Hey! So it has been about two months almost to the date of my return, and so much has changed since coming back from the beautiful place of Belize. I saw some friends from the study abroad trip in some of my classes and it was so strange to see them anywhere else but in the sweltering heat and surrounded by friendly bugs. As I begin to adjust to a new semester full of new classes and experiences, I am saddened that I can’t enjoy the same learning methods we got used to in Belize. I adored getting my hands dirty and learning through observation and doing rather than sitting in a classroom all day and writing or typing the day away. I feel as though I had a wealth of new knowledge after only a month of learning and there isn’t a day that goes by without reflecting and being grateful I got to experience such an opportunity. If it were up to me, I would spend the rest of my days learning in Belize under the supervision of Dr. T and Professor Kneeland. They were such amazing role models, who I love catching up with on Facebook lol, and are encyclopedias essentially! They are both unique but with this willingness to teach, a sincere acknowledgment of their students’ needs and an overall excitement for their profession! People who know me, know that I am a very excited person when I am passionate and I loved seeing that passion in my teachers. It makes me feel confident that this is a profession that I will one day be happy in. Most people after coming home from study abroad miss the place and the culture of where they were, and while I loved Belize, the people, and the hot sauce (i’m ordering some on Amazon in the future), I did get homesick towards the end and couldn’t wait to return. That is why I loved this program. It was long enough for me to gain a worldly perspective and thoroughly appreciate a lifestyle different from my own, one where I’m trying to take the simplicity and appreciation from, but also short enough that I got to return home and see the people that I love. I will definitely try to return to the great country of Belize one day for research or just to explore the depths of the place, but not for much longer than a month. Without the support of my loved ones, I would not have been able to go to Belize with such a positive attitude, and survive the four weeks away from home in an unfamiliar place. I want to thank a bunch of people for amplifying my experience. Thank you first and foremost to my family for helping me fund the trip, for facetiming and talking to me often and always being in support of my dreams. Thank you to my other loved ones, who may not be related, but still supported me and were excited for me before, during and after the trip. And thanks for not getting annoyed every time I told a story about Belize lol. Thank you to SEBS Office of Global Engagement for the scholarship, which without I wouldn’t have been able to go. And thank you to all my classmates, teachers, and program coordinators in Belize that made sure the experience went as smoothly as it possibly could. It was an experience of a lifetime and I wouldn’t have changed a second of it!
The Final Countdown 6/4- the end
Wow!!! It’s already a week to the end and I can’t believe it. It has gone by so fast and instead of pure excitement to be going home, it is starting to be bittersweet as I begin to plan to leave this beautiful country with all the amazing people that I have met and will never forget.
Monday 6/4
On Monday, our primary focus was the community baboon sanctuary (which get this- doesn’t have baboons at all, just black howler monkeys). This sanctuary was very interesting because it was made up of 7 small villages and depended on the voluntary pledges of the residents to preserve the monkey’s habitats. Within the land of these small 7 villages, had about 4,000 black howler monkeys who coexist and are living freely. The community sanctuary has been focusing on preserving this species of monkey and educating the people on why it is important to do so. After getting to see the black howler monkeys, and hike following them (watch out for ticks- although they are without disease), it was amazing to me that the citizens decided to organize this and continue to protect an animal, which can just show you the impact people have when they work together with a common goal. We ended early this day, which gave enough time for a well-needed nap and enough time to finish our presentation for Friday.
Tuesday 6/5
Tuesday was our San Ignacio Day 🙁 which was a reminder of how much I missed the first group
and the first two weeks of studying abroad. We started off the day with Green Iguana Conservation Project, which many of us had our doubts about, but the iguanas seemed to be happy within the housing. Some of them were so friendly that you could pick them up and hold them, however, the most friendly iguana was also the biggest (which I held) and was about 5 feet long. Afterward, we continued to Xunantunich, which Deanna, Angela and I have been to before, but it wasn’t any less beautiful than it was prior, we even explained some cool facts we had learned before! For lunch, we went to a place called Hodes, which was right next 
to the Midas Resort and I had some quesadillas for the very last time. 🙁 To end the day, we got to meet another amazing, kick-ass female role model at The Raptor Center who had a small baby in her arms but was still treating and caring for 11 raptors. I never knew I could possibly like birds so much until I was taught all the work she was doing, all the tough decisions her and her coworkers have had to make and all her successes. In the past year, she had 10 birds, 5 of which could be released, 3 of which could not and 2 who sadly passed away from dehydration when they came in.
