My Life in Training

THE SHEEP ARE BACK! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Only a few days left here in Bermy-land. These last few weeks have been full of adventures on our days off, making sure we get in everything we want to see before going home! Luckily, Catie, Austin and I were able to get a few days off together to complete these final adventures.

First and foremost, I was able to attend Cup Match, which is one of the biggest Bermuda events of the year! St. George’s and Somerset’s cricket teams play against each other while everyone watches, drinks, eats, and gambles. Its the only two days of the year it is legal to gamble here! Marya and I were able to go, enjoy the game as well as play Crown and Anchor, the dice game where we took our chances on small amounts of cash and walked away with a bunch! We’re smart players!

On Austin, Catie and I’s first adventure, we went by ferry to St. George’s to visit Tobacco Bay and Achilles Bay. Then, we traveled to Blue Hole, a beautiful reserve with an awesome place to swim and jump! After, we had lunch at Swizzle Inn, which was delicious. Then, we bused all the way back home!

The next adventure I took on my own to Gibb’s Lighthouse in Southampton. I was the only one up there for a while, so I sat and enjoyed the Bermuda views that I’m sure to miss! I was able to ask a rando to take a picture of me as well!

Finally, on our last day off, the three of us again went out to one last visit to the famous Horseshoe Bay… you know, since we needed to work on our tans… Catie and I got some lovely couples shots on the beach 🙂 It was very fun!

My time at Dolphin Quest is drawing to an end as well. Just these past few weeks I’ve felt how much I’ve grown since I’ve been here. Whether it is with my comfort with doing programs or working with the dolphins, or just how fast I’m able to cut fish in the morning! Excited for my final few days at work, will probably cry on my last day!

I’m missing home, no doubt about it. I’m SO very excited to see all my friends and family upon my return and share about my amazing summer. It’ll be weird to use a cell phone and drive and have cheap food options. Definitely excited for Chipotle! Haha.

It’s been awhile, I realize… So this has the potential to be lengthy. But I will try to summarize.

Things continue to go great here – I can’t believe I’ll be home in 20 days! I’ve made so many friends here, it will be hard to leave them and the relaxed lifestyle I’ve come to love. Since the last post, we’ve had a few BBQ’s and just bonded more while working. From fish prep singing to dancing at backup…

The highlight of the summer came when my parents, aunt, brother, brother’s fiancee, and boyfriend all came to visit. The first thing that everyone noticed, including myself, was how tan I’ve become! Haha. We were able to do a lot together and I was able to get that fix of love to last me until I come home! We did a jet ski tour, beach time, rented boats, snorkeled like crazy, jumped off shipwrecks, ate yummy food, relaxed, took awesome pictures, and, of course, SWAM WITH DOLPHINS. It was so fun to share that with everyone. They all got to see first hand what I’ve been a part of this summer and just how awesome the creatures I work with are. I think everyone was surprised about the intimacy of the program and just how fun the dolphins can be. My parents also got to watch me while I worked one afternoon, helping entertain the dolphins during the program. Nea was pumped up and exciting to watch that program, which was great! I was so sad to see everyone go. Watching my man get on a bus and wave goodbye brought me to tears. Saying goodbye to my parents on their last night was tough for me as well. If any of you are reading this, I love you and I appreciate your love so much – I miss you.

Here are a few of the favorite pictures:

What is awesome about the internship I am a part of, is that we get to see everything: the cleaning, the guest services, the programs, the training, the socilizations, the good times, and the hard times. There are days where you see breakthroughs with the dolphins, there are days where you help with the medical side or things, and there are days where you roll your eyes at the personalities of each animal. We’ve gotten to take part in different sides of a research project going on with the new babies throughout the summer. We got to take part in safely transporting dolphins. Not just dolphins, we’ve made friends with the two sea turtles that call Dolphin Quest home. It has been nothing but amazing.

AND IT ISN’T OVER JUST YET!

I look forward to these last few weeks, soaking up all I can while I am here, spending some quality time with the dolphins, finishing up the lecture series, and continuing to grow closer to awesome friends.

I also look forward to my return and sharing my experience with everyone!

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!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures so far! These were taken in the fort that we live in and as tourists of Dolphin Quest (which is also in the fort).

