Day 5 - Spanish vs English

As per usual, today was pretty awesome. I'll admit, the visits today were kind of boring. It was really cool to see the cheese making process and Nestle plant, but we didn't have to spend so long at each place lol. After, we went to this Jumbo (pronounced the Spanish way) Supermercado. It was pretty much exactly like a big grocery store in the states, but with way better seafood than what we see in Ohio. :) We then went shopping at the supermarket. They had a lot of good wine. :) :) Check out the Farm To Table 2015 Chile Facebook page for more pictures. 

Nestle Plant

The bus ride back to the hotel was the most fun to date. After we finished the 1-minute rounds (basically everyone saying something about what they learned today in 1 minute or less), we had some fun competitions between the Spanish and English speaking natives. Those of us who are fluent in English made a list of words that are typically difficult to pronounce if English isn't your first language. The list included, "Anemone, Walrus, Colonel, and Worcestershire." The Chileans had some fun with that list. :) In "retaliation", they came up with a list of words we English speakers had to try. I honestly can't remember a majority of the words, but I was one of the English speakers who was called out to try saying the Spanish words. Antoinette and I impressed the Chileans with our ability to roll our R's lol. All in all, it was a lot of laughter on the bus ride home. I can honestly say the group has finally broken the ice and seems comfortable around each other. I'm excited to see what the rest of this trip brings! Tomorrow we get to visit the sea pens to see the grown salmon. We were told to bring a second set of clothes because we are going to get wet lol. We'll see how that goes tomorrow.

Abrazos y besos,
Joslyn :)

Daily Bible Verse:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
-Matthew 5:8

   

Day 4 - Leche y RTE

This post is going to consist of mostly pictures since we are leaving at 7am tomorrow morning. All-in-all, another amazing day! I know I keep saying that, but this trip has seriously been amazing. Yes, there have been bad smells and long days, combined with a lot of information being thrown at us, but it's so great!!! :) :) Today we went to a small (400 head) dairy farm, a Ready-to-Eat (RTE) processing plant (aka salami, ham, smoked meats, hotdogs, etc.), and a traditional fish market (they had fish/seafood/cheese and also touristy gift shops). We then had dinner at this Italian place by a beautiful theater that I forgot to take a picture of. See pictures below for more info:

View from the dairy farm family's living room. I want to stay here with them :)...
But seriously lol 

Beautiful horse! 

I keep getting to work with cows, and I keep loving it. Hmmmm wonder what that means lol.

O-H-I-O at the dairy farm!

Montbéliarde & Holstein cows

We got to try all the Ready-to-eat (RTE) products at the processing plant we visited

Traditional fish market

Yummmmmm seafood...but notice the lack of ice ( Food Safety alarms going off in my head lol)

SEALS!!! 

End the day with a beautiful rainbow over the lake :)

Abrazos y besos,
Joslyn :)

Daily Bible Verse:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
-Genesis 9:13

Day 3 - Fish, fish, and more fish

I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet because I'm exhausted. Today was awesome!! We got to tour a company that raises Salmon from fry to smolt, finally sending them to the sea pens. The system this company had set up was absolutely amazing! Their water quality tech was so efficient, and seeing thousands of fish was so cool. After the tour, they surprised us with a ton of salmon hors d'oeuvres. The ceviche was my favorite. :)

We then went to a fish oil and fish meal processing plant. I'm not gonna lie, it smelled pretty bad. But apparently not as bad as a rendering plant? Idk, I've never been to a rendering plant so I still thought this was pretty bad. But we got to get all geared up in PPE and see all the machines in action. It was pretty cool to see HACCP plans and CCPs in person (and not just learn about it in class).

Not pictured: hard hats and ear plugs

Finally, we went to see the first step in salmon processing. I am so I awe at how these companies are letting our group see literally every single part of their plant. It was so cool!! Never-mind the fact that I couldn't stomach eating salmon for dinner lol, it was still really cool. I'll be ready for more seafood by tomorrow. :)

We all look amazing in this PPE

All in all, I'm exhausted but learning a ton. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. :)

Abrazos y besos,
Joslyn :)

Daily Bible Verse:
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
-Psalm 145:8

   

Day 2 - Exploring Chile

Today we had breakfast at the first hotel, then we explored a bit before we packed up and moved to the new hotel. The new hotel is AMAZING. The view can't be beat and the whole hotel is made of some type of gorgeous wood. I'm so excited we get to stay here for the rest of the trip.

After we transferred all of our luggage to the new hotel (using a tiny taxi - it took 3 round trips), we walked to this German restaurant that is well known in the area. I had no idea how much German influence I'd see in the architecture, food, and even street/business names!After eating lunch, we went to this German Museum that reminded me of Sauder Village. It had the big main house, a blacksmith house, cemetery, and beautiful grounds to walk in. Dr.Hoet became our unofficial tour guide. :) 

The view from the new hotel is not too shabby. I'm rooming with Hannah and Eva. This is going to be so much fun!!

