Ice on cemetery. Picture taken at around 12.00 pm, December 2012
You might think it is strange to start my last blog with a cemetery’s picture…well, I took this photo on my very first day in Stirling (December 2012, when I travelled to Scotland for my TCV interview). The picture always reminds me of how great the Natural Communities opportunity looked for me that I was willing to change the sun and the “tapas” for living in a city that can be still covered on ice at 12.00 pm and it is more than 2,000 km away from my home town. Was it worthwhile? Let me tell you a little bit of my year in Scotland.
As a trainee, I attended a wide range of courses that allowed me to gain and improve my identification skills but I also learnt about community engagement, fundraising, outdoor play and so much more.
I travelled to the west side of Loch Awe to help a former Natural Talent Apprentice with a bryophytes survey. She did a fantastic job and I tried to make the most of my two days there. I discovered that there is a liverwort with my name (Nowellia curvifolia! Isn´t that cool?); Heather Campbell (TCV volunteer) showed me how to use a pond net; we did a night trip adventure in search of newts (we didn´t find any!), but we came across some other cute creatures instead (see picture below); we discovered that we had “huge” spiders on our beds and kindly invited them out of the cabin (I love finding spiders in a bug hunt but sleeping in the same bed it´s quite a different thing!), and we saw some of the first ospreys that had arrived on the year.
Night trip!
Invertebrates’ surveys at Ardeer and planting days at Fallin Bing have also been an important part of my learning thanks to Buglife. All the staff have been great sharing their passion for invertebrates and I have learnt loads from them.
Participating in the organisation of Our Green Places events and delivering outdoor activities for community groups took much of my time during the “sunny” months. Hundreds of people participated in Citizen Science activities and I´m sure they are still going out to see what they can find.
One of the highlights of the year has been my personal project. I have participated in the Discover Me project that TCV is delivering in Glasgow. My main role was to carry out a consultation with BME / asylum seekers and refugee families, as well as using different techniques to evaluate the project. It has been really successful so far and I´m more than happy that I will still be involved in it as I got a contract extension with TCV 🙂
The project made me realize how much we learn through play and the great benefits children get from it. However, they are not the only ones who benefit. Human beings are designed to play throughout our lives and adults also need to set aside some time to play.
National Play Day 2013
Woodacre Nursery-Discover Me project
I could continue writing for hours but I can´t describe all the amazing experiences that I have had throughout the year in just one blog.
I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who helped me at any point of the year, but specially to John McFarlane and Anthony Morrow for being encouraging and supportive from the minute I came to Scotland.
It has been a life changing experience for me and definitely worthwhile! Good luck to all new trainees and just a quick tip: enjoy every minute of it because the year flies bye.