This summer I traveled to Europe/Africa for almost two months. I began my adventure in London where I explored all the tourist attractions and felt the buzz from the soon to begin Olympic opening ceremonies. The following are excerpts from my mass email to friends and family. I will have several parts to share about my travels, as I had some very unique experiences while abroad.
"I've made it to London, which is by far more amazing than I really expected. I've been here since yesterday afternoon and my feet are tired! My hostel is great for the price, however it is far from central London (and the touristy spots). I have become very familiar with riding the London underground which is much like the RT in Folsom or the Bart in SF, but it is much more efficient. You can get a day pass for £8. I never wait more than 2 minutes for a train and it is so easy to use! I think they are preparing for the Olympics because there are maps and signs everywhere as well as real people to help you with tickets or your travels.
I've seen a lot of the tourist traps and a few of the hidden treasures. I spent yesterday seeing the London Eye & the London Bridge, then I roamed through Camden Town, which used to be an old stable yard for the horses that pulled the barge. It is now a market place for tourists as well as London locals. There were many cool horse statues and alleyways leading to endless shops! There was also cheap food of any nationality you could want, even Mexican food, although I was a bit suspicious! I then headed to Primrose Hill which is a park above the park where the London Zoo is that overlooks the entire city! It was so beautiful and the weather was amazing (still is amazing) so I have plenty of pictures.
Today I went to Green Park around 9AM and strolled around there and stumbled upon Buckingham Palace, I knew it was there, but it was so majestic and huge I didn't expect it! I walked up to the gates (there was hardly and tourists at that time) and I saw the guards standing there like stones. I discovered that you can tour the Royal Mews or 'Stables'. That was really cool and totally worth the £7!! I saw the Queens carriages and two of her carriage horses. Many of the horses were not there because they were at an event, but they say it is the oldest functioning stables. I really enjoyed that! I left there around 11AM just in time to stumble across the changing of the guard in front of Buckingham Palace. That was lucky! They also have many black horses that joint the parade, marching band, and soldiers and all, such a big production! Then I headed to Westminster Abby and saw all the sites there, I decided to skip going in the big cathedral because of the line and I just took photos and walked around. The buildings are so old and lovely! Then I went to the London Tower and saw the Queens Jewels! That was a really fun place to walk around in and see all the history there. It was very crowded!"
Then I traveled by Eurostar to Paris, France just two days after arriving in London.
"I had an amazing time in Paris, a city with vibrant history, culture and nightlife. I stayed near the Montremart district which is near a really gorgeous cathedral called"sacred heart". The hostel was nice, I stayed in a 4 bed female dorm with an Argentinian and a Canadian (Montreal). The Canadian and I went on a free 3 hour city walking tour and saw all the main sites and got quite a bit of a French and Paris history lesson. We spent the rest of the day at the Eiffel tower where we took a Cruz at sunset in the Sin or Sen which is the water that runs through the city. On our way back, we saw the Eiffle tower sparkle on the hour at night. So beautiful! I have some great pictures. The next day, we relaxed a bit and strolled through The Eiffel tower park area with one of the Canadian's friends. After we got more pictures, we had drinks at a non-touristy bar. The metro station is really crazy in Paris! I finally got the hang of it! I really enjoyed Paris, but I feel like I saw enough of it in just a couple days. I was so lucky to have such good weather! I took the Eurostar between Paris and London. It was such a smooth and pleasant ride!"
After two nights in Paris I headed back to London...to fly to Fez
"I basically traveled all day on Sunday. Train from Paris to London, then I flew to Fez. The airport was an hour outside of London and I took a bus there. On the way, I got to see the structures for the Olympic games they are still building and lots of farms/small communities filled with green pastures. So wonderful!
