Agritourism Plan for Bataan Peninsula State University

Over the past six months I have had weekly virtual meetings with my remarkable counterparts at Bataan Peninsula State University’s (BPSU) Abucay campus. Together, we have worked to create a 5-year agritourism development plan set to launch in 2023. 

I remember hearing a warning during our first week of training that project momentum typically starts to pick up about halfway through service. And that the final weeks of service are when most projects takeoff. This description was accurate – and what a sprint this final month has been!

One month before the end of our engagement, my counterparts were awarded funding to travel from the Philippines to Singapore to explore other agritourism models firsthand. This trip transformed our plans from a modest undertaking of five key focal attractions to this robust arrangement of four on-campus tourism zones. As we worked to rewrite our written proposal to match the new zoned layout, we were able to add new, key features such as a flower labyrinth, designed as a calming space for beautiful photography as well as a key pollinator habitat. 

Weighing in at 25 pages long, our project proposal maps out four recreational zones designed to increase the physical and mental wellbeing on campus and to create opportunities for on campus recreation and tourism:

The MAIN ZONE will set the tone for the visitor experience from one’s initial arrival through the new main entrance gate. After passing through the gate, guests will enter the new Tourism Center, a starting and ending point for all tourism programs. At the Tourism Center guests can learn about recent campus achievements and shop in the book store for BPSU branded materials, gifts and supplies. Also in this zone the combination of a greenhouse and a new farm-to-table restaurant will close the circle on food production. Guests will view newly sprouted seedlings and learn about the grow cycles of on campus crops before enjoying a taste of the in-season produce featured in the current restaurant menu.

The ACTIVITY AREA ZONE will begin construction after the Main Zone. This area will expand campus offerings through the creation of a camping area, overnight cabins in the form of Modern Bahay Kubos, a low ropes course, an amphitheater and an aviary. This area can be rented out to student groups or local community groups for a retreat activity and/or team building sessions.

The BOTANICAL GARDEN ZONE will be the photographic highlight of the campus. With multiple opportunities for beautiful photo-taking from the ornate flower garden to the shaded bamboo park, this space can be used for relaxation as the backdrop for special moments. The large Viewing Deck will offer the best vantage points to look down on the botanical gardens.

The last zone to begin construction will be the FARM ANIMAL ZONE, which will feature updates to existing Farm Animal buildings to allow for safe, clean and comfortable tourist viewing. A final recreational attraction of this area will be the hanging bridge offering an exciting look out and down over the campus grounds.

Along with these new on campus developments, the University staff will launch a series of programs including guided tours, workshops, events, facilities rentals, and team building activities. Designed to bring tourists to campus and create partnerships with the local community, these programs will share agricultural best practices with visitors and provide opportunities for enhanced skills development among students.

Amidst our discussions of construction timelines and budget estimates we also learned the rhythms of our respective lives. The BPSU staff were patient when my young kids occasionally burst into our meetings. And I understood that if I logged onto a meeting and no one was there, it might be that transportation was delayed or there was a power outage and if I simply wait for a moment, I should hear from them.

I am very proud of our final output and am excited to keep in touch as they now work to implement this staged development plan. Someday in the future, I hope to visit BPSU Abucay campus in person, walk through the flower labyrinth, stay at the campgrounds, and explore the farm animal trail firsthand.

Master Development Plan for Agri Edu Ecotourism at BPSU Abucay Campus; Image credit: Roxette Sibal, University Architect

Monday Night Chicken Adobo and Wah!

With smells of chicken adobo in my kitchen and sounds of “Wah!!” coming from the living room, I entered my final week of Peace Corps virtual service. As a fun last meeting, I hosted a Team Building demo activity between my Filipino counterparts and my American friends. 

On Monday evening, six friends joined me for a chicken adobo dinner at my house – my first time preparing the national Filipino dish, which everyone enjoyed (recipe here). Then, at 8pm our time, 8am Filipino time, we joined a virtual meeting, and I introduced my Filipino counterparts to my American friends. 

Let the games begin! Laughter quickly filled both the house and the screen as we played a Name Game, 1,2,3 Look, TP Shuffle, Where the Wind Blows, Extreme Rock Paper Scissors, Wah!, Ninja and Gotcha. Since most of the American group had worked as camp counselors or educators earlier in our lives the evening was a fun throwback to camp life. 

