A Trek Through The Savanna

Hola! Time for my weekly update from the Sunshine State! Although apparently the north is getting more sunshine lately than we are...


Monday, July 18th: At the Africa KDC, kids can help me track a rhino by looking at its footprint and poop. After I was done leading a kid through the clues, I asked him, "Would you like your stamp now?" And he kind of surprised me by replying, "Can I learn more, first?" That kid was awesome!!! He didn't just want his prize--he wanted to know more about rhinos! Those are the moments that make me love my job.

After work, I met up with some interns to play frisbee at fields across the street from Cumberland. We had a lot of fun, even though it was a million degrees outside. Unfortunately, the fields closed at 8pm so we didn't get to play for very long. Hopefully we can get a little more organized and start playing a few times a week. Although it won't be nearly the same as ultimate with my Irish Elks or with the Dirty Discs back home. :-(

Other big news today: the Buccos beat the Reds and went into 1st place in the Central Division!! Am I dreaming?!?!

Tuesday, July 19th: Not much happened, but I signed up for the Wild Africa Trek at DAK! More info on this later.

Wednesday, July 20th: Tonight, Cassie and Alyssa hosted a game night for their friends at The Seas. Team Cassie-Sonia-Alison kicked butt at Disney Scene It!! Yay!

Thursday, July 21st: In the morning, my roomies, Nicole, and I went to the cast discount stores. I bought a really sweet Disney sticker book. Don't judge me, it's awesome!! Then, Sonia, Nicole, and I headed to DAK for our Wild Africa Trek. It was soooo cool! First, we got strapped into our harnesses and got to hang over the hippo exhibit. Then we walked across old, rickety bridges to see the nile crocodiles. After that, it was time for our private safari tour. We saw animals like cheetahs, flamingos, okapi, elephants, warthogs, wildebeest, and sable antelopes. We also got so close to the reticulated giraffes that they probably could have licked us! That was definitely the coolest part. Also, near the end of our tour, we had a nice lunch of traditional African cuisine. We had delicious juice and food served in a canister. There was pita bread, fresh fruit, dried beef, smoked salmon, shrimp, hummus, and a cucumber slaw. It was all topped off with a purple orchid. We were encouraged to eat everything, and it was all amazing. The orchid, however, was kind of bland. Overall, I had a great time on the trek, and I'm glad I got to do it.
                                  

Friday, July 22nd: Today was a bad day. I went to the pool, but I didn't do a very good job of uniformly applying my sunscreen, so I got really awkward burns. Ugh. Well, this is the first time I've been burnt since I got here, so I guess it had to happen eventually.

Saturday, July 23rd: Alright, I can officially say that I know how to ride a bike!! I rode to Conservation Station with Megan, and I barely had to stop at all! Yippee! Now I kind of think that bikes are fun!

Sunday, July 24th: My roomies, Nicole, Melissa, and I all ordered tickets for the Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias concert on October 21st!! I'M SO PUMPED. It's also the day after the Sugarland concert, so it should be a great couple of days. Later on, my friends and I went out Jellyrolls, a dueling piano bar, for Melissa's 21st birthday. The pianists took requests and played a lot of oldies but goodies, but also played "Smelly Cat" from Friends and a song by Travis Tritt. Oh, and they invited all the birthday girls onstage for a special song.

That night, I had a dream that I was in Wildwood, NJ for the ultimate frisbee beach tournament. However, there was a huge tsunami and I had to run for my life away from the waves. Haha. I hope there's not a tsunami during the real tourney this weekend!

Monday, July 25th: The roomies and I did a kickboxing class in Cumberland. Let's just say it kicked my butt and made me feel like I should try to exercise more. It was fun though, especially because our instructor was very attractive haha. I don't think I'll be doing the class again, but I may do yoga next week instead.

