Today we went to Central Farms in the sweltering heat. Tried to pay attention, but said issue had most of us trying not to think about how hot and sweaty we were – and most of us failed. The combination of heat, humidity, and a lack of a breeze can be close to unbearable at times. Still, the trip was pretty interesting.  Anyhow, Central Farm is a government run operation, and they actually to be doing good for the country. Their main mission is to educate farmers about good pasture and herd management, and to provide good breeding stock in a variety of domestic breeds. The farms here tend to be small and second priority to other jobs, and the people don’t have a lot of money or education invested in agriculture. It basically leads to lower production at higher costs, and Central Farms is trying to reverse it with sustainable methods. I was just impressed by the thought put into the operation, and just seeing a government program that was really trying to directly help its people was inspiring.

We got to do some hands on activities as well. I got to inject a couple of calves and sheep with dewormers, using intramuscular (directly into muscle mass) and subcutaneous (just underneath the skin). Franny got to help castrate a young ram – which was kind of amazing because it didn’t make a sound or move at all despite no anesthetics. They have this strange behavior of becoming completely still once you get them to the ground. We passed around the testicles, giggling like school girls – Dr. T just shook his head at us.  The last girl to get the organ always ended up awkwardly holding onto it, wishing she hadn’t been last to receive.

Also, we got a new addition to our group. Carly became attached to a puppy found behind a tractor, and with Dr. T’s ambiguous encouragement (believe me, it’s possible – Belizeans have perfected the art of being direct and vague simultaneously), she asked the farm manager if she could take him home. Of course he said, yes, he didn’t even realize there were puppies on the property (there were several decent conditioned dogs running around the property). So now we have Cayo, who is being the typical puppy – a terror when awake (total ankle biter), adorable when asleep, and a daily source of cuteness. The Belizeans refer to him as a pot licker, their way of saying mutt, referring to many breeds typical in Belizean mutts.

When we got home I and a few other girls went with Dr. T to do some housecalls in Dangriga and Hopkins. We got to see the ocean for the first time In Dangriga, not terribly lovely here, but at least we caught a good sea breeze. Hopkins was nicer, and we got to play with more puppies and give some antibiotic shots to them (they had developed colds from being born down on the sand). There are no vets in the area, and Dr. T is usually the only one willing to make the drive. When he’s not around Miss Nancy is there providing what she can. Animal drugs (and human really) are not very regulated here, with the exception of anesthetics, so it’s easy to get a hold of antibiotics and a variety of other medications and self treat. It’s a good and bad thing. At least animals are getting some aid when a vet isn’t readily available, but people without in depth animal knowledge often make mistakes, and well, less people look to getting the services of a vet when they can medicate the animals themselves. It was a nice trip. Dr. T told us he was going to miss us, this was our last week with him before moving onto the exotics instructor. We’re all going to miss him. He started off shy and unsure with us, but he really let us have an awesome experience doing things ourselves, and was so kind - always willing to take us to see things up to 3 hours away, with only gas money as our fee. We were never bored, he made sure of it.

Individualistic Doer (ID)

(Just visiting? Take the free test and determine your personality type!)

Individualistic Doers are self-assured and very independent persons. They are quiet and realistic, very rational, extremely matter of fact persons. They strongly cultivate their individualism and enjoy applying their abilities to new tasks. But they are also very spontaneous and impulsive persons who like to follow their sudden inspirations. Individualistic Doers are good and precise observers who register everything which goes on around them. However, they are not so sensitive as regards interpersonal relations and are surprised when they occasionally rub someone up the wrong way with their direct and blunt manner. They are not particularly fond of obligations; but if you give them space, they are uncomplicated, sociable and cheerful individuals.

