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Last few days in Belize

August 16, 2019 by Valerie Collado Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, we got to vaccinate more beef cattle. At this point, we had vaccinated a lot of cows and were used to giving them intramuscular injections. Afterwards, we had some free time so we decided to go to visit the “Iguana Project”. This is a conservation project that also aims to educate the public about the endangered Green Iguanas in Belize. The Green Iguanas are under heavy stress due to over-hunting and habitat destruction, so the project aims to educate the public about their ecological importance and about how people’s actions have consequences for these species. We got to interact with the captive iguanas which was a lot of fun!

Friday we were doing our presentations and final exams so Thursday was pretty much the last day. We visited Barton creek so we could learn about Artificial insemination and inject their Brangus herd with dewormer and vitamins. It was cool when we injected the cows this time because we were able to to subcutaneous injections rather than the intramuscular injections we did in the past. We did do subcutaneous injections for dogs and cats, but it was surprisingly different because their skin was much thicker and harder to puncture. We also got to palpate the cows, which I had never done before. By palpating the cow, you can know whether or not they are pregnant. None of the cows were. We could tell because we were able to grab the cervix. If the cow was pregnant the cervix would hang too low due to the weight of the fetus.

On Friday night, after our presentations and finals, we ate dinner at Dr. T’s. We all talked, ate, and listened to music. It was a really fun time, and Dr. T even prepared a little video of our time there which we all thought was super thoughtful and sweet thing to see since our time in Belize was coming to an end. It was sad to think that we’d all be leaving to separate parts of the country but me and some of the girls were already making plans to meet again! I had a great time and I definitely want to come back to Belize.

Beach day, pigs, and goats

August 16, 2019 by Valerie Collado Leave a Comment

Sunday was our first day off and we chose to use it to visit an island in Placencia. It was a long drive but it was worth it! When we arrived in Placencia we got on a boat so we could get to the island. The boat ride showed us the beautiful views of the ocean and the many islands we passed. Once we got to the island it truly felt like we were in paradise. There were coconut trees all over, hammocks to relax in, and the waters were so blue. The best part of the trip to Placencia was that we were going to scuba dive. Belize is actually known to have the second largest coral reef systems in the world (and the largest in the Western hemisphere). While we were a bit too far from the main site, it was still and amazing experience, having never scuba dived before. The first time we went out with the tour guide, it was a large group so I admit it was a bit hectic. But when I went out again in a smaller group, the guide was able talk a lot more about what types of coral and other creatures we were seeing. I even got to hold a sea urchin in the palm of my hand!

After our relaxing day at the beach, we were back to work on Monday. This day, we went to a farm castrate piglets. At first, I thought it would be similar to how we assisted in spaying/neutering the cats and dogs but it was actually very different. First of all, we pretty much did the whole procedure ourselves with the instruction of Dr.T . It was a lot simpler than spaying and neutering. We didn’t need propofol (an anesthetic), suture, or any tools besides a scalpel. I thought the procedure seemed cruel, especially since we did not use an anesthetic. But as soon as we put the pig down on the ground after the procedure he seemed perfectly normal, which made me realize the piglets are a lot stronger than they look. This was yet another experience I do not think I could have in the states right now, and it was amazing how independent we were in this procedure.

Tuesday was one of my favorite days, because of all the hands on experience with sheep and goats. We all partnered up to restain and vaccinate the sheep and goats. I felt in comparison to injecting the cattle, it was a bit more interesting because it was much more physically involved. We had to go into the pen, pick a sheep/goat, bring it out, and restrain them. We took turns restraining and injecting with our partner. There were a ton of sheeps and goats but it went by really fast. We also visited a research farm, which was running what they called “The Sheep project”. This was a project sponsored both by the Belizean and Taiwanese government with the goal to improve the genes of sheep in Belize. Their genetics are weak due to inbreeding so they are introducing more breeds to improve the sheep in Belize.

First Days in Essen!

August 14, 2019 by Lubna Lakhwala Leave a Comment

The rafts at the playground of Gewerbepark

Day 20:

We began the day by visiting a residential community in Berlin that was built 20+ years ago. While also aiming to be an affordable, welcoming living community, one of the main goals of this community was to be sustainable. This was done in the community through retention and detention basins to manage stormwater runoff, and an abundance of green spaces. It was really cool to see that it is possible for communities to be built in a way that is sustainable and that can function properly without too much maintenance.

Our next stop was Gewerbepark, which is an industrial park. This park had a really interesting combination of features, including strange statues perched on top of buildings, rose gardens, and preserved factory buildings. It was fascinating to see how these various elements can complement each other and work together harmoniously. I found this park to be one of the most interesting from the trip because of how many different elements it had. After passing the gardens, we encountered the River Emscher, known to be one of the dirtiest and smelliest rivers in the Essen area. It was so smelly that some people had to hold their noses as we walked on a bridge across it. After that river, we crossed another river (but luckily this one wasn’t as smelly). Following that was a really interesting playground. It had rafts in shallow water to engage the children with the water, which was an important educational tool in an area located so closely to the River Emscher. It also had giant slides, and more water features, which created interest for the children but also a theme to remind them of the issue of water.

