Today was my last real day in Malawi.
Started with my traditional peanut butter and banana sandwich.
Finished with a traditional veggie burger and fries.
The first work I was scheduled for was Animal Care. We chopped kilos and kilos of cabbage, corn, and sweet potatoes. Step 2- throw it all over the fences. Monkey breakfast.
The second chore I had was to scrub the lion enclosures. The were napping like big lazy cats. Bella eventually came over to watch us work.
Then, parasite class! Ana and I had to have our class schedule all twisted around due to a baboon issue last week. Today we finished up the very end of our course.
Parasite class was paralyzingly for me. It was difficult to stay focused. Fecal-oral transfer of parasitic eggs truly stresses me out. It was a great lecture though.
We then went into the clinic to check out some microscopic organisms who basically wanted to invade my being. For those who may not know, the first step in trying to figure out if an animal has a parasite is to look at its poo under a microscope. Everything was fine until a dirty messy pre-vet student gave us a too-long tutorial on creating poop slides with solutions & centrifuges. My skin was crawling out the door and away from this disgusting dung-flinger. She spilt most things and contaminated the other things. She had no idea that she was being gross and touching things with poop on them and then showing us the parasites in that poop and I just couldn't handle it. She was oblivious. I was covering my fecal-oral pathway with my shirt and she giggled because she thought I couldn't handle the smell of feces. No, I'm trying to save my intestines from your clumsiness.
But I digress.
Then, we learned how to do lion observations. It was good to see those two one last time.
Tonight the power has been out for hours. I catch a plane tomorrow to Addis Ababa, then to D.C., then to home. My ride will grab me at 10:30am.
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