Day Eight

Coming off a few days off, it was difficult getting back in the swing of things. Add in the fact that I had a horrible evening the day before and had lost my keys in my car in the morning, I had my fingers crossed that I was scheduled for the smalls.

I got assigned to the large compound.

You see, the night before I was leaving to come back to my temporary house in Chapel Hill. The saying "Bad things come in threes and sevens" was true for me that night. Some features: I got lost, hit a kitten, realized how badly my car needed new coolant, and my side mirror fell off (it is currently taped on).

The side mirror. My poor car.

I was worried that, with my run of bad luck, I would get eaten or clawed in the large compound. However, it went as well as it could have! I made sure I stood farther from the fence than I normally would, and gave the cats a wide berth. I still have all my limbs, so I think it worked out.

Afternoon activities are usually varied, as I have shown in this blog. We do construction, gardening, cleaning - whatever is needed. Since the Center does not have a full-time construction crew or gardener, the keepers assign us tasks that help get these jobs done. As we are interns - basically "keepers in training" - we are expected to help out any way we can.

This was very different for me, since at the zoo my afternoons were spent first cleaning items (usually toys taken from the animals' habitats), then preparing diets for the evening meals. I felt like the afternoons was a lot of downtime for me at the zoo.

Here, not as much. By the time we clock out, my feet are usually aching and I can't wait to get out of my boots and back in my flip flops. When I sit down in my car, all I can think about is dinner and the chance to lay down on my stomach in bed. I think all this time on my feet is time well spent.