Now I'd better get some sleep. Breakfast is at 6:45am tomorrow. I'll be needing coffee. :) Now, the real fun begins.

Abrazos y besos,
Joslyn :)

Super sweet cat that lives at the hotel. She just jumped right up in my lap!
We call her Gatita. Ella's gonna be jealous lol  

Daily Bible Verse:
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
-1 Thessalonians 5:15

Day 1: Goodbye Columbus...Hello Chile!!

From the get-go, I just knew this trip was going to be fun. Hannah and I carpooled to the airport and parked in the cool polka dot car lot. On the shuttle to the airport, we met this nice older couple with their 2 grandchildren. They told us they were going to Disney World, and the kids proceeded to describe their favorite rides in great detail. It was so cute to see them so excited about Disney! The grandparents seemed more excited about the Epcot Food & Wine festival.

The first of 3 flights was pretty uneventful. Well besides the extra turbulence on take-off since it was so windy in Columbus. :) But we got up to cruising altitude, and all was well. I watched Frozen and put the Spanish subtitles on. Now I'll know how to say, "Do you want to build a snowman?" and "Let it go!" Very useful. :)

This movie was even better with Spanish subtitles lol

Once we got to Houston, we made a beeline for food. Then we camped out next to an outlet to charge all our devices in preparation for the long flight. The flight to Santiago was long (but not as long as Ethiopia). Since there isn't much of a time change, I slept most of the flight. One thing that was entertaining was me shooting a fountain of water out of my water bottle 3 rows ahead of me. That is the second time this water bottle has shot water all over the place when I opened the straw. Hannah laughed so hard she started crying. Luckily, the people ahead of me didn't see where the water came from. ;)

The connection in Santiago to Puerto Montt was....interesting. We thought we'd have plenty of time, but our flight from Santiago was over 20 mins late due to strong headwinds. We went through customs (which didn't take very long, all things considered) and literally ran to get our bags and go to the domestic terminal to re-check in for the domestic flight. We got there just as they were almost done boarding, so we successfully made it to Puerto Montt. :)

We flew along the Andes Mountains from Santiago to Puerto Montt

We're staying one night at the Saltzberg Hotel & Spa in Frutillar, Chile (really close to Puerto Montt). Apparently most of the settlers from way back in the day were German, so there is a very German vibe in the names and decor of this hotel. It is seriously picturesque, nestled next to this gigantic gorgeous lake across from a volcano (fun fact: the volcano across the lake was the one that erupted earlier this year lol). The rest of today is going to be spent relaxing, eating, and preparing for the busy week ahead. The plan is to get in some sightseeing tomorrow before the program kick-off dinner. :)

We concluded the first day with a walk around Frutillar, Chile after dinner with the program facilitators. It was a perfect night for walking, and they showed us the pier and beautiful theater right next to the lake. If Day 1 was this awesome, I can't wait to see what the rest of the program holds.

Trying the local beer

Abrazos y besos,
Joslyn :)

Daily Bible Verse:
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
-Psalm 31:24

Day 21 - Goodbye, Ethiopia...Hello, Columbus!!

Today is the beginning of my long trip home! I made it to Addis Ababa from Gondar in just under an hour. Thank goodness for Tigist, our contact in Addis, who arranged for the hotel driver to meet us at baggage claim and take us to the hotel. It was so crazy once we got off the plane, with so many people everywhere, that I'm glad we had a driver arranged for us. :)

Gondar airport. Pretty sure it's the smallest airport I've ever been to lol

Too many people leaving the airport lol

The Jupiter hotel seems like a palace right now (not that the Kino, where I've been for the past 3 weeks, wasn't a nice hotel lol). Normal carpeted floors, uber nice bathrooms, mini-bar/fridge. Paradise lol. But I can't wait to get back to my apartment!

Now I suppose I should do kind of a "wrap-up" as I'm drinking my last Ethiopian macchiato and waiting to board my international flight to Washington DC. This adventure has been so amazing, so I really don't know what I can write that will do it justice, but here goes nothing:

It has been 3 weeks of laughing until my abs hurt, trying new foods, walking until my legs feel like jelly, and all around having the time of my life. The people I got to experience Ethiopia with made all of the difference: The professors I got to work with, Nicole, Dr. Wang, Dr. Gebreyes, and Dr. Hoet, we all so great! Their expertise in communication, veterinary medicine, and human medicine helped me learn a lot on this trip, along with having a great time. My fellow OSU students Sharon, Sarah, Dan, and Elsbeth were so much fun to hang out with. I'm looking forward to the reunion in Columbus sometime next week before Dan leaves for Utah. :) I also made some great friends here in Ethiopia: Sadam, Mulugeta, and Mustofa were all so wonderful to work with! I'm really going to miss them! And let's not forget James, the Canadian MD/PhD student/GI genius who was diagnosing all of our illnesses lol. I'm hoping that all of them can come to the U.S. to work on some projects in the near future. :) 

I know I always ask people, "What was your favorite part of your trip?" when they get back from a vacation, but I really don't know if I could answer that. Which part wasn't my favorite part of my trip? :) Ethiopia was unlike any place I've ever visited. The hospitality really can't be beat, the scenery is spectacular, and the food is actually really good (even if I did start to wish for more variety after like 2 weeks lol)! Plus it was so awesome to experience a culture that's so very different from what I'm used to.

