#LearnAboutYourPlanet

If you don’t already follow me on Instagram I suggest you change that: @Cassi_opia For those that do not know my husband, he is a plant expert. And I mean that quite literally inside of his mind is encyclopedia of everything nature. I find this fascinating and he has taught me so much but I did not know before about our planet. So last year every Thursday I started posting an educational post revolved around nature and gardening named: #JeudiJardinage These posts were made mainly on Instagram , search the hashtag on the app to see all of the posts you’ve missed, you might learn something cool and interesting . Today’s posting is as follows: Happy Jeudi Jardinage (Thursday gardening, but better because it’s in french) to celebrate the beginning of spring, our feature of the week is a big stinky one. Eastern Skunk Cabbage, or (symplocarpis foetidus) is one of the first to bloom in a the spring. This magnificently unique creature of a plant earns it’s name from its pungent putrid odors 😷 I dare you to take a good sniff! It will blow you away. The smell intensifies when any part of the plant is broken or damaged. The reason for the atrocious smell, that resembles that of rotting flesh, is simple: to attract insects that are attracted to such nasty-things such as flies, and beetles. After the flower stage, it grows large cabbage-like leaves which grow in a rosette. Interestingly enough this beauty often blooms in the snow due to its ability to produce its own heat which makes it capable of thawing the frozen soil and even melting the snow on the surface before its groundbreaking arrival. So to summarize, this badass plant has heat-creating super powers and smells like the flower of your nightmares 😁 so please, Take a hike and enjoy the gorgeous view! Note the melted snow around the plants and spread the word 🌞 #SpringIsHere #DiscoverYourPlanet #LearnEveryday #NativePlant #ForestGardening #sustainability #wildflowers #SaveTheBees #SaveTheBirds #JeudiJardinage Distinctive features :

1. deep purple/ urgundy tones with speckles of green 2. curly hallow flower pods with pointed ends 3. May grow in clusters 4. Loves wet damp areas, and able to grow underwater 5. Thick shiny bright green foliage after flower stage 6. Awful Smell

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Attention

This post could be considered as my first ´´culture shock´´ experience. In the past, as a shy person, attention has never been something I looked for. However since I couldn´t help but get an abundance of it, eventually, I learned to work with it through humour, smiles and friendliness. [cartoonstock.com ] For those of you who may not already know this, I am unusually tall for a female, and taller than most men for that matter! An old teacher used to tell me, ´´Feeling weird about your height, will only make other people feel weird about it. Strut, be proud, they will see your beauty if you feel beautiful.´´ Without shoes I stand at 6´3 inches in height. I´ve always been the tallest woman by far in every location, at school, in my neighborhood, and even in my city if you ask me. When I´m in Canada, almost every day I hear the following things: [torontodominicano.com ] Stranger : ´´Wow you are tall!´´ My response : ´´Thank you, I didn’t notice ;)´´ Stranger : ´´Ho

Adventure

My new girl status is finally beginning to wear off, and it seems like most of the employees are warming up to my presence at work. YESSSSSSSSSS ! My job here is strongly related to ecotourism development. Keeping that in mind, and also out of pure curiosity, I always ask if they have an opinion of a location in Ecuador that has mastered their tourism sector. My love for travel makes me happy that each employee that I speak with has their own opinion a location that I simply must visit in Ecuador. This week Andrés, a tour guide, suggested I visit the city of Baños, (pronounced banios ). Baños is a small city with a population if 18000 people. Located about 7 hours away from Guayaquil, a pillow for the travelling bus is a good idea. Baños is very picturesque and located in the middle of valley surrounded by the Sierra, and next to the Tungarahua volcano that is 5015 meters tall. The active Volcano allows Baños to have several hydrothermo hotsprings ,or naturally heated outdoor pools t

Support

Being away from home is amazing, you get to meet new people, immerse yourself into a new culture and way of life, learn a new language and experience more newness than you’ve ever imagined. When things are going well with both your personal life and professional life, everything is pure bliss. However, recent events have made me realize, that when things begin to go wrong, and you feel upset or sad about anything for any given reason, suddenly being far away from home becomes slightly excruciating. At the pre-departure orientation for this internship over 4 months ago, the interns were warned of a “breaking point”, this might be mine. It’s strange to realize how much I rely on my support system at home; my family, fiancé, old friends, my neighbors and that familiar feeling of belonging exactly where I was. All of those things combined bring both comfort and encouragement to me, and I got so used to it, that I barely noticed how helpful and important my support system is in my day-to-

The Journey of a Friendly Giant

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