As usual, most days are either morning or afternoon shift we work first; the morning shift feeds bears and makes food, then the afternoon shift will finish the food or do outdoor work like clean sites or make bear beds. Then we hang around doing some work and feed bears as they come in . At 3:30 we eat dinner then prepare for the visitors to come in from 5pm-8 or 9pm. I prefer working admissions as i just sell a few tickets and then read my book. We have a few new volunteers: 2 girls from CA i don't have much to say about, they are younger and very typical young american girl i guess... and a volunteer called Buddy who i could write a short story on, but will make it short and entertaining... ... read more

So at the bear sanctuary in Minnesota now for two weeks and it’s been pretty slow for the most part; we’ve gotten some bears in, mostly a few moms with yearlings, a few have spring cubs that are very small and adorable. There have been a few big males coming in checking out the females, trying to get some chances to mate before the larger more dominant males come in. Alfie, the little bear from last year has yet to show up. He was a handful and they said last year toward the end of the summer they were using a cattle prod on him to negatively condition since he liked to follow people and play like he was a dog... so it would be interesting to see how he behaves if he does come back. ... read more

I was well excited to get to travel to England for two weeks! I am horrible at planning, so I thought it would be more cheap and convenient to take a Greyhound bus for 1 1/2 days to New York to fly to London... as exciting and interesting as it was, it was completely unnecessary. Fun, though. On the journey, I met a woman at the station, and when she asked where I was going, I said England and she was so surprised that the buses ran that far... Then i met James, the meth dealing man 'fleeing' to New York to do a tattooing apprenticeship. ps- he was carrying a chainsaw in his luggage. He asked me to wander around Chicago with him during our layover. i had to decline. My one hour layover in ... read more

It´s quite sad in a way that my four weeks in Ecuador is almost up. I regret not being able to make it to the coast but i have many more chances to see it when i want to. Heather and Ben left today, but before they left Ben nearly got attacked by a coati who always jumps on my head and back when i am in there, and he managed to do a graceful spin off of the bench and smash his side on the stairs but saved his lunch from spilling. We are getting seven new volunteers on Monday, allegedly. This is my last weekend off so next week i will work until Friday, take the bus in afternoon to Baños, stay there the night, then go to Quito for the following night as ... read more

Ecuador is an amazing place. First i was in Quito which is pretty decent. Lots of street merchant-venders and stray dogs, kids running around, most places are safe, but as i found out once crossing certain roads it definitely is not as safe. I found a hostel with very very nice people running it. The weekend i was there, the President of Ecuador was doing something i never quite figured out, so loads of people were about and shouting praises, and the one way crowded streets were even more crowded! what would normally take a taxi 5 minutes to drive took about 20-30 minutes. They were just one laned with buildings on both sides with shops inside them selling food, Ecuadorian merchandise, or plastic toys and items you´d find in the States and probably made in ... read more