I remember the first car ride from the airport to the hotel in Gondar 3 weeks ago. I was a bit freaked out at what I was seeing, thinking, "What have I gotten myself into!?" lol. It's hard to describe, but it is VERY different from the U.S. Dirt roads, partially constructed buildings with rickety stick scaffolding, huts made out of whatever could be found, etc. But then, on the drive to the airport this morning it didn't phase me at all. Instead, I saw the beautiful rolling hills dotted with farms and the typical busy-ness of any city. No longer freaked out at how different it was from home, I realized I was really going to miss Gondar and everyone I'd met. 

Well I'll get off my soap box and stop with all of the cliches lol. All in all, an absolutely fantastic trip, but I'm really glad I'm coming back to the United States. :)

Much love,

Joslyn :)

P.S. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6. The perfect verse to end this adventure. I was certainly trusting in the Lord throughout this whole trip! I'm trying to "lean not on my own understanding," and instead follow the straight paths set before me. :)

P.S.S. Chicken fingers and fries with actual KETCHUP never tasted so good. :)

YUM :)

Day 20 - LAST DAY!! :( :)

Today was my last full day in Gondar before I begin my long trip back to the US. :( :) I'm super happy and super sad all at the same time! But let's start at the beginning:

Today we had to go to a few farms to check the TB test results. We again had a university driver, so not too much walking today. ;) PPD checks are super easy, so all in all it was a very easy morning. Then, it was back to the Kino for lunch. I have to say that I'm missing some variety in my meal choices lol. All of us have been living on fish goulash, spaghetti with meat sauce, "pizza", or soup for the past week. Ethiopian food doesn't really appeal to us anymore (especially the injera/flat bread) lol, so I for one will be glad for some new meal choices in the very near future! 

Fish goulash with cooked vegetables and rice :) Probably my favorite thing to eat here lol

This afternoon, I relaxed/packed, and then Dan, Sharon, Elsbeth, Mulugeta, Sadam, Mustofa, and I all hung out on this neat rooftop patio of a hotel at Piazza. We then went to a sort of farewell dinner at the Goha Hotel. It was delicious non-Ethiopian food. :) Now, it's time to finish packing and making sure I'm all ready for a long trip back to the United States. That's all for now! Short and sweet. :)

Much love,
Joslyn :)

P.S. "O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
    O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

-Psalm 139

AMEN! I love this Psalm. :)

P.S.S. If you couldn't tell, I'm getting tired of writing lol. I feel like the posts get shorter and shorter :).

Day 19 - Productive Day

Today was such a productive day!! We officially sampled our 300th cow! :) Now that does not mean we got blood, milk, AND urine from each cow, but just that we somehow sampled 300 cows. Still, it was great to reach that goal number! It helped that we went to an official dairy farm called Ambassador Dairy Farm. There were about 40 cows there, and we got to sample close to 30! 

There was a super cute lamb at the farm too :)

Elsbeth learning how to draw blood from a tail vein :)

Somatic Cell Count - under 200,000 is considered ok lol

After the "big" dairy farm, we went to a catholic school that had a few cows. The grounds of this school were really nice, with nice landscaping and beautiful tropical plants all around. Once the sampling was done, the people working at the school (bishops or clerics or something? They were in long robes) ushered us into this nice room with comfy chairs and proceeded to serve us coffee, tea, and traditional Ethiopian bread they had made that morning. It was all delicious! We were so honored that they would prepare something like that for us when they were actually doing us a favor, letting us collect samples from their cows. It was a really cool experience. :)

Part of the catholic school

Beautiful coffee/tea service

After the catholic school, we ate a quick lunch then went back out to farms. The afternoon was going reasonably well until we got to a farm owned by this really old looking woman. She invited us in and said yes to us taking samples, but then seemed really confused as to why we wanted to see her cows? Sharon and I couldn't tell if she was mad that we were there or if that was just her personality lol. We conduct a survey as part of the research, so when we asked her age, she told us, "At least 100." Then, when we asked what her occupation was, she responded, "Why do you need to know my occupation? Are you going to give me a job?" She was a spitfire lol. She kept saying things in Amharic that would make the Ethiopian veterinarians Mulugeta and Sadam laugh, but I have no idea what was being said. I have never wanted to speak Amharic so much! Needless to say, it was an interesting way to end the day. :)

Tomorrow is my last full day in Gondar! That's crazy!! But also super exciting. Here's to enjoying my last day of farm visits!

Much love,
Joslyn :)

P.S. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

  He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

 for his name's sake.

  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever." Psalm 23. Amen. :)