Tuesday, July 26th: Nothing exciting today. I tried to stay awake for the 19-inning Pirates game, but fell asleep around the 17th. That's probably for the best, because I would've screamed so loud if I had seen the horrible call the home plate ump made that lost us the game.

Alright, I need to go clean up my room. Next time, I'll tell you about DAK's International Year of Forests celebration.

"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."--Mark Twain

Signing My First Autograph

Hi everyone! It's my day off, so I'll get you caught up on what's been going on lately.

Monday, July 11th: Today my sister-in law Staci, her parents, and my nieces Abbie and Madison came to visit me!! I met up with them during my hour break in the morning, and I took a picture with the girls in front of the Tree of Life. When I saw them later, I was at the Croc exhibit. I told Abbie and Madison a little bit about them, and then I signed my name in their autograph book! I've had my picture taken with tons of families (I hope I'm not in vacation scrapbooks) and have been video taped too, but this was the first time I've signed my autograph! It was on a page next to Goofy, so I felt famous. After work, I met the family at Denny's. The girls looked tired from a full day at DAK, but I was so glad I got to see them!

Tuesday, July 12th: It was a relatively uneventful work day, but afterwards, a few friends and I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. We had watched movies 5 and 6 the previous days, all in preparation for the final film release. Our apartment complex has a movie theater, so we watched it in there. It was hard to believe that the HP era was almost over.

Wednesday, July 13th: After work, the Education Presenters had a team bonding day. We ate dinner at Pizzafari, then went to The Festival of the Lion King. IT WAS AMAZING. It's Disney's most renowned attraction, with good reason. Then we all rode Dinosaur and Expedition Everest. Once we were done, it was 8pm, so we had been there all day from the park's opening to closing. I'd say it was a productive day.

Thursday, July 14th: I had the day off and I forgot to set my alarm so I slept in veryyyy late. Oops. For dinner, the roomies and I went to Steak 'N Shake where I had a delicious Butterfinger milkshake (although it wasn't as good as Johnny Rockets).

Friday, July 15th: In the morning, Steph, Betsy, and I went to a fantastic lecture about African Elephant population management. He told us about his trips to Africa where his group performed vasectomies on bull elephants to control the overabundant population. The whole surgical process is very complicated and requires a huge team to pull it off. He also talked about some community work that they did while they were in Africa. I wish I could go on a trip to a developing country like that and do field work while also helping out the local communities.

Later on, we bought our Harry Potter tickets and then went to a few Cast discount stores. On of the stores had slightly damaged Disney products that couldn't be put in regular stores, so everything was 75% off. I managed to buy a new iron, an autograph book, 3 pins, and a gallon of milk for a total of $18. EPIC WIN.

The three of us saw the final Harry Potter movie that night. I know a few people that hadn't read the books didn't like it because it was confusing. Well that's because it would have taken 2 extra hours to explain every single detail that wasn't clear if you hadn't been an avid reader of the books. I absolutely LOVED the movie. The acting was great, the battle scenes were phenomenal, and it was very emotional. I cried probably more than I've ever cried during a movie, especially at the scene where Harry Potter uses one of the Hallows in the Forbidden Forest. There were only a few small parts of the movie that I didn't like, but nothing major. It's weird to think that I've been following HP since fourth grade, and now it's over. It's a sad day for Potter fans.

Saturday, July 16th: Nothing exciting happened today, but back at home, the National Aviary held their annual "Night in the Tropics" event. I wish I had been there to join in on the fun! I miss the birds and everyone that works there!

Sunday, July 17th: The highlight of my day was talking to a Guest that went scuba diving with WHALE SHARKS at Darwin and Wolfe on the Galapagos Islands. For those of you who don't know, I studied abroad on the Galap, and my whole group made it a goal to save up our money so we could have a reunion in 10 years and dive with these sharks on D & W. So naturally, I was very jealous of this Guest's awesome experience.

