Saturday, Sept 3rd: Happy (real) International Vulture Day!
Sunday, Sept 4th: Today, one of the managers from The Seas came to talk to us about the Conservation Education position they have. I've decided I'm not going to apply for that because I don't think it's a step up from what I'm doing now, and I don't know enough about marine animals. Although I do have a heads up on most of the other current Ed. Presenters because I'm already scuba certified.
Monday, Sept 5th: After work (and a trip to eat fatty foods at McDonald's), Sonia, Steph, and I went shopping at Forever XXI. When we walked in, Steph said, "I don't know why, but I bet you're someone who likes plaid." HAHA. You have no idea. I ended up buying two dresses--one of which I have to give credit to Sonia for finding. :-)
Tuesday, Sept 6th: Sonia, Melissa Hartley, and I watched "White Chicks" after work, and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I'd forgotten how much I loved that movie!! Also, big news--I applied for two Disney alumni internships...Conservation Education (Community and Group) and Research Administration. The first one would involve writing curriculum and teaching camps and fun stuff like that. The latter would be a lot of computer work, video editing, and possibly a bit of Photoshop stuff.
Wednesday, Sept 7th: Today was my day off, so Cassie and I went to the beach!! We drove part of the way with the top of her convertible down...yeah! When we got to St. Petersburg Beach, we couldn't find the actual beach--just a harbor. After asking for directions, we drove to a beach at Treasure Island. Yes, it was as awesome as the name suggests. The sand was beautiful, and there was barely anyone there. We jumped around in the waves for a bit, then fell asleep on our towels. Then we decided to look for the ice cream parlor that sold funnel cake sundaes, but that was an epic fail. Instead, we went to The Dairy Inn. I got honey barbeque wings, and then a chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream cone. YUM. After a fun afternoon, we headed home. On the car ride, my sun burn slowly started to show up. By the time we got home, I was BURNT TO A CRISP. Thank goodness I had a huge bottle of aloe waiting for me! That night, I took a nap just so I wouldn't have to deal with the painful sunburn. After a while, I decided I should stop being lazy, so Sonia and I watched "A Bug's Life."
Treasure Island Beach
Thursday, Sept 8th: Today was our Conservation Biology seminar with Dr. Anne Savage! She talked about Proyecto Titi, a program dedicated to the conservation of Cotton-Top Tamarins, along with sea turtle tracking, and other primate research. She then took us to the Wildlife Tracking Center at Conservation Station, where we got to learn a little bit about elephant communication.
Directly after the seminar, I drove to BTN. I finally got trained to clean the birds of prey cages and make their diets!! BEST DAY EVER. I was responsible for Cookie (Turkey Vulture), Great Horned Owl, Barred Owls, Winnie (Bald Eagle), Screech Owls, and Whizzer (Red-Tailed Hawk). It took forever to finish all of that, but it was fun! At the end of the day, Ariel, another intern, asked me to help her change the bandages on Tarot, a hawk who has bumblefoot. I ended up staying until almost 7:00, but it was so worth it!
Friday, Sept 9th: At work, I saw a ton of families with Steelers clothing! One couple had a stroller covered in Stiller logos, and a water bottle with their logo on it. The husband was also carrying a terrible towel. I LOVE seeing so many fans in the park!!
Saturday, Sept 10th: The best part of my day happened while I was at the Dino KDC. I said to a child, "Dinosaurs aren't around anymore, so how can we help the animals that we still have today?" He answered very enthusiastically, "WITH AN ASTEROID!" Bahahaha that was my favorite child ever.
Sunday, Sept 11th: First and foremost, today was the 10th anniversary of 9/11. God bless America and all those who lost their lives in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania on that horrible day.
Monday, Sept 12th: Wow, my updates are getting progressively shorter and shorter. Anyway, today, Nick and I worked together at Conservation Station. The whole time, we were singing "Eye of the Tiger" in Spanish ("El Ojo del Tigre"). We had a good time butchering the Spanish language.
Tuesday, Sept 13th: After work, the presenters had a behind-the-scenes tour of The Seas at Epcot!! It was a ton of fun! We went backstage to the food prep area, dolphin holding, main tank, and manatee tank. It reminded me of that episode of Full House when the whole family went on vacation in Disney World, and Joey and Jesse did their radio show in the main tank. Good 90s memories. Anyway, after the tour, we rode Test Track. That ride isn't nearly as scary as it was when I was 13 or 14! Still fun, though!
Wednesday, Sept 14th: As Sonia and I walked downstairs to leave the apartment that morning, Sonia said, "Damn, Alison, your calves are toned! Whenever you walk, the muscles are like 'BAM!'" Hahahahaha. I guess all the walking at work has paid off!! Haha that literally made my day. I'm glad my job has forced me to get back into shape!
Thursday, Sept 15th: Refuge day!! I was assigned the squirrels and Jasper (the goat). At the end of the day, Debbie asked me if I wanted to take Izzy, the 9-month-old opossum, on a walk. Ummm, YES! She's so adorable. Before I left for the day, I helped feed milk to a baby squirrel with a syringe, and I put fresh water in the baby room cages. I love that place so much!! It's hard work to take care of all our animals, but it's so rewarding.
Izzy the opossum!
Alright, now I'm at least a little bit caught up with the past few weeks. I've had a really crazy week, so I'm gonna head to bed. Next time, I'll tell you about my invertebrate tour, the Lightning hockey game, and Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party!! Let's just say my costume was "for the birds"!
"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."--Aldo Leopold
No comments:
Post a Comment