My Life in Training

Time is seriously flying by… half way done with this internship already! I will get some photos at the end of my internship, and probably some taken by my family while they are here, but so far, this is the only picture I have from Catie’s parents of me working. I was on photo that day:

Catie’s parents came in on a cruise last week, and we took an adventure over to St. George’s. It was a lovely time and nice to get out of Dockyards where we live and change it up! We went to St. Peter’s church, the unfinished church, the perfumery, as well as ran into some of our archeology (aka diggers) friends and got to see their site.

Today I went with a few other interns to Church Bay, a small but beautiful beach, and had some fun snorkeling around as well as just hanging out on the beach. My back is burnt, but it was worth it! As you can see, I’ve gained a nice tan, but also some hardcore tan lines from my work swimsuits!

Work continues to go well. I believe this week we are going to be doing some workshops which should be fun. I’ve enjoyed each day, getting to do more and more on our own with the dolphins and help out with a variety of different things. The other day, I got to swim with the baby dolphins… that’s right… baby dolphins… you can be jealous.

In other sad but also exciting news from home, Tory, the dog my mom just raised for Guide Dogs, was dropped from the program so will not become a guide. But, as she has been the favorite so far, and life seems to be leading me the right way, I am going to adopt her! She is freaking awesome and I am so excited to be the one caring for her. She is going to be clicker trained to do all sorts of awesome things. Hopefully I won’t get the dolphin hand signals mixed up with hers… 😉

I also just want to thank everyone for their prayers and support so far for me while I’m away! I very much appreciate you all!!!

Let’s see here, I meant to update last week, and now I have twice as much to talk about – so I’ll start with a few awesome days off.

Last week I was able to go out on one of the DQ trainer’s boats with a few interns and other trainers. It was freaking amazing. It was a beautiful day and we boated around a bit of the island, saw a shipwreck, and stopped around a bunch of reefs. We snorkeled for an hour or so there and then went and anchored at a smaller island and hung out there for a bit. The water was super clear and it just felt good to get out and do something different! We had a great time!

Yesterday, Catie and I had the day off together and decided to go to the Bermuda Zoo, Aquarium, and Museum (it’s all in one). So we ferried and bused to there, spent some time looking around at all the wonderful animals, and watched the seal feeding. After, we ran into someone who volunteers there who used to work for DQ, so we were able to get a behind the scenes tour of the facility. It was so fun! At DQ, we have on loan to us from the aquarium a green sea turtle, Challenger, so we got to meet his sisters that were there and another sea turtle who will be coming back to the DQ facility hopefully soon! After that, we bused back to Hamilton, where we went for lunner (late lunch, early dinner) at The Pickled Onion. We both had their famous burger, which was the best meal I’ve had yet here – so delicious! Then we got some ice cream cones and headed back on the ferry! Another awesome day off!

As far as working with the dolphins goes, again, I’m still learning a lot each day. Learning by observation and hands on as well as making my way through the trainer lecture series they have for the interns. I’m trying to learn more about each dolphin and what motivates them specifically as well as reinforces them specifically, not all dolphins are crazy motivated by food as much as other things! I’m also picking up on what each of the hand signals are for the dolphins and what to look for in the correct criteria for the behaviors! It is very interesting and fun!

Overall, things are going really well here. Today was not so fun to find out that Tory, the dog my mom had raised for Guide Dogs this last year was Career Changed, meaning she will not become a guide. But we are hoping she will be placed in a different kind of dog therapy organization, she’s the best and we don’t want her placed with just anyone! She has the potential to do great things!

I’ve officially been here a month now, and that means I’m a month away from having my family and boyfriend come out to visit! I’m very excited about that!!!

Well, I’m not a dolphin trainer yet, but I’m learning a lot about it! Every day we’re observing, learning, and practicing more. Training dolphins is something that you dream about when you are a kid, and not something you ever think will actually happen. I’m still totally shocked that I have this opportunity! The internship is set up great, because we get a good balance of learning the theory behind the training, learning through observation of the trainers, and hands on practice! It’s great.

On our day off together, Catie and I went to Horseshoe bay with one of the trainers and his cousins. It is a beautiful beach. The famous “pink sand” isn’t all pink, it is just speckled with pink grains, but it is still pretty. We have fallen in love with food from Buzz, a local food place in the pharmacy that has delicious milkshakes and french fries and wraps and much more.

I also had a day off on my own and I was able to explore the shops around Dockyards and relax at the beach on my own. Every day off is like taking a mini vacation! I’m getting used to living here, it is so different than AZ. Last night we went to the summer Monday night thing called Destination Dockyards. There is live music and food stands and local artisans selling their stuff. There were really cool dancers and crazy costumes and it was fun to go down and walk around!

The other night we were out on our porch enjoying the evening weather and sunset, and Laura called us over as one of the sheep was having its babies. We saw two baby sheep be born and take their first steps! It turns out she had a third as well. But now the sheep are gone, I guess they get switched out to a farm. So hopefully we’ll get a new batch of sheep friends soon!

I have the day off today as well. It is very cloudy out, with chances of rain, so I’ll probably just relax at the apartment. Hopefully Thursday will be better weather so that I can go with some other interns to play volleyball at the beach!

Miss everyone!

So, Catie and I as well as another intern Laura, have been moved form the hostel to an awesome apartment behind the hostel. There is a big school group of archeology students in the hostel, so we get to stay here! It is great, the building the apartments are in used to be stables, so the ceilings are super high and it is just really nice. They cleaned it all up for us and it feels like a home. The three of us are sharing a room, but we moved some dressers around so it is sectioned into 3 parts. And we have real beds. It is great. Also, don’t get the bumping snorkel park music! The first night, we cooked up a huge meal and watched the sunset.

Some photos from outside the apartment –

The internship at Dolphin Quest continues to be fantastic. We are learning more about how things work and getting into the groove of each day. We get to shadow trainers more as well as we are starting to answer questions of the public and learning more how to do the dolphin training! I’m loving it!

Tomorrow, Catie and I have the day off – hopefully it won’t rain like my last 2 days off!! I want some beach time! Anyway, I’m going to get back to relaxing! Bermuda living is the greatest!