Then I landed in Fez, Morocco, it was 102 degrees. A driver for the Fondouk was waiting for me at the airport with a sign that had my name on it, which was comforting. On our drive to the Fondouk, the streets and town we passed reminded me a lot of Mexico. The houses were half built, many abandoned, people were walking along the street, almost all, but not all women are covered here. Some are wearing more modern clothes, although all their shoulders are covered, many people, including women wear sandles, contrary to what I read, it is NOT rude to show your feet in public. We arrived at the Fondouk around 8pm and I was introduced to the other volunteers: the first left the same night, but I got to talk to her a lot about her experiences, she was a student at Tuffs in MA. There us a Canadian vet student, Then my roommate, Camelia is from Poland and is a recent veterinary graduate. Then there is an intern here who studied in Morocco, then there is a couple who are vet students from the Czech Republic. The final person arrived today and is a recent graduate from the university of Edinburgh. The main doctor and assistant director of the Fondouk is also from Morocco, but he speaks very good English! He also knows French, Arabic, And Berber. Unfortunately, Dr. Gigi Kay who is the director is away on holiday the whole time I am here. I'm kind of bummed about that because she is more into teaching than the Moroccan vet. I wanted to meet her since she has a long history of working in third world countries providing veterinary aid.
The Fondouk has about 16 patients right now all undergoing treatments, one mare had a swollen hock and a referring veterinarian "cut" it open to drain it, but opened the joint capsule which is really bad. She does not bear weight on the hind leg where her hock is very swollen. Today they flushed it. Her progress is limited and humane euthanasia is on the table, because she has a very bad condition and will likely not be able to return to work. According to the externs who have already been here 2 weeks, we have seen 2 rabies cases in donkeys and several others with Tetanus. One donkey survived Tetanus but then got thrombolitis of her jugular vein, tomorrow we are doing surgery to fix that.
It is very different here at the Fondouk, both in the way animals are presented and in the way they are treated. Costs are cut if at all possible, we make our own fluids. I've learned to make some interesting bandages already. It's heartbreaking to see some of these animals, by the way the Fondouk only sees horses, donkeys and mules.
My first day and a typical day at the Fondouk: wake up at 6:45, eat, do TPRs, the staff does the morning treatments (giving medicines/hot compresses/etc. Then the gates open from 8am to noon and we accept patients. At noon we shut the gates and make our new patients comfortable. Then we take an hour lunch ( I got in the pool) and then we head back to work at 2pm, we do all our procedures and surgeries. Then we finish whenever we finish, which today was about 5:30. Then we went back in the pool! At 7:30 we do our evening treatments. Today I helped clean up the extern house!
A successful first day! Tomorrow after our day is done, Kamila and I will head into the city. I will tell you about the Fondouk's animal residents in the next email. The Fondouk is truly an oasis in Fez, I am very lucky to be here! It's sad that the horses/donkeys/mules do not get fly spray or fly masks and there is a huge fly problem here! I have some ideas to improve the quality of their lives. Luckily I am making a dent right now, but there is just so much more to it.
Also it's neat to hear the call to prayer four times per day. It's actually quite relaxing and peaceful."
"Today is my second day at the American Fondouk. I've seen some amazing and very sad things in my short time here. The lives of the working animals in Fez, Morocco are very different from those back at home who are pets or top condition competition animals. I do realize we have poor treatment of animals in the US too, but far different from the Moroccan workhorse or mule.
I've settled into my room at the Stuart Villa which is really an oasis here at the Fondouk, I will be trying to send some pictures of my travels shortly if time and the Internet connection permit. The other externs and I have become quite good friends, especially Kamila and I (the Polish veterinary grad). She wants me to skip Italy and come with her so she can show me Poland, but I will save it for another trip. It has always been my dream to visit Polish Arabian Horse breeding farms there.
Anyways, back to the Fondouk.. the way it works here in the Villa is some of us go to the grocery store every 2/3 days and purchase food, someone cooks dinner for everyone at tonight and the food is comunal if it is in the fridge. You have to keep it in your room if it's personal. Everyone is great with sharing and the cooking and dishes. We have a women who cleans the kitchen, shower and toilets everyday of the work week. Lunch here is provided, a sandwich.. Of cut up hard boiled egg, tomato slice, lettuce(sometimes) and light mayo. I've been told they can get very boring. On Fridays, we get couscous, which I can't wait for!