Individualistic Doers enjoy challenges - action and the odd kick are simply part of their life. They love tempting fate and many people of this type have risky hobbies such as skydiving or bungee jumping. This also applies to their workaday life. Individualistic Doers are in top form in critical situations; they can grasp situations, make decisions and take the necessary steps extremely quickly. Hierarchies and authorities impress them very little; if a superior is not competent, they will have little respect for him. Individualistic Doers like to take on responsibility. They have a marked sense of reality and always find the most suitable and expedient solution for a problem. They resolve conflicts openly and directly; here, they sometimes lack tact but are also very good at taking criticism themselves.

As friends, Individualistic Doers are loyal and devoted; they only have a few friendships but many of them last a lifetime. People enjoy talking to them because of their optimistic attitude to life and their ability to listen. However, they prefer to talk about mutual interests and hobbies rather than about theoretical or philosophical issues - they are not tangible enough for them. They need a lot of freedom and time to themselves in love relationships but, at the same time, they are also very tolerant towards their partners. It happens very seldom that Individualistic Doers fall head over heels in love. They are far too rational. They prefer to pick their partner on the basis of mutual interests and preferences which they want to share with that partner. Individualistic Doers are not particularly fond of effusive outbursts of emotion. They prefer to prove their love by their actions and expect the same of their partner. Whoever wishes to tie an Individualistic Doer to himself needs a lot of patience. It takes some time before this personality type is willing to get involved with another person.

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Adjectives which describe your type

introverted, practical, logical, spontaneous, adventurous, resolved, independent, fearless, loyal, analytical, realistic, optimistic, interested, quiet, curious, circumspect, individualistic, action-loving, venturesome, cool, dispassionate, reserved, skilful, confident, independent, communicative, down-to-earth

These subjects could interest you

travel, nature, hiking, cars, model making, gardening, drawing/painting, astrology, spiritual matters, music, literature, writing, strategy games, politics

After visiting the only large pig farm still running in Belize (thankfully it was only a tour – no castrations), Dr. T drove us out to Barton Creek Cave in the Tahoe. This excursion was only 1.5 hours of bumpy road, so not so bad. We arrived to find a group of surfers, who had driven all the way from Colorado after hearing about Barton Creek Outpost. It was simply a small bar on stilts with a thatched roof overlooking a clear stream. The creek was flanked by a small cliff face, and the trees have several rope swings to jump from. Before eating lunch we had a pleasant swim, pushing around one of the bar owner’s kids on a surfboard and watching some of the other girls jump from the cliff face and the rope swings. I personally have had enough of cliff jumping after bruising my butt and the back of my thighs badly from jumping multiple times off a 30 foot cliff in Hawaii, so I was happy to take the pictures.

When we had enough of swimming we assembled and went canoeing up the river to Barton Creek Cave.  Now this place was amazing – when you looked up what impressed upon me was just the feeling of someone having replaced the sky with rock. The stalactite and stalagmites were neat (especially a formation that created a natural bridge) but I could have just stared at the ceiling of the cave the entire trip had my

neck allowed it. The feeling was just surreal. The guide pointed out some ancient Mayan artifacts along the way, the coolest of which being a Mayan Skull, a result of human sacrifice, but the most amazing part was when we got to near the end of the cave. He had us turn off all our lights and asked us to be silent for 15 seconds. I’ve never experienced something so eerie. It was pitch black, you couldn’t even see your hand if you waved it in front of your eyes. It was a dark you could never adjust to, a dark that would eventually cause you to have hallucinations to make up for the lack of vision. You could hear the water dripping from the rocks, and the soft ripples hitting the walls of the cave. You soon wanted the lights back on.

As we paddled back we shut down our lights once more to see the blue glow of light penetrating the cave. Now that was a beautiful site, I only wish I had been able to capture it in a photograph.

When we got back into town we stopped by Dr. T's office for an unexpected arrival. A quatimundi had been trapped, and it was necessary to suture it up as it had been hacked with a machete. Afterwards it was sent to a rehabilitation center.

