Earthwatch Presentation

I had my final Earthwatch presentation at the Elim Café on Saturday. It went surprisingly well – I expected something horrible because I know that there are some really awful things going on behind the scenes over there. I have to admit I was dreading the whole thing – but I had said I would do it, so I gathered up all my stuff and headed on over.

There was a moment of uncertainty when I asked the owner to get the computer set up and ready for me. She had no idea how, and I didn’t know either since it had always been done for me ahead of time by their marketing director who no longer works there!

But, we persevered and got it going with minimal difficulties.

By the time I was set up and ready to go, we actually had an audience! Several families arrived with their kids in tow, ready and eager to hear my talk on Costa Rica: Caterpillars and their Parasites.

It was fun with all the kids: I got to talk about the bugs, and the caterpillar poop, and all the things that make you go “EW!” that kids love so much.

It probably wasn’t so good from Earthwatch’s point of view, since none of the audience had any intention of signing up for an expedition of their own any time soon. One lady was interested, but it will be several years before her kids are old enough to go.

One of the boys from the audience was really cute. He had his nose buried into my book on parasites, and even asked his mother to get it for him from the library so he could read the whole thing. He was at the most 8 or 9 years old, and he’s interested in a scientific book on parasites! He could quote all sorts of facts and figures he’d learned from the Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. If that boy doesn’t become a scientist when he grows up, it will amaze me.

As I packed up my stuff to take home, the owner came over to thank me and said she’d be interested in having me come back again sometime, even though I’d be repeating my presentations since I only have three at the moment.

I will have another one soon enough – when I come back from Africa next year!