For the Filipino spectators this demonstration brought to life Team Building activities that I had written out in a larger Team Building Manual earlier in the year. The manual will be a foundation for training instructors of their future Low Ropes Course and on-campus team building programs. 

Although one of the challenges to virtual service has been our limited screen-based interactions, this fun night was the epitome of Peace Corps’ mission: training + cultural exchange. As an in-country volunteer it would have been easy to simply lead these activities with my counterparts in person. But serving virtually forced me to be creative and get more people involved. In the end everyone left with a new shared experience, new insight into differing cultures, and some great games.

Peace Corps Virtual Service Pilot Participant

It has been five and a half years since I completed my Peace Corps service in the Philippines. When I bid good-byes and “ingats” (take cares) to all those I had met throughout my service, I hoped to return back for a visit sometime around this five year mark – little did I know how the COVID-19 pandemic would reshape international travel in the years to come.

Amidst the layoffs and closings that happened early in the pandemic, I wondered how the Peace Corps Philippines staff were doing. This team of in country trainers and managers taught me Tagalog language skills, matched me with my beloved host family, and supported me throughout my service. But with all Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from their placements due to the pandemic, was the Peace Corps Philippines office still operating?

In March 2022, I did have a reunion of sorts. No sounds of jeepneys or roosters filled the air. Instead, I logged onto zoom from the comfort of my North Carolina home and was filled with excitement to see Milo, Tale, Boni, Ambet, Ronald, Doc Ferdie and Doc Mara ready as ever to guide new Peace Corps volunteers through service.

I am, once again, a volunteer. My new title is Peace Corps Virtual Service Pilot Participant or VSPP for short. With in country service temporarily on hold, Peace Corps pivoted and launched a virtual service program, which was thought to be a temporary measure until in country service could resume. Instead, they discovered an abundance of interest from returned Peace Corps Volunteers who, like me, may not be able to travel at the moment, but would love to reconnect with another culture and contribute to a capacity-building project. I have agreed to donate 5-15 hours per week of service work for a 6 month period of time in a virtual service capacity.

I have been matched with Bataan Peninsula State University’s Abucay campus staff and faculty members to create a University Agro-ecotourism Program. This program will include a 5 year plan for developing agritourism on campus, utilizing international best practices. When implemented, this program will increase student resources, create additional job opportunities within the local community, improve relationships between the University and the local community, generate additional campus revenue, and increase knowledge of agricultural and entrepreneurial best practices.

Currently, we are in the middle of it…weekly virtual meetings between myself and my counterparts talking about their visions for on campus eco-trails and my experience of North Carolina’s park system successes. We’ve interviewed future tourists to assess interest and are partnering with current faculty members to create agritourism experiences that meet those identified interests.

Each meeting my counterparts greet me with a “Good Evening” that I return back to them as a “Good Morning” due to the 12 hour time difference between our locations. They’ve shared videos of campus for me to see and I’ve scoured google’s street view images to get a sense of the landscape. Perhaps someday I will be able to make that return visit to the Philippines, but for the moment it is exciting to work together on an agritourism initiative, while I am still present with my own family stateside.

Location of Bataan Peninsula State University – Abucay campus, not far from my training location when I was in the Philippines as a volunteer in 2014.

Everything is Connected: a Global Pandemic and Giant Clams

“Everything is connected.” That is the ecological mantra I preached as a Coastal Resource Management volunteer in the Philippines from 2014-2016. Fast forward four years to Spring 2020. Instead of coral surveys and mangrove field trips, my daily routine involves greeting my laptop for streams of email exchanges interspersed with zoom calls during stay-at-home orders. That mantra feels like an old memory of a past self.

If everything is connected, surely the giant clam featured as the background on my computer screen must be feeling this pandemic too? Are beach closures and travel restrictions from COVID-19 going to bring a revival of ocean habitats? How does one celebrate World Ocean Day from home?

First, I take a deep breath…in…hold…release. Marine organisms, specifically seasonal phytoplankton blooms, produce more than half of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. Yes, I thank the ocean – we ARE still connected. As I continue to breath mindfully, I decide to bring the ocean into my living room: the documentary Chasing Coral on Netflix was filmed in over 30 countries and cut from 500+ hours of underwater footage. It blows my mind every time to watch their time lapse views of the coral reef. The film itself tells a story which inspires action. But how applicable are those actions in the face of this pandemic?