Today was a bit of a strange day. We started off by going to Country Meats, a slaughter house in --.  After putting some plastic covers over our shoes, hairnets and lab coats we began our short tour of the place. It was a tad disturbing, some of the conditions we saw. Between the cold room and the slaughter room there was a plastic curtain that the carcasses would slide through (carried on meat hooks). The gross thing about it is that it was covered in blood stains and some unidentifiable dark smudging – all of which would eventually touch the next carcasses to pass through. Once we got into the slaughter room there were 3 cow carcasses in various stages of processing. We kept having to wait for the noise of the chain saws to pause. This was basically like my necropsy internship for me, with the exception of the carcasses being completely skinned, the heads were piled in a corner, and the death was so recent you could still see the muscles twitching. That last bit I have to admit was kind of neat for me. What was also interesting to learn was that animals about to be slaughtered need to be as calm as possible for the best quality meat. The adrenaline drenched muscle of a stressed animal apparently won’t cook as well, or be as tender. It was nice to know there was sort of built in protection for the well being of these animals in their last moments. We all piled out quickly when we saw the next cow being brought in for stunning, however. Nobody really wanted to see that. It’s not that I couldn’t watch it; death is just something I need to be mentally prepared for.  I mean, my first adventure with animal death was my Meme taking a cute rabbit out of its pen, killing it, and tearing out its eyes with a knife to bleed it. Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting that and I still remember it clearly. It was a dark grey rabbit. But hey, I still like to eat them – so I can’t say I was scarred for life.

                After a trip to Western Dairies (the main milk processing plant in Belize) we stopped by a tiny farm to basically castrate some pigs. This, I have to say, is probably the first time I considered possibly ruling our large animal practice as my career path. First off, it was the wrong time of day. It was already 3 pm, and generally Dr. T hates doing surgery after the morning hours because the animal’s metabolism gets faster. This results in using a whole lot more anesthetic to knock the same animal down. We ended up getting a prime example of this with the boar that was to be castrated. It would jerk violently with every slice of the blade, people were sprayed with blood, and the animal was in obvious pain even after Dr. T used more anesthetic. It was probably the most unpleasant surgery I’ve ever seen, and you could tell Dr. T was really displeased with the whole thing. This was followed by neutering piglets WITHOUT any anesthetic (apparently even in the states they don’t). The piglet is just held b the rear legs and neutered. I thought the squealing was horrible, but some of the girls actually did some of the piglets themselves. I couldn’t, I know if that animal flinched, so would I, and this is the point where I thought about giving up on large animal medicine. Young farm animals just have it rough. I had to decide that if I needed to do this in my future career, I’d just need to use a local anesthetic at the very least. It was at least comforting to see the piglets run around like nothing had happened as soon as they were set down.

(No pics today, may get some from friends)

   

Today, with a marvelous gung-ho attitude for 7:30 am, we packed 13 girls, 1 man, and a toddler in a Chevy Tahoe, and drove 3 hours on especially bumpy dirt roads to Caracol. Caracol is a Mayan site, vast as Tikal, just not as tall. Six of us sat in the truck, fighting for space with the spare tire, and the last hour was spent with a military escort. Have to watch out for those Guatemalan raiders hiding in the bushes. With the sleeping child in my lap, a recently used vomit rag in my hand, and Christian gospel playing on the radio, I had to laugh. Of all the situations, I don’t think I could have come up with this one.

               

I don’t know what those Mayans were thinking, but damn those are some tall-ass steps. I discovered I’m pretty much the slowest hiker on earth. Most of the time it wasn’t my shutterbug tendencies, I am just a careful walker! I was thinking about how one of our drivers was telling us he took a group into the jungle and when they turned around they saw a jaguar stalking them. Obviously, walking in the back had me nervous at times, especially when we weren’t sure where we were going, just that another temple site was somewhere to be found; that and the random tarantulas that would scurry across the path. It’s amazing though, what you can get used to. I’m normally pretty jumpy when it comes to big spiders, but now it was just something more to see in Belize.