Wednesday 6/6
Wednesday was our early day, where we woke up at 4:40 am to go mist netting and see if we 
can catch some birds. Even though we had to hike a mile in our rain boots because the savannah was starting to transition into a lake with the rainy season approaching, we got to catch 8 small birds that were absolutely beautiful. After Rey was done processing, we were allowed to let the small birds go and get to watch them fly far far away! At the end of this, we were split into two groups: one to go find the elusive spider monkeys, and another to go perform zoo veterinary procedures. I, of course, chose the second option along with 7 other girls, and when we got to the zoo, we had to wait around for a while. We walked around and we were guessing some of the animal’s conditions, and then afterward, we came back to the clinic and performed a blood smear and fecal flotation on the vulture samples Dr. K acquired the previous day. Avian blood is so different from mammalian blood!
Thursday 6/7
Our last zoo day began with ripe-smelling necropsy. My small group of three got to perform a necropsy on a small raptor, while other groups had toucans, parrots and one had a snake. It was really interesting to look at the size of all the organs and the organs that are different from the ones in mammals. We determined the bird died from some type of trauma, due to its fractured wing and hurt skull, which Dr.K helped us determine, and we saw a pellet forming in the stomach. How cool is that!!!
After lunch at the zoo, and some shopping for gifts back home, we got to begin our enrichment activity with the toucans which was a success!! We made a cardboard box with different compartments with papaya and watermelon in them and covered it with hay. This one toucan loved it so much, we had to remove it early so he didn’t spoil his dinner!!
Friday 6/8
And just like that, it is the last day. We went to the zoo, where we presented all of our projects and had a session with Cynthia about possible improvements to the program. Overall, the wildlife program has more of a medicine and research base than an ecology base, and I hope 
people realize that when they sign up for this course! After, as an entire group, we had lunch together at Cheers and then returned for the jaguar encounters. The jaguar encounter was SO COOL! We got Junior, the famous Jaguar, to lick our foreheads and we fed him a snack while we were in the safety of a cage. It was only a few minutes, but it was a really cool experience. We then left the Belize Zoo for good 🙁 and returned to the TEC for a last dip in the pool and for some packing. Because I brought so many books to donate the first time, my bag was significantly lighter than it was before, even with all the souvenirs I added! We had our final dinner Belizean style, with stewed chicken and rice and beans. And then after, headed to Amigos for one last night of karaoke! We even got Dr. K and her husband Vincent to sing Bohemian Rhapsody! It was loads of fun and then we got to sleep for one last time in this beautiful country.
Saturday 6/9
Today was the day we left!!! We had fry jacks as a final goodbye of a breakfast (which I am 
going to miss so much, but my wonderful boyfriend is going to make for me when I get home 🙂 ). Then we had to say goodbye to Dr.K and the three people staying for the other course at 8:30 am. Dr. K has been one of the best veterinarians and professors I have ever had, and she was just an amazing and inspirational woman overall. While some people were crying as they left, I was not for some reason, despite being sad about leaving my home for a month.
Belize was amazing and even though it came with all its challenges of heat, bugs, sunburns and homesickness, I highly recommend this place if you want to be out of your comfort zone for a short time. I loved the first two weeks, and the last two weren’t my favorite but that’s okay! If you’re going to do a month, do the wildlife course first, and you’ll appreciate everything more. I am so amazed at all the wonderful people I have met, whom I hope I will never forget. Thank you SEBS Office of Global Engagement and my parents and my prior savings (lol) for giving me this opportunity. I am so thankful, and I am so happy I got to do this program. I will always keep it with me.
Wilding with the Wildlife!
Hey Everyone!! It’s been a week since we have last talked about my experiences, so I guess I am a little overdue with the past week of my life. I am adding pictures after I am back home, so I don’t have to struggle with the lagging wifi!
Monday 5/28
This was the first day of classes and was the most intense in regards to lectures. A majority of the day we spent in the classroom learning about wildlife research and the one health approach. I was actually really interested in the subject material, which was a delightful surprise and gave me a healthy dose of optimism. The beginning of the day we spent hiking through two different ecosystems around the tropical education center and learned about most plants and species with our friend Rey. Later at night, we were given a talk by the founder of the Belize Zoo, Sharon, who stressed conservation and education as her primary goals for the zoo. A majority of the animals were from the wild and were called in by the forestry department to be rehabilitated, but were unable to be released. During our night tour of the zoo, where we all got bit aplenty, we were able to watch jaguars, tapirs, and ocelots being fed and learned so much through the zookeeper’s extensive knowledge of the animals and their origins. We even got to see Junior, who was the first captive-born jaguar the zoo has ever seen! He does somersaults for his snacks.