On Friday we went into Hamilton on the ferry – as did the other interns. We split off from the group to explore and found some lovely parks and awesome historic buildings. We met up with the other girls for an American lunch at KFC – the only fast food chain on the island. So delicious. Then we split off again and walked along Front Street looking at all the shops and made are way up a crazy hill to Fort Hamilton, another of the three forts on the island (remember, we live in one). The fort was absolutely gorgeous with lots of flowers and a great view over Hamilton. Also, a cat. A friendly cat. Catie pet it first while I was sitting on a bench… then it looked at me and started walking really fast over and I thought it was going to attack me, but she just jumped up on my lap and made herself comfortable. She followed us from bench to bench, it was very cute. We named her Tigerlily.

After we walked back down the hill and found an ice cream shop and each got a cone… best ice cream cone ever. Then we walked back to the ferry and headed home. Sunday night we also all went to the Snorkel Park summer opening party, very fun, but didn’t stay too late!

Work the last few days has been fun and interesting as always. Yesterday and today we have been experiencing a tropical storm! We were all supposed to go into work today for a big project, but half of us were sent home because it is too windy and rainy! It’s crazy. So Catie and I get the day to relax, but we have to work tomorrow (which was supposed to be a day off). So we’ll probably spend most of the day laying around the hostel, hopefully doing some studying and preparing to move into the apartment this weekend.

Again, I still cannot say much about my DQ experience on the public blog for confidentiality reasons, but feel free to let me know if you want some more details!!

You can go to heaven if you want. I’d rather stay in Bermuda. – Mark Twain

We’ve worked the last 3 days at Dolphin Quest (DQ), but all I can really tell you is that it is awesome so far. I am waiting to hear from one of the managers about whether or not I will have to get what I put on this blog approved before I post it for confidentiality, so I may just choose to not keep up the public blog, and send out e-mail updates! We’ll see…

I did tickle a dolphin though in our meet & greet. It was adorable.

Other than DQ stuff, we’ve been hanging out at the hostel. Monday we went out to pizza with all the interns. I got “sloppy joe pizza”, which is as awesome as it sounds. Tuesday we had an early shift, so we came back after and relaxed and watched Glee. Last night, we went to a private party for DQ people/cruise ship staff/others at Snorkel Park. The guy who is the manager there owns an apartment where some DQ staff and interns are staying, so he gets us in. It was a fun night out!

We have today and tomorrow off, so we’re going to be tourists. Today, we’re going to explore around the museum that we are living in, around Dockyards, and possibly go lay on the beach at Snorkel Park. Tomorrow we may try to go over to Hamilton on the ferry. Should be fun!

So I am staying in a hostel in the Bermuda Maritime Museum which is in a fort – and it is so cool. Dolphin Quest is also a part of the museum, so we walk down a hill to get to work. It’s just Catie and I of the 8 interns who will be staying here, but it will fill up with archeology interns in a few weeks (the “diggers”). But besides being a beautiful location, this fort has sheep. And one of my goals for the summer is to be friends with these sheep. This morning, we walked outside to find all the sheep standing there. One must have been dared by its friends to come up to me, because it ran up, let me put out my hand for her to sniff and then they all ran away. That sheep will be my friend. And its baby… most of the sheep are preggers. But apparently after the babies are born, the fate of the babies/mothers maybe not so pleasant. Oh well. Also, this afternoon, we finally heard their “baa”. It’s like a belch mixed with a baa. It’s awesome.

Also today we went and watched the dolphins. I’m so excited to get started tomorrow! The three baby dolphins which were born in the last month are so cute! There are 12 dolphins total and all seem to have great personalities. I’m sure this week will just be orientation stuff, but hopefully we’ll get to interact with the dolphins! … and then I will also have dolphin friends…

We also got creeped on by a guy while walking around… not a friend.

We did some exploring, got some groceries, found out some prices, and so forth today. There are a lot of things that sound fun – diving, parasailing, jet skiing… I’m going to have to budget my money! But now we’re about to make some dinner and then we’ll probably just stay in and watch a movie tonight!

I don’t think it has hit me yet that I’ll be here for 3 months – still seems like an awesome vacation!

Miss everyone already – but not AZ weather… it’s lovely here. 🙂