Plant Eating + Mike Chewing

So I said today (Sunday) our whole group will be joined by our PC (project coordinator) Christine for a hiking tour in the Slocan Valley about edible plants in the region. So at 11 am, we set out in the Katimavan and headed to the tour. Midway there, we picked up our PC...wow that was the first time the van contained 12 people in total, so it was a bit tight. But anyways I always enjoyed road trips in Katima-vans, and in BC it is especially great because the scenaries were absolutely gorgeous, with the mountains and rivers...in fact we saw 2 deers running in a field when we drove back.

So the edible plant tour...it was led by these two guys (Michael and Tyler) who were ethnobotanist (professionals who study plants and human interactions with it) and they brought us to 2 different logging sites and see how different logging practices changed the ecosystem of the forest. It was quite interesting, and I think what I was most amazed by was that in a small area there could be so many plants that is useful, and how nature always finds a way to adapt despite human destruction. And we can eat the plants, which is right up my alley. I guess my only complaint about the tour - the weather was a little too hot, which made people a bit impatient (because the tour was from 12-3), and the Frenchies were somewhat bored because the whole thing was in English, with many technical terms. At the end they just kind of sat around while the rest of the English kids listened to the tour. By the way I learnt about a good number of interesting plants...let's see if I can remember them (this is only what I can remember):

- thimbleberry, stalk is edible
- huckleberry
- a mini version of pacific dogwood, only in grass form
- wild ginger (root tasted like ginger)
- cow parsley, edible seed and root (tastes like carrot)
- this plant where, if rubbed on body, gives the worst sunburn (but edible still!)
- aspens (apparently the powder on the bark is equivalent to sunscreen)
- soapberry (very popular within the aboriginal people in the region, but it tastes bitter!)
Much much more...and who can forget about dandelions?
Ooh and it rained a bit during the tour, and that was refreshing on our overheated bodies...that was the first time I saw rain while it was perfectly sunny.
After the tour was over, we stopped for ice-cream in a roadside convenient store...but I forgot my wallet...just as well, I need to save money.

Part 2 - Big Meeting on Mike
One of the reasons our PC joined us was because of this pre-planned meeting on Mike. I am not going into details, but pretty much for almost 3 hours the group (I didn't say much) gave our complaints, with Christine (PC) trying to find solutions. In the end, everyone created a couple of contracts listing a whole bunch of rules that Mike has to follow in order to stay in the program. I don't know how effective this will actually be...but Mike is pretty much walking on thin ice right now.

2 things I want to mention:
1) I think I worked out a schedule for me to do everything I want (blogging/email + exercising + studying Japanese and Navy)
Morning before work - exercise for 30 minutes, shower, breakfast, study until 9:30 am?
Night - Chill, hang with people (working to be more social)
11:00 something - blog time
Let's see how things go...
2) Speaking of blogs, the blogs I have to work on to finish (self reminder)
- Montreal
- Quebec City excursion (quite interesting, actually)
- My work in Alma
- Quebec (thoughts, feelings, opinions...incorporate with Quebec discussion)

Ok I am out...let's see if I can get up at 7 am tomorrow (today)

Angel