Day 5 cont
Nina
"I think I'll let us have some breaks before we continue; you're tired, right?" he asked.
More than half of the students yelled yes, and of course, we are all tired.
We have spent more than thirty minutes standing.
And mine is worse today, as he has made me stand by him throughout the lectures.
I even tried to escape when I thought he wasn't looking, but then he had to go and call me out, shaming me in front of everybody here.
Now I don't even know how to start showing my face to the world after that. 
I should have just come to my field trip on my own, just like some of the students did; maybe my life would have been better.
But now he has gone ahead and ruined all my fun.
Imagine what kind of fun you'll be having when you are tagged as the professor's wife. None, right?.
But I am glad that we are going to take a break. At least now I'll be away from him for a moment.
I saw Lily standing on the other side with her friends, and I waved at her. She smiles as she sees me and walks over to me.
Sometimes, I just can't help but feel jealous of her. She is having the time of her life, making new friends every day and making memories, while I was being grounded just by trying to be nice to the person who has helped me out in my dire need.
"Hey girl, what's up?" She calls as she comes closer to me.
I tried to walk over to her, but I felt my hand tugging at my other.
I turned around to see that the professor was holding my hand while he was busy talking with his colleagues.
When did he even hold my hand?.
She walks over to me.
"Babe, I haven't seen you all day. I was worried you might have been sick, but then..."
She stopped as she saw all the instructors standing behind us. Even though they are not actually eavesdropping on our conversation, I know she still feels awkward uttering whatever it is she wants to utter.
"Are you coming with us to chill as well?" she asks instead.
I was so happy that someone had come to my rescue.
I opened my mouth to say yes, but he beat me to it.
"No, I don't think she'll be hanging out with you today; she is feeling kind of sick and wanted to stay with me, isn't it, sweetheart?" he asks, pulling me to his chest.
Could a man be more shameless than this? I actually don't know.
If I said no, it would mean that I was outright telling them that he was lying, and if I said yes, I would be stuck with him for the rest of the day.
Oh Lord! Why do you have to test me in such a way?.
I just gulped down the tears that were already forming in my eyes.
This is the reputation of my school; I kept on reminding myself.
"Yes," I agreed.
Lily looked a little bit disappointed for a while but then shrugged it off when it registered to her that I was actually sick, which I wasn't.
"Oh! Sorry, my dear, I didn't know you were sick," she says.
She pulls me into a hug, and for once, he lets go of my hand.
"I just hope the babies haven't arrived yet, did they?" she asks.
What!.
I pulled away and glared at her.
"Ok, just kidding," she says, but I know she isn't.
"Ok, we'll be on our way," he says, and they all wave at me before leaving.
I wanted to run for my life at that moment, but then where would I go?.
I felt his hand grab mine once again, and then I mumbled something unintelligible.
"Did you say something?" he asks.
"No," I grunted out.
Why exactly is he doing all that to me now?. I mean, if he's doing it all because of Mike, the last time I checked, Mike wasn't here but back at the camp site; maybe he has gone away with his friends.
"Oh dear! You are feeling sick," one of the instructors—I think she is his assistant—says in a worried voice.
"Prof, you should have told us; you should have allowed her to rest as well," she says, accusing him.
"There was no one to tend to her back there; that's why we decided she should join, but only at a safe distance," he said, pulling me to him once again.
He seemed to be enjoying my misery quite well today.
"Oh! But you should have taken a break to take care of her as well; it's really traumatic to be out there all alone," she says, walking to pat my head.
Now I've become the teacher's pet, I see.
"And she's even lucky to be back, you know; it reminded me of..."
"This could never happen to her, and I'll make sure of that," he says, cutting her off, and I can feel his body tense.
She gave him a weird look.
"Sorry for bringing that up," she says, and then walks away.
What are the two talking about exactly?.
But before I could ask him, the rest of the instructors came flooding in and tried to show their sympathy for my sickness.
And that's how I found myself stuck in the circle of elders, with them talking about nothing but how the price of this and that has risen.
I was supposed to be hearing about the latest movie or the new hot guy, as I have already known we are the couple of the year this time, but here I am, listening to the boring story of how one of the instructor's children was so naughty when growing up.
Finally, the break was over, and even though it wasn't worth celebrating, I would still be sitting right beside him like a chaperone.
Could you believe I was even given a chair to sit on?
"Ok, I'm sure everyone must have rested well after the thirty-minute break," he asks.
Some kept howling no, while others kept saying yes.
"Now, where were we?" he asks.
"Yes, we were talking about rhino poaching," he continues.
"But there's one country that supports that; the Namibian government has supported the practice of rhino trophy hunting as a way to raise money for conservation," he continues.
"Hunting licenses for five Namibian black rhinos are auctioned annually, with the money going to the government's Game Products Trust Fund, but some conservationists and members of the public oppose or question this practice," he explained.
Even I oppose it. I mean, the poor things are dying.
"Rhinoceros horns develop from subcutaneous tissues and are made of keratinous mineralized compartments, and the horns root in a germinative layer," he continued.
The rhīnós that we spotted earlier have now gone, so we can't actually see the horn, but I could still picture it in my head.
"Rhinoceros horns are used in traditional medicines in parts of Asia and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman," he continued.
"In Europe, it was historically believed that rhino horns could purify water, detect poisoned liquids, and likely act as an aphrodisiac and an antidote to poison," he adds.
Wow! From what I've understood today, it's that rhino horns are such a treasure. But not to be misused, of course, like how these lowly poachers are killing the poor.
To think of it, I even thought that rhinos were dangerous because of their huge body size and horn and that they ate people, but it turned out that they were even herbivores.
