Biggest Surprise (Homework #7)

The biggest surprise I’ve encountered is how close I’ve gotten to all the people I’m surrounded by.  This internship to me is more than just a job I go to everyday; it’s a lifestyle that has a since of community.  Never in my life have I been surrounded by this many friends on a daily basis.  Maybe it’s because we’re all expatriates looking for acceptance, or maybe it’s some other reason.  I go to work with friends, I come home to friends.  Life is good.

            The first week of this assignment I was home doing my sisterly/daughterly duties.  The second week was a time of readjustment and playing catch up.  I went out to the land and looked at my corn plants.  All my plots had emerged.  The ones that had starter fertilizer put on them were greener and healthier looking.  Some needed weeding, so I did that by hand.  I also researched some about coffee and its growth requirements. 

            The agronomic problem for this week deals with the coffee.  There are about 500 plants needed to be put in the ground within the next week and a half.  On day one of planting a coffee farmer came out to see what we were doing and told us our coffee was going to die.  Coffee needs about one meter of good soil for the roots to grow.  About a foot and a half down there is hard clay.  He says the roots won’t be able to penetrate the clay.  They might grow good for the first year or so, but after that they will die.  However, another well trusted Honduran told us that the coffee would be fine.  The decision as of right now is to go ahead and plant all the coffee and see what happens.  It was given to us, so we are not out any money, only time, if this doesn’t work.  This is just another example of how Honduras works; poll 10 people and get 10 different answers. 

Using Coursework (Homework #6)

One way I have used information I learned from my coursework is by developing an experiment plan for the corn plots.  I molded Dr. Klatt’s wheat variety testing methods to my corn management experiments.  These methods include having only one variable per trial and having several random replications per experiment.  I have also researched and written a factsheet while I have been here.  Another main project I am involved in is propagating avocado plants, which I learned how to do in my plant propagation class last spring.

            I wish I had more practical experience before I came here and more general knowledge about specific crops such as corn.  I know a lot of concepts and scientific information about crops, but I lacked the practical information of how to plant and grow corn.

            This past week I have finally finished up the corn production factsheet I have been working on for quite some time.  I have also planted more of my corn plots.  They should all be planted before I leave for Oklahoma.  I will be home visiting for week two of this report.

            I leave for Oklahoma this week which means I leave my project.  While I am gone fertilizer will need to be applied.  This poses a problem.  I am the only one who really knows what is going on with my project.  In order to resolve this issue, I have updated my plot information and written a detailed list of what my supervisor needs to do and when he needs to do it.  I will have a meeting with him later this week to make sure he understands what I need him to do.