Tuesday 5/29
So far, all the girls (and Josh) have seemed very friendly, and even though it took a few adjustments to get used to living with one another in very close quarters, we have managed. We started off the day with some breakfast and a trip to the zoo. We were introduced to many “problem Jaguars” being rehabilitated by the zoo. Problem Jaguars are jaguars that kill livestock that farmers would kill if they didn’t have the zoo to take them in. Currently, they had around 8-9 who were very uncomfortable with such a large crowd of people and showed aggression- as expected with wild animals. It was sad they couldn’t be re-released without returning to their poor habits. After we walked back to the clinic, we engaged in a competition and had to reconstruct a jaguar skeleton within 20 minutes! Both teams tied and after lunch, we had several tiebreakers which involved feeling bones within a bag and identifying them. My team won after the tiebreakers :)) and then we moved on to doing a fecal parasite lab and talking about zoos and their purpose in conservation. Many zoos in the states don’t do as much as they should with the money and supplies they have, and the way the Belize zoo differentiates is that these animals are in their natural habitat and not just exhibits, which puts stress and raises animals in environments different from what they are built for.
Wednesday 5/30
Once again we started off with breakfast at 7:30, since there are other groups at the tropical education center (2 showers 45+ girls to share!!). After we had a lecture in the upstairs classroom with Dr. Tellez, who told us about the Crocodile Research Coalition. She was super cool and such a good role model (as all the women on this trip have been- I call them badasses) and she showed us the crocodiles in the zoo and explained the backstories of them both. She changed my opinion on crocodiles and their “Evil” ways and showed me how they are important and should be conserved within the ecosystem, but are adaptable enough to not worry too much about their extinction. Did you also know the American crocodile was one of the greatest conservation efforts in history?? Later we had a Tapir Presentation and a radio collar presentation by Rey! Who is super helpful and has a wealth of knowledge. He taught us how to find radio collar signals using a transmitter in blistering heat in the savannah, but after all that sweating it was great to take a shower (don’t forget your shower shoes like I did).
Thursday 5/31
I was looking forward to this day!!! It was all about remote drug delivery and the weather finally cooled down after a night of rain- it’s beginning to be the rainy season in Belize. We learned about how to chemically immobilize with the least amount of harm to the animal as possible, which is why it is the last resort. I didn’t know that and I was thankful to learn that before I started blowing darts here and there! Then we had our practical for remote drug delivery by using a shaft that we blew a fake homemade dart that our teams made into a block. I made it first try, but some people took a while which was comedic relief for a long day. We ended up ending a little earlier, so some people went to Belmopan, but I stayed back in the room to nap and read a book, because after almost 3 weeks of constant socialization and exposure to the same 12 other people, I needed some alone time to decompress. I am so thankful I did and got to dip in the pool before dinner, even though everyone seemed to have a good time going to the supermarket in the capital. We had delicious dinner, thanks to Juan Carlos and Edna who are the managers of the TEC and some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. They remember our names and have always taken care of our dietary restrictions, like my friend Deanna’s.
Friday 6/1
Happy June!!! I was dreading this day, because it seemed so long to be out in the sun in the middle of the savannah at Runaway Creek Reserve, but I was delightfully surprised with how much fun I had and the cool temperature. There were swarms of mosquitoes surrounding us though, and I am very thankful I got minimal bug bites from the long sleeve I was wearing and the TONS of bug spray. I already had 40 bug bites from the previous few days despite the tons of bug spray I have been wearing!! Bugs just love me, but it’s DEFINITELY not reciprocated… We set up 3 mist nets really quickly with Rey so we could catch birds the following week (exciting), and set up 3 camera traps to take pictures of passing wildlife for our viewing pleasure after the following week of classes. We continued to hike for about an hour and explored several caves in the reserve. We spotted a barn owl, some Mayan paintings, and the guardian faces at the beginnings of Mayan caves. We also saw a previously set up camera trap and saw a picture of a jaguar that passed through the exact location as us 12 hours prior!!! It was the coolest thing I had ever seen and saw a barn owl as we were leaving the cave.
