Week 1 over

---

so kyle and i have been working for a week now at santa martha and it has been amazing! there are a lot of monkeys, a coati, jaguar, 7 lions (three of which live in the backyard), foxes, lots and lots of birds like macaws and parrots, and so many more. we have had the chance to work with them, feed them, play and clean them. kyle´s favorite is the andean spectacled bears and my favorites are the scarlett macaws and the monkeys.
it is all very exciting but one day i almost passed out because we were feeding dead chickens to the hawks, eagles, and the big cats. the smell was so horrible and just seeing all of the dead parts everywhere it was a little overwhelming. i got over it though and i cleaned out the ocelots cage (with the ocelot still in the cage!) dead chicken guts and all! this weekend we have been in Quito. we stayed at the same hostal as before, the magic bean, but it was much louder last night. a lot of partying and a gun shot kept us from getting sleep. today we are headed for the market.

machismo is still a major problem here in ecuador. one of the girls that we are here with almost had her butt grabbed and the guys just laughed it off and some other guy told me what nice legs i had.

it has only been a week but it is very eye opening.

today one of our pumas is going to be put down. its really sad, but it is the best thing for him. he was kept in a concrete cage in a restraunt and it was never cleaned. these people didn´t even really care for him. i´m wondering if anyone ever saw him. the reason he is being put down is because of a massive tumor that has taken over his face and head. he is now blind because of how huge it is. how people never saw this i don´t know.

i totally recommend for anyone to come to santa martha if you get the chance. it is amazing so far!

cheers!

---