Looc Fish Sanctuary Giant Clam Garden and my computer screen background

This question brings me back to my computer screen and my friend Tridacna gigas, the giant clam, staring back at me. These clams can grow to four feet in size and more than 440lbs in weight. Such impressive mass is possible through a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, an algae that lives inside of its tissues, giving the clam its color. Giant clams were virtually extinct in the Philippines in the 1980s before a conservation and breeding program brought about their revival. I took my photo five years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer snorkeling the Looc Fish Sanctuary, the site of Romblon’s largest giant clam garden.

Looc Fish Sanctuary, Romblon, Philippines

Just last week, using Facebook messenger, I caught up with my Filipino work counterpart, Ma’am Rita Sarmiento to learn more about the status of the Looc Fish Sanctuary and my celebrated giant clam in the face of this pandemic. Ma’am Rita previously worked as the Provincial Aquaculturalist, breeding tilapia and milkfish to maintain the provincial stock. However, throughout the month of April, my former co-workers were redirected to assist with food packing to support the needs of their community during their nationwide lockdown. Ma’am Rita is not the only fisheries worker whose daily work was altered in response to the pandemic. Globally, as coast guards and navies respond to domestic needs, offshore illegal fishing may be on the rise. Less oversight could yield increased illicit consumption.

Ma’am Rita in front of hundreds of bags of recently packed produce.

Within the Looc Fish Sanctuary, my Tridacna gigas is most likely still filtering water, recycling nutrients, and creating a habitat for fishes and marine invertebrates just as it was before (giant clams can live to be over 100 years old!). However, Ma’am Rita informed me that some things have changed. The Looc Fish Sanctuary, which received a large portion of its budget from tourism fees, is now struggling to pay the Bantay Dagat (ocean guards) who protect the waters of the fish sanctuary. This problem resounds from conservation sites around the globe, which now lack tourists and thus funds for protecting marine areas.

Issues of decreased law enforcement and lack of conservation funds are not good news for our oceans. And yet, there are some positive marine outcomes from recent stay-at-home orders. Most notably, as we move into sea turtle nesting season beach closures and reductions in tourism have allowed more mama sea turtles to lay their eggs undisturbed. From the eastern coast of the US to Thailand and the Philippines sea turtles appear to be thriving, potentially increasing future turtle populations worldwide. Additionally, beach trash and boating accidents to marine life have declined.

And so, “everything is connected.” When a pandemic alters daily life patterns for all of humanity, it also impacts our fish stocks, our protected areas, and our endangered species some for the better and others for the worse. As you continue to breath phytoplankton-produced oxygen, take action to help our oceans. Help move your community to 100% clean energy and support coral preservation. The recommendations from the Chasing Coral documentary are just as applicable now as they were then.

When I am finally able to make a return trip to the Philippines, I hope to snorkel through Looc Fish Sanctuary with my son so he can photograph the growth of my original giant clam.

SJ and her son Charlie on a pre-pandemic ocean excursion in Trunk Bay off St. John, 2019.

Love the Ocean Creed:

I believe that the ocean harbors life – life that I must protect.
I believe that the ocean is mankind’s greatest common heritage.
I believe that the diversity of the ocean is important to sustaining human life.
I believe that I am part of but one ocean, and that everything I do affects the delicate balance of life on Earth.
I believe that it is my duty to protect the ocean.
I believe that by protecting the ocean I help to protect the future.
Therefore, I pledge to always live in harmony with the ocean.

References:

1. https://www.oceanicsociety.org/blog/1937/5-ways-to-celebrate-world-oceans-day-2017
2. https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/oceanproduction.html
3. https://www.chasingcoral.com/take-action/
4. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/g/giant-clam/
5. https://www.hakaimagazine.com/videos-visuals/raising-giants/
6. https://www.csis.org/analysis/covid-19-sea-impacts-blue-economy-ocean-health-and-ocean-security

View my story on the Peace Corps website.

Reunited in California

Joining the Peace Corps we received warnings that this would be “the toughest job we’ve ever loved.” We mentally prepared ourselves to live without toilet paper, to try strange foods like the odorous durian fruit, and to adjust to new customs, like singing karaoke in a foreign language. But in fulfilling our two years of service we also created lifelong bonds both within our communities and among our fellow Peace Corps volunteers. And there are no other friends like Peace Corps friends!

Clockwise from back left: Drew, John, Loren, and SJ on the beach in Santa Cruz Thanksgiving 2017. The water was frigid!