We buy tons of bottled water here, and I drink a lot during the day, today it was 108 degrees, which was hot, but much like home on a hot summer day. Usually the water is room temperature, although I often fill and stick my water bottle in the fridge. The fridge is cold, but not super cold. There is a water dispenser in the treatment area that gives coldish water, but I will really enjoy a water with ice when I get home! We have to wear coveralls in the mornings when the Fondouk is open to the public. They are nice quality, but still very warm. I take mine off and wear scrubs as soon as I can.
In the villa yard, we have tortoises, almost 10 I'm told, you can catch them hiding under the plants in the dirt where it's cool, I fed one watermelon yesterday. We have about 5 cats running around the Fondouk, they look well fed, and love being petted and scratched. They have a hard time with the heat cause of so much fur and they lay in the shade up against the buildings, in the middle of the day they sleep in these cool places. There is a miniature donkey that came into the Fondouk with a rectal prolapse about 3 months ago, the prolapse is chronic and we have to periodically push the small part of it that sometimes bulges out back in. His owner never came back for him. He doesn't have a name, but I call him monkey, he's got a lot of fur and is a curious little guy that runs loose around the Fondouk (except when the main gates are open). He's always trying to stick his nose in your business and is always stirring up trouble, he knocked down a decorative vase yesterday tearing around the villa. He's got a lot of spirit and love to share. You can often find him hiding in our small pharmacy shed which is air conditioned or hanging out by the pool watching us swim, he's quite a spoiled donkey. We also gave 4 dogs, 2 younger and 2 older. They are sweet and loving too.
Today I changed many bandages, some wounds look better, others are not improving. I've gotten some pictures of before and hopefully will get afters. There is one grey mule mare that had a swelling in her hock on her leg and the referring vet cut it open to drain, but he cut the joint capsule open too and the joint is now badly infected. She is on pain medicine and antibiotics and we flush the joint everyday. Surgery here is far from sterile, we scrub once, then rinse with our homemade distilled fluids. they use sterile instruments and gloves, but with the amount of flies here it is literally impossible to keep things sterile. The mare has a very poor prognosis and we are waiting for the owner to return so we can discuss ending her suffering.
Today someone dropped a kitten in front of the Fondouk, it was crying at the door and Kamila and Alicia took it in. It was crying it's head off, probably about 3 months old. She was white with bright green eyes. Unfortunately, there is not a place for all animals at the Fondouk and this happens way too often, but the Fondouk staff euthanized the kitten. It was saddening for me and the other volunteers, but we understand the financial limitations and implications if that animal survived. She was given love and a good meal before her short life ended peacefully, life for a cat on the streets in Morocco would be tough. Sorry for the sad story, but there is a lot of sad here for the animals.
We had a female donkey come in today and we removed a huge urolith from her urethra, it was huge! The removal looked painful, although she was sedated.
We also removed some leftover testicular tissue from a donkey that was improperly castrated with a knife. This is a common issue in Morocco even though the American Fondouk offers free castration services. This involved anesthesia and the donkey was laid on a large pad on the ground, I was helping monitor his vital signs and anesthetic depth, at one point he was very light and I could tell he was feeling it. His front legs were moving, I asked if I could give him more drugs (which I had on hand already drawn up) and the Moroccan doctor looked at me and said coldly, many vets in morocco don't even use sedation. I was kind of taken aback cause I'm sure he would want some good anesthesia if his testicular tissue was being removed! :(
Medicine here is much different from at home, but the animals are different too. They are stronger and they give a lot to their work and don't ask for much in return with their simple lives. They are content to be tied in front of water and feed in the shade of a palm tree at the Fondouk, they patiently wait for what you ask of them next.
Right now while I'm writing, it is raining!! I just stepped outside, it's cold rain and thunder! I'm glad I brought in the laundry! I'm going to go check on the in patients now!
Part 2 to be continued...
