Community Living: ‘The gift that keeps on giving’.

I think I've already mentioned that I live on site in community with ten other interns. There are also three families and a couple who also live on various parts of the site. But community is much more than just living in close proximity to others: it can be challenging, a complete pain, a real blessing and a joy.

Enjoying each other's company!

One of the both nice and slightly terrifying things is that during the week we take it in turns to cook lunches and dinners for everyone on site that wants it. Because day to day life can be somewhat unpredictable, you can suddenly find yourself cooking for 30, or massively over-catering for the five people who aren't out doing field-work (thus preventing anyone from starving to death over the weekend!). However, it's a total joy to be able to go out into the gardens here, harvest some mud covered vegetables and serve them up a few hours later, and it's a wonderful chance to learn some new yummy recipes for the plants that are in season at any one time!

Harvesting Kale for Lunch!

Cooking for 30!

On Thursday we have an extended community lunch which includes announcements for the week, delicious desserts(!), a time of music based worship and every other week a bible study for the interns. I really enjoy being sat around the table with everyone laughing and talking and sharing their stories from the week so far and it's fascinating how much people can be brought together through the simple act of sharing a meal.  

Sharing a meal.

There are other things I'm sure we'd rather not share! Colds, sore throats and flu to name but a few. Once someone in the community catches a cold you can be pretty sure that you'll go down with it too sooner or later. The best that you can hope for is that you wont end up being reinfected later on by community members infected after you (literally the gift that keeps on giving)! I've made it sound like we're all plague ridden or something! It's really not bad: so far I've stayed much healthier out here than I ever managed during my degree. There's clearly a lot to be said for fresh vegetables, a sensible amount of sleep and a dearth of imminent exams.

Similarly sharing space with lots of other people can feel like a bit of a drag sometimes, particularly when you're naturally introverted like me. When you're working and living in close proximity to others it can be a challenge to find enough space and quiet for yourself. But it just takes discipline to tuck yourself away in a quiet corner with a book or some music, or head out into the nearby forests to walk the trails to get yourself some space when you need it. 

Alone with the trees...

Just me and a dog, perfect!

So now I need to firmly stress that the effort and downsides of community living are easily outstripped by the joys. It's wonderful that whenever you want to do something, like drive over to White Rock for the day, bake some cookies, watch a film or just chat there'll be somebody around and up for it.

Exploring White Rock

Out at t'pub...

 

A day at Vancouver Aquarium

 It's also a great chance to learn from others. For example I’ve been thrown into the somewhat bizarre and alien experience of being one of the most competent interns with a needle and thread. I've found myself sharing my denim patches and past experiences to fix trousers and have even managed to encourage and convince people to take away a needle and some thread from me so that I don’t have to do all the work! On the other hand I've learned how to make vinaigrette, broccoli salad and learned how the totally alien grid road system and street names work (like how to find 16th Ave near 197a St!). I've also gained confidence when it comes to baking. Not having had an oven at university I can fry and boil things with great competence and know many ways to misuse a George Foreman grill (for example making cookies) but I'm not particularly skilled on the baking front.

And everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I can catch a spider, or deal with a lady-bird (lady-bug if you insist) infestation, but I can’t seem to find a headtorch in a powercut or use a food processor without risking life and limb. I can come up with logical solutions to a problem with some scientific methodology but I can't avoid walking straight into a boulder whilst wading in the river for a survey.

Time to test that work experience I did at the vets...

The triumphant fixing of the poorly otter/slipper!

...a problem in need of solving perhaps?

Learning together, all smiles until...

But beyond these life skills and funny examples, personal learning experiences from life so far and the great distances that people have traveled to get here, both literal and metaphorical, can result in every individual, no matter how young or old, bringing something real, deep and truly enriching to the community. It's both exciting and humbling to share and learn from one another during the time we spend here before we take what we've learned here back out to the ends of the earth. 

I'll leave you with a final funny one. We're a community of people who care deeply about biodiversity and are very concerned by the state of the world at the moment, both for it's human and other inhabitants. As scientists we want the work achieved here to be trusted and taken seriously and wish to promote a competent and well–informed image. The fact that we live in community here can cause some confusion with respect to our work. It can be hard to persuade people that we aren’t just a bunch of hippy tree-huggers or even worse a cult of some sort. Often we succeed. We produce valuable reports about the status of the species of the area and collaborate closely with other charitable and governmental conservation groups that trust and value our work and insights; or gain the confidence of a local landowner with our fence building or tree planting skills.  Sometimes we don't succeed. Imagine, if you will, the visitors to the site who witnessed an intern (who happened to be running short on clothes) wandering across the site to the washing machine dressed in their floaty floral pjs, long hair straggling down around their shoulders.

Ah well, you win some you lose some!

Hugging  trees...