"... common misconception that rhinoceros horn in powdered form is used as an aphrodisiac or a cure for cancer in traditional Chinese medicine as Cornu Rhinoceri Asiatici, but no TCM text in history has ever mentioned such a prescription." I continued listening.
"In TCM"
"I hope you know what TCM means," he asks.
Yes, he just mentioned it earlier.
Most of the students nodded.
"Ok, let's continue then," he says.
"Well, in TCM, rhino horn is sometimes prescribed for fevers and convulsions, a treatment not supported by evidence-based medicine as this treatment has been compared to consuming fingernail clippings in water, which is gross, right?" he asks.
Yeah! Really gross.
"In 1993, China signed the CITES treaty and removed rhinoceros horn from the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia, administered by the Ministry of Health," he says.
"Who knows the meaning of CITES?" he asks.
One student raised his hand.
I don't even feel like participating today, and how could he even see me when I'm sitting behind him?
"Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna," the student answers.
"Good, it seems like all of you know your biology then," he says.
"Ok, let's continue. In 2011, the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the United Kingdom issued a formal statement condemning the use of rhinoceros horn," he continues.
"A growing number of TCM educators are also speaking out against the practice, although some TCM practitioners still believe that it is a life-saving medicine," he adds.
"Vietnam reportedly has the biggest number of rhino horn consumers, with their demand driving most of the poaching, which has risen to record levels," he says.
"The "Vietnam CITES Management Authority" has claimed that Hanoi recently experienced a 77% drop in the usage of rhino horn, but National Geographic has challenged these claims, noticing that there was no rise in the numbers of criminals who were apprehended or prosecuted," he says.
"South African rhino poaching's main destination market is Vietnam. An average-sized horn can bring in as much as a quarter of a million dollars in Vietnam, and many rhino range states have stockpiles of rhino horn," he continues.
Most of the students gasped at the amount of money he mentioned.
"Yeah, I know, it's too much money, but remember the animals being sacrificed for it," he says.
"International trade in rhinoceros horn has been declared illegal by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora since 1977," he continues.
"A proposal by Swaziland to lift the international ban was rejected in October 2016, and the domestic sale of rhinoceros horn in South Africa, home to 80% of the remaining rhino population, was banned as of 2009," he says.
"The ban was overturned in a court case in 2017, and South Africa plans to draft regulations for the sale of rhino horn, possibly including export for 'non-commercial purposes'"
"The South African government has proposed that a legal trade for rhino horn be established, arguing that this could reduce poaching and prevent the extinction of this species," he added.
"In March 2013, some researchers suggested that the only way to reduce poaching would be to establish a regulated trade based on humane and renewable harvesting from live rhinos," he continues.
"The World Wildlife Fund opposes legalization of the horn trade, as it may increase demand, while IFAW released a report by EcoLarge, suggesting that more thorough knowledge of economic factors is required to justify the pro-trade option."
"To prevent poaching, in certain areas, rhinos have been tranquilized and their horns removed. Armed park rangers, particularly in South Africa, are also working on the front lines to combat poaching, sometimes killing poachers who are caught in the act. A 2012 spike in rhino killings increased concerns about the future of the species," he continued.
I'm sure who ever is standing right feels for the poor animals.
Their horns are like their mechanisms of defense.
"In 2011, the Rhino Rescue Project began a horn-trade control method consisting of infusing the horns of living rhinos with a mixture of a pink dye and an acaricide to kill ticks, which is safe for rhinos but toxic to humans," he says.
"The procedure also includes inserting three RFID identification chips and taking DNA samples, and because of the fibrous nature of the rhino horn, the pressurized dye infuses the interior of the horn but does not color the surface or affect rhino behavior."
"Depending on the quantity of horn a person consumes, experts believe the acaricide would cause nausea, stomach aches,  diarrhea, and possibly convulsions," he says.
"It would not be fatal, and the primary deterrent is the knowledge that the treatment has been applied, communicated by signs posted at the refuges."
"The original idea grew out of research into the horn as a reservoir for one-time tick treatments, and experts selected an acaricide they think is safe for the rhino, oxpeckers, vultures, and other animals in the preserve's ecosystems," he adds.
"Proponents claim that the dye cannot be removed from the horns and remains visible on x-ray scanners even when the horn is ground to a fine powder," he says.
"But the UK charity organization 'Save the Rhino' has criticized horn poisoning on moral and practical grounds."
"The organization questions the assumptions that the infusion technique works as intended and that even if the poison were effective, middlemen in a lucrative, illegal trade would care much about the effect it would have on buyers."
"Additionally, rhino horn is increasingly purchased for decorative use rather than for use in traditional medicine," he continues.
"'Save the Rhino' questions the feasibility of applying the technique to all African rhinos since workers would have to reapply the acaricide every 4 years, and it was also reported that one out of 150 rhinos treated did not survive the anesthesia," he says.
My heart dropped after hearing that. I was kind of feeling the pain of those animals right now.
"Now, I will tell you some fun facts about rhinos before we wrap this up," he says.
"Make sure to write these ones so as not to forget," he adds.
"One, THERE ARE 5 SPECIES OF RHINO IN THE WORLD.
Two, RHINOS CAN WEIGH OVER 3 TONNES
Three black and white rhinos are both, in fact, grey.
Four, THEY’RE CALLED BULLS AND COWS AND A GROUP OF THEM A CALLED A CRASH
Five: WHAT ARE RHINO HORNS MADE OF? THE SAME STUFF AS OUR FINGERNAILS
Six, Rinos have poor vision.
Seven, JAVAN RHINOS ARE ONLY FOUND IN ONE SMALL PLACE IN UJUNG KULON NATIONAL PARK.
Eight, THEY COMMUNICATE THROUGH HONKS, SNEEZES... AND POO
Nine, They Love Mud
Ten, rhinos are under attack."