Saturday 6/2
Today was the beginning of our weekend off and the start of our independent adventures. Half the group went to Caye Caulker with Lauren, who escorted them through the bus to Belize City and the other half (myself included) went to the ATM cave in the opposite direction. We caught the bus around 8 am, which was nothing more than a school bus, and much more pleasant than a Rutgers bus and paid $5 Belize to get to Tea Kettle. We arrive in our hiking boots, take the van to the picnic area where we begin our 45 minute stroll to the cave (it was barely a hike except for crossing the river which was neck deep for the people taller than me so you can imagine what it was like being 5’4″). Our tour guide and his son (Manuel and Alejandro) were really knowledgeable and would stop us every time there was something interesting along the hike. Once we reached the cave, we had to swim a short distance to get to a place where we could stand up, and for the next hour we were exploring cave formations, crawling through small spaces (which brought up my mild claustrophobia) all while under at least a foot of water. Once we reached a half mile into a 3.5 mile long cave, which seemed to have taken forever, we climbed about 20 feet to the dry area, where you had to remove your shoes in respect for the Mayan artifacts and skeletons. We saw many broken pots and about 5 total skeletons. Many were calcified into the rock, showing how long they had been there, and were scattered. It was SO cool to see older bones from Mayan sacrifices. Once we reached another part of the cave we had to climb a not-so-sturdy ladder into another part of the cave where the famous (the whole cave was named after it) crystallized female skeleton was, which was calcified and complete. It was one of the creepiest things to see a full human skeleton and try to imagine the person it was before it. It took a while to get out of the cave and was quite scary climbing down (I am also afraid of heights- so many phobias I know). Once we returned, we had a late lunch, an adventure back in the bus (which was completely safe and not confusing) and then had dinner back at the TEC. This night was the first heavy rain, which brought flood flies out, who are actually termites in disguise and are the worst bugs to have to deal with regardless of their lack of biting.
Sunday 6/3
Sunday was a relaxing day full of naps, reading, and leisure time. Three people went to the zoo to shadow veterinarians, and Deanna, Dr. K, Jane (some oher badass female role models) and I went to Cheers to eat lunch and talked about Dr. K’s overnight tapir projects and whether or not she was able to catch and track any (she wasn’t). Afterwards, the shadowers from the zoo and the travellers to Caye Caulker returned and we all had dinner and the unifying battle against flood flies once again 🙁
Sorry for such a long post, there is so much to talk about and not enough words to describe every day and all that we learn and feel!!!
My New Home :)
Hey Everyone!! It’s Day 16 over here, and I am feeling a mix of emotions as the last program came to an end and we met our new classmates for the next two weeks. At least I also have Deanna and Angela for the next two weeks and am sharing a room with them! But now, here are some updates!!
Thursday
On Thursday, our group went to the Horse Farm for our very last day of class and performed physical examinations on all the horses and gave them all vaccinations! It was fun to repeat the physical examinations that we learned on the second day of the course. Afterward, we got to ride horses through a jungle trail, and since I am really inexperienced with horseback riding, I got the “kid” horse. Everyone else’s horse was trotting and kept a relatively quick pace, while I was maybe 40 yards behind because of my horse’s refusal to go any faster. Regardless, it was a fun trail and it was a great way to end our last day of learning!! While the experienced riders galloped through the trail, we got to eat this delicious vegetable soup and watch the different hummingbird species around us! Once we returned to the resort, we reviewed for the exam the next day, added some final touches to our presentations and had a delicious dinner- easily the best chicken strips I have ever had.
Friday
On Friday, our very last day :(, we got to present our projects and ask questions. Some presentations were on: Ehrlicia, Rabies (Angela and I’s Project), Botflies, Biosecurity and more! Afterward, we took our exam, which only took maybe half an hour and returned for some final relaxation by the pool. It was sad to think that it was a day of lasts. Our last time together, our last time in the clinic, our last time by the pool. Later in the evening, we went to Dr. T’s house for some dinner, games, and celebration. We ate the best chicken ever, made by Chef Dr. T and watched a video made by our TA Shiloh which was 24 minutes long and made me heavily nostalgic. I also got to play soccer with Dr. T’s sons and accidentally scratched my knee- the first time I’ve been hurt on the trip! To close the evening, we went to a casino to go to the club which had about 10 people other than us, and enjoyed dancing with each other one last time before we all went different places! It was incredibly sad saying goodnight to everyone and saying goodbye. I am so grateful to Dr. T for everything he’s taught us, to Ruben for everything he has done for us, and to Shiloh for dealing with us and all the challenges associated with college students in a foreign country. All of my classmates were absolutely wonderful and I’ve met people from so many places: Iowa, Washington, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, Pennsylvania and home!! I hope I get to see all these amazing people again, who have experienced the worst and best with me: hot rides in the backseat of the van, sweating our faces off in a smelly pig farm, and successfully vaccinating hundreds of animals and performing dozens of castrations and spays and neuters.