Over Thanksgiving this year John and I flew out to California and were reunited with my batchmates Loren and Drew. They even greeted us in the airport wearing our Romblon Crew basketball jerseys.

Our 5-day excursion included Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing and almost more pies than people. We may have dominated the dinner table conversation with Loren’s tales of killing her own turkey in the Philippines and cooking a duck the year following. Thanks Loren for making all the food in 2015!

Our 25-person Thanksgiving dinner table

Zack’s family Thanksgiving traditions include a post-meal, pre-dessert walk and games in the park. Our Thanksgiving spikeball battle was just as fierce as games at Binocot Beach in the Philippines.

On Black Friday, we opted outside for a 5-mile hike at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, where I kissed a banana slug for good luck and we stood inside a redwood tree!

Our trip also included whale watching at the beach, a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a tour of UC Santa Cruz, an NFL football game, and a tour of Alcatraz Island prison.

We even sat down for a Filipino meal at the local Filipino restaurant Tapsilog Bistro. Calamansi juice, longsilog, tortang talong, and Red Horse beer on tap.

In an amazing coincidence, our trip to California aligned with our batchmate Paloma’s return to America. Paloma chose to extend her service for a third year and arrived fresh off the plane from the Philippines to a stateside reunion with her fellow volunteers. Welcome Back Paloma!

After 5 days in San Jose, I am convinced that we should move to California in the future (mostly for the amazing bike lanes).

Mag-ingat sa mga kaibigan!

Home Sweet Home

Buying a home is a major life milestone. While we crossed “getting married” off our life achievements list this year, we are not quite to “buying a home” yet. However, moving into our new 3 bedroom 2 bath duplex rental felt like a milestone in itself.

Our new duplex home in Wilmington, NC

After nearly 10 years of sharing a room or living out of a suitcase this new place feels huge! But, with the help of family and friends our living space has started to look like home.

Don’t venture upstairs though; we have an entire level that we haven’t bothered to use yet. Although, somehow John managed to fit our 11 ft paddleboard up the stairs and into the spare bedroom.

The bookcase in the corner was a homemade weekend project (clearly our home library has space to grow). Next on the list is building a bike rack for indoor storage.

With our long term future still uncertain, renting a home was the best decision. Furthermore, I was pleased to find that GOBankingRates.com’s annual survey of state-by-state costs of renting versus buying a home supported our decision: in North Carolina it is generally cheaper to rent than buy. To find more info about your own state click on their link below:

GOBankingRates Owning vs. Renting

Belated Happy Halloween and Early Happy Thanksgiving from SJ and John Larkins!

Solar Eclipse from Above the Clouds

With the sun shining bright overhead, I boarded an airplane departing from Wilmington, North Carolina at one in the afternoon on August 21st, 2017. Our objective was to chase ‘totality,’ the path of total darkness where the moon’s position has aligned to obscure the light from the sun. I tested out my solar eclipse glasses while we flew south.

2:36pm The sun was just a small sliver of light with the round dark moon blocking most of it out, however it was amazing how light the sky still was.

2:40pm The sky turned to dusk and then dark as the moon moved across to block out the face of the sun. On either side we could see a bright horizon, but our plane was directly beneath the moon’s shadow. Looking down we could see pinpoints of light from the city below. A mini night had descended upon us in the mid afternoon and we were chasing it from 26,000ft in the air.

2:46pm Light had returned and we could only see trails of the darkness ahead of us.

The Great American Eclipse of 2017 was an incredible phenomenon!

From This Day Forward

Sarah Jean Larkins is now official.

On Thursday, June 22nd, 2017 John and I visited the Wilmington courthouse to exchange vows for a wedding day that was simple, spontaneous, and filled with adventure.

Nearly a year after our engagement and the day before John’s birthday, our wedding day fulfilled my personal dreams. We met at the courthouse for a simple, stress-free marriage ceremony performed by the local magistrate. Then, we had a celebratory lunch along the Cape Fear River while sharing the exciting news with family and friends that “Surprise! We got married!”

If exchanging vows hadn’t triggered enough adrenaline for the day, after lunch we had another adventure planned: flying lessons at the Brunswick Air School!

Three hours married and I was seated in the back seat of an N3030E 1978 Cessna 172N airplane with John in the pilot’s seat.