Later on, when I was working at a KDC, I saw a girl with a Brontosaurus shirt. Fun fact: Brontosauruses are NOT real dinos. Scientists mixed the bones of two different dinosaurs and made up this name for it. Sorry to disappoint all of you who had been taught otherwise in school.

Well I think I'm going to go relax by the pool and get rid of my farmer's tan. Bye!

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."--Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

It's Time to Fledge From the Nest

Hello! Time for another update on my Florida life!

Tuesday, July 5th: We had our first official day working at the animal exhibits and Kids' Discovery Club stations. Each morning, we get a letter (A-O), and each letter has a certain rotation order that tells us which station to be at and when. Today, we went to each one with a small group and a member of Core Team (our bosses). Our leader started example conversations for us and also showed us the best routes to get from place to place.

When we went to lunch, we took bikes to the break room because it was pretty far away. At Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK), however, we call them "DAKcycles" and we're only allowed to use them backstage. The problem is that I don't know how to ride a bike (yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh), so my leader tried to teach me. The first one I tried had a flatish tire and the second was too big, so when I got off balance, I fell. Despite that fail, I'm going to make it a goal to learn to ride.

Wednesday, July 6th: We had another day of small group rotations. I finally started to understand how to get everywhere (although the real test would come when I was on my own). After work, Cumberland had an intern pool party, which was fun. Team "Education Presenter + Cassie" even won one of the silly icebreaker games we played. That's because the Presenters are amazing!!

Thursday, July 7th: We worked in pairs on Thursday, and I was with my roommate Sonia. The day started off ok, but when we had to close one of the KDCs, we couldn't find the fan switch, it started pouring, and we got back to the AP trailer 10 minutes late. It was kind of a bad end to the day--I was just glad when we got home.

Friday, July 8th: I was paired with Nick and we had a good time making jokes all day. After I got home, Cassie and I took Sonia to the airport (she was going to go home for a visit), but then her flight got canceled, so we picked her up shortly after we left.

Saturday, July 9th: Day off, woohoo! I went to Earl of Sandwich with Melissa. It was very tasty, except the slabs of mozzarella cheese reminded me of slimy Ecua cheese. Ew. Anyway, we then went to a shop where I bought my first mystery Vinylmation, and it was the creepy baby from Toy Story 3. I will definitely be trading it ASAP! Our next stop was "World of Disney," the largest Disney merch store in the world. OH MY GOSH. IT'S INSANE. I could get lost in there. They have everything from pins to wedding accessories to plush to housewares. I will probably be doing most of my Christmas shopping there.

Sunday, July 10th: Today was the day to "fledge from the nest" according to our leaders. It was my first day completely on my own at work. It went well except for the fact that I forgot a bug thermometer and a prop bag, I walked off with a KDC stamp, and I almost forgot to record my numbers. At least I didn't get lost! I was pretty proud of that. All in all, it went well.

Alright, next time I'll fill you in on the rest of the week's events, including my family coming to visit!

"You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."--Dr. Suess

Rafiki Ya Wanyama

Hi all! As promised, I have an update on my last few days of training. Also, if you want to know what the heck the title of this entry means, it's Swahili for "Friend of the animals." The kids who complete all 6 of our KDCs earn a "Rafiki ya wanyama" stamp in addition to an activity book. I love this phrase, especially because it reminds me of The Lion King.

So Thursday the 30th was a day off for the presenters. A computer repair man came to my apartment to fix the right click button on my laptop touchpad and replace the framing around my screen, but Dell hadn't sent the palm rest that was necessary to fix the button. (They later called to say that they don't have any in stock and may not for a while) Thanks, Dell. I appreciate your help. I'm glad you realize how hard it is to function without a right click button. 

