I know it has been way too long since my last post. I am now back at school and missing the dolphins. This semester is going to be very difficult and I look forward to finishing it. I love having my own apartment and living with my cat. I just wish I could live here without all of the schoolwork. I am working at the Brevard zoo again and it has been nice to see everyone. 

I know I haven't posted an update in a while but things have been incredibly busy lately. The internship is still going well. I have been able to work more with the dolphins doing husbandry behaviors and continuing to assist in training sessions. My weekends will be changing this week, and I will be moving to seal and sea lion full time. I will really miss working with the dolphins. The trainers were very nice and let me take some pictures with the dolphins this week.

I have also been to Melbourne to finalize things with my new apartment. I will be going to Melbourne again this month to sign the paperwork and start moving my things out of storage. I am really looking forward to the start of the school year.

Hello Again! I have just spent a day at Miami Beach and life is good. The internship is going well, but it is still hard work. It is a little easier now that I am more used to the work load but by the end of the week I am exhausted. I have been able to do behaviors with the dolphins, and I was even in a few of the shows! It has been amazing and the trainers are so nice and have given me many opportunities. For the rest of the summer, the Top Deck is doing a pirate show in the afternoon. It is very funny. 

On another note, I went to see UP and then went to dinner with my two housemates. We must have looked like a random group, but it was fun. Valrae's son was here for a few days to visit. All of us went to dinner one night and had dinner at the house the next. My housemates are great!

Next weekend I am going to visit some friends in Melbourne. I am going to volunteer at the zoo for a day and then just spend some time at the beach. It will be nice to spend a fews days out of such a big city...and the horrible traffic.

Come Sail Away With Me

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have just been so busy. Last weekend I flew home for my brother's graduation. It was a busy weekend, but I enjoyed visiting with family and old friends. Congrats David!

When I got back to work, I took and passed my safety guidelines test, and my scrubber test. Now that all of my tests are over, I can dive and scrub without a trainer present and I can begin to work with the animals. It was a stressful week! I even had to scrub one of the pools by myself the day after I passed my test. It was definitely an experience. The scrubber was having problems so it was only after many attempts and some assistance that the scrubber finally worked. And the pool I was diving in is one of the coldest pools in the park. Talk about a shock at 8 in the morning. But hard work pays off. That same day, I was able to feed one of the dolphins during a training session! The next thing I have to do is finish memorizing my feeder pool script. I have to know it by Monday so I guess I should start practicing.

This weekend I was surprised with a visit from my mom. Today we visited the Seaquarium so she could see where I work. She even met some of the trainers that I work with. Tomorrow we are planning on just relaxing and maybe going to a movie. That's it for now :) Bye

Orientation at the Miami Seaquarium

I have just finished my first week of work at the Seaquarium. I began the internship on Monday along with 3 other girls. The first two days involved a lot of paperwork, reading materials, and a dive test. The dive test was fairly easy and I passed! After the orientation days, we were all sent to specific areas. I am assigned to the Top Deck and Seal and Sea Lion areas. I will be spending 3 days of the week at Top Deck and one day at Seal and Sea Lion. Everyone has been very nice and I am working hard to learn the day to day routine. I have already learned how to do fish prep in Top deck by myself and I have learned how to ID all of the 4 dolphins in the Top deck area. I have also completed three buddy dives (the check out dive, a dive in sea lion show pool, and one in the top deck pool with the dolphins). The internship involves a lot of diving, and I have to complete 12 buddy dives before I can dive without a trainer. I will also be learning how to use the underwater vacuum and scrubber. I have quite a few tests coming up to make sure I am ready to dive and use all of the equipment safely. This internship is definitely going to leave me in great shape, but for now I am just exhausted and sore. I am working 4 10 hour days, and they definitely wear me out. I will be happy when I begin to adjust to the demanding schedule. That is all that has happened so far, but I will keep ya'll updated!

Goodbye sophomore year

I have not posted frequent updates during the school year, but the school year is winding down. I have only three weeks of school left, and then I am on my way to Miami. It seems so close, but I have so much to do before I can leave for the summer. These next few weeks I have loads of school work, I have to put my stuff in storage, and get everything ready for the summer. If you do not know yet, I will be interning at the Miami Seaquarium this summer. I can not wait for this new experience and I will do my best to post often and keep you all updated this summer. Well I have tons of things to do so I will try to give an update once my internship starts!

Happy New Year

Welcome 2009! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. The year of 2008 was a great year and I hope that 2009 can be even better. My New Years eve was spent with family and friends. Mom and I went out to dinner with the Brant family and then went to the movie. It was a quiet New Years but I could not have asked for a better one. It has been nice to spend some time with family and old friends but I am looking forward to going back to school.