We let the certified pilot handle the takeoff and landing, but while we were in the air John had full control. He practiced climbs, turns and descents while steering us down the North Carolina coastline. After a 30 minute ride, we taxied back to the Brunswick Air terminal for my turn.

I slid into the pilot’s seat and craned my neck up to see over the control panel. With a turn of the key, the engine came back to life. My first task was taxiing down the runway for takeoff. While on the ground, the aircraft is controlled by a left and right foot pedal that turn the plane. With a little practice, I was able to keep her headed down the center strip before the pilot radioed in our flight plan and got the ok for take off. A handful of clouds had rolled in since our first flight so I got to try steering up over, down under, and right through the middle of them. After cruising over Bald Head island and circling around the 300-year-old lighthouse, we made it back safely to the terminal.

John and I won the best dressed award for new pilots and received a logbook documenting our first successful flights.

Simple. Spontaneous. Adventurous.

When I think about how I want to live my life, these three words certainly make the list.

As John and I now begin our future together I hope that we continue to tread simply on a planet which needs more minimalists; be spontaneous in our daily lives and our willingness to embrace change; and seek adventures that challenge our comfort zone and ensure that we never stop learning.

Bike Trip Day 6: Leesburg to Washington D.C.

After 6 days of riding, 337 total miles, one new bike, one flat tire, a bottle of ibuprofen, one trail closure, and a ferry ride we made it from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. by bicycle.

I managed to snap an action photo of all 3 of us! Most photos posted for this trip involved holding my glove in my mouth so I could operate my phone.

Today’s ride started on the Washington & Old Dominion paved trail which ran right behind our Comfort Suites to Alexandria, VA. Despite being a well traveled route it was still an eventful morning.

Can you spot the W&OD Trail sign?

That tree fell just 30 minutes before we arrived.

Later, just 4 miles from the end of the trail I caught a tiny carpet tack in my tire and got a flat; changing a tire in cloudy, overcast weather was much preferred over yesterday’s rain.

But after the tree and the tire incidents we cruised into D.C., past the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the White House.

Our last challenge of the day was finding mike marker 0 for the C&O Canal Towpath, a more difficult task than it sounds. The post was hidden behind the Thompson boathouse by the Potomac river.

Success!! During our celebratory lunch at Farmer Fisher Baker restaurant near mile 0 we resolved to make a bike trip an annual tradition. Comment if you have suggestions for future routes.

Daily mileage: 46 miles
Total mileage: 337 miles

https://video.relive.cc/3726323689_relive_1514039079025.mp4?x-ref=og

Bike Ride Day 5: Harper’s Ferry to D.C. (not quite!)

“We are gonna make it. We traveled all this way I just want to finish this dang thing,” my dad said as we peeled off layers of soaking wet clothing, covered in muck and grime, 35.5 miles from D.C.

The weather forecast for today had never looked good: 70% chance of rain at 7am and 70-80% rain for the rest of the day. So at 6am this morning just as the sun rose we departed from Harper’s Ferry, WV.

It’s dawn and we are already on our bikes. No rain yet!

For the first 15 miles we were flying, but at 6:59am I felt the first few drops of rain. A few moments after it was pouring.

The trail turned to muck beneath us and my small, lightweight bike was skidding everywhere. My pants and gloves were soaked through, glasses foggy, and fingers frozen. Both my dad and Dave were wishing they had my shoes covers so water didn’t squelch out of their shoes with every pedal.

After a few more brutal miles we reached a road crossing and took shelter at the Historic White’s Ferry Grille. We had made it 25 miles to Leesburg, VA, just 35.5 miles from D.C.

Feeling dejected as we waited for breakfast at the White Ferry Grille

I had no desire to continue riding in the pouring rain, mud, and cold. It looked like we were going to call the trip. But, after talking through the should of’s and the what if’s, we hatched a new plan.

We loaded our bikes onto the Historic White’s Ferry and headed to Comfort Suites in Leesburg for a fifth night stay with the promise of a break in the rain and a paved bike trail to D.C. (along the Washington & Old Dominion Rail Trail) in the morning.

My day which started with drinking muddy tail spray from Dave’s bike as we fought to keep pedaling through the mud ended with a trip to the movie theater and bike shop in Leesburg. And tomorrow we will finish this dang thing.

Daily mileage: 25 miles

https://video.relive.cc/4229591849_relive_1514038659933.mp4?x-ref=og