Saturday
In the morning, Deanna, Angela and I were transported to the Tropical Education Center, about 30 miles out of Belize City and settled into our dorm. The dorm consists of four rooms: one room can hold three people, another can hold five, another can hold four, and one is meant for the one boy of the group. After settling in, we got a tour, spotted a crocodile behind our dorm, found the showers, toilets, and sinks, which are all a minute walk from the dorms, and then swam in the pool. Around 1 pm, we were picked up and had lunch with Lauren, Dr. K (our professor) and some new wildlife and large animal students. Once all the wildlife students arrived, we all went to the pool and voluntarily played a few icebreaker games which turned out to be really fun! Then we had dinner together, which was stewed chicken and some rice and beans.
Sunday
After an early breakfast at 7, the rest of the group went cave tubing and zip lining while Deanna, Angela and I stayed back to save money. We worked on our blogs, went to lunch at Cheers with Dr. K, and napped until the group came back. Then we had to go to the classroom to have Cynthia and Lauren give us a two hour orientation, which was informative but was my second time watching so it was a little boring. After, we went over the schedule for the next couple weeks with Dr. K and had dinner- meatloaf (my first time having it ever) and the best mashed potatoes ever. Dr. K brought up going karaokeing at a nearby restaurant called Little Texas where we sang and played cards for about two hours.
It’s really different here at the Tropical Education Center than Midas Resort. The van for this program is better, but we have no A/C or town and we only have two restaurants nearby. The dorms for this program include bunk beds and mosquito nets- which don’t work for me because bugs love me apparently. And there are still 12 girls and 1 boy! But I am so excited for the next 12 days and all the wildlife I will learn about, while simultaneously excited about going home and seeing my family and friends.
Days to go: 12!!!
P.S. Because of not that great of Wifi, it’s difficult to upload photos so for this post there are none, but I promise I will try for the next post!!!
Spays, Sutures, and Snorkeling
Hey!! It’s been a while!! We are now on Day 13 here in Belize and the first program is coming to a close!! However, I will update you guys on Day 6- Day 11 so I can save some to talk about later!!
Day 6: 5/17/2018
Thursday we got to go to a cattle farm and perform vaccinations on the cows (who were much bigger and scarier than they look) and also got to vaccinate their horses and their dogs!!! The cows proved to be a challenge since they all received intramuscular shots which go straight into their muscle and is quite painful! Even though they were placed in a shoot, they were flighty and would move in every way possible to get the needle out- I don’t really blame them. We had SO much practice since we needed to do about 70 cows! Afterward, we got to vaccinate horses, which were a little less flighty, and their farm dogs who only had received one shot but were whining for about 5 minutes after(drama queens). It was exhilarating to have so much practice! After we were all sweaty, we got to go cave canoeing in one of the most BEAUTIFUL caves I have ever seen. Some people went cliff diving and we got to experience “pitch black” within the cave, which was frightening and relaxing at the same time. You could literally wave your hand in front of your nose and not see a thing.
Day 7: 5/18/2018
Friday was the beginning of the long-awaited trip to the beautiful peninsula of Placencia. After a very long, and sweaty trip in the back of a cramped van with packed backpacks, we arrived at the Placencia Humane Society. This has been my FAVORITE day of the trip so far. The Friday clinic was free, so not only did we get to observe countless spays and neuters, but we also got to interact with owners and ask them if we could take their dogs to a free clinic. We had gone out in the back of a pickup truck and drove around neighborhoods asking owners if we could bring their dogs in for free healthcare with the promise to return them home safely. It was so impactful seeing the direct impact you have on the quality of the animal’s and their owner’s life. But nothing was more terrifying than having to be in charge of the recovery of a puppy just neutered. Skippy was his name and boy was he TERRIFIED. Not only that, but I wasn’t aware that puppies panting had a significantly higher heart rate ( almost 200 per min) than normal, and I was so scared he wouldn’t wake up from his anesthesia. Ruben not only calmed down my worries, but explained that the process is different for everyone, and wow he was right. Out of five dogs, I observed coming out of anesthesia, each one had a different temperament afterward and took a different length of time for it to wear off. After the 10 hour day of work, we finally took a swim in the ocean, settled into our condos for the night, and got to eat delicious food at the Barefoot Bar. It was such a heartwarming day to see all the volunteers coming together to better the quality of life of these animals and 
improve the neighborhoods in general.