                Caracol was beautiful, just the fact that something man made still stands tall after so long is amazing. I keep using words like these – amazing, incredible, awesome – but that’s just what this place is full of! Wonder. You could just sit at the tops of the temples and imagine the intricate ceremonies that had taken place centuries ago – and there we were, exhausted, shoulders slumped where proud men had stood. I wonder what they would have though of us.

               

    When we had our fill, we traveled to Rio Frio Cave. Now that was a site, just a giant gaping cave with a river flowing through it. It’s just incredulous that places this mythical exist. And the locals have *picnics* here. Our next stop was Rio On Pools, a place in the river gated by waterfalls, with calm pools in between. I had left my bathing suit in the Tahoe, but swimming just had to be done here – especially once I saw Gina going down the natural water slides. What’s fun isn’t I wasn’t even expecting these stops on our way home. After Caracol, I jumped into the trunk thinking it was going to be one exhausting 3 hour ride home, but that’s Dr. T – just happy to show us Belize. After Rio On Pools, he took us to Blanceneaux Lodge, established by Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather trilogy), for dinner. These rooms started at 750 a night, and the place was probably 2 bumpy hours away from any town. I had some excellent lamb chops and a mint mojitoe. There wasn’t a smear left on my place (only bones picked clean), or a drop in my glass it was all so delicious. I’m sure it helped my appetite that all I had earlier was a fruit plate for breakfast, and it had been a very full day. We got home around 11pm.

Going to Caye Caulker for the weekend so I'll try and get some writing down when I get back. Here's a smattering of pictures in the mean time.

Mountain Equestrian Trails, a little south of SanAntonio was our site for the day.  I was pretty stressed by the time we got there, it was a sunny day and the A/C wasn’t really working in the van. I’m normally pretty relaxed, but the heat was just getting to me that day and the bumpy dirt roads were not helping.  I briefly thought that if I had to spend a really long time in this condition it would make me consider screaming for some cool air. Consider, well because, I can’t actually see myself freaking out over much of anything. I don’t do crazy tantrums. Our group was split in two and half of us were to go trail riding first, and the other half was going to do horse clinical.  Thankfully, I was in the group to go trail riding first. I mounted a gelding by the name of Bien Amigo. He was definitely a bit more willful than Mystic, but I didn’t have any problems after determining what kind of firmness I had to be with him.  The jungle was thankfully cooler than out in the open, and it was a better ride in general because our guide told us about the various plants and we even got to drink water from a vine. There was a portion when we had to go down a slippery slope, and although frightening to think about, it was easy to just concentrate on semi-directing the horse. I was only semi directing because the horse knows where best to put its feet, I just had to make sure it stuck to the trail. I didn’t have to deal with as many ticks because our guide used a machete to keep the path clear.

                During the middle of the trail we stopped at a natural pool at the base of a small waterfall. It was such a great experience; it’s not every day you get to swim in such a beautiful setting. There was candle wax at the top of the falls; apparently it’s great for romantic excursions as well. On the ride back home we got to do some fast cantering. Man, do I need to go take horse riding lessons again. Maybe it was because I was trained in English style as a kid, but I can never shake the feeling that I’m going to bounce off at any moment. Still, it’s exhilarating fun.

               

When we got back to the lodge (after 3 hours of trail riding) we did out horse examinations after lunch. My patient was a sweet palomino mare named Sassy. She let me poke and prod without complaint. After our clinical examinations, we got to do some intramuscular injections (a first for me – I actually poked a little too hard – expecting much tougher skin), tick spraying, deworming, and some blood drawing. Some of the horses caused a bit of a rodeo, and it was a bit unsettling as the corral wasn’t the tidiest setting for horses to be running amok. It’d be fare to say danger control is pretty lacking in Belize. You’re just expected to be smart and watch out for your own safety – which I’m all for, but you have to get out of the American mind set that things have been made safe for you  (to you know, avoid lawsuits). The day ended with lounging around in hammocks and enjoying the amazing scenery.

