The last week went by so fast that I almost can't believe it.... this may be somewhat due to German relationship with time which is basically be on time, or early but DO NOT be late. I was a bit worried about this at first as I have spent most of my life running late but we have done very well so far and I think Mira is pleased with us. Now for some of the wonderful things we were on time for this week.
On Monday we visited the Bonn animal shelter and the Museum König/Exotic Animal Zoo. Both were really interesting but I think I enjoyed the animal shelter more. The Bonn animal shelter was pretty large in size but not near as crowded as animal shelters I have seen before. The plan and layout were interesting and gave each animal a good amount of space and natural type of living conditions. The whole time I was there it seemed more like a pet resort or boarding type of facility. I say this because the staff and volunteers at the shelter took such great care and show such compassion for the animals. I really liked the cat houses where they had rooms for the more sociable cats to live together with access to a yard outside and so many cat towers and walks on the walls or suspended from the ceiling. While we were hearing about the cat houses and looking at them, I actually thought to myself, "They have so much to do here, if they get adopted they will probably be bored!"
Tuesday was fun filled with a visit to a Dairy research farm outside of Bonn. It was so nice to see some countryside (my favorite type of area), and to hear about some differences, struggles, and success of German agriculture, which was one of my main interests and reasons for coming on the trip. I especially thought it was interesting that the Holstein dairy cows in Germany have been bred using American Holstein genetics to yield about twice as much as they originally did. This apparently sounder good to the dairy men who introduced the genetics in Germany but then there is the point that the high yield cows can only be used for 2 or 3 years and with the current state of the dairy industry, many think it would be better to have cows who produce less per year but can be used for up to 8 years.
Wednesday we had a presentation from an animal homeopath which, while interesting, was hard for me to give much credence to because none of her treatment or therapy seemed to be backed by hard data. If you want to convince me of something, show me numbers. We also toured a house where Beethoven was born as well as a city tour of Bonn, both of which were very interesting.
Thursday we had an internship day which was so wonderful from the staff to the vets to the picturesque stables and landscape. I was able to assist with an endoscopy on a horse with vague colic and GIT dysfunction history of at least 2 years. I also scrubbed in on a surgery to repair torn umbilical structures in a foal with severe edema of the ventral abdomen.... I had never seen anything like that. Aside from the cool cases, the veterinary staff was very approachable and answered all of my questions, even the things I didn't think to ask about.
Friday was busy but for me the highlight was absolutely seeing the elephant house and hearing about the history of elephant handling in zoos. It was amazing how much care and thought went into taking care of the elephants mentally and physically, while maintaining a safe environment for the zoo keepers. The few keepers who work with the elephants are so passionate and diligent in their work, it was really an awesome experience to meet and talk with them.
Oh yeah.... and I ate at least 3 kinds of Gelato every day... so my lesson of the week is: Gelato is wonderful, eat as much of it as you can stomach :)
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