Anyway, after he left, Sonia and I went to Magic Kingdom for the first time since we've been here. Unfortunately, the second we boarded the monorail, the clouds opened up and a torrential downpour started. While we waited for the rain to stop, we talked to a CP (college program) student from Harrisburg that goes to Penn State. I love meeting fellow Pennsylvanians! Unfortunately, within 2 minutes of getting off the monorail, we had been walking in water up to our ankles. We ran for cover inside Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, and it was so COOL! It was an impromptu comedy show with the monsters from the movie, and it was hilarious!!! After riding a bunch of rides, we saw the "Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it!" parade, and then headed out. Our GPS got us super lost while on a quest for food, so I was very happy when we finally got home.

Friday, July 1st was a relatively uneventful day. We had more classroom training, and learned about some of the mammals and birds in our collection. Then we went through a presentation about biodiversity and the different kingdoms (basically a review from every college class I've ever taken). On an unrelated note, when I got home, I found out that Jagr and Talbot had chosen to sign with the Flyers over the Penguins. Let's just say I was not a happy camper. Of all the teams, did they have to pick Philly? Oh well, at least they got the money they wanted.

On Saturday the 2nd, we took a more thorough tour of DAK in small groups. That day, a light bulb went off in my head, and I finally started to remember a good bit of info about the KDCs and animal exhibits. After a fun day at work, a bunch of my friends and I went to the pool at Cumberland. It was definitely good to cool down and just relax.

Sunday the 3rd was another day off, so Sonia and I went back to the costuming building to get a few different sizes of costumes (my shorts could have fit another person in them). Then we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to explore. It is a really neat resort with savannah animals right outside the rooms! We went to Chipotle for lunch (I haven't had so much rice and beans since the Galap!) and then went home so I could nap. We, along with Cassie, decided to go see the Independence Day fireworks at Magic Kingdom. The sun was just setting as we arrived to the park on the ferry, and it was soo pretty! It was an absolute mad house when we got there. I felt like we were all sardines, stationed in front of Cinderella's Castle. The show was awesome, and I'm glad we went that night instead of the actual 4th of July when it would be even more chaotic.

Our last day of classroom training was on Monday! In the morning, we completed a sort of scavenger hunt slash way-finding activity. My group didn't finish everything, but it kind of helped us get more oriented within DAK. The highlight of my day was definitely the Flights of Wonder bird show in Asia. IT WAS EPIC. They had an Abyssinian Groud Hornbill, Bald Eagle, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Red Legged Seriema, Gray Crowned Crane, Harris Hawk, Toucans, and Macaws, among others. When I go to the show as a Guest, I'm going to try and volunteer so I can sit onstage and take a video of the hornbill flying right at me. I was so jealous of the Guests that got to do that!

After lunch, we did a role-playing activity and then took our assessment to make sure we knew the information from our training manual. I'm hoping this is the last test I ever have to take, because it made me feel like I was back in college again! Next came a tour of Conservation Station. We saw a Tawny Owl presentation, looked into research windows, heard rainforest sounds, and saw Rafiki, Jiminy Cricket, and a very pale Pocahontas. We then reviewed our test (I did better that I'd expected), and left work early!

That night, Sonia, Cassie, Alyssa, and I went to Epcot for the real 4th fireworks. They were probably some of the best ones I've ever seen. Half of my pictures look like the sky is on fire because they were so bright and filled the air with a lot of smoke. Probably one of the cooler parts was when we saw fireworks from Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios in the distance. So we saw them from three different parks in one night! Pretty neat, I'd say.

One more thing that I've been thinking about...Every time I go on an attraction at Disney, I look at all the details in the artwork and architecture, and see the themes that they create to help the Guests immerse themselves in their own imagination. I've decided that one of my dreams is to be an Imagineer. I'd get to help make Walt's visions come true by designing exhibits, rides, and shows to keep the Disney magic alive. I think that would seriously be the coolest job ever.

"They say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true."--Briar Rose, Sleeping Beauty

Getting My Feet Wet In Sunny Florida

Jambo! Namaste! Viva Gaia! Howdy, campers!

Those are all the ways I will be greeting Guests that walk by my stations at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Before I tell you a little bit about the specifics of my job, here's a bit about my first week in Orlando.