      

Today we traveled to Banana Bank, a ranch that keeps 120 horses and some cows. The owner was a definite character. Originally from Montana, he told us he used to be a rodeo cowboy and headed down the wrong path. Then he went through a religious conversion, and soon after someone told him of land for sale in Belize. He and his wife decided to take it as a sign and were in Belize the next day. The first two decades were hard, and he lost half of his 40,000 acres. The problem? Trying to do things the American way. When they finally started listening to the locals their ranch prospered and became somewhat of a resort as well. He was also entertaining because he firmly believes in horse whispering – and honestly you can see the results. His horses are very calm, and even friendly. One especially kept nudging us for attention. The horses were just milling around all over the place, completely unafraid of our presence. He took us into the corral to show us some horse whispering techniques, and it was just absolutely amazing to see horses  lie down, absolutely calm as we caressed and inspected them. He also let us help train some of the yearlings, using rope to drive them, sort of like if you had a bridle on the horse, without the bit, and you followed the horse, directing it where to go. It was a unique experience.

      

The only negative was the nonexistent pest management. Although the horses were all in good body condition, they were covered in ticks. This particular ranch figured it was pointless to spray, because 2 weeks later, they’d be covered in ticks a gain. Their ears were particularly nasty, but the worst was seeing the ones with ticks along the edge of their eyelids.

      

We had lunch at the resort, and toured the small zoo. Other than multiple parrots, there was a monkey (who apparently bonked Stevo from Jackass on the head), and an 11 month old Jaguar. One cockatiel was particularly cute, as he continuously cooed hello at me after I greeted him. Afterwards we went on an hour long trail ride through jungle and teak forests. The teak forests were surreal, just rows of tall, thin teak trees that seemed to go on endlessly. I always find it a little odd to see trees in rows. My horse was a wonderfully responsive mare named Mystic. She went wherever I wanted, did whatever I asked. It seemed that the horses were relatively groomed for ticks before the ride, perhaps to not upset tourists. I also discovered that tiny ticks seem to love me. During the ride I had to continuously flick off ticks no bigger than a freckle. I had to get over my disgust quick. Towards the end of the ride, I talked to one of the boys (in his teens) helping us on the ride. He told me that he had only been working for 6 months, but all the boys working got a horse to train. He proudly pointed out his chestnut gelding to me as we passed. When I told him that we weren’t staying at the resort over night he seemed disappointed, but then again, we were a group of 12 girls.

We traveled to Hopkins today to meet a man named Santiago and learn about artificial insemination techniques. Well, learn about it and then try it out. The ride over was surreal. Mist was rising from the acres of jungle, weaving in and out of sight in the jagged mountains. For as wild as the forest jungle looked, you’d think it was prepared to engulf the buildings that clung to the side of the road if it weren’t for the rows of citrus trees barring the way. Even then, the flash floods had left debris hanging from the branches as if in protest. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to see how the Mayan ruins had become overrun with forest. The more modern buildings looked garish in contrast to the rest of the landscape, and you wished the same fate would befall them. Also, the most curious thing happened while we were driving through the mountain portion, the driver brought the van to a standstill while we were on a slight downgrade. When he slipped it into neutral, the van actually rolled uphill. Apparently it’s just a spot most Belizeans know about, and honestly, I can’t come up with a single explanation for why it happens.

