Day 1: Tuesday, June 16

Welcome to the first day! Everyone arrived throughout the day today from around the world, and we spent some time getting to know each other over wine, beer, and bowling. We had a nice introduction to the White Oak Conservation Center, where we're staying for the next 2 and a half weeks. We'll be having lectures in the Game Lodge and staying in the Lake Lodge, both of which are gorgeous spaces to live and work.
I'll be staying with a roommate--Vannessa Choy, a second year vet student from Guelph--for the time we're here at White Oak. There is a lake out behind our room (which the staff assures us probably has alligators in it, at least sometimes), and two pools--one set up for laps and one for playing and lounging. After dinner, a few of us started to go for a walk around the grounds, but then quickly retreated back inside after being attacked by more mosquitos than I've ever seen. We spent the rest of the evening bowling and looking at pictures--Nike's children in Nigeria, Fidy's lemurs in Madagascar, and Jenny's chickens in the States. Tomorrow will be our first full day, starting with breakfast bright and early at 7 am!




Pictures:
Inside the Game Lodge
and
Dr. Val Beasley, Director of Envirovet, giving us an
introduction to the course

(I'm still working out how to add and caption photos, so bear with the terrible formatting....)