Wetlands in Concepción by Alex Christensen

The second week in Concepción offered many great opportunities to learn more about the school, my family, and the city in general.

This week in school, I had the chance to give an important presentation on wetlands and the Coastal Roots organization to several high school science classes. This presentation covered the definition of wetlands (basically a vegetation area that is inundated with water for a large portion of the year and consists of plants that can survive in anoxic soils), why they are important, and why they should be protected and restored. 

As one of the three science students on this trip, my job is to educate the kids and the teachers about wetland restoration. Bringing Coastal Roots to Chile is an exciting opportunity to spread environmental education and get more people involved around the world. 

This week, I also had the chance to see some local wetlands. One of the teachers at the school gave us a short tour of wetlands nearby.

This wetland is just a short 2 minute drive from the school.

Finally, on Friday we had our first tree planting activity with the school. Unfortunately, I do not yet have pictures of this event, but it was a great success! We will be doing two more plantings next week and I look forward to working outdoors and getting kids excited about planting trees.

With great luck, the sun was out and shining for a trip to Parque Pedro del Rio Zanartu. My family and I hiked up to a beautiful overlook where you can see the Biobio River and the Pacific Ocean. There is nothing quite like the meeting of a river and an ocean, where salt and fresh water mix..

For my family, Thursdays are special nights in celebration of the coming weekend. This past Thursday, we had a feast. 

This masterpiece consists of several layers. At the bottom there are french fries, followed by three different types of meat, cheese,  tomatoes, avocados, olives, pickles, and eggs. Together the five of us finished almost this entire dish!

Peace!