On Saturday the 25th, my carpool group arrived at Disney University around 7:20am for "Traditions". We waited for about an hour, and then finally started the class. We watched several videos about Company policies and completed a fun activity to see if we could put important events in Disney history in order. One of the coolest parts of the day was our short tour of Magic Kingdom and the Utilidor (underground tunnels). When we got back to the classroom, we finished learning the required material, and then Mickey himself came in to give us our name tags! That was pretty exciting! After we were done with class, the Animal Programs group did a bunch of computer training. Then we finally were able to get our costumes that we'd be wearing every day on the job! The costuming building was HUGE. Rows upon rows of shirts, shorts, vests, hats, and belts. It took a while to find all my proper clothing, but we were finished around 3:30.

On Sunday the 26th, we had "DAKlimations" (DAK stands for Disney's Animal Kingdom). In the morning, we toured DAK to become familiar with the park, and we learned a little bit about the story lines of each "world" we'd be working in. The best part of the day was when we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari. There were a ton of cool animals but I don't remember half of their names haha. When we were done, we spent a longgg time inside learning about safety. After a seemingly endless day, my roommates Sonia, Alyssa, Cassie, and I decided to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios that night. We went on the Tower of Terror (which wasn't nearly as scary as when I was 9 years old) and Rockin' Roller Coaster (awesomeeeee). Then I met up with my friend Chris from home, who had been in Disney with his family. It was nice to see a familiar face for sure. After Chris left, we saw Fantasmic! It was so cool because they had enormous fountains of water on which they projected clips from Disney films, and there were a bunch of characters that acted out a mini-play.

Monday was a day off for us, so a bunch of Presenters spent the afternoon at Hollywood Studios. We went on the Back lot tour ride and saw some cool props from Disney movies. The coolest part of the day was when we met Sulley from Monsters, Inc! He's one of my favorite characters so I was really excited. Then we went to the Indiana Jones stunt show and Lindsay volunteered to be an extra! I'm jealous she got to meet Indy!

Tuesday the 28th was our first day of on-the-job training so it was also our first day in costume. Here's a picture of my sweet vest I get to wear. It has so many pockets, so I made a fun diagram of all the things I hide in there. Click on the picture to make it bigger and see the labels.

Most of our day consisted of classroom training and a presentation from the Primate Keepers. We received our Presenter manual which is HUGE. Our Core Team leaders taught us some interpretation skills, along with a ton of other information. It was pretty overwhelming, especially when we found out that the Presenters, as a group, will talk to 130,000 Guests in one month. WOW. I guess I didn't realize just how much interaction we'd have with them, but it's the most out of all Animal Programs interns. It's cool to know that what I say to Guests will have a big impact on how kids view animals and conservation in the future.

On Wednesday the 29th, we toured DAK a little more, and got to see cool birds on the Pangani Trail. It was fun to see what I could identify up in the trees and in the bushes. I also found out that out of all the macaws we have on exhibit, we will only be presenting in front of the Military Macaws. I swear, when we walked by them, they squawked loudly like they knew who I was. It's like Mac from the Aviary told them I was coming haha. In the afternoon, the Invert Keepers gave a presentation about our bugs we'd be handling at the main entrance and the Tree of Life (TOL). That evening, I talked to a few of my friends from home about frisbee. It made me realize how much I miss playing at school and at home, so I tried to find a frisbee league in Orlando. I found one, but it's a little far away, and the casual pickup team only plays on Sundays while I'm at work. I'm hoping to find some other interns to throw around with every once in a while because I'm dying to play!!

Alright, I think this is enough for one post. In the next one, I'll update you on my last few days of training and my first days actually working at the Kids' Discovery Clubs (KDCs) and exhibits!

"Animals and the natural world are as important to the legacy of The Walt Disney Company as Snow White and Mickey Mouse."--Roy E. Disney