6/15/26 Hatchery day

 Today we went to the fish hatchery here in Wellpinit, Spokane. I usually don't like to be involved in things that have to do with teaching children, but more often than not I find myself in those situations and I tend to have a lot of fun. I also do really well teaching children and finding ways to help them understand or just help them have fun, I think that's something I get from both my parents. We started the day at 6am, which I indeed woke up early for because I knew Professor Black was on a tight schedule with us, and I think I can say that things went smoothly. I wake up everyday and thank Creator for a new opportunity to learn something and to maybe even teach someone else something, which is usually my friends but this time it was children (sort of the same thing to me). Being someone who fishes a lot on the Columbia River or N'chywana I already knew the salmon life cycle but it's not something I often find myself talking about, but with the children today I got to listen to Monet tell them the life cycle first then show them how to make bracelets that symbolize the life cycle of a salmon which I will be wearing until the day I pass away. I find that there is often things that I say out loud or things I do that make people wonder how I learn things like that, I may be a college student but in my day to day life since I was a kid I've always found new things to learn from books, from videos, from watching people in public, to getting taught from those who are now teaching me, so it's a bit refreshing to sit and not have to tell someone how to spell something or how to make themselves sound more professional. 

We got to tour the hatchery during the last half of our lunch break which I was most excited for, I have been to a hatchery or two before but I don't think I've been to the one here in Spokane until now. We toured with Anthony I believe (we didn't check his name, our mistake) and he told us about the different sizes of salmon and that they get fed different amounts based on size and which phase they're in, and we got to see the fish that we talked about. We saw these artifacts that they dug up when they were building the hatchery, then we went to see where they have the fish and the different sizes and phases then he told us that as they get bigger they separate the fish so they grow better and minimize sickness between them while they're still being held. He took us around and told us about some of the machines that they use, he talked about this huge machine that only Wellpinit owns and that between the WA, ID, and OR that have to rent this kind of machine and this machine has an eye that records the fish that filter through and sort them by sizes and obviously phases. Then he took us to the back and showed us where they hold all the tiny salmon when they get them, which is these huge pool and he said they hold up to 270,000 I believe then he walked us into the side with the bigger fish and fed them to have us try to hold them ourselves but they were slippery so none of us really had a good grip on those salmon. 

The day went on and we had to come back to doing bracelets, so we finished with our last groups and listened to these kids talk about whatever they were into or something about fish, I was mostly introduced as the fisherwoman, which I am but it puts me in the spotlight and that makes me nervous. The time started to dwindle, we started with third graders then fourth and lastly the fifth graders, and even though it was hot I didn't want the day to end. These kids with no knowledge of politics or the monstrosities that are happening in this adult world were having an obvious better time in the sun making bracelets, catching bugs in a creek, and touring that same hatchery. 

We packed up and came back to our camp to wind down the littlest bit before we start doing soil samples with Juan, and as interesting as it was it was still hot outside even in the shade. He talked us through how we were going to use the different tools to obtain the soil sample itself, then how much to use, what to write on our research papers, then we went and collected six samples. We went back to camp and had to do our last part of the collecting to mix the soil with water so it would separate itself. As we wrapped that up Monet made chicken alfredo, so I hope if anyone is reading this just know it was very delicious, and during dinner Warren came and kind of just talked with us and Jessica and it was more of a relaxing time because then Jessica decided we would go talk to Warren tomorrow. The day is winding down finally, I almost lost non expensive headphones, I ate what I possibly could, I wished for a small bag of hot chips and a pop, but now I am writing this blog and reliving a very productive day. I can't wait for the rest of this trip and everything that will come with it, please enjoy my photos and stay hydrated.