Day 8: 5/19/2018
Round 2 of the clinic in Placencia! Because of this low-cost day, you got to see the difference in the number of customers. We ended at 2 pm (about four hours earlier than the previous day). Because I skipped breakfast, I got to participate in the spay of a pitbull/labrador mix (which is my favorite breed) and was able to fall in love with Angel. She was the sweetest dog I have ever met and I almost cried as she left- I swear I am normally not THAT attached. Her neighbors were the ones to bring her in after watching her have one litter already at the young age of one. It was her first trip outside of her small, chained yard, and she was so happy and playful and wanted to sniff everything. Unfortunately, because she was such a healthy dog and was probably exercising before the surgery, she kept waking up and whining during the surgery from metabolizing the anesthesia too fast. It shattered my heart until she was given ketamine to sedate her. Her owners also didn’t follow the pre-surgery instructions, as anesthesia clears the stomach of its contents, and she threw up three times. The poor baby girl will never want to leave her backyard again! 🙁 Later in the day, we got moved to our hostel for the night, dipped in the pool, and then dressed up to leave for the Barefoot Bar, where we had good food and took a few shots- alcohol is very expensive here and make sure you drink responsibly!!! There I also met the second dog of my dreams, a little chubby and friendly dachshund named Buster that would get on the dance floor with us!
Day 9: 5/20/2018
Sunday, a few people got ill from the food and weren’t feeling well, but we still all went snorkeling anyways. In the morning right before snorkeling, we ran into a puppy we neutered on Friday named Skippy- what a coincidence. When we got to the island to snorkel, after a 30 minute boat ride to the island, it was absolutely beautiful. This was my first time snorkeling and to be honest, the first time we went out I felt like I was permanently drowning, but the second time was amazing! We saw so many fish and got to explore the second largest barrier reef in the world (in case you didn’t know)!!! However, don’t be like me and think you are invincible to sunburn on the back of your legs or your back, because I was a TOMATO when we got back to San Ignacio.
I have never been more sunburnt, and you don’t even wanna see my booty. It is burnt to a crisp, I say as I am painfully peeling. Other people got it worse so I can’t even imagine, but wear your sunscreen kiddos!! That’s the moral of the story.
Day 10: 5/21/2018
Back to our regularly scheduled programming, we got to go to two sheep farms Monday and give vaccinations and castrate a few young sheep and meet their super sweet owners who reminded me of my grandparents so much :(( I miss my family back home :((( But new adventures!! I also met the third dog of my dreams- I know I keep saying that but you HAVE to see all these cute doggos and then you will understand. 
These doggos reminded me of my doggo back home and made me miss home EVEN MORE- can you tell I was feeling homesick this day? They were german shepherd and chihuahua mixes and were such good boys for their vaccines. But by far, the best part of the day was trying to catch the sheep to castrate in a big open pasture. How many people does it take to grab five sheep you ask?? About 15. With battle scars of jumping sheep.
Day 11: 5/22/2018
Well, Tuesday was a day for sure. A good or bad one is up to you to decide. We visited a pig farm, and wow that smell was SO delightful. We had to castrate 5 screaming piglets who were surprisingly hard to keep down and needed about three people just to grab them. After a very demoralizing attempt to castrate the testicles off a piglet, I found my calling- pig wrangling. The high pitched squeals and the dramatic gestures of the pigs surprisingly don’t faze me and even though I may have been close to slipping in poop a few time, I have a 90% success rate in holding them down for an intramuscular shot. This was by far the best experience ever, followed by a really unfortunately smelling car ride on the way to a beautiful waterfall so we could rinse off all the filth from our bodies. This was followed by a quick lecture on artificial insemination and palpation in cows.
To all of my family and friends- I miss you tons and I can’t wait to come back to you all!! And I hope Kelsey has the BEST time recovering from her wisdom tooth removal LOL.
Tune in next time for my hand up a cow’s rectum!!
Days Left to Go: 15 days 🙁 (Simultaneously miss home but never want to leave)