We ended the day with a live music performance at UnPerfektHaus. It was a great day!

Day 21-22:

Unfortunately, I fell sick the next day, so I stayed in UnPerfektHaus while everyone else went out for class. But luckily, the next day was Sunday, our free day! I rested up and went out and explored Essen for a bit as I started to feel better.

Day 23:

Our first place to visit on Day 23 was a construction site led by Emschergenossenschaft, a large public water committee that deals with managing the Emscher River and its related waterbodies in the Essen area. We visited a water plant that was under construction, and got a very fascinating, underground tour of the site.

Our next stop was in a very opposite realm from the Emschergenossenschaft construction site. While that was functional and underground, our next stop was purely for design purposes and several feet in the air. We visited a large, triangular structure that was part of several “tripods” scattered through the Essen area. This tripod consisted of sets of stairs that led you to an amazing view of the city.

On our way home, we saw the cutest dog on the U-Bahn! I’m still fascinated by how well-trained dogs are in Germany, and how casual their owners are about bringing them everywhere in public.

Until later,

Lubna

Internship Week 4

August 12, 2019 by Jessica Thorning Leave a Comment

I am officially two weeks away from America… it is a little weird thinking about going back. I hope to bring back some good habits I’ve made while here. I will only have a week to prepare for school, so it’s right back to work!

My fourth week has been exciting – I have been continuing work on the Emscher mouth area in Dinslaken, which is currently under construction. Things are starting to become more finalized, and I have been compiling ideas from the studio I participated in during the past semester.

I have become closer with my coworkers during this time, and am glad I get to work with great people. I visited a coworker’s garden cottage to see his bees and apple orchard, and really enjoyed experiencing the proximity of nature to the largest city within the ruhrgebiet.

In terms of everyday life, I have been keeping extra busy with work for both the internship and school, so I am constantly on the move. This week, I visited Wuppertal again and saw the Schwebebahn, which had been under construction for the past few months. I’m glad I got to try it before I went home. It is the oldest and largest suspended railway – it operates over the Wupper, and has beautiful views. It also goes through the Bayer campus – an interesting and large industrial space still in the Ruhr.

In addition I visited the Folkwang museum in Essen… one of the nicest and most interesting museums I have been to. I really enjoyed the variety of art there, the gorgeous building, and being able to sit and sketch art.

As for this coming week – I booked a flight to Finland! I am so excited to go to Helsinki and experience nature, design, and relaxation. I will be traveling over a long weekend, as every worker gets two vacation days per month.

I will post about my experiences on the Baltic Sea next week. Pictures below!

Third Week of Internship

August 9, 2019 by Jessica Thorning Leave a Comment

My third week in the internship phase started with an adventure on Sunday. My next door neighbor from my home recently moved into a flat in Frankfurt, and my childhood friend was visiting during a break in her study abroad adventure in Dublin, Ireland! I got to see some familiar faces and enjoy a little tour of Frankfurt for the day. We saw the River Main on a boat tour, which is a beautiful.

A huge benefit of the travel in Germany is that there are ample options of places to go, and they are all relatively cheap! Busses and trains are always available to go to other countries, and flights aren’t expensive either. It is really easy to explore without any access to a car and on a budget. I have learned a lot about saving and having fun at the same time, and hope to bring some of these lessons back with me.

After getting back from my Frankfurt day trip, I had a very exciting week at work. I met with some Masters students from the Technical University Dortmund, and we toured the Kaisergarten in Oberhausen with my boss, Dr. Oldengott. I really enjoyed seeing the art piece/bridge “Slinky Springs to Fame,” which connects the old Emscher to the current engineered Emscher, and looks over the Rhine-Herne Canal. It is a super funky bridge, with bright colors, and it lights up at night. It also bounces a little bit when you are on it, looking and feeling like a slinky.

One of the highlights of the whole praktikum was attending the UNESCO World Heritage proposal meetings for the Ruhrgebiet as a UNESCO Cultural Landscape. These meetings took place all day for three days, and I was able to meet some really interesting and wonderful professionals trying to get the Ruhr region recognized by UNESCO as a special heritage site. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I really learned how tedious and difficult it is to create a proposal for a cultural landscape. Every element of your proposal needs to ensure protection, and the Ruhr is a huge area.

Since the meetings took place at the Hansa Kokerei in Dortmund, I also was able to get a private tour of the formal industrial site. It is so beautiful and unique, due to the way it is preserved. Unlike a place like Landschaftspark, where many structures are repurposed, the Cokery was left as it is, with less restoration and repurpose, allowing it to show itself for what it is. The outdoor areas were redesigned, but some insides of buildings were eerily unchanged, and the stench of coke oven gas still lingered.

As for my weekend activities, I enjoyed hanging out in the city of Bochum, watching the Supercup Soccer game, rooting for Dortmund, and meeting new people.

Currently, I am halfway done with my praktikum – which means I have been away from the US for a total of 11 weeks… It’s been a crazy ride so far and has gone by so fast. I’m excited to go home, but will miss this way of life.

Pictures Below!