One Piso coin is about the size of nickle... it was a good size bug.

The puppy that lived at the tarsier reserve office... he had just shredded a piece of toilet paper, and he was tired. 

The birthday cake for my 5 year old host niece. Hello Kitty is big here.  

On a boat to go to one of the islands.  We went go to one of the PO's (Peoples' Organization) meetings.

This was the boat of an illegal fisherman... When the coastal law enforcers caught him, he tried to run... bad choice...

This was at a conference that was about organizing the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC).  The guy on the far right is my counterpart and coastal resource management officer for Talibon, Alex.  The woman to his right is my supervisor and the Municipal Agricultural Officer, Poncing.  The conference was sponsored by ECOFISH (A program from USAID). 

This was my first lunch/second breakfast on the first island we went to during the mangrove inspections.  There was rice, squid adobo, and seaweed salad.  Rice is a staple at all meals. Squid is very abundant around here, and adobo is the style in which it is cooked.  The seaweed salad is becoming more popular because it is now farmed here is an alternative livelihood to fishing.

This was also on the table... they were difficult to get out of the shell, but they were good.

As always, there was fried fish.

A really good looking sea star.

These were an award to a fisherman from BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources).  

The animal swims in this tunnel that goes into the trap.  It then can't get out.

He was given the mesh for the cages, but had to do the rest himself.  Here he is showing how he bends the bamboo to make the frame.  Another thing to note here is the size of the mesh.  It is the size that allows all the juveniles to escape the cage--a sustainable practice.

I think this is a type of ficus... It may not be, but it looks like one.

A gate to someone's house on this island... When I say that "This country isn't built for tall people." ...this is what I mean.

I don't condone cock fighting, but it is a big pastime here.  I just thought this was a good looking chicken.  If I had to pick a rooster to fight for me, this would be it.

This is a seaweed farm.  This plot will get 4-5 crops a year.

This is just a nice picture... clouds, ocean, sunset pending... really just an average day.