We arrived after about 2 hours of road time and Santiago showed up maybe an hour after that. Nobody seems to run on a real schedule in Belize. As we waited for some cattle to be corralled, he told us about his practices at the farm. I was interested to hear that most of the farms profits come from the value of his herd’s genetic quality rather than from beef. They have a much more practical way of dealing with animal disease here – if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t belong. Every year they cull 25% of the herd to weed out any undesirable cattle, and they basically try to work along with natural selection. If it’s not going to survive in the Belizean landscape, they’re not going to sustain the animal just so that it can tarnish a hardy gene stock. Basically, the only thing they’d like a vet for here is to help them in the process of selecting what is best suitable, as well as profitable, in cattle for the Belizean farmer. There methods for treating minor injuries and to fight off ticks and other parasites were interesting too. Instead of relying on increasingly greater doses of antibiotics, they actually apply a harmless natural bacterial culture through sprays and in food. These bacteria ward off ticks, and outcompete more harmful microbes to guard against infection. Fascinating what methods can be used when you get outside of the box.

When the cows, primarily Beefmaster and Brahmans, were finally corralled we all gathered to palpate the cows. One, thankfully very tolerant Beefmaster cow was restrained for us to practice A.I. techniques and palpation. To spare the details, we basically eased our hand into the business end of the cow until we could feel the cervix below. Besides it being very warm, it was a bit strange to have your arm contracted on by rectal muscles – I have to laugh just thinking about it. Still, not as gross as I was expecting.

After that, on the way home we stopped at the inland Blue Hole. It’s a sink hole, surrounded by forest, and normally filled with brilliant, clear blue water. Even though the sign said closed (due to the hurricane rains), we went in anyway. Nothing is ever really closed in Belize – I don’t think they have a phrase for “set in stone” in their vocabulary. Although not everyone had a suit on we all decided to take a dip anyhow. The current was surprisingly strong! The water flows into caves on the sides of exposed sink hole, so we stayed on the milder side. It was refreshing, and well worth the damp ride home.

(adding pictures daily at  www.flickr.com/photos/n_auds)

The woodpecker brought a friend this morning. 6:03 a.m. the sounds of two bills pecking woke me up, only interrupted by their laughs. Heavy rains apparently also caused the districts cisterns to overflow, leading to us having no running water. At least my roommate and I had taken our showers last night, not everyone was as lucky.

After breakfast we were transported to Galen University for our first day of class. Our professor is your typical Belizean- laid the fuck back. I’m excited though. Apparently we’re going to learn how to do things like suture, and amazingly he’s going to let us spay and neuter dogs after showing us how. In the states only vets are allowed to perform surgery. I can’t express how awesome that’s going to be for me. He’s also invited us to come to his clinic on the weekends, and he’s offered to take us to go see some ruins on Sunday. After he lectured us on breeds of livestock, we stopped for lunch. I had my first taste of beans and rice (a Belizean staple) with chicken. It was so delicious! At first when I had heard this was probably what we were going to have available for lunch every day I was a tad disappointed, but after my first bite I changed my mind. They spice the chicken with curry and it goes so well with the rice. Afterwards, someone from the Belizean Ministry of Agriculture came in to talk to us about how they’re trying to improve the lot of Belizean livestock farmers. It was pretty interesting, and eye-opening in the sense that I had never seen how exactly government can directly help its community in a long term way.

Before we went home we watched a touching documentary just filmed called Three Kings of Belize. The woman who had gotten to know these three musical kings was there, as it was the first time it had been shown in the Cayo district. It followed the lives of 3 musicians, one Mayan, another Creole, and a Garifuna. All were older, the last champions of their Belizean culture. It was just an incredible insight into the heart of Belize, and you wished yourself you had a chance to know all of them. The Mayan was especially endearing to me.  After the movie I made sure to tell the filmmaker how much I appreciated the film, it ate at me to do so- it was that well done.

A lot of us stopped in SanIgnacio to find something to eat and wander the town. I took pictures as I walked around-my half Asian coming out. My group ended up at Hannah’s, somewhere we had heard was good to eat at. They did not disappoint. I had some Caribbean seasoned lamb chops with rice, and it was delicious! It’s been a full day – and it’s finally stopped raining.

(posting pics nightly at www.flickr.com/photos/n_auds)