A busy day

May 20, 2011

Yesterday was such a busy day! We went to the research institute, two zoos, and had a bike tour of Berlin. I was exhausted at the end of our dinner, but, at the same time, I am grateful to have been able to have seen so much.

While at the Berlin zoo, I found it interesting to learn that King Pinguins have little need for an immune system because their environment is so cold, and, because of this, the zoo must take extra precautions to ensure that their habitat at the zoo is stable. I was also suprised to learn that many of their animals are trained to better enable the zoo veterinarians to care for them. Before learning this, I had always assumed animals at any zoo were "wild" and thus needed sedation to be examined.

Although the bike tour of Berlin was exhausting, and very scary at times, I thought it was exciting to see so many important historical sites in such a short amount of time, including Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, part of the Berlin Wall still in place, and the governmental building. I was also so grateful for Lena who helped me with biking throughout the tour.

As this first week ends, I find it hard to believe a week has passed, and I feel I have learned/seen/done more than I had imagined I would. One important piece of information worth noting is that wild bees are actually solitary and thus do not pose a risk for outdoor organic bee farms (which I learned from the organic farm).