Inquiry Conference 2

In the conference this morning, we had the opportunity to hear Nick Tanner, our facilitator, talk about his experience in Tonga. He spoke about how the people there don't necessarily pay attention to how they arrange their yards, which happens to be his main focus in school. He had to dig a little deeper during his interviews to understand why the planted certain plants and why they planted them certain places. He talked about volunteering for the Ministry of Agriculture as well as at the Botanical Garden on Vava'u. This is what caught my attention most. I think volunteering at the Botanical Garden would be a great opportunity for me if it meant that I could learn about all the plants of Tonga. In the next month or two, I'll make sure to have contact with the garden and see if this is possible.

The rest of the Inquiry Conference that I attended was equally interesting. Sarah Bowers spoke about the Pantheon, a building I have always been fascinated by. She talked about Rome and the people and the vendors there. She explained that there is no way she could make any conclusion on a people based on only three months there, and could only guess at reasons for their lifestyle. I think this perspective is important because as field study students, I think we hope to bring the world some new, interesting conclusion, when in fact we can only make a small